savoring the weather

i am breathing in every bit of cool crisp air this lovely season has to offer. give thanks for the clarity that comes with sore legs and hips and wind on my face.

and trust me. pulling this vintage beauty around my neighborhood is no easy task.

freedom in spoken word

so i spent 4 hours last night and 6 hours today at my new fave coffeeshop, listening to some talented men and women battle it out in a really awesome poetry slam. talk about being overwhelmed with inspiration. these people made me laugh, made me cry, made me think, made me reflect, made me write. and write and write and write. i have the beginning of like 20 poems, all to be finished when the time is right, whenever that is...

i am so jealous of how these people are able to stand in a room packed with strangers and let their souls pour out into the mic. i see how full of emotion they are when they finish, breathing hard and storming off the stage, faces packed with emotion, as if they've been drained of their energy, along with their deepest secrets and their wildest fears.

i'm jealous because i think it must feel good to be so drained. all the bad stuff out on the table, front and center, to confront instead of filed away inside emotional attics, collecting and accumulating until there's no room for the stuff we really need to hold on to.

i close my eyes and picture myself behind the mic, free of my inhibitions and ready to share what's on my mind, what's in my past, things i've never shared with anyone. things i never thought i would.

i think that must be freedom.

back to my favorite city

assata and i spent the day hanging out in the short north, the area in columbus that i've missed ever since we left here 3 years ago. i'm so glad to be back, even though it's cold, and regardless of the fact that quite a few of my favorite places are gone! they were replaced with other equally fabulous places, so i won't complain too much.

the death of things

It's puzzling how something so breathtakingly beautiful can be so miserable and unpleasant. Sure, I like to take the children sledding, and watch them enjoy themselves in the snow. But after about 20 minutes and a few snapshots, I'm over it. The freezing takes to my chest, and wheezing replaces breathing. My nose starts to run and I want to go home.

In some ways, winter feels like the death of things; still and cold, rigormordus setting in, stiffening the flesh and bones of the city. My creative self goes into hibernation, due to my inability to go outside daily for the long walks that inspire me.

I can only stand being out in the cold for a short period of time before my nose starts freezing and my head fills up with cold, and then there's the likely possibility of me busting my accident-prone ass on the icy sidewalk.

To breathe the crisp winter air at 17 degrees with a wind chill factor of negative 6 is not my idea of fun. Or refreshing.

So indoors I stay, where it's warm from the fire and the soup and the bread baking in the oven.

But of course, with death comes rebirth; a [shaky] transition that offers bee buzzes and butterflies, light and rain, and the inevitable warming up of things. Just like us, Earth, same in spirit, flaunts its new shell. Light, water, growth, and it's like the cold never hapened. It's like life never died.

SO looking forward to spring, but enjoying the beauty in the meantime.

whispering voices

when we walk into a room
the ancestors part the crowd
clearing a path for us
to walk hand in hand

when we come together to learn
time stands still
knowledge flows freely
we evolve
in a rapid but steady pace
breaking down barriers

we have built a house
with no walls
so the messages flow freely

the bones of our home
are trees and stones
the foundation is strong
like new
wind breezing through
lightly pushing voices around

soft. subtle. bringing forth
thoughts
words
sounds
that move big things.

stories. people. worlds.
whispering voices that make
screaming changes.
loud and real. bold and necessary.

we came together
as a result of forces
beyond or control.
plans made by the Divine.

so only divine things manifest.

thrifting therapy

This has been a month of amazing thrift store and vintage finds. Wait. Rephrase. This has been a life of amazing thrift store and vintage finds. I can't think of a week, since high school that I have not spent hours in a thrift store, antique shop, or vintage shop. Or all three. It's one of my favorite things.

For the last couple months, my friend Tiffany and I have been going digging together in various thrift stores and vintage shops every week. We have found some great new places in Akron and Cleveland, and I'm excited to share some of these places and found treasures with you.





everything on me is thrifted except my knitted boots, which i got from TJ Maxx. the skirt is vintage, and i got the same one in cream. love it.

flab for a good cause

Yesterday, Tiffany and I spent the afternoon baking some new recipes for Sweetea Pie, our dessert and tea company. We baked key lime cupcakes and vegan blondies. Everything tasted wonderful. So wonderful that we began to wonder why the hell two people with no self control decided to bake for a living!






As I popped the sixth mini key lime cupcake into my mouth, I began to wonder if I had cancelled out the boot camp class Tiffany and I had gone to the night before. Oh well, you gotta test your new products before you put them on the market, right? And even if you gain a few pounds of flab around the torso area in the process, isn't it all for the greater good?



Well that's what I thought, until I logged onto Facebook, and read Tiffany's update, which basically said she wanted to DRINK the key lime buttercream frosting she made, and that's when I realized that we are in serious trouble.