Obsessions...

Some of my new Loves:

This Garden

(It's a mini ornament terrarium!)

These Buttons

These Headbands



This Toy



This Picture of Me

This Saying

(and the glorious guitar it's on)

This Glass

These Dogs

This Book

And

This Wall

(The movie was amazing as well!)

j

I love shoes...

Love them...(even though I get stuck in the habit of wearing the same ones every day-I am guilty of wearing a fave pair of yellow leather zipper flats everyday for about 3 months...) The pile above (complete with a pair of klompen that I bought in an garage attic workspace near Kinderdijk, Netherlands-I often wear these to take out the trash...) is small compared to the massive shelf in the closet filled with 3 inchers, rock and roll rain boots, teal wedges, patent reds, and "Dynasty" flip flops... I seriously have the best shoes. But I have a new fave...

My amazing brother had this fantastic pair made for me for Christmas! The right shoe is my first name-with my current yummy Ovation (it smells like baby dolls!) and the left shoe is my last name-with a gorgeous Henna Luna. The back....

has "Clocks" with the TAB for, yes, Coldplay's Clocks. (Clocks is a shared love of B's and mine...for multiple reasons...) These were made by one of his students-an extremely talented 14 year old-and this was his first commissioned piece. From what I hear, he was very nervous during the reveal-he REALLY wanted his cool guitar teacher to like them! He did, and I was thrilled...and cried a bit. The best part?

The graffiti... ;)


j

Sometimes I feel...

lost
scared
stuck
imperfect
old
immature
lazy
sick
drowning
and incredibly sad.

But then...

gloriously,
I'm reminded off all the things than I AM...

blessed
creative
strong
curious
protected
pretty
okay
grateful
loving
eclectic
unique
and the best dang copier ever...even if I need reminders...and sometimes they're grey.


My life has been such a mess of life experiences lately. I've:

become invisible,
received my first university A...
...and F...
...and a current D-,
witnessed abuse,
cried at the thought of the slain bunny,
cooked Tofurky,
played Sinterklaas,
fought with my ISP,
wondered where my sense of calm was coming from,
and hoped that I was "enough".

I really hope I am...

29 before 29

A few months back, I came across Leni's blog-a happy, inspiring, picture filled blog. Inspired by her, her '26 before 26' post, and in honor of my birthday I give you my:

29 before 29:

A List of 29 Goals, Aspirations, Dreams and To-Do's before I Turn (gulp) 29

1) Go to NAMM

2) Attend 3 STYX shows-at least ONE of them gets to be out of town: 1 2 3 - OOT

3) Complete my first year at AAU and register for year 2

4) Start composting

5) Buy a Henna Luna

6) Learn to play 'Crystal Ball' on my acoustic, fluently

7) Re-invent myself every 4 months-exploring color, new styles and accessories: 1 2 3

8) Have a Psychic/Angel reading

9) Enter 12 contests: one for each month: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 (I AM Lucky!)

10) Scrapbook Europe

11) Study a new artist each month: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

12) Watch EVERY James Bond movie: There are 18 official and 3 non-canonical.

13) Have 'All Alone' days every other month: 1 2 3 4 5 6

14) Take mini vacations with friends

15) Study Music Theory

16) Reach goal weight. 31 lbs to go!

17) Make Christmas-BY HAND!

18) Learn to Hula-Hoop (and explore the Hoopnotica Workout!)

19) Read a book each month: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

20) Go to more concerts: explore local artists, and big names.

21) Become more aware of where my money goes and what I spend my money on

22) Plan a vacation to someplace NEW!

23) Continue with my new Vegan diet and cut out artificial sweeteners, hydrogenated oils and processed foods

24) Photograph my life more and SHARE the pictures

25) Listen to more female artists. Find at least 5 I love: 1 2 3 4 5

26) Explore my family history

27) Create something by hand each month: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

28) Attend at least one ReAL game.

29) A secret. This item is actually TOP on my list...and the one I want most.

So there you go, my loves. 29 things to keep me REALLY busy. I will print and hang this where I'll see it often to keep me on track and mark off the items as I complete them. Please feel free to participate in any of these with me...

Stars and Kisses,

j

Personal Transformation

4 weeks ago, I made a big decision.

I had been toying with Vegetarianism for years now. I'd go a day or two meat-free and be VERY proud. I've been working on a new list, inspired by Leni, my "29 before 29"-a fantastic list of to-do's, to-tries, and to-be's before I turned 29. #16 on that list was, "Explore a Meat-Free week and record the results." I felt happy, fulfilled, light and free the days that I left the meat out...but I'd always get sucked back in because I LOOOVED cheese and butter and bacon and ice-cream and BBQ's and... The salads at Cafe Rio make me drool a little bit. Training Table? YES PLEASE!-One Hickory Burger Combo, added bacon, with Cheese Fries, dipping sauce and a large Diet Coke. East Coast's Ham & Cheese with everything but onions. Yummm...

Until I read about three pages in T. Colin Campbell's, (PhD) book, The China Study.

I decided then-June 24th, 2009 that I was going to cut ALL animal protein out of my diet.

No Meat

No Dairy

No Eggs

I did it not to be ethically sound or to save the planet-I did it for a perceived selfish reason: My Health. But...the good news? I AM being ethical and am saving the planet! By not consuming these "foods" I am almost eliminating my chance of getting cancer and Type 1 Diabetes (both diseases are in my family-on my Mother's AND Father's side.) as well as supporting animal rights and NOT supporting the chemicals and pollution that comes from "processing" animals. There's not even the packaging to deal with. When buying fresh veggies, you get the produce bag-which can be recycled in Murray (either in my city issued recycling can OR I can take them to work-my Elementary school recycles grocery bags!)

In 4 weeks I've lost about 5 pounds and an inch each off of my tummy, thighs and arms. My skin is smooth and glowing. I need less sleep, have more energy and am tolerating heat better. I'm eating less, burning more. I never thought that I could get so full on veggies and brown rice...

ALL by just by cutting out animal protein.

About three weeks into this transformation, I received an email from one of my favorite online shops, Mod Cloth. They are having a Terrific Transformation contest in honor of their website make-over and asked for each of their friends to blog about THEIR biggest transformation. When I read it, my new lifestyle had clicked so well that I didn't think that it HAD been a personal transformation-it was just my new, easy life. Then it hit me-when I finally took a GOOD look at myself. I had made this change. I made this choice. A change that gotten me on a great path. More energy=More accomplished. Feeling Better=GREAT choices. And so on, and so forth.

I really believe that because of the HUGE, yet simple choice of becoming Vegan it has made it possible to start so much and clear negative beliefs, feelings, and thoughts. I've started attending my Church meetings with a good friend and for the first time in my life, LOVE IT. I've also committed to attending fall classes at The Academy of Arts University. (I can earn my degree 100% online! I just got info back today!)

Life is good.

j

Let Them Eat Cake...

Sofia Coppola is one of my favorite writer/directors.
Kirsten Dunst is a HUGE fave of mine. So is Jason Schwartzman.

Naturally, I fell in LOVE with Marie Antoinette some years ago. Who wouldn't?

"Marie Antoinette defied both royalty and commoner by living like a rock star..."

Inspired by the look and feel of the movie as well as the AMAZING soundtrack (I'm in love with songs, 'Opus 36' by Dustin O'Halloran, 'Ceremony' by New Order and 'The Melody of a Fallen Tree' by Windsor for the Derby) and Donna Downey's 'Inspiration Wednesdays' I went to work transforming an otherwise blah journal.

The movie is so rich with color (pink, cream, orange, teal, light blue, sea foam green, sepia...) and sparkles and layers upon layers of INTENSE texture. I wanted to see what would happen when I pushed myself so I used the lavish feel of the music and the history as a template and completely ignored my inner instinct when I felt it was time to stop layering and adding. (Once I felt that "need" I pushed it another FULL day-about 6 hours of watching the movie and listening the music and adding MORE!)

THIS was the result:

Over the top Kisses,

j

M.U.S.E. you satisfy my soul...

Life is good.

Thanks to the time off (all total, I get 10 weeks. I'm in the middle of week 4 of 10 now) I've had LOADS of free time, creative time, down time.

Time to FINALLY get some of those "sudden bursts of stupidity" (thanks Mr. Miller) out into the open, onto paper, out of vinyl.

After sitting in front of the fabulously addictive Cricut, I had one of those inspiring moments and out of it came M.U.S.E. Guitar Bling! :)

So far, I've made a good 300. Lots of cutting, figuring, arranging, sitting with a quilting needle pulling off the vinyl that's not part of the design. Happily, they are selling and selling FAST at Starchild. Then...people in Bountiful saw the designs and wanted some-they then went to their local amazing shop (Murphy's Guitars) asking for them. I've since been in contact with Murphy's and sent them 80 designs, on a consignment basis. In less than a week, he's decided to place them ON the counter by the register and sell them full time! I'm in negotiations with him now...

I created M.U.S.E. Guitar Bling as a way to personalize MY guitars without damaging the surface. The brilliance of Static Vinyl is it's just that! Static! It sticks when you want it to (to any slick/shiny surface) and comes right off-no mess, no goo, no damage to your gorgeous piece of soul. (Yes, I'm talking about your guitar!) Or mirror, pic frame, sliding door, window, bathroom tile, candy jar, etc., etc., etc.,

Just HAVE to have one but can't make it to Starchild or Murphy's? Good news... 6 of my best selling designs are now up on Etsy!

Find them here! jonnajonna.etsy.com

Stars and Love, ;)

j