I could not sleep at all last night, I had gotten news that the Big Pour I have been waiting months for was scheduled to happen this morning at 7:00 AM sharp.

But just a little after 6:00, I heard the creak of the opening gate, followed by a slowly traversing parade of trucks and a crane making their way uphill, and so I shot out of bed with camera in hand.

Good morning April 15, 2015! It was Tax Day, but this day marked the pouring of the foundation for Crafting a Life, LLC.

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Despite dealing with last-minute tax business, there was every reason to smile on this day, including the site of this candy-cane cement crane complete with a fun retro font/logo!

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The night before at the 11th hour, I invited friends on Facebook to text or message me their artful wishes, hopes, and goals that I wanted to tuck into the foundation before the cement was going to be poured. Some people posted their thoughts publicly, many sent messages to me privately. I printed them all–seven pages total–sealed in an envelope, and placed into the foundation this morning.

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I explained to my contractor the gist of the contents and how important this envelope was, and when someone thought to remove it just before the cement was being poured, he waved his hands and said, “NO, NO, NO! That envelope absolutely belongs there!” You can see the envelope on the lower left corner of this video…

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After the foundation was leveled, they wrapped it in plastic for sealing and protection from further construction. The plastic covering will not be taken off until the art barn is completely finished. To me it is a symbol, a wrapped present, a reminder what a gift all of this is.

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I am eager to unwrap, to unveil, but in the meantime, there is a raven that has been watchful all day from the towering trees above, and when everyone left, he stood guard. He and I have been greeting each other since I got here in January. I like to think he is my protector on this project.

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I am having a little Pokey Pour tonight in honor of this day. 🙂

Cheers,

It’s been an exhausting yet exhilarating few weeks. We are getting settled, unpacking boxes, acclimating to a new time zone, a winter that consists of green mountains, and watching cherry red trucks haul dirt up the hill for the art barn foundation.

I thought (a bit belatedly) to host a Valentine’s Day Groundbreaking party, and planned for a local affair but I was really thrilled that some out-of-towners came too, and made a weekend of it!

Left to right: Leslie Jenison, Jamie Fingal, me, Judy Coates Perez

Friend I have known forever came over, too…

As did their parents who I have known most of my life.

We ate a lot of cake!

Quilters hung out with non-quilters (in efforts to lure them to the dark side).

And the strongest woman I know, Yvonne Porcella, made the trek, too. Founder of SAQA and one of my greatest mentors, I was so honored that she came.

Her humor nearly surpasses her strength…

She also wanted to made it very clear to me that she got dirt under her (freshly manicured) nails during the groundbreaking.

Alex Anderson came too! (Below, far right)

And more old friends from high school…

There was the ceremonial dig. (The pink silk scarf on the shovel was hand-dyed by Yvonne.)

Others got into the spirit of it, too.

And we laughed. A lot!

And took advantage of a surprisingly warm day.

Some of the guys…

It is really starting! I can’t wait to post progress pictures.

I recently moved from Houston to Napa Valley, driving nearly 2000 miles solo (with three dogs in my backseat). It was challenging, but looking back, I wouldn’t have done anything differently.

I did have two offers for co-pilots, but frankly…as a pet-loving quilter with a lot of precious cargo, I responded to them, “Where the heck would I fit you in the car?”

A Quilter on the Move

What I refused to put on a moving truck, nor put in the temperature-controlled cargo of an airplane:

-3  Dogs

-2 BERNINAS

-1 thermofax machine

-An enormous suitcase containing my most precious quilts, some made by family, some purchased, one by me.

-Jewelry that had a lot of sentimental value

-Crucial documents

-A backpack with jeans, t-shirts, a toothbrush and other essentials.

For every night I was on the road (and no, I didn’t drive past sundown), I brought all of this cargo into the hotel room. It meant a lot of trips from car to room between pets, dog food, supplies, quilts, and docs.

The  hours of driving each day–and being on guard while driving–were pretty exhausting for all of us…

But we saw some very interesting sights along the way, including this Exxon station in West Texas, where, understandably, while I filled the gas tank, I couldn’t let the dogs out to relieve themselves:

We encountered a wreck on I-10, 90 miles east of El Paso. I would have been stuck in this for five hours (plus) while they righted this semi that had tipped over and blocked both lanes, but with the help of some empathetic truck drivers, I was directed onto the feeder, and again on my merry way.

After about 23 hours driving and two nights in hotels, I encountered this sign (below).  Admittedly, seeing this was emotional, and I cried. It had been 26 years since I drove my own car in my home state.

The next day, after driving up I-5,  I was on my property in Napa and saw these pink little flags whipping in the wind. They mark the art barn for Crafting a Life.

I cried again.

The next morning, I woke to this greeting.

And I cried. Again.

I found this cluster of lemons on a tree on my property.

You’ll be happy to know, I didn’t cry. (I just plucked ’em.)

Later, Clarence discovered his first hot air balloon and…he cried. (Video can be found on my Instagram feed.)

And I let the dogs out to run run run. And we all cried…tears of sheer joy and gratitude.

Great news! I’m done crying. And better yet…I’m almost done unpacking! And soon ready to get busy and on with the Next Big Life and Business Adventure, here in Napa Valley.

We made it.

Cheers all around,

I have gotten a lot of great business and life advice in 2014, but the below quote I spotted in Magic Kingdom might be one of my favorites:

2014 was a crazy, whirlwind year for me, yet ended on a very high note.

I traveled the world; met one of my favorite actors in London when I accidentally ran onto the set of “Downton Abbey;” I witnessed my high school best friend get married in Maui to the greatest guy; and also nearly lost my hand to a hungry swan in Zurich. I also decided to take a leap of faith and go home to California and start a new endeavor, after 26 years away.

This past year Allison Stilwell left all of us with vital advice: Do what you love—nothing else matters.

That’s damn right.

And my college friend Fr. TJ Martinez also had a motto that he said over and over and over: Do the difficult now, and the impossible soon after.

I feel they bear repeating:

Do the difficult now, and the impossible soon after.

And do what you love- nothing else matters.

My best wishes for a very happy new year!

Bring on 2015,

Nellie, Clarence, and Tyrion chillin’ on the front porch.

I have not updated this blog since mid-September, and it isn’t because I haven’t had much to write about. On the contrary, I have so much to write about…beyond quilting. (And yes, I’ll get back to focusing on textile arts, but for right now I have a lot of other things on my mind.)

Vines along Highway 29 in Calistoga this past weekend.

I am hyper-focused on launching Crafting a Life, LLC, a media and retreat business that I will base out of my newly acquired digs in Napa. The issue is, I am going to have to exercise something that I am horrible at: patience. I’ll akin this construction process to the slow cloth/ slow stitching movement. This is slow building, which means I have to enjoy the process. (I am trying very, very hard but it isn’t easy!) I envision the end result so clearly in my mind: after a day of creating (with a lunch-time hike thrown in), sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch, stitching and taking in the views, and later collectively cooking poolside on a cool California evening. I am also trying to devise a program for children, too, and that has been a lot of fun drafting a mini-sewing and quilting curriculum together.

When I am a bit further along, I will post pictures and share more details, but in the meantime, Judy Coates Perez posted this behind-the-scenes blog of the photo shoot from September.

Since I am horrible with a hammer and a nail, right now I’m working on a lot of the boring business-y stuff to cross off my list: meeting with lawyers, website peeps, and insurance folks.

I am also trying to do something I am not very good at: slowing down and enjoying some time off.  When I went to Quilt Festival (which was so fantastic this year) several people came up to me and told me how relaxed I looked…and they’re right. I feel a sense of calmness, purpose, and focus that I haven’t felt in a long while.

I hosted an impromptu party when many were in town, which was so much fun…

And I invited some former co-workers from Quilts Inc. who have since chosen different work challenges but wanted the opportunity to reconnect with their quilting friends.

Left to right: artist Leslie Jenison, Amanda Schlatre (now Coordinator, Exhibits & Attractions at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo), artist Jamie Fingal, and Carmen Beck (now Manager, Convention and Meeting Services for the Pediatric Academic Societies).

We took a lot of photos that night but this is one of my faves:

This shot includes Allison Cooper (left) who is turning her wish of being a chef into a reality and now going to culinary school.

This past weekend I flew back to the Bay Area for some meetings and to visit my grandmother, but took in some downtime too. A must in the Valley is this little restaurant in Calistoga, the Calistoga Kitchen. If you order the grilled cheese sandwich, the cheese is melted literally into the slices of sourdough bread. I think it was the naughtiest thing I have ever eaten, and the ambience outside was pretty terrific, too!
I also spotted four community tag olive trees that cracked me up. The first of four, the “I Want Less” tag tree:

The “One Thing I am Grateful For” tag tree (more populated with tags):

The “Past Loves” tag tree, also well decorated:

I loved this past love in particular:

And “The Best Decision I Made Was” tag tree:

My favorite response:

While at Quilt Festival, I visited with my friend Wendy Richardson of Quilt Tapestry Studio. I bought up the rest of her over-dyed Napa fabric and would like to give one yard of it away to a randomly selected responder to my question below, inspired by the Napa tag trees:

Question: What has been the best decision you have ever made?

I’ll keep this open through this Thursday night and randomly select a winner.

Happy creating!

**Blog update 11/17/14**

Giveaway winner: Congrats to Craftygoofy49! I will email you for your mailing address. Thanks to all who answered…I LOVED reading them. 🙂

Small pink flags mark the general location of where they will pour the foundation. The stakes will be moved back about 15 feet from this location so I can accommodate more hammocks and grapevines in the front!

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Great news: After repositioning a couple of times on the property to optimize views, plans and permits have been approved for the art barn! I am breaking ground next month and it should be completed by the end of this year. However, I know how building goes, so I won’t actually launch the retreat part of Crafting a Life until late spring.

With the approval to break ground, I celebrated by having a few bites of the world’s best sticky bun, compliments of Sweetie Pies, the bakery at the Napa River Inn (my favorite place to stay).

If you are a guest at the Napa River Inn, breakfast is included. Not only can you order a choice of breakfast sandwich (e.g. egg whites with spinach and tomato on whole grain), you additionally get a choice of a bun or muffin to counterbalance a healthy attempt at breakfast. This gooey, cinnamon treat is simply sublime.

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I also met my new accountant in Napa to discuss next steps. I was a little envious of his business address…

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And then later I drove down to Los Altos to my grandmother’s to meet my cousin’s newest enterprise, her first baby.

All in all, a fantastic trip with headway made and a lot to celebrate. And for the first time, my dream of launching this gig is starting to feel very real.

Dream Retreat Fabric Giveaway Update:

Congrats to Corliss Eden, your name was randomly selected for the huge box of fabric. (I’ll email you for your shipping address.) Thanks to all who spent time sharing their ideas for a dream retreat! I have printed them all out and have gotten a lot of fantastic ideas, Thank you!

You know when someone tells you, “I have good news and bad news…which do you want to hear first?” I always want to get the bad news out of the way.  So here goes with the bad news: I had earthquake damage on my recently purchased Napa property where I am planning my new business next year.

The good news (actually the GREAT news): It is not that bad in the scheme of things, can be fixed, and it is not going to set me back time-wise for construction and renovations.

What didn’t fare so well were some of the historic buildings downtown (mostly with brick and stone facades) that hadn’t been retrofitted to withstand a quake of this size. After I flew out to Napa and assessed my place, I drove downtown and saw that one of my favorite older buildings that houses The Vintner’s Collective withstood a lot of damage and was red tagged.

The above picture looks bad, but they are rebuilding and will be back in business, just like most every other business that was hit. Napans (or as some refer to as “Napkins”) are resilient!

Having lived in California, Massachusetts, Colorado, and Texas, I have learned that Mother Nature can morph into many forms, whether it be a snow blizzard, a flooding, a hurricane, a tornado watch, a hail storm, or an earthquake. You just have to take your pick!

Besides feeling all shook up, the nascent stage of launching a new business has been an exciting project to take on, and I was very happy this summer to host a few sets of moms and daughters to show them my vision:

Above is my best friend from high school, Cindy with her two girls, Maggie and Lily. I thought it was just my adult friends who would ask me when my place is ready so they can come stay, but nope…Maggie wanted to know if she could have her birthday slumber party at my place next month. Sorry, Mags…next year!

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You may recognize these two former Quilting Arts blondes above: my sister-in-law Sally and my niece Lindsey who came all the way from Massachusetts to visit me. We had a fun time together and they were very excited to go the Kendall-Jackson winery, the “Mothership” as Lindsey affectionately refers to it.

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And lastly, Judy Perez and her daughter Indigo (taking pictures in the distance) came to check out my digs too. Indigo, an amazing artist like her mom, is helping me with artwork for the business.

Judy also proved to me that if her art quilt gig doesn’t work out, she is a very gifted pool cleaner…

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While I prepare to relocate next year, I am paring down my art supplies, including a sizable box of fabric:

This lot includes hand-dyed and screened fabric, some really adorable prints, and upholstery fabric that would be GREAT for over-dyeing. Just answer the following question by midnight this Friday, September 12, and I will randomly select a winner. (I am very sorry to all my international friends, but this box is sizable, and because of the weight, I can only ship to a U.S. resident.)

Question:

A part of Crafting a Life, LLC, will include retreats. What would your dream retreat be?

I love the above borrowed quote from “Sex and the City.” (Thanks to a good friend for recently reminding me of it!)

In reference to this quote, I’m not tired exactly, but I have been restless for a long while and I’m ready to run my own gig again. I’ve leaked via social media what my initial plans are, but here’s the full deal:

In 2015 I am moving to Napa and I’m launching a media and event business.

The name of the business is Crafting A Life, LLC. It will focus on quilting, sewing, mixed media, cooking, journaling, fitness and of course—being in Napa—oenology (wine). There are  also plans for children’s crafting programs too (sans wine).

The initial phase of Crafting A Life, LLC, will consist of boutique-style retreats—small classes in an artful, inspiring environment. For these retreats—while learning skills and perfecting techniques—there will be fun diversions, short hikes with incredible views of Napa Valley, music breaks, great food and drink, and discussions (taking place in rocking chairs) to collectively share studio and art tips.

I am also building an art barn to host retreats (date TBA ). However, the website for Crafting A Life, LLC, will launch within a few weeks.

So if you would like to join me for these retreats starting next year, and maybe take a nap-a while here, you are welcome to. After all, I plan on investing in a number of hammocks. 🙂

#craftingalife

#homeofthepokeypour

I recently was invited to New York City for the weekend, and wanting to keep my mind occupied (more on that in a minute), I couldn’t have picked a a more picture-perfect weekend to go!

A view of the Freedom Tower in the distance. (Picture taken from the top of the Empire State Building.)

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I took advantage of three beautiful days in the city, starting every day with a run through Central Park…

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…where I came across a most ambitious (and strong) dog walker. (That’s 10 dogs she is walking together.)

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I also visited the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, spending a somber three hours there. There are no words for this…

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On a more cheerful note, I also went to Mood Fabrics of “Project Runway” fame, and I was so overwhelmed by the stacks and stacks of bolts towering over me, I didn’t buy a single thing. I also went to the Museum of Sex because 1) such a museum actually exists, and 2) you never know of you will learn something. 😉

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And on a G-rated note, I saw my best friend’s little sister perform as Mary Poppins in “Mary Poppins, the Musical.” If you are in the tri-state area in the next couple of months, I highly recommend bringing your family to see this production!

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Lauren Blackman as Mary Poppins, playing at the Westchester Theatre in Elmsford, NY.

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I also spotted someone in Times Square who has gained so much notoriety for playing his guitar in nothing but tighty whities,  he recently gained national endorsements from Fruit of the Loom. Yes, I’m talking about the Naked Cowboy. Below we are scheming a pose for a picture.

And here’s my 2014 Christmas card!

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That’s a joke by the way! (And if you are wondering if I had any Purell in my purse, I am always packing.)

All in all, a great trip! One of the reasons I was trying to keep my mind occupied for the past few days is I had just made an offer on a property in Northern California, my homeland.  Knowing that it could take several days to hear anything back, I was very glad for the Big Apple distraction.

Just a couple days ago I found out my offer was accepted, and I am now back in California for two days to begin the due diligence process. This property isn’t just a place where I can live, but where I can work, too. (Hey, I can’t play and travel forever!)

The zip code? 94558.

Napa Valley.

I hope this works out,

Since I announced my resignation, I have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of letters, emails, FB messages, and kind gestures  of support. Thank you for being so understanding and for taking the time to reach out! I am really looking forward to a bit of a break, and time to think about next steps. So as they say in Hawaiian…Mahalo. Thank you.

Speaking of Hawaii, I went to Maui last week and attended the wedding of my best friend from high school. She is going to throttle me for posting this particular ephemeral bit of embarrassment from more than 23 years ago…

I think we look a lot better today, laugh lines and all…

Meet Cindy–one of the kindest people I have ever met. She has been through so much in the last few years, and on top of keeping it together, raising her two girls,  (and doing it all with an exemplary positive attitude), she is a nurse in pediatric oncology at UCSF. She is–quite simply–resilient.

Fortunately, her kind nature was noticed by a similarly nurturing and humor-loving person: a research doctor, “Dr. Rob,” in pediatric oncology, also at UCSF. Cindy and Rob have been in a relationship for several years, and at long last he got a ring on her finger.

Luckily for all of Rob and Cindy’s friends, they made it a destination wedding in Maui so we could all take some time off, chillax, and celebrate with them.

After a nearly 10-hour flight, I arrived to this view…

I spent time with old friends and meeting their children for the first time. Below is Rose, Cindy’s college roommate from Georgetown, and her daughter Kiera. I was hell-bent on getting Kiera to like me…but it wasn’t easy and it took me a while.

A couple days later, I was honored to help watch over Kiera on the beach when she felt “sleepy,” and when she asked me to be her escort to go to the public bathroom, well…I’ve never felt so important to anybody or anything in my life.

I also watched my friend’s kids giddily do the hula on stage at a luau.

And the night before the wedding, the adults toasted with Pokey Pours.

The morning of the wedding, we took the groom for a 7:00 AM Cross Fit session (where I got my ass kicked).

Before the ceremony I caught up with an old friend from high school days (and we toasted you, Bud Chatham)!

And when it came time for the ceremony, we all got our tissues ready. Below, Rob is escorted by his two daughters.

Then Cindy’s two daughters made their way up…

And then I saw Cindy make her way, flanked by both her parents. If you thought I was crying and putting my waterproof mascara to work, you’re right.

And Cindy, always the ham, did this when she got kissed…

I am so glad to see my friend happy.

And the best news of all, by the end of the trip I had won over a new BFF!

An incredible time.

I’m staying the course. I am keeping to my promise of welcoming new adventures, embracing change, and exploring new opportunities.

Mahalo.

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