modern

Ernst Haas, Helen Frankenthaler, New York,  1969

normal conversation:

Person: "So, you majored in art history?"

Me: "Yep. Modern Art."

Person: "Oh. So you think that's real art?"

Me: "Yeah. So much so I studied it. "

Person: "Ok. Then who's your favorite?"

Everyone's a critic I guess. 

But to answer the question, one of my favorites is Helen Frankenthaler pictured above in her studio. I love that she was a strong female artist. I love that she is part of the after math of Pollock. I loved that critics said she was too female and she seemed to not care. I love the way her motion physically bleeds into her work like it was the ocean of her soul. 

When I stumbled upon this series of images I just kept coming back to them day after day (the link sat as one of my tabs for four days). It's just something about them. And that last one. I feel like if I gazed at it long enough I'd be in that room opposite her still not knowing exactly what she was thinking. 

One of the things I love so much about art history is that I never just studied paint on canvas. I studied time periods, culture, and people. People are really the most interesting thing in the world. 

image

weekends on mondays

it's time for the weekend. which means all i want to do is sleep, but i can't. all i want to do is stay up thinking and dreaming and creating. we have two weeks left in this bubble we love to hate. two weeks to make magic.

i'll have time to sleep eventually. after all, i own all this make up for something.

so while we doctor the sleepiness that follows us everywhere, let's give this 48 hours everything we've got. i want to dress up and go downtown. i want to cook that dinner no one thinks i can actually do. let's run about and play the radio too loud singing along to every love song because we secretly dream of the best summer fling our hearts desire. i want to laugh until we cry and spin in circles until we're dizzy. let's eat good food and ask the right questions. let's figure it out but leave ourselves too confused. let's, for some moments, forget the to do lists and the future--the imminent grad schools and moving back home. let's look into the eyes of the boys we're crazy about, grab their hands, and take them off to the dance floor.

this is the time we will remember. these are the moments. it's not the when or the where it's the who. who we are with, the pictures, the smells, those are memories...

in two days we'll come back to work. and that is predictable. so for now, let's be young and alive and crazy.

image via pinterest (link not working)

mother's day

oh yes, now my mother is going to kill me, but this is her in the hospital with me! (i think she looks great)

Few things I know for sure, but one thing I have no doubt about is that motherhood is not for the faint of heart. It will break you, it will throw everything in this world upside down, and it will send you on an emotional roller coaster that never really ends.

Mothers are fierce and forces of nature.

They never waiver. They never give up.

It’s a strength no one really has and no one else can really understand. But it radiates in her every move. In each start to every day there is a renewed hope for a better world, for a better place to send her children into, and there is pure faith that in the end, those children of hers will not only survive this world but make it better because that is what she strives for too.

I am one of the lucky ones. From the beginning all my mom wanted to do was to be a mom. And while she stopped what I’m sure would have been a successful nursing career in order to live the life she has now, I have never once questioned her undying love for her three highly dysfunctional children. I exist, as I am right now, purely because of her.  She is the voice inside my head; she is the phone call I always want to make; it’s her advice that matters the most. She is the center of my universe.

Mothers are mighty and full of grace. There is nothing simple about witnessing the life of others and being so fully invested in them. The shift between being parents of children and then adults must be interesting. As I grow into the age my mom was when I was born (something that continues to boggle my mind) I cannot wait to see the development of my relationship with my mom.

So here’s the moms out there, the believers, the dreamers, the sleep deprived, the hopeful. Cheers to all you stand for and all you do.

Happy Mother’s Day.

me and mamma! welcome to 1988 :)

Phoenix--A Brief Encounter

I just spent a couple of days in Phoenix, AZ because my brother is a new graduate of Arizona State! Go Sun Devils! So, of course I took a slew of photos. Here's a brief look at what I was up to...

sunset

resort pool--holla 

I'M KING OF THE WORLD 

in and of the cliffs

bobby and laura

siblings

me and bobby

Ma and Aunt Kim 

to have both men smiling is a very rare thing

yes, we did order just raw veggies. it's a true foods thing. 

sisters

happy graduate.

the ladies

yum-o

ok, so it's real fuzzy--but that face! 

(earlier in the trip) bobby's face when my Dad drove up in the new car! HAPPY GRADUATION! 

well done Dad!

i have the coolest sister--she MADE bobby's bowtie! how cool is that!?

and look what she made me! 

pensive bobby 

bobby and ma

food! (la boca on mill)

hungry family

It was a splendid trip that ended way too quickly! No amount of photography could capture the joy, fun, and beauty that was all around. I am so proud to be part of this crazy family. While I had to leave early and spent too much time at the O'Hare Airport, it was worth it all!

Happy Graduation to everyone out there! And a special shout out to Bobby and all of the class of 2013 at ASU!! CHEERS!

things

In honor of the ongoing birthday posts, I thought it was about time I look at who I've become and what it may look like in list form. So here we go...twenty-five things about me...enjoy! (And let me know if there are any big surprises!)

25.  I will always love Madonna and U2. You can’t make me stop.

24.  I spent an entire summer watching talk shows. Like Jenny Jones. It was real.

23. My love for s’mores is recent. It may have to do with a chubby bunny episode.

22. I like teenagers more than babies. Generally speaking. It’s a thing. Not everyone likes teenagers. I like that they get my sense of humor. Babies look at me like I’m crazy.

21. I played the piano once. It lasted 3 weeks and then they wanted me to cut my nails. I liked long nails over piano drills.

20. I once had red highlights. It wasn’t a good look.

19. I did shave my head. I do have pictures.

18. Bambara is a real language I promise!

17. I have never broken any bones, but when I fell in Mali I found out your shin is the hardest bone to break.

16. I just bought my first bikini. I wore it for the first time and felt very scandalous.

15. I don’t like bananas.

14.  I LOVE sweaters (elbow pads are even better).

13. I suddenly own a lot of blue. I look like the ocean.

12. I drink my weight in mochas.

11. I can spend all day watching Woody Allen movies.

10.  For as unsuccessful as I have been in relationships, I give great advice. Ironic, yes.

9. I have lived 13 places.

8. I talk about my siblings a lot. Get over it.

7. I am a die hard Toms fan.

6. My favorite season is winter.

5. I don’t like doughnuts or pizza.

4. I have only worn glasses since I was 17. It’s a relatively new thing.

3. My favorite color to wear is grey. My favorite color in general is red.

2. There is still power in hand written letters.

1. I believe in random acts of kindness, true love, long road trips, red lipstick, and lots of dancing.

proof in my addiction to Diet Coke, manicures, and lots of makeup. and dancing (this is post-morp)

it was a party

the people

like the crown?

libby, MK, me!

LUNCH--yum yum

the marys 

birthday cake

and then we ate

and it all disappeared

they bought me tulips!

i was born at 9:27pm

MK made me a three tiered chocolate cake. i felt like a princess

and then i went dancing til 3am. it was glorious. 

twenty-five

When I was 16 turning 25 sounded huge, actually it sounded old. Not old, but like, established and settled and all those things you associate with adults.

Last Saturday I turned 25. It sounds weird to say it out loud still, but there you go, it happened. And it’s not as old, settled, or established as I once thought. In fact, being 25 feels really young. It feels like I’m at the precipice of something, of life, of mistakes, heartbreak, and pure awesomeness.

I’ve done some pretty great things these past twenty-five years. I have become this very opinionated, compassionate, forceful, passionate, loud, expressive person. I have some horrible taste in music and television; really expensive taste in clothing; I like too much chocolate and coffee with whipped cream.

To be honest, turning twenty-five wasn’t as scary as I thought. It’s really exciting and full of endless possibilities.

And maybe if there is a little bit of “settling” it’s that I’m settling into myself, and really that can never happen too early.