Where you started from

I've started 4 different blog posts in the past couple days. 

None of them will finish themselves. They're sitting as drafts, hopefully

not to stay that way, but as of today, that's where I'll leave them. I just can't

seem to find inspiration today. In a break from school work this morning, I 

stumbled upon this article about rediscovering your creativity. It was what I

needed to hear- that we need to start from our first love, what we cherish, 

what we are, what we value. It's long, but give it a read. It's beautifully written & insightful. 

It reminds me that there are days when creativity just isn't there, & that's okay. 

Summer Dreaming

“We are music makers, and we are dreamers of dreams.”

–Roald Dahl

            A few weeks ago, with the shifting of the weather and my sights set on the faint glimmer of summer’s arrival, I felt something stir deep in my soul. Each time I sat down to chip away at my to-do list, my mind wandered. It started slowly at first, but what began as a few simple daydreams soon turned into something I couldn’t stop thinking about.  My mind wandered to warm nights on porches, fireflies over fields, and hammocks strung between trees. It seemed like every time I allowed it to, my mind wanted to dream.  So I let it.  This weekend I finally sat down & channeled the dreams into something tangible. It came onto paper in the form of a bucket list. While I was once worried about my first summer in Nashville, I am excited for the prospect of a southern summer in a city I am quickly growing to love. The list is a work in progress. There are items that are failed attempts at past bucket lists which embody desires I’ve had for years, items that are iconic Nashville “must-do” events, and some that are just fun lines from sentimental country songs, that if I am completely honest, I really hope get crossed off.  Here are a few highlights:

One: Join the East Nasty Running Club: 

            I haven’t really mentioned it before, but on April 27^th I am running the St. Jude Music City Half Marathon. Throughout this semester, I have enjoyed training for this race with some of my favorite friends who also happen to be classmates. I am fascinated by the fact that I can (fairly) painlessly get my body to run 13.1 miles. Once the race is over, I want to continue what I’ve started, & the The East Nasty Running Club seems like the perfect way to do this. For my Fort Collins friends, East Nashville reminds me SO much of The Fort. Running through it is good for my heart in more than one way.

Two: Become a share holder with a local farm:

            I’ve had a long-standing vision of being a backyard chicken and vegetable farmer. Maybe it’s been instilled in my small town, Colorado soul, but I dream about walking into my back yard to collect eggs and fresh veggies each morning. The problem with now is I live in an apartment, in the city, & while I did entertain the thought of it here for a brief minute or so, doing this myself just isn’t going to fly. The good news is, I can reap the benefits of local farming, without doing it myself through community shared agriculture. Think what you might about the type of person who participates in a CSA, [& you’re probably correct] but this stuff is cool.

Here are the ones I’m checking out: Green Door Gourmet & Real Food Farms

Three: Watch the sunrise from Café Coco’s porch:

            It’s officially patio-sitting weather here in Nashville.  This place is open 24 hours & I have fallen in love with the people-watching, the vanilla Italian cream sodas, and strangely enough, the frequently failing internet that forces me to stop working for a bit to chat with my neighbors. I am excited for the conversations to be had on this porch.

Here’s to dreaming. 

-Laura

creations

Because I'm too tired to write about the fact that I graduated yesterday, 

[but it did, indeed, happen. More on that later]

Here is the third installment of some of the things 

I have done in the past week. 

Today's topic: 

creations. 

Besides having the bizarre experience of making a 

model of a Civil War train crash, 

I made a few things that 

I wanted to document.

one. 

[clementine candle]

This cute little thing 

burned for over an hour! 

here's how. 

two. 

[blackberry syrup, compote & granola]

[blackberries are SO CHEAP right now.]

three. 

[kale chips.]

I've made these before, but I  

am starting to think I could

persuade even the biggest veggie hater 

to change their mind.