Welcome to my corner of the world. I'm so glad you're here. Join me in a conversation about how we build a bridge between daily life and the life we're longing for. As you explore, you'll discover stories, some of my favorite things, a whole lot of love, and perhaps even join me in a little lip syncing. Learn more about me right here.
Bowls of heart pocket talismans have been gathering in the studio filled with the words and phrases kindred spirits are holding close this year. What is your word? You can find the talismans right here.
When we moved into our house 12 years ago, I was a big fan of Trading Spaces. And sage green. I'd never owned a home before or painted a wall. I carefully chose the living room color to match my couch (a color called mochachino) and a happy yellow for the kitchen because it has a deep blue tiled counter. But the rest of the house I just went with what I liked.
Which is how I ended up with a minty green bedroom that didn't look like sage at all with a deep purple Trading Spaces inspired accent wall.
And I pretty much hated it for 12 years.
The wall was supposed to be kind of like a headboard. But I didn't measure and it turned out that when the furniture got there the bed and nightstands didn't work on that wall.
Ooof.
If I had to do it all over again, I would have stopped as soon as the first wall started to dry and said, "wait! I don't like this color." Because it wasn't sage at all and I knew I would't love sleeping in that room.
But I didn't say that. Because we were only going to live there a couple of years. And then 12 passed by and we never repainted.
It's now this really gorgeous gray and I hope the people who will buy this house and make it there own magical home feel serenity in that room.
Of course this is more than just a story about paint colors. It's really about listening to your gut and asking for help and the ways we get trapped into old stories and how sometimes the change we need is right in front of us but we just can't seem to shift enough to make it happen.
My new house is painted in shades of blue that feel like an invitation to take a deep breath. I went about choosing colors in a totally different way. And some might say there's too much blue. But gosh I feel at home.
But that's not really the story either.
It's really about how sometimes it takes 12 years of stuckness to realize you've been free all along.
The stories are stacking up inside me, and instead of thinking about all that I should be sharing or what this blog should look like now that I've got a bright shiny new website coming out, I just want to share some of the little snippets of stories that I'm trying to catch. Like this one, shared over on Instagram earlier this week.
It's my last day in my 30s and I woke up with questions for my grandmother. I've lived a decade plus of birthdays without her voice singing in my ear. I've lived more than a decade of mornings unable to call her to say all the things.
So I walked around my yard this morning, like she did every day at her South Carolina home, and checked out the new growth. Letting in the crazy beauty that is this life.
And if I could, I'd call her and say:
I think these might be big purple blooms whenever they're ready. And the little pink guys, like the neighbor's have, are hanging in there. I want to plant a butterfly bush to invite in your hummingbirds. Mom says she thinks the two little ones under the maple are peonies and we've got to move them when it's not so hot because they don't get any sun. Imagine if I have peonies? The noise from the busy road is loud this morning. All those people zooming to work. I'm in the studio alone today. Writing and making a few things. It's a good life over here, even when it feels upside down. You'd love the light in this house. Might even change your mind about this part of the country. And oh how you'd love the energy and wit of the six year old living here. Gosh I miss you like crazy.
Join me this summer for another round of the InnerExcavate-along! We start Monday, June 27th!
It's the read-along meets create-along six-week journey into my book Inner Excavation.
It's my way of helping you take my book off of your shelf and actually work through it so you can get all the juicy goodness and learning you can out of it. Yes!
All you need is the book, the course itself is FREE! We'll share our stories and what we're creating and finding in a private Facebook group.
And for a limited time, Inner Excavation is just $16 plus shipping (list price $24.99). You can find it right here in my shop and then sign up for the read-along below.
I hope you'll join me and invite some friends to come along.
A Little More About the Book
In Inner Excavation, I gathered up many of my favorite ways to unearth pieces of who you are using the mediums of poetry, photography, and mixed media.
This book is really about using self-portraits to tell our stories.
Through the prompts and examples in this book, you'll be inspired to take photos of the everyday beauty around you (and even turn the camera on yourself), find the poet inside you, play with the art supplies you probably already have in your home, and take time to seek stillness in your daily life.
Most importantly, you will explore new ways to dig deeper into the stories just waiting inside you.
How the Inner Excavate-along Works
Each week you'll receive 3-4 emails from me that follow along with the chapters. I've chosen one prompt to dive deeper inside each week, and you can play along with that one or choose the one that speaks to you the most from that chapter. I share some more words about the chapter and my take on the prompt I've chosen to explore. There are videos that I recorded during the first round of this course a couple of years ago, and the course also includes some updates from when I played along last summer. And of course, there will be some new surprises along the way as we journey through it together again.
Simple art supplies if you'd like to play with the art prompts in the book (here's a peek at what I took into my dig site last year)
How to sign up:
First you need the book. After you have the book in your hands, all you need to do is sign up below. (And after the course is over, you'll receive my (almost) weekly newsletter about more adventures in telling our stories and creative self-care, which you can unsubscribe from at any time.)
If you signed up last year and want to come along, you'll need to sign up again.
Be sure to take the time to confirm you signed up via the confirmation email you'll receive from me via MailChimp. This step is really important or you won't receive the course emails.
To answer a few questions I've received:
Is this only for people who buy the book from you now?
If you already have the book you are invited to come along! I'm so delighted to have those of you who have had my book from the very beginning join us. You can also check my book out from your local library and you might even find a copy at a used bookstore. You can also buy Inner Excavation online at Amazon and other online bookstores.
What supplies do I need?
I've listed a few above, but all you really need is a notebook and your curiosity and an open heart. You could just work through the writing prompts. You could use your phone to have fun with the photography prompts. And you could take simple art supplies like crayons and colored pencils and magazines to dive into the art prompts.
Let this be simple.
I will share supply resources as I share my own responses to the prompts along with a brief supply list of items I'm carrying with me into my dig site.
Do I really need the book?
We'll be reading through the book together, so the stories being shared and prompts people will be responding to in our Facebook group are all in the book. They won't be listed somewhere else.
And, there's an energy exchange here that is really important to me (and hopefully is to you too). Meaning, I gathered up all these juicy prompts and shared stories in the book and asked a few artists to join me, and I put them all together in a book that I'm holding out to you right from my heart. And now I'm inviting you to come along and dive into it all with me in a private Facebook group where I'll be holding space and cheering you on. So yes, the course is free, but having a copy of the book from whatever means works for you feels right to me. If you don't have the book and don't plan to get a copy, this course really isn't for you.
What if I'm traveling during the course?
The awesome thing about this course is that the emails arrive in your inbox and you can work with them whenever you have time. So you really don't get behind, you just go through the course at your pace. The Facebook group will remain open indefinitely, so you can share and connect whenever you want to.
I signed up but I haven't received any emails yet. What's going on?
Your first email should come within hours after you sign up. If it hasn't arrived, be sure to check your promotions folder. Often course emails appear in different folders in your inbox, so be sure to watch for it there. Also check spam and even do a quick search for my name to see if your email is hiding somewhere. Because so many of us check our email on our phones, often it's been accidentally deleted or archived. Also, if you use a plugin like unroll.me, you might not receive the emails due to your settings, so be sure to check them.
Why is the course free?
One of my biggest hopes is to help women get out of this loop: Buying more "stuff" and ecourses and books to help them tell their stories and live their dreams only to watch them get overwhelmed and not actually do the "stuff" they want to do.
This is my way of saying, "Let's take one of the books off of our shelves and really dive into it in community and see what we find. Let's get out of the gathering of ideas phase and actually get to the doing. Let's hold hands as we go so we can gently hold each other accountable and help one another push throug the hard moments." It's my way of helping you build a bridge from your daily life to more really good days.
This post is sponsored and part of my ongoing collaboration with eBay.
Over here, we've had so many blue sky days that it's been easy to start dreaming about summer. And I'm so excited to be thinking about spending summer days in the backyard of our new home.
One of my favorite things about summer is the way time seems to slow down, at least on some days, as Ellie and I gather up our favorite vintage quilts and beads and watercolors and crayons and hang out in the backyard just being together creating.
And then there's the color! From the fruit and veggies bursting at the farmer's market to the flowers to the clothes I'm drawn to wear, there is also so much color in this corner of the world that can sometimes seem like it's just gray and green.
I can't wait!
I've been collecting ideas for all the ways I want to transform our backyard into an oasis and put some of them together in a guide over on eBay that you can read right here. I hope it inspires you to write your own guide and enter it for the next theme in the Be the Blogger contest (read on).
Be the Blogger Theme 2: Getting Summer-Ready
The Be the Blogger contest is your opportunity to write and share your own eBay guides just like I've been doing for over a year now. You have until June 1 to create a guide all about this theme of Getting Summer-Ready.
Some ideas to get you started with your own brainstorming:
Share about the ways you get ready for summer
Gather up some of your favorite ideas for a party to kick off summer
Write up some tips about how to handle the changes in schedule for your family in the summer
Share your favorite go-to summer products and favorite things
Visit the Be the Blogger Contest page and check out all the juicy details and fine print. You will submit your guide on that page too, and be sure to choose my name as the blogger you follow when you submit because I'll be choosing the winner and will highlight the winner's guide on Pinterest to my 3.7 million followers.
Check out my first post about the contest with more tips right here.
Most of the answers to your questions about how to enter can be found on the Be the Blogger Contest page and in the Terms and Conditions found there. Remember to also read my guide on How to Create an eBay guide for more tips and answers to questions. I look forward to reading all of your guides!
And note that I'll announce the Theme 1 winner soon. Stay tuned! And eBay will be in touch as well.
Last year, I tried to articulate why they affect me: "These huge heavy bursting blooms are an access point to wonder, to that unwavering truth that spring comes again even when our hearts try to convince us it won't."
This year, I find myself just whispering, "Yes, yes" whenever I walk by them in my new house.
liz lamoreux
