This space is on hold for a bit. In the meantime, come visit me at curate the day for new posts!

The weekend started with Starry Night and ended dancing under the stars at one am, around a huge oak tree, with a group of my favorite women. So. Much. Fun.

The creativity began on Friday night with the long awaited, preschool art show. The kids and teachers worked so hard preparing for the show and were really excited. The class had studied different artists, techniques and styles of art and photography. The Warhol study was probably my favorite. The wall of pictures, each carefully hand painted by the kids was stunning. The teachers told us about all the time they spent working on each project with the kids and how much they loved it. Really, what is more inspiring than creating art with kids! Another favorite, we when studying Matisse’s paper collages towards the end of his life, the kids learned that he was bedridden and had assistants assembling each of his collages according to his directions. In order to properly study his work, the teachers had each child lay on a cot, with a beret and glasses on of course, and direct their “assistant” to place the cut piece where they wanted it on the paper. A fantastic experience for them and the pictures of each child during the process were adorable.

After the show, I was off to my annual women’s retreat which was a perfect combination of relaxed, energized, creative and moving. Our theme for the retreat was Dreamcatchers: Achieving Your Life Vision. We cooked, ate, drank, talked, made dreamcatchers, painted t-shirts, hiked and ran wildly through open fields. We discussed our reoccurring dreams, daydreams throughout our life and creating a life vision. And then we danced. Late into the night. There is something incredible about coming together with the same group of people year after year, that really anchors your life. It is a measure of time and allows you to have witnesses, a step back from your daily life, that really see you and watch your life and dreams unfold. Do you have a vision for your life? Is it something you have written down and refer to? Have you made one with your children? I haven’t yet, but I would love to write down their dreams for the future at each year of their life. Do you enjoy helping other people achieve their dreams? I would love to hear it all! xx

Summer is here and the days are lazy. Well, sort of. Life is never that lazy with four kids in a house and skyping with programmers in the Ukraine, but we did do a lot of relaxing, eating and drinking.  It seems like everywhere I looked people were on vacation. It’s in the air and it’s good. We had a perfect long family weekend. Now it’s home, unpacking and back to work. Hope the week is good, everyone.

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I tend to do things in my own time, when I am ready versus necessarily when I am supposed to. For example, I am notoriously late in giving birthday presents. I have a hard time getting creative on demand and if nothing strikes me, I don’t just want to give to give, so I often wait and give when I see something special, albeit months later. Well, mother’s day came and went and while I was showered by the girls with sweetness and I thoroughly enjoyed it, I didn’t necessarily have any revelatory feeling of motherness on that day. But, I did today.

Another women’s half yearly sale at Nordstrom has rolled around again, I found myself happily shopping this afternoon. While there, I need to visit the ladies lounge. Nordstrom didn’t seem that packed, but of course, the restroom was. I was waiting in line watching the scene of strollers and women going in and out and I was struck with one of those time-stopping moments of clarity and perfection. I watched as a mom pushed her stroller in one stall while another stroller was coming out. A grandmother was washing hands with her two grandchildren, business women scooted by in heels and coming down the center, in the midst of it all, a doctor dressed in her deep blue scrubs was maneuvering around all the strollers and women. It was one of those moments when you see life so clearly, so beautifully. And I struck by how as women, we are at the center of it all. We raise kids, we negotiate deals, we heal the sick, we create families, we are bonded together.

Arriving home from a work event tonight, I read a few tweets from the Women Who Tech e-conference today. Two inspiring quotes from the day: “ROI increases by 62% for all companies with more women in management” and “Female-led startups increased in revenue by 12% in 2011 (male-led stayed flat).”

Good going girls!

A stack of leftover wood + a child’s imagination = backyard art installation and hours of fun