Brown, black and Red- a love story

I don't know about you guys but I spotted a definite "trend" in my scrapbook pages for the last 10 years.
I love Red.
And I definitely prefer Kraft over white.
Black, Brown and Red make for striking imagery.

I have a whole socio-political theory for this preference.
There is a time and space for those ramblings but this ain't it.
I have no real way to articulate them properly.

I'll just show you my pages.

I love this Pink Paisley clear acetate alphabet so much I managed to buy it THREE times without noticing. Luckily it was 3 bucks a pop at Tuesday Morning my new favorite scrap haunt. I'd love to keep up with the latest lines but I simply can't justify the expense anymore. The background paper is another holdover from 2016 Crate Paper. 

I ended up stitching the danged letters into the page- a process that took TWO whole assed hours because this clear plastic alphabet doesn't like any glue that I had on hand- it either popped out of showed through- a big no no.

When we moved to Utah I didn't bring any furniture. I didn't pack much clothing. I didn't bring my Mac- something I deeply regret. 
I put my favorite paper bits, my negatives, photos and home decorations into 4x4 boxes and sent them over via railroad.
The stuff stayed boxed up for 4 years. 
We left everything behind. 
It took 4 years just to come back to a spot that felt familiar. We lived in a basement. Then the world's awfullest rental. 
Then we FINALLY bought a home.

I cannot put into words just how amazing it is to become a home owner.

Yes the taxes and the neighbors and the plumbing issue which is now your problem not the "Super's" - these are all hella stressful.
But I am an advocate for moving the HELL outta of cities. 
Find a place that speaks to you- a place with nature. A place with DIVERSITY- something Salt Lake deeply lacks but which can be found if you look. 
West ValleyCity is where it's my gente.
I have Temples to at least 5 different religions just blocks away from my home.
I found a Puerto Rican Plena group. We plan to learn. In Salt Lake City y'all.
Seek and find the "other".
We take up space everywhere.

Another page:

When living in a basement apartment you need to seek light or you WILL go crazy. We took road trips.
We saw many things and took up space in areas we were told we would meet with prejudice. Not so.
This is on the way to Great Basin National Park on one of the loneliest roads in America. Make sure your gas tank is full. Bring plenty of water and food. Watch for Butterflies. We spooked a flock of thousands and watched them take off in a cloud of yellow. Everyday magic.

The circles came from a Gauche Alchemy kit. The store is
 gone but I love the focus on using things that are already found.
Pretty sure the window privacy film is "non archival" but hey so is the color photo. 

I have no real answers. I'm not sure why I stick to this instead of expanding to Painting or Crochet or a dozen other cooler crafts.
Some people just love paper.
Some people just like to be outliers.
Join us or let us be.

Everyday is Halloween

Hello scrap happy people.

Today is the day before Valentines Day.
I never pay attention to this holiday because it's stressful. Wanna eat somewhere nice? Did ya book reservations? Wanna buy flower? Pay a premium.
Buy this. Buy that. Nothing which I would buy anyway.
I am not a chocolate lover.

My family just buys tacos from the local street vendor and watches a movie at home. The kid is always invited. She gets the heart shaped box because she is queen of our world.

One holiday I love and have started to spend big on is HALLOWEEN.

The movies. The colors!
The monsters.
The LIGHTS! The decor!
I love it all.

Some pages:

So this is American Crafts BOOtiful from 2016. That's how long I've held onto this paper. Sorry for the distracting hot spots I'm still very low tech with my cell phone and my window light.

For 2019 I wanted to do Witch's Night Out with the kid and my nice.
I never found an outfit that fit what I imagined in my head. I found a BALLGOWN on
Poshmark for 15 bucks. It is GORGEOUS!! Layers and glitter galore! Naturally Lola hates it and
she hated me for making her wear it in public. She's 10 now. No more dress up.
Let's take a moment to grieve.

This is Crate Paper's Hey Pumpkin. I just got 1 sheet of chipboard stickers and some of the papers.
The design for this collection was so simple and modern I had to have it even if it was no longer the it thing to use.

So dang CUTE! Orange, Yellow, Green  Teal, Purple, Silver and Black- Halloween is totally my kind of color palette.

In New York we would dress the kiddo up and buy her some candy. She was teeny and didn't want to be outside in the cold.

2012- Keep warm is the first rule.
She still cried when we took her out.

Utah is a whole different thing holiday-wise. The more suburban family oriented landscape means we have plenty of costume required events to attend so October is actually our busiest time of year as I try to fit everything I want to photograph every week.

Some photos:

2015 was supposed to be a sure fire winner- Sea Monster, Holographic, warm. NOPE.
She hated that the head kept flopping forward. Can you believe she wore this costume AGAIN this year?
I'd bought it 2 sizes too large. It didn't flop this time. Whew.

2017- wait- I DID get her a girly short sleeved costume. Little Red Riding Hood.
Made her wear her coat for the actual Trick or Treating and she got SO MAD.

2019- BuckBeak the Hippogriff. EXCELLENT CHOICE. 
Spent 3 weeks freaking out how we would recreate a HORSE with an Eagle face.
Found a Crow mask, painted it grey and gold. Found a wolf costume and
had her wear that with claws I made out of  craft foam. Kid next to her is best friend Harry-
the kid is kinda weird but he treats he well.

Dave made the wings out of card board ans paper plates. The wings actually FLAP- he used washers
on the joints so she could open the wings wide. This of course was not appreciated in school.
Her 6 foot wingspan played murder in the classroom.

 Then you have WitchFest which started as this small marketing event to get more shoppers to visit  Gardner Village in West Jordan. I cannot stress enough how amazing this event is. GO. More than once if you can. Especially on Witch Parade nights Friday and Saturday.
4pm in the afternoon has some of the most spectacular light I have ever seen anywhere.

The costume that started the WitchFest madness.
This 6 dollar thrift store costume fit so spectacularly I feel like I have to one up myself every year.
She really liked this because it was light, the hat was not too big
and she just tucked the dress into her jeans when it was done- the fabric is that thin..

2019 Kid and Niece. I buy the witch hats anywhere I find them. I prefer lots of layers, glitter, color and lace.
I come fully prepared with costume changes and money for snacks.
 The girls frown but I just keep taking photos until one of them does something smiley. 
If visiting in October Garner Village WitchFest is a MUST.

Kuwahara Pumkpin Patch is my absolute favorite.
Did YOU know there were smoke machines that ALSO made bubbles?
You you get smoke filled bubbles??? SO FREAKING AWESOME!!!!
Just don't let them pop in your eye- that is NOT a good thing.

This is Salt Lake City in late September. You should visit. You won't regret it.

It'd almost spring mi gente. Celebrate.

Buffalo Plaid Love with Echo Park

Hallo party people,

I'm just now coming down from the glow I got watching Jennifer Lopez and Shakira shake their middle aged thangs at the Super Bowl Half-Time Show.

Shock and absolute awe was my response... then I burst out crying outta sheer unadulterated pride.

Being Puerto Rican has been an exhausting roller coaster of emotion the last 2 years.

I have SO MANY THOUGHTS but I'm giving myself some time to decide if I need to write about it.

Let's go to our scrappy safe space shall we?
Crafting is my escape when the weather is too bananas to actually escape:

Echo Park's "Little Lumber Jack" is a collection intended for boys but my recent obsession with the pattern has spread to our wardrobe and holiday decor. It's very easy to match photos.

I saw the Echo Park Little Lumberjack Collection and fell instantly in love with the Black/White/Red Buffalo Plaid theme.
I've been redecorating for the holidays in plaid the last two years:

Christmas in my wanna-be FARM HOUSE- a post about that at some point- LOL.

Thanksgiving dinner. I couldn't find 84 inch long Plaid curtains- they are sold out everywhere!

 That Black & White check is everywhere so why not my pages?

Played around with painting the background but I'm still terrible at it.
I also can't stand the warping water causes on regular paper so it's a stencil and some pen work to the rescue.

The collection has a lot of small detail pieces and lots of graphic pop- I really love it.
Here I added a Smash Phrases flair from A Flair For Buttons on Etsy.

Still up to the same ol same ol- string all balled up because I can't be bothered to bring down my sewing machine and
sew on the page.
Pop dots to punch a banner out and this wonderful chipboard for this collection which I highly recommend for Girls. LUMBER JILLS UNITE!

Us annoying the easily vexed with matching jammies this Christmas in TEXAS of all places.
I spent half the time talking to family I hadn't seen in over 20 years or drinking with my sister who can
drink anyone under the table. Don't try her.

I'm still looking for Black/White check 84 long lined curtains. If you have suggestions where to find some, they are sold out everywhere, I'm all ears.

Hugs mi gente.
Stay strong. Stay positive.
Michelle

All The Things, Not Really

It's been 5 whole years since I last looked around this space.

Everything has changed- the paper crafts industry, how we communicate via Social Media, Politics (don't get me started). 

Most of my favorite scrappers have stopped fussy cutting and gluing paper.

I couldn't sit down long enough to do it myself. 

Who cares? I would ask.

But I still love paper and I still love taking photos. 

My family moved to Utah 9 years ago.

We struggled for a while trying to get our footing on a vastly different cultural landscape.

We bought a new computer so I could get back into the swing of things but I relied on someone who made many promises about his tech skills- he promptly deleted all the photos on my old Mac hard drive. 

Flickr became a paid space and I lost most of my digital archive.

On and on.

Thank goodness I got into scrapbooking and had many photos printed.

This is why the hobby is valuable. 

No need to make it stressful. 

I don't have an amount of pages I need to get done or an amount of photos I need to get into an album. I just take it one project at a time.

Some pages from like 3 to 4 years ago:

The kid is now in 4th grade. 😁

This we REALLY LOVE now: Camping and National Parks
You're gonna get a see a lot written about both.

Utah is seriously beautiful. Brooklyn is exciting, current and beautiful but the quiet of the desert and the sight of fresh snow on the Wasatch Mountains has totally done me in.

And I picked up another long term expensive & totally engrossing hobby:

Gardening

This was last Summer's final harvest after a full season of frustration.
Between bugs, too cold, too hot, too much water then no water for three months I was glad to get this.
Gardening is not for the Pessimistic.

The kid:

Then

Now

So that's the update. I'l be checking in more often now. 

Maybe I'll even pick up some new web design skills so I can update this page. 

Watch this space!

Great Salt Lake Park Marina is currently growing salt crystal formations usually only seen in Mars or Antarctica.
So go see them.

Michelle.

Inspiration Elevator Challenge- scrappy layers

Our main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves, each other and YOU to take the creative process to the next level;  to inspire growth and change in our scrapbooking beyond the mundane.
You can see all of Inspiration Elevator's previous challenges at on Facebook .

 This month's challenge is issued by the creative Katherine Sutton. Katharine has a fabulous, eclectic style where she showcases all kinds of mediums and keeps the focus on her great photos. This month she has a warm seasonal challenge for us. Here it is in her own words:

" 'cos Autumn is all about layers of leaves and layers of jumpers (in the northern hemisphere) I would like to challenge you to add lots of layers to your page....this could be layers of paints, inks, stamps, papers, glassine paper, acetate....lots of lovely layers."

 My page started as a mass of pop dot clusters all over the page but I realized I wanted a more clean look because I wanted to display this page in my office..

Papers, die cuts and chipboard are all Crate Paper. Flair is from A Flair For Buttons on Etsy.

I lost my precious iPod Touch a couple of weeks back so I had very little material to work with.
Thankfully a friend who lost her entire photo library last year (THE HORROR!!!) convinced me to back-up everything up into iCloud so my photos are safe.
I just don't have access to them till I buy a new Mac device and since I refuse to pay outrageous data charges or buy a new iTouch with an inferior camera it's gonna be a while before I can print my pix.

Die cuts are the easy way to create layers. 

We encourage you to check out each designer's creation this month: here's a complete list of this month's participating designers!

 Katherine Sutton

Lisa Moen

Lisa Speigel

Ann Jobes

Michelle Hernandez 

Jayne Morgan

Christa Uttley 

Wendy Robinson

Why not give the challenge a try yourself? Then pop by our Facebook page and share with us what you created!

I have a second back up- Flickr. So this fall photo is safe.

Thanks for swinging by!

Inspiration Elevator Challenge- Scrapping loss

This week's Inspiration Elevator theme- surviving loss really speaks to me.

As scrapbookers, journalists in our own lives, image creators via social media, we often forgo
getting real for keeping things light and positive.
There's something to be said for that, after all, those who love you already know your trials.

But talking publicly about what's really happening in your life is also a fantastic means for catharsis. And for finding out how you really feel.
Sometimes the most important stories are the saddest.
Those are the stories that show personal heroism and tenacity- true character.

Journaling, photographing, getting creative with talking about the hard times helps me immensely.
The main benefit is in helping me work out how I truly feel.
It keeps the negative inner talk to a minimum and helps me gain perspective.
Most importantly, it makes those little moments most precious.

As usual, I worked on this late at night so my lighting for the photo is way off- my apologies.
My page is about my marriage. Lately our communication has been fraught with negativity.
I wonder about the nature of our bond, is it strong enough to withstand all the external frustration we feel in our current economic and housing situation?
 Am I doing all I can to keep it strong? Could I lose the central relationship in my life?
That second questions scares me because I've always thought my marriage was strong.
I waited a very long time and made sure I was emotionally ready for the marathon.
My page isn't about loss.
It's about the fear losing something precious engenders.
I realized love doesn't change in a relationship but it can take second place over ever changing challenges if you let it.
I won't let it. And I made a page to remind myself.

Our main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves, each other and YOU to take the creative process to the next level;  to inspire growth and change in our scrapbooking beyond the mundane.
You can catch us on Facebook  and share your creations there; we'd love to see how we have inspired you!

This month we are thrilled to welcome back as a guest designer with our team, the artistic and genteel, Scarlett Salomone. Her creative works are as lovely as she is!

This month's challenge is issued by the talented Wendi Robinson. Her first time to issue a challenge for IE and it's a great one! Here is her challenge in her own words:

LOSS... One thing we as scrapbookers do is post about lots of happy things, wonderful moments, things that make us smile, and things we want to remember. Too many times we avoid scrapping the not so memorable, or sad times. Most of us have experienced a loss of some kind, whether is be a loved one- sometimes it's expected, sometimes the loss comes too soon and unexpected. Other times we lose a pet, a job, feel like we've failed at a situation, or loss of a friendship. This time, let's scrap those harder moments that come into our lives. Scrap about a LOSS of some kind.

Wendi Robinson

Katherine Sutton

Lisa Moen

Ann Jobes

Guest Designer: Scarlett Salamone

Wonderful challenge Wendi!
Swing by the blogs and see what the other designers have done to represent their personal challenges and triumphs.

I hope you are inspired and take a swing at the challenge for yourself.
Remember- little moments matter

Guess which pre-schooler is mine?

Inspiration Elevator- public display scrapbook challenge

Welcome to another month of Inspiration Elevator!

Our main purpose here at IE is to challenge ourselves, each other and YOU to take the creative process to the next level;  to inspire growth and change in our scrapbooking beyond the mundane.

You can see all of Inspiration Elevator's previous challenges at our blog and catch us on Facebook and Instagram (soon!) too.

This month's challenge is issued by the innovative Michelle Hernandez. Michelle's style is about telling the story with a clean and simple, yet artsy approach, an awareness of current trends, and garnished with her use of chipboard and often neutral colours.

Here is her challenge for us, in her own words:

The challenge for June 15th is- make a public scrapbook page. You are making a page to go up at work or to give away to a family member to put up in their space. In your blog post you will tell us how knowing this page isn't going in a book or in your home changed your style. Did you go all out and make something that is 3D? Did you suppress your love of a particular color or product? How do you feel about the page being public- outside your regular audience of scrapbook lovers who read your blog or open your books at home?



Sorry for the fuzzy page- I work off my ipop and apparently Blogger doesn't like
whatever programing language ipods use to display images.

When I thought up this challenge I had several family portrait projects in mind. Working on those made me realize how much my style changes when i'm working for someone else.

I tend to keep my palette low contrast and light.  I also stay away from messy techniques and mediums because I assume most people don't want a page with lots of paint spatter or wonky layers.

I made this for a co-worker who loves the color blue. Yes, I know.

I wanted to keep design time to an hour so I used a single collection pack and made my layers neat so she wouldn't mind putting it up in her cubicle. 



My co-worker's cubicle is full of photos. She really liked her page- it's very different from her style
but she assured me that was a good thing. WHEW!

I used the Twenty 3 collection from Cosmo Cricket- arguably one of the most challenging color combos I've ever come across- orange, pink, mustard yellow and grey. Or as far away from blue as possible.

This page will match our office decor and hopefully be quiet enough to allow her to use any horizontal 4x6 family photo. I plan to make a second page for her in her favorite color but that will come later- picking and matching items is what usually takes me hours to decide.

Here's a complete list of this month's participating designers!  We encourage you to check out each designer's creation this month, then come on back and give the challenge a try yourself!

                                                                Michelle Hernandez

Jayne Morgan

Wendi Robinson

                                                                  Katherine Sutton

Lisa Moen

Lisa Spiegel

Ann Jobes

Guest Designerchristyriopel.blogspot.ca- Christy Riopel 

We have a couple of regular artists taking a summer hiatus and look forward to the return of Joanne Burton and Christa Uttley in the fall.

Meantime, if you've wanted to participate as a guest designer with Inspiration Elevator, just contact team lead, Ann at ann jobes at bell dot net. 
 

Now it's your turn to get creating about art you share publicly, and share your blog link at the IE blog. We would love to see what you were inspired to make! 

Thanks for swinging by!

Michelle

A Flair For Buttons Scrapbook extraveganza!

Hello and welcome to the A Flair For Buttons Blog Hop!!

I'm so excited to be part of this team.

I genuinely love Shelley's flair- the color- the variety of designs and themes.

I love to add the word flair as part of a title or layering patterned ones to add pop to an otherwise flat page.

A Flair For Buttons Script Words Flair - Bright and Funky Flair
I used American Crafts die cuts, wood veneer and enamel dots from Cocoa Daisy kits and
paper from Crate's "DYI"collection which I bought for 5 bucks at TJ Maxx.

I love this pre-school portrait photo. Not sure Lola's 12 year old self will agree but I still love it.
A Flair For Buttons flair- Chalkboard School Days flair, and one of my all time most favorite sets ever
Paper Airplane Flair.
I love that fox sweater from Gymboree! Only now do I realize the Fox and Owl flair would have been perfect for this!

It's been great being part of this team for the last 2 years. 

Thanks Shelley for being so supportive!

On to creations by the rest of the team!

Erica Weinstock

Michelle Hernandez

Joy Taylor 

Mary Ann Maldonado

Ashli Oliver

Diane Payne

Els Brige

Sherri Funk

Daniela Dobson

{a flair for buttons}

Have a great weekend!

Michelle

Inspiration Elevator- Scrapping those Selfies

Ah the maligned selfie.

I've dropped quite a few Instagram accounts because the content is almost all "selfie".
Not just selfie which can be totally fun
but exposed tatas selfie.
Or duck face selfie.
Neither says anything genuine- or rather it says entirely too much- all negative.

I think women should fully own their image.
As story tellers it's crucial, we wield the camera and write down the details.
If we don't make sure to turn that camera around once in a while we will be invisible in our own story.
Regardless how we currently feel about our physical state, our children enjoy seeing us smile and celebrating life.
It sets a good example to love ourselves as we are.
Even better- it measures how far we've come when we've decided to change something.

This month's Inspiration Elevator challenge is- take a selfie!

I like scrapping selfies because they make the creative process easier.
I can focus on my current feelings or on a story I want to tell- not on trying to find matching embellishments for a theme page.

The page below was all about my feelings on moving.
I had some really cool chipboard and a neon pink Jet Blue luggage tag but that's it.
I could have used some travel themed printed items but since my feelings were mixed up this seemed more appropriate.

Scrap FX tags and chipboard. I used the PhotoBooth app to make a strip but since that's hard to print without
Photoshop and a home printer I made it into a 4x4 on Instagram and used my local Walgreen's for the print.

 What is Inspiration Elevator?

The purpose of the Inspiration Elevator challenge group is to take our scrapbooking to the next level, to stretch our creative process and to mature as artists by embracing challenges that make us think, work and grow.

You can view all of the challenges at the Inspiration Elevator Blog. 

This month we are celebrating our anniversary with a BLOG HOP!

So be sure to hop from blog to blog below as some of our designers are offering prizes! We also welcome Katherine Sutton as a guest designer to Inspiration Elevator! Katharine has Guest Designed for us and her fabulous style will inspire you to take your scrapbooking to a new level!

Now for our Challenge:

It's a 2-part challenge since it's created by Christa and Ann!

The first part of the challenge is to use a selfie. We are all a part of social media to some extent, so selfies are everywhere. "Call it another trend in narcissism, or call it art, but the "selfie" has become a mainstay of our virtual identity." 
Here are a couple articles for taking a good selfie, if this makes you uncomfortable (as it does for me - A)
http://www.bustle.com/articles/7142-how-to-take-a-selfie-pro-photographers-give-us-all-their-best-self-portrait-secrets
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-tuttlesinger/six-tips-on-how-to-rock-a_b_3750316.html

The second part of the challenge is this: 
This month we'd like you to share something about scrapbooking. It could be why you scrapbook, what you love best, what you get out of it, your most amazing experience or, where you see your craft/hobby/art in the future. 


Remember to hop around to the other blogs and see what out designers have created and what prizes are up for grabs! (Be sure to read the instructions as each designer has her own requirements to win!)

 Ann Jobes
Christa Uttley
 Joanne Burton 

Lisa Moen  

Cathy Harper  

Lisa Spiegel 

Michelle Hernandez 
Katherine Sutton

I hope you feel inspired to play along with our challenge this month, and when you do, please share it using the linky tool on our Inspiration Elevator blog and/or our Inspiration Elevator Facebook page. We'd LOVE to see what you made!

This is totally about my new haircut. Taken 2013.

Have a great week!
Michelle

Saying no to the Mommy Wars. And a scrapbook page.

****POST HAS BEEN EDITED TO REFLECT FURTHER THOUGHT ON THIS MATTER.****

My poor neglected blog. 
It's been a very long while since I felt I wanted to write anything. 

For Get It Scrapped- Scrapping with trendy scrip font elements.
Photo by my brother in law Luis Martinez.
A Flair For Buttons The Good Life button, Water color paper, #6 round brush, Ranger Dylusions ink spray, My Mind's Eye enamel dots.

Currently, I'm inspired by the working Mom flap caused by Ms.Gwyneth Paltrow, consistent provider of  "Let them eat cake" bon mots.

Case in point- In an E! News interview:

 "It’s much harder for me, I think it’s different when you have an office job, because it’s routine 

and you can do all the stuff in the morning and then you come home in the evening. 

When you’re shooting a movie, they’re like, ‘We need you to go to Wisconsin for two weeks,’ 

and then you work 14 hours a day and that part of it is very difficult."

"I think to have a regular job and be a mom is not as, of course there are challenges, 

but it’s not like being on set," 

What the what?

Are we seriously comparing a voluntary million dollar temporary contract (negotiated by someone else) to a 9 to 5 job?  
When she has live-in child care? 
And a personal assistant? (several actually)

Or how about THIS one:

“I am who I am. I can’t pretend to be somebody who makes $25,000 a year.”

Dear Gwen- no one's asking you to pretend anything (although- it's your JOB.) 
Just, you know, get a freaking clue.

I remember a conversation I had with a friend a while back. 
She was very unhappy because she had to leave her 4 month old to go back to a job she detested.
Her job was creative and paid her enough to cosign on a mortgage to a home she loved. 
Her Mom and husband where pitching in to care for their new baby as both had flexible schedules.

Ever the sensitive and understanding friend I said:
Why don't you just quit that job?
Lol- what an idiot I am.

This was certainly NOT what I should have said (a listening ear is what she needed.) 
But
But but but
I wonder if that isn't a bit of tough love for a friend I admire and worry over.
Constantly carrying that much anxiety around is bad for anyone.

If something makes you that unhappy, why not switch things up?
This was my point but you know- my brain failed to provide those actual words.

The conversation went onto some pretty uncomfortable truths.
That's what real friends do- tell you the truth.

Like when she said my not working for 3 years was a 'luxury".

I hadn't "left work". 
Revelation!
I was fired (woo that's the first time I ever admit THAT out loud in public!) 

But screw it- I can only run from my past for so long.
Hello? Living in Utah- I ran FAR.

So I became a stay at home Mom. 
I was pretty happy.. and a little bored because Lola didn't talk- or really MOVE much.. so I started this blog.

Then I became a low wage earning full-time working Mom.
No sad words from me on this state of constant compromise- it's just what I have to do.

Neither qualifies as a first choice.

But I grew into both my roles. 

I thanked my lucky stars for my "work break" and for the utterly random jobs that came after.

This journey has allowed me to see myself as more than a professional failure.

Being a Mom has allowed me to see there are many "wins" in life. 
Frankly some are more important than others.

I have SEEN, FELT and LIVED the financial bottom- what scared me most.

It's not scary anymore.

I won't be shamed.

But imagine if I had Gwinnie's horrible soul destroying job....

Schedules that change so I know this 14 hours a day work week isn't forever!
Frequent travel! 
Kissing Robert Downey Jr. without causing marital strife!
(Wait- maybe not. "Conscious uncoupling" and all that)
People to help with house cleaning, cooking and babysitting! 
And the kicker?
When working, all that help is paid for by my employer who's got a jumbo insurance policy covering my health and staff to ensure I am happy so I actually finish the job.

I imagine I would be pretty sad indeed- while I play in my air conditioned personal trailer with my kids in between takes.

Oh the agony.

You know what helps  depression about staying at home all day? Not actually staying at home all day. My rule was breakfast, clean everything in 1 hour if it doesn't get done OH WELL! then get on out till dinner time.
Needless to say I lost some weight.... and ate a lot of pizza for dinner. 

Hmmmm.. I wonder what Blythe Danner thinks about all this.

Perhaps we should blame YOU Blythe? (or not! That's just MORE Mommy bashing!)

There you were- a working Mom in the 70's. 
You bring up your daughter to the best of your ability- (with hired help of course).
Your daughter makes no apologies and lives quite happily thank you.
She is strong. 
She is successful- even if totally oblivious.

That's motherhood.
No simple choices.
No easy answers or the guarantee of healthy well-adjusted adult children.
It's a lot of risk, a lot of judgement calls, and many many tests.
Somehow joy STILL manages to sneak in there!
And hope!
And laughter!

There will be dilemmas, drama, constant worry and pain no matter what you do.

In the words of a certain movie Moms love (and dread- due to incessant viewings)
Let. It. Go.

Stop killing yourself over your choices- your 'mistakes" (your blessings in disguise)- your past- your imagined future.

There is only 
NOW
Right now.

Stop comparing yourself.
Stop comparing others and spreading negativity.
Stop the complaint sessions where no solutions are sought. 
Don't get addicted to the negative
as I have.

Motherhood is the best job a woman can have. 
(In my opinion- I haven't tried being a blonde 130 pound,  6 foot movie star yet)

But it's not the ONLY job a woman should or could have.
Motherhood has a million iterations.

Why do we try so hard to find fault with that?
We must demand everyone get comfortable with the variety.

Gwyneth is.
Comfortable, that is.

She's all over the place in her happiness and delight.
She talks about hanging out with Beyonce! 
She eats squid sauteed in squid ink with famous tv chefs!
She calls her divorce whatever it takes to make it sound enyoyable and holistic.

She defines her own reality and gets on with living her life- beautifully.

Don't hate on her.
Call her on her silliness. She deserves it (and ignores it- that's why she's so freaking happy)

Most of all get cracking.
Make some happiness.

It's YOUR turn.

Hugs mi gente,
Michelle