Sunday Gratitude: Day Trip to Monticello

As they say in these parts, it's pronounced Mon-ti-SELL-o, not Mon-ti-CHELL-o, as in Thomas Jefferson's historic home in Charlottesville, VA. One of my girls and I spent the day in the Florida version, spelled just like Jefferson's Monticello, about 30 minutes east of Tallahassee, antiquing for a girls day out yesterday. 

I grew up poking through antique shops with my Mama, Nana, and great Aunt Livy, and that has stuck with me to this day. When I'm traveling for work, I make time to stop into one or two of several spots up and down I-75 and a couple over on I-95 to stretch my legs and see what I can find. I don't really hunt for anything specific - I just like to be open to random discoveries - though there are a few things that will always catch my eye: vintage or antique books that I can deconstruct and create a new life for; landscape paintings featuring beaches, streams or woods you'd likely see in the South; nice baskets; and vintage globes. My girls tell me I'm no longer allowed to bring home any more vintage globes (I have at least a dozen at this point), but what did one of them grab to help decorate their apartment? Yes, one of my globes!

Our favorite "shop" of the day was definitely Penny Lane Emporium, and we purchased several things there, including two gorgeous vintage cross-stitch pieces that needed to be rescued (I know the work that goes into those well!). But one of the coolest things we stumbled across in Monticello was a building itself, not it's contents. It's an antique store called Vintage Treasures. I've looked up the address trying to find some history on the building but couldn't find any (and if you are reading this from Monticello, please do tell!). The first floor felt like your typical "antique mall" setting with various booths spread throughout. But walk up those super rickety, steep stairs on the right side, and pop out on the second floor! It wasn't nearly as curated as the first floor. It had all sorts of things just randomly laying about. The floor was also a bit slanted and reminded me of a fun house in Maggie Valley, North Carolina's, Ghost Town in the Sky I visited as a child. And when we walked into the second large space upstairs, it was filled wall to wall with paintings. Liv and I very much felt like we were being watching, and there was definitely a weird vibe in the air. Wandering out of the haunted painting room, we ended up along the street front side of the building with all these huge, glorious windows that let in the most amazing light. In those rooms were a mix of graffiti and antiques, again not very curated, but just super cool. I took quite a few more photos in addition to what I've shared here as the light truly was magical. And you could really see the age of the building on the walls and windows along that front side. 

We stopped in for a coffee in the most adorable little coffee shop called CowHaus Coffee Company before deciding we had enough time left in the day to hop back in the car and run the 30 minutes over to Havana for some more poking around. A couple months ago, my girls and I did a full day trip antiquing, going from Tallahassee down to Webb's on I-75 just south of Lake City (but of course not before stopping into the buy-one-get-three-free boot shop at the same exit), Antique Emporium on I-75 just south of Gainesville, then Dixie J's on 27 in Williston off I-75 north of Ocala before heading back up to Tallahassee. They both said, "This full day of antiquing is not for wimps!" We have our usual favorite haunts in Jacksonville and Fernandina when we are home there as well. I'm so grateful that my girls inherited the love of poking through antique shops that I inherited from my Mama, Nana, and Aunt Livy. It's fun to share those things and discover our own little favorites. How about you? Have any fun antique shopping stories?      

When You Know You Need a Break ...

I've been in serious need of a mental health day, so the fam and I took a day to drive up to Providence Canyon State Park in Lumpkin, Georgia, to explore yesterday. It's a very cool place! Other than making jokes about being a medically diagnosed dizzy blonde, I don't normally share my health struggles, but I decided to share this in the event it helps someone.

First, menopause is no joke. (Men, please read that again... menopause is no joke.) I've been battling some side effects for a couple years now. I'm currently six weeks to the day into a maddening case of 24/7 tinnitus (the medical term for ringing in the ears.) I've had inner ear issues most of my life (which is what causes my vertigo), and I've just assumed the tinnitus is related to my ear damage, but I've also recently read it can be a side effect of menopause. Whatever the cause, it's hit me really hard.

I'm normally a naturally positive, glass-is-half-full kind of girl, but I have been truly struggling with this, and I hit a pretty low spot last week. Sleep is very hard to come by with a constant ringing in your ears, and lack of sleep compounds so many other things. For me, it's heightened my vertigo issues and caused a shingles flair up. My worst night was this past Tuesday when I got maybe a total of two hours of sleep. At one point, I remember thinking that, wow, I think I understand how my mother made the decision she did to end her life. Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the least bit having those types of thoughts about my own life, but just the idea that I understood that thought scared the hell out of me.

After a good pretty breakdown with a very dear friend over lunch and my husband later in the day on Wednesday, I called my doctor and got in to see him on Thursday. We talked a LONG time about a lot of things, and I've got several issues going on. Challenge is in determining the old chicken and the egg. My blood pressure was very high for me ... which could be causing the tinnitus which likely is causing the shingles flare up (for me, normally stress induced) and amping up my usual vertigo issues. Or all those things and having a conversation about things that are difficult to talk about may be increasing my blood pressure. Either way, he's put me on a blood pressure med, a mild anti-depressant and triple my normal valtrex maintenance dose for my shingles to knock the flare up back down. I see an ENT specialist Tuesday to see if we can do anything about the tinnitus, and I'll see Dr. Allen again in a couple weeks, or sooner if needed. If the ENT can't determine any cause for the tinnitus (which is unfortunately often the case with tinnitus), I will see a therapist for some other coping strategies other than the white noise app I'm currently using. Full transparency, I am hesitant to take the anti-depressant given my mother's history, so I'm not sure how I feel about that. Haven't started taking it yet.

Yesterday was a really good break for me, and once we got home, I just settled in on the couch and watched TV for a bit before going to bed early. So like I said, I don't usually share this kind of stuff, but .... men, listen to your wives/girl friends/whatever when they share menopause struggles and understand that they are very real. Whether my tinnitus is menopause related, who knows. And friends, take the time needed to take care of yourselves. As women, we so often take care of everyone else before we take care of ourselves, and I know I can absolutely be guilty of that. When you need help, don't be afraid to ask for it. Between all this mess, work stress, menopause, my girls getting ready to head off to college, losing one of my very best friends very unexpectedly in October, and, oh, a global pandemic and all that it's brought us, I've had to accept that I have a whole lot of pretty heavy stuff going on right now and ask for help. I think admitting all that is half the battle!

Best Shot Monday: The Warrens Go to California!

Hello there, and welcome back to Best Shot Monday! Normally I share a shelter dog I've photographed with you on Mondays, but today, for posterity's sake, I'm mixing it up!  We did a family trip to California the third week in June, and I've finally gotten around to editing all our pictures!

We stayed with a friend in the San Francisco Bay area for part of our stay, including our first night. We arrived on Tuesday and took a walk around my friend's neighborhood to shake off the flight.

We headed down to Monterey and the Monterey Bay Aquarium on our second day.  Love the jellies!

The next day, we continued down the Pacific Coast Highway, here at Point Lobos State Park.

Point Lobos State Park

Further on down the coast at the famous Bixby Bridge. So cool!

So many beautiful spots to pull over and take a little hike on the Pacific Coast Highway.

Pfeiffer Beach at Big Sur

The next day, we drove back up the coast to Santa Cruz and visited the University of California, Santa Cruz campus. Had to get some Banana Slug gear!

The next day, we did the usual touristy things in downtown San Francisco, including visiting the famous sea lions on Pier 39. You definitely smell them before you see them, but they were quite entertaining!

At Pier 39

At Pier 39

After visiting the piers and Fisherman's Wharf area, we went to a San Francisco Giants game!

Quite a view from the San Francisco Giants stadium, Oracle Park!

Our last day included a trip up to the Muir Woods National Monument. So beautiful!

Muir Woods

At the entrance to Muir Woods

In Muir Woods, with my husband doing a photo bomb!

Must hug a tree in Muir Woods...I'd say the size is quite a bit different from our Florida palm trees...

From Muir Woods, we headed to lunch in Sausalito and then over to the Point Bonita Lighthouse.

Selfie at the Point Bonita Lighthouse

The Point Bonita Lighthouse is part of the Golden Gate Recreation Area, so you know where that took us next! It was so incredibly windy up there!

The iconic Golden Gate Bridge. Pretty awe-inspiring up close and personal from this view.

And lastly, me and my friend Cathie. She and her husband were our lovely hosts!  Cathie and I actually met on Facebook and became fast friends. We even had the exact same jeans! On Sunday of our trip, we had a more laid back day and had a wonderful, relaxing dinner at Cathie's house with her husband and her daughter. We talked for hours.  Sometimes you are just meant to meet someone! I'm so grateful to her and her husband for hosting us.

Best Shot Monday ... on a Thursday ... but it's Boca Grande!

It's been a whirlwind around here lately! We had a last minute getaway to Boca Grande, our favorite place in the world, Memorial Day weekend, and it followed weeks of work travel for me. A much needed little getaway but since we were only able to go for the weekend, a bit rushed! In the month of May, I was on the road May 1-4, 8-11 and 19-22, and then hopped back in the car to head to Boca Grande on the 23rd. One more work trip next week, followed by a girls' weekend reunion and then a day later a week-long family trip to California, all before the end of June. We didn't plan very well, did we, but sometimes you just gotta roll with it, right? We'll sleep the whole month of July.

Oh, these girls are growing up way too quickly. Don't Mamas the world over say that about their kids? Since they've known it their whole lives - we literally took them for the first time before they were even one year old - a summer without at least a short trip to Boca Grande seems just unthinkable for them (okay, me too...). Do you have a special spot like that? Bet you do. Leave a comment and tell me about it!

Best Shot Monday: Girls Trip to North Carolina

The redheads and I had a girls trip with my sister and her girls up to the mountains of North Carolina last month. I'm finally getting around to editing photos! We waterfall and trail hopped for two days and went to the Biltmore one day.  Photos above and below were taken on the Pink Sands trail near the Cradle of Forestry Museum.

The photo above was pure serendipity. We were on a trail that took us by three waterfalls in the Dupont State Forest portion of the Pisgah National Forest - High Falls, Triple Falls, and Hooker Falls.  Here we had hiked down to the bottom of High Falls to put our fingers and toes in the water. I was fiddling with something in my pack, and I looked up and saw the five of them by the water like this. So sweet!  The photo below was at Looking Glass Falls. I'm not very good a selfies, but I'm proud of this one! 

The Biltmore Estate is quite the experience. When we pulled up Google maps for directions, we thought there must be an error when it told us the Biltmore was only a mile and a half from our hotel. Our hotel was in the center of town (Asheville), so thought that couldn't be possible! But sure enough, when we went around the corner, there was the entrance, right there in the middle of the city. When we drove through the arched gateway, we felt like we had entered into some sort of time and space portal because the city literally fell away and all we could see was trees and sprawling land. Amazing!

And lastly, if you've been following along here any bit of time, you know I love these walking away shots. This was on the Pink Sands trail, and I just love little Ramona's little swing of the hip there. 

Thanks for stopping in today!  I know I've been pretty quiet here on the blog for most of the summer, but I'm working on getting back into the swing of things again! 

Best Shot Monday: Beauties in Boca

Happy Best Shot Monday! We're actually enjoying our annual week in Boca Grande this week, and I found a couple mermaids on the beach! Have a great week!

Here...

 

For the next week, I will be here ... on the sandy shores of Gasparilla Island and Boca Grande. This year's trip comes at a time when it's been needed far more than weeks in the past! This will be our last respite of peace before we start the big move this summer. We are ready to be settled again.

I'm looking forward to cutting back on the constant driving back and forth. I'm looking forward to having more time in my art studio again. I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging more. And I'm looking forward to tucking my girls in every night again. But first, I'm looking forward to plopping my butt on this beach, sticking my toes in this sand, and doing nothing much more than picking up some shells and gazing at the horizon for a week. Enjoy your week!

Best Shot Monday: Florida National Cemetery

I had a meeting down in Tampa on October 1.  Since the meeting ended by noon, I had some time to leisurely make my way back home. One of my favorite things to do is a leisurely drive home, stopping wherever a sign may take me!  I've lived in Florida my entire life, have traveled up and down I-75 literally hundreds of times and never before noticed the sign that noted the Florida National Cemetery.

Intrigued, I took the exit and followed the signs to a beautiful place of peace and reverence.  It's in Bushnell at the 309 Webster exit about an hour north of Tampa within the Withlacoochee State Forest. The Withlacoochee State Forest was acquired by the federal government from private landowners from 1936-1939 and is the second largest state forest in Florida. The cemetery itself was established in 1983, and the first internment was in 1988.

As I was walking through the markers, I truly felt such an overwhelming feeling of peace and awe.  I read name after name and wondered about their lives and their service in the wars.  I was struck by the female names, nurses who served in WWII (listen to the awesome music on this site). I also noticed that on the backs of many of the soldiers' and sailors' markers were the markers of their wives.  On one was a sweet message: "Until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand." 

I'm so glad I took that little detour.  I thought of my relatives who fought in WWII, my grandfather in the Navy and my Uncle Wilbur in the Army, and imagined what their names would look like on the beautiful markers here. If you are ever in this area, I highly encourage you to take this little detour. 

On the Road to Serendipity!

Photo credit Madelyn Mulvaney

I'm on my way to Serendipity so the blog will be quiet for a bit! I've so been looking forward to this little getaway. My long time friend Dana is going with me, so we'll be experiencing a great girls' trip!  Pictures next week!

An Artful Journey Liftoff!

This morning, I'm heading to An Artful Journey! This is the third Artful Journey and my third trip, and I am just as excited as the very first time! I took the photo above last retreat on the property at the Presentation Center, where the retreat is held. It's located in the Santa Cruz mountains and absolutely heavenly!

This year, my sweet friend and former student Courtney Ellis will be traveling with me, so that will make the trip extra special. We are taking a  three-day class with the lovely Orly Avineri, who's work you see here. Here's more about Orly's class, and while you're at it, take a visit to her blog. It's full of art journaling inspiration. Back Tuesday!  Click this link to see posts from previous journeys!

Artful Journey Prep: Prayer Flags!

Less than 36 hours before Courtney and I take off for An Artful Journey! I'm in last minute prep state! Of course, I haven't packed yet....I'm well known to be a last minute packer....but I at least have all my supplies out ready to pack. All that will come tomorrow night. The photos above and below are the prayer flags I created and mailed off to Cindy to be hung with all the rest at the Presentation Center. I neglected to read the directions (imagine that!) so my "one" flag was twice as big as it was supposed to be so luckily I was able to just cut it in half!

 

Below are Courtney's flags. Didn't she do an awesome job!? She's going to rock this retreat! I'm so excited for her to experience it!

 

Prepping for Market Days

Old Soul Bracelet

Wow, I can't believe it's been nearly two weeks since I've posted! I hope those of you in the States had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Since my Paint Mojo workshop, I've been busy prepping for Market Days, which is this weekend in Tallahassee. This is the biggest show I do every year, and this year, I have two booths! I'm doing one booth for jewelry and one booth for photography. Thankfully, Whitney's coming along to help me! I have quite a bit of new work done, but I've not photographed it yet. I'll wait to see how the weekend goes and then do an update to the website and my Etsy shops. If you are in the Tallahassee area, I'll be in Building 4, booths 417 and 418. Stop in and see me!

Old Hank