Remabulous

Luxury of letting go #4: Simple Vacation Getaways, the Podcast!

This post serves two purposes: the announce to Remabulous has now started a podcast (yay!) and to talk about letting go of over the top travel.

When we think vacation, we often think of booking hotels and the expense of eating out and airfare. it can be as much of a headache to plan a vacation as it is to live the life that required a vacation in the first place!

We all need to take breaks, now more than ever. And my friend Tanya Madoff has been my reminder that vacations can be a beautiful group effort every year.

A few weeks ago, I made my annual trek to Stinson Beach for a long weekend celebrating Tanya's birthday in the company of wonderful friends I've gotten to know the past four times I have participated in this tradition. Tanya's simple strategy is this: rent a house with good friends, let everyone sign up for a meal and cook for the group, don't have any huge agenda, provide coloring materials and a hot tub and you've got the best vacation ever for less than the price of a plane ticket these days. Genius.

I stole Tanya away from the festivities for one of the reflective deep chats we love having on these weekends. Join us!

PS- the podcast is up on iTunes, so if you like what you hear, sign up and never miss another episode... click the magic orange RSS square below to get started.

Remabulous profile: Tanya Madoff

Right before BlogHer 08, I spent a lovely evening and day with my friend Tanya, the magical knitter behind Tanya Madoff knits, now also offering the adorable buttons you see above as well as handmade jewelry. As I got ready to put up an interview on our conversation last month, I was pleased to remember that we were speaking out the same issues I wrote about yesterday, regarding assessing value as an artist.

Read on for inspiration to move forward with your creative projects in a positive and powerful way...

image: caroline donahue for Remabulous.

interview: christine burke, co-owner and co-founder of liberation yoga!

christine burke is an inspiration. i have been a student at liberation yoga since i moved into the neighborhood near the studio, located on la brea and 1st. it has been voted best yoga studio in la the past several years for a reason: not only is the instruction amazing, but the message the owners, staff, and teachers put out through how they approach life is a constant inspiration. earlier this year, a flood ruined the beautiful hardwood floors of the indoor studio. instead of closing down or succumbing to despair as most of us would, christine and all of liberation chose to teach in the midst of this strangely warped floor as alternatives were explored. a large mound in the center of the floorboards evolved into a mountain the teacher could demonstrate on. the messages in the newsletter became more and more amusing with references to an insurance assessor who had never seen such a thing happen to wood before. it got to the point where i was even rather sad when it was time to for the new flat floor to come in.

a great example that life is what happens when we're making other plans. thankfully, we have examples like christine, who show us how to weather the bumps in the road gracefully. what follows are her answers to some questions she was kind enough to let me ask about starting a business and how she fell in love with yoga.

enjoy, and thanks christine, and liberation for all your hard work and great vibes!

image: whole life times.

keri smith in conversation with cecil vortex

i am a big fan of keri smith- how she approaches challenge, creativity, and life in general. i think i probably seem like some kind of crazy stalker as much of my reading list gets pulled from her wonderful site, wish jar.

i couldn't resist sharing some additional great reading: an interview she recently did on the creative process with cecil vortex, and one that i think will fuel a lot of artists or anyone seeking to live a mindful life, should they take the time to read it.

while you're there- note that there are a lot of other great interviews on the site in the sidebar, with many other artists in conversation. not a bad place to hang out for a while.

sarah susanka's words of wisdom

my dear friend, abby, sent me this link to a talk given by sarah susanka at the west coast green conference that she works for in the bay area. in response to my most recent newsletter, she thought hearing the keynote from the conference in november might be a fun little treat.

many thanks to abby and if you are sad to have missed my weekly newsletter this past time, please sign up!

ladies fly free: don't miss this film!

those of you in the los angeles area will not want to miss a thought-provoking offering on at grauman's chinese theater this weekend. in three two hour installments, don't miss jennifer fox's series, flying: confessions of a free woman. whether you are a woman, date women, or just see them around, this film is asking questions and considering issues that need more air time.

i had the opportunity to discuss the film with jennifer recently and thoroughly enjoyed learning more about the process of making such an ambitious series as well as hearing what is next for her method of "passing the camera."

jennifer's career as a filmmaker is inspiring to learn about, from its early conception and her path of creating work that satisfies what she is passionate about, fox certainly embodies the remabulous.

lady entrepreneurs make a difference: thanks, ladies who launch!

i am signed up though ladies who launch to receive their weekly profile of a woman entrepreneur. i found this week's featured businesswoman, rebecca kousky, particularly inspiring. she is the founder of nest, a micro loan organization, which uses the funding from its online boutique to finance micro loans for women artists around the world.

i found rebecca particularly remabulous as she said that her love of fashion and social work did not combine to a pre-made job title, so she had to make up her own. thank you for sharing your story, rebecca! may more of us make up our own titles to better share our talents.

if you enjoy the article below, consider signing up for the ladies who launch newsletter. i have enjoyed it and recommend it highly...

chatting with shanna murray

my brother and i used to roar with laughter at will ferrill's impersonation of james lipton from inside the actor's studio, especially when he referred to people as "a delight." how could anyone be a delight, we wondered. shanna murray is making me eat my words. i was very fortunate a week ago to the day to be able to have the first of what i hope are many phone chats about art, fabric vs. knitting, the madness of technology, cleaning letterpresses, and how love can keep you in upstate new york. read on to join us...

image: shanna murray care of shannamurray.com

interviews return with go there! coaching

i feel lucky because i not only got to interview life coach laura geduldig, but am also her former (and maybe future) client as well. her work is inspiring because of the passion, commitment, and skill she brings to it. read on to learn on about getting started as a coach, what motivates and inspires her, and how she got thousands of people to ride bicycles from san francisco to los angeles...

image: care of go there! coaching

i'm published! (and patrick hoelck rocks.)

  clint eastwood as photographed by patrick hoelck.
image copyright: patrick hoelck

just a little notice that an interview i wrote for a.refuge magazine has gone up! patrick hoelck is really amazing and was such a delight to talk to. please enjoy the interview with him and help me celebrate publication.