Day 147 - Hey, all. Did anyone catch the full moon this week? No, I didn't either. It's amazing how these little wonderments go unnoticed when life gets crazy. A full moon is a beautiful thing and brings a sense of awe to ordinary life. Why don't we take the time to look up more often to see these natural wonders that happen around us?

Are we so focused on our computers, we don't take notice? Today let's honor the natural space around us and draw something something enchanting like a full moon. You will need a piece of drawing paper and a pencil for this project. Pick a natural object of wonder. Now start to draw. Look at the shapes within and around the object selected. Start to sketch and let the wonder of the object translate on the page. Spend 10 min on this project. 

How did it feel to create something that brings wonder to life? For me, it was frustrating and meditative. I wanted to translate what I felt but ten minutes was so short! Well, that's all for today. See you tomorrow. Over and out.

Day 146 - Hey guys. Today, I've been thinking about monsters. We talk a lot about monsters in our house. I try to reassure everyone that monsters don't live under our beds. However, I know for a fact that monsters do live at 7-Eleven and they do like to consume copious amounts of Slurpee drinks. When we drive by our local 7-Eleven, we always look to see if the Monsters are causally loitering outside. We talk about how these Monsters might look and describe what they might do for living besides Slurpee drinking. Today, we sat down and created some Monsters.

Today's project is to sketch up your own special monster. Creating a monster is an excellent way to imagine and create today. How will your monster look? What is their name? What do they do all day? Where do they live?

Let me know how the monster creating goes and see you tomorrow monsters!

This post contains an affiliate link.

Day 145 - Hey Y'all. Who's starting to plan their Memorial Day BBQ? Memorial Day weekend is always a great time to fire up the BBQ, slice up some watermelon, pull out the cooler of crisp refreshing beverages and invite over pals to kick off summer right. I've been fiddling in the kitchen today to create a creamy, sweet treat for any hot Memorial Day bash. The idea of popsicles popped into my brain today and who doesn't love cold, refreshing popsicle?  

Nothing says "hello summer" better than creamy coconut, lime, cherry popsicle. Today's project is to whip up these tasty treats in preparation for this weekends festivities. Trust me. They won't make it past Wednesday.

CocoLimeCherry! Popsicles

(Makes 9 small popsicles using the Zoku Mini Pops {affiliate link}) 

• 1 cup coconut cream
• 4 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1-4 -1/2 cup fresh bing cherries
• popsicle molds or small dixie cups & wooden popsicle sticks

Step 1: Cut 5-10 cherries in half and remove pit. Place half the cherry in the bottom of each Zoku Mini Pop cup. If you are using the small dixie cups add a few more cherry halves to the bottom of the cup.

Step 2: Pour coconut cream, lime juice and honey in blender and pulse for 1 minute. Pour mixture into each Zoku Mini Pop container or dixie cup. Place the tops on the Zoku Mini Pops cups. If using the dixie cups, place all cups on a freezer proof pan or plate.

Step 3: Freeze according to the Zoku Mini Pops directions. If the dixie cups are being used, place the cups for 1 hour in the freezer and then insert wooden popsicle sticks. Freeze for 1 more hour or until solid.

Well, let me know if these little cool sweet treats make it to the weekend! Hope you enjoy the kick off to summer and see you tomorrow.

This post contains an affiliate link.

Day 144 - Hello Monday. It's the start of a new week and I think it's a good day to learn something new. When I was in college, I desperately wanted to take a course in Ikebana or Japanese flower arranging. Needless to say, I never got the opportunity but today I decided to try Ikebana on my own.

After doing some research, the word Ikebana translates to ike, meaning 'alive' or 'arrange' and bana meaning 'flower.'  Ikebana is a true art form and a meditative practice. It takes a years of study to become a master. Typically, what is needed for an Ikebana arrangement is a vessel, a kenzan (flower frog) and flowers. A general and detailed breakdown can be found here at Make Magazine and FTD "The Art Of Ikebana Flower Arrangement." Ikebana is amazing because the arrangements appear very simple however the more I learn, the more I realize it's an incredibly complicated practice. There are over 3000 schools of Ikebana which emphasize balance, minimalism, shape, line, humanity, aesthetics, form and balance. 

Today, I am going to attempt an arrangement but it's going to be very difficult to do this art form justice. I encourage you to try it too for today's project. Find a vessel, buy a flower frog {affiliate link} and trim a bunch of lovely flowers from nature. Now, find silence and focus on the flowers including their shape, color and the negative space they provide. 

Wow. I learned so much with this project. For me this was a difficult practice. There were many factors into making the arrangement work from all aspects. I would move a stem, another one would fall over and ruin the whole aesthetic. I also struggled with creating balance from all angles of the arrangement.

Well, it looks like I have a ton to learn and  years of practice ahead. However, it was amazing to get out of my comfort zone to create something new. Let me know how your arrangement looks and see you tomorrow!

Day 143 - Oh hey. I woke up this Sunday morning with a desire to go sailing. There is something about a boat that says freedom! However, I am terrified of the water. So what's a girl to do? An easy solution is make some of these little origami paper boats and just imagine sailing in the French Riviera or the Aegean Sea. You will need a few sheets of 4" x 6" text weight paper. Watch the below tutorial and let me know how your boats turn out. What imaginary trip will you create with you as the captain of your fleets?  

Let me know where your boats take you and see you tomorrow skipper!

Day 142 - Helloooo! Happy Saturday. After a long week, the first thing I needed this morning is a walk. Did I want to get out of bed this morning? No! However, after sitting at my desk for a long periods of time this week, my body hurt. I knew a good old walk around the neighborhood would get the blood pumping and the energy boosted. So I pulled myself out of bed, put on my clothes, laced up my shoes and cruised around the sidewalks this morning. At first I was, grumpy to be out of bed early. However, the more I walked, the more I cleared my head. As my grey matter fog faded, I started to notice amazing things around me. One of which was these various poppies. 

Today's project is to get outside today and find inspiration in the everyday. Create a photo of something you find inspiring on your walk. Study it. Decide why it's inspiring to you. 

For me the poppies are so diverse in color and texture. It's inspiring to me to see that nature can create something so perfectly designed. That's all I have today. Have a great Saturday and see you tomorrow.

Day 141 - Hey guys. Who wants to joke around today? Who thinks Friday is a great day to tell a good joke? There is just something about Friday that lends itself to making light of the what's going on around us so we can ease into the weekend. Today, I thought we could try to write a joke. Now, let me be clear, attempting to write a joke is a stretch for me. Comedy is a tough business. Getting people to laugh takes a certain kind of magic. After a very short search on the Google, I found this site, Jerry Corley's Comedy Clinic that helped me develop my first joke.

Here goes nothing:

At breakfast, my husband used a rock to bust open a gallon of orange juice and shoveled eggs in his mouth with his hands. When I asked him what the hell he was doing, he replied "Justifying my unibrow."

Unibrow.

Today's project is to develop and deliver a joke. According to  Jerry Corley's Comedy Clinic think what is new, what has changed and what have I acquired. Break the idea down further by asking Who? What? Why? Where? When? How? and then pick your audience. What was the hardest part? 

Let me know how your joke goes over and signing off with "That's all folks!"

Day 140 - Hey! This morning, the moment my eye lids fluttered open, I said "What's next?" It's the end of the altMBA workshop and I realized I need to tackle something more. The stretching was big in the class and I am thrilled to think of all the hard work that was done in the last four weeks. However, I missed my family. Last night I was able to take a walk with them after dinner. It was the first walk we had taken together in weeks.

It was a lovely evening and I was strolling along with the kids but my mind was still on the work done in the altMBA. It was a strange sensation to be outside in the golden sunset versus making power plans for the future. As I slowed behind my family, a sense of calm gather over me. Just ahead, under the train tracks, was a wide field of glowing daisies with their faces gleaming in the the evening light. I was stuck by how much I had missed my family, our walks and our lives during the four intense weeks. I was so grateful to be outside. 

In the spirt of stretching myself, as the altMBA taught me, and the beautiful moment last night, I decided to write a Haiku. If you don't know what a Haiku entails, you can read more about it here: Haiku Poetry. The general idea is that a Haiku is three lines containing 5/7/5 syllables. It was uncomfortable to write because I felt out of my element. It's not going to win any awards but here is my first Haiku poem.

Today's project is to take a five minute walk. Then come home and create a Haiku. I had trouble understanding the number of syllables in each word. If you need help, here is a great site to help. "How Many Syllables"

Send me your Haiku and let me know how you felt creating your poem. See you tomorrow!

Day 139 - Hey gang. Wednesday is here and although it hasn't been a full week, I am ready for the weekend. In short, I am shorted out. The altMBA was amazing but it took sprinting a full four weeks and now I want to collapse. Going into the program, there was one key point that was instilled throughout. You have to "ship it." Whatever you are trying make or do it's never going to be perfect. Perfection is fear hiding. 

I Didn't Want To Ship This. What Do You Think?

Today, ship something. Show someone your story, drawing, website, recipe, business idea or photo that you just don't think is quite good enough to send out into the world. Showing someone this artifact should make you feel uncomfortable and nervous. Create tension in yourself. Notice how you feel before and after the big reveal. 

Let me know how it goes and see you tomorrow.

Day 138 - Hey guys! Whew. The sprint of the altMBA is almost over. It has become apparent that I haven't had time in the last four weeks to spend with my kids. They were both begging for attention today. One needed a nap but the other one begged me to draw with her this morning. She pulled out her set of ninety-six Crayola crayons and we went to work. It was magical, as I sat and we drew together. Her imagination is remarkable. We drew the following gumball machines.

A 30 Somethings Version Of A Gumball Machine.

A 4 Year Old Version Of A Gumball Machine.

Look at these two drawings. Which one is more interesting? Yes, completely agree. The 4 year olds version. Look how she put fruit in the top with the gumballs and the shape it self is more energetic. She told me I needed to add clouds and a sunshine on my drawing. I asked her why. She said because the gumball machine was outside. Of course!

What happens when we get older? Why do we lose the art of possibilities? Why do we tell ourselves that a gumball machine can't be outside? Today's project is to pull out the Crayolas and draw like a kid again. Maybe it's a hot dog at a circus, a panda self-portrait or ice cream truck in a snow storm. Think of something and then add something that you would think would never go together.

I need to get back to drawing with my Crayolas but let me know how it feels to create like a kid again and see you tomorrow!

Day 137 - Hey Monday. Whew. What a great weekend. How about you? I'm going to keep this short and sweet because it's the last day of my altMBA class and things are still crazy. As I was fast and furious going through the class, I didn't have much time to enjoy anything. I stood and ate, barely had time to bath and ignored my loved ones for weeks. Today, I am going to take time out to play with my kids and enjoy the sweetness of life. Like a bowl of cherries, life goes way too fast. 

Today's project is to find five minutes in your day and simple create joy. Try slowing down for just a few moment by looking around and taking it all in. In other words,  enjoy your bowl of cherries to the fullest. That's all I have today. Keep creating and see you tomorrow!

Day 136 - Hey everybody. What goes better with Sundays than sundaes? Birthday parties and champagne of course! Today is my birthday. Yes, I will be forever twenty-one. Yes, I am from Generation X. Yes, I know it isn't possible to be twenty-one and Generation X. I consider twenty-one my Hollywood age. Ok, I digressed. Let's get back to talking about champagne. Champagne and I go together like vinegar and baking soda. My friends call it "flipping the switch." What can I say? It brings out the crazy in me. So let's talk about getting crazy and celebrating. 

Today's project is to grab a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine, some grenadine and create a celebration with me. Pour about 6oz of champagne and 2oz of grenadine in glass and enjoy. Drink a glass or four. Kick back and enjoy today! Bottoms Up. That's all I have today. I am going to go back to celebrating. I'll see you tomorrow!

Hey everybody. How was the week? It's Saturday and to switch things up here on the blog, I'm trying video as a a new way to show creating. Video is an interesting medium and a very powerful form of communication. The tools to create rough videos have become more simple and easy to use. There are so many easy tools available, anyone can make an cool little movie.

Today's project is to make a short video of something fun. Maybe it's when the pancakes get flipped this morning? A video selfie on a morning run? Or the sun going down over the ocean. Post it to Vimeo or YouTube and share it with your inner circle. Create a new medium to express yourself today.

Well, I need to get back to eating some pancakes and making more short films. Let me know what kind of feedback you get on your videos and see you tomorrow!

Day 134 - Hey you guys! It's Friday and that means Funday. What's more fun, delicious and friday than S'mores?  There is the crunch of the graham cracker, sweetness of the marshmallow and the creaminess of the chocolate. Could there be a better Friday snack? No way.

Today's project if you haven't already guessed it, is to celebrate Friday and create some S'mores. Fire up the oven and broil up some sweet, crunchy tasty snacks to give Friday a hooray!  If you want some tips on how to make the perfect S'mores here is more information from the Food Network.

Let me know how your Friday feels after that yummy treat and keep on creating. See you tomorrow!

Day 133 - What's Up Today? Do you ever feel like things need to freshen up? Yep! I feel I need to do something fresh on this blog. My 4 year old daughter has been obsessed with collages. She has been cutting little pictures from old magazines for days and gluing them to pieces of paper. She then makes up stories within her collage and draws overlays. It's pretty incredible thinking. What happens to us as we get older? Why do we loose that sense of unabandoned creativity?

4 Year Old Creating.

Well, I decided to take a clue from my 4 year old and create a collage for today's project and you should try to do the same. It's incredibly enlightening and fun. You just need glue, discarded magazines, scissors, paper and imagination. 

Food. I Think Of You Often.

It's really interesting how this did created a freshness to my thinking and added a new approach to my tool box. I hope you find it does the same for you. Happy clipping and gluing. See you tomorrow!

Day 132 - Hey there. This post is going to be super short because today the altMBA assignment is to create a video and describe the change that I am hoping to make in the world. First, who loves to talk in front of people? Glup. Second, a video?! Oh gosh. Third, I need to discuss something I am passionate about. Holy moly. This is the hardest assignment ever. Fourth, it's taking me forever to do this video!

As I did take after take, I realized I have lots of nervous ticks. It was eye opening to create a video but also unnerving and enlightening. It's a good thing I am not a news anchor. Clearly that was not my calling.

Notice The Background. I Did Takes For 5 hours!

Todays, project is to create a short video of yourself communicating something you are passionate about or something you want to change. Watch it and then send it to a friend. Now talk about it!

Let me know how the video goes. I need to get back to making awkward pauses, sweaty palms and fluttering my eyes. See you tomorrow unless I croak from this stress!

Day 131 - Hey there! Who wants to have a barefoot moment today? TOMS shoes is shouting out a campaign today called One Day #withoutshoes. Today, May 10, Instagram your feet #withoutshoes or your TOMS and help give 100,000 new pairs of shoes to children in 10 countries.* Learn more here at TOMS. Who doesn't want to spend a little time with their tootsies in the sand or grass today for a good cause? Today's project is to liberate your little piggies, snap a photo, share on Instagram and create kindness today.

Let me know how the glamor shots turn out and see you tomorrow everyone!

*Up to 100,000 pairs of shoes, limit one photo per person via Instagram. Profile must be public.

Day 129 - Hello! Happy Monday. You know I love that phrase. Oh how I need to learn to embrace Mondays. What would make Monday better? How about some cool pink lemons? Yes, it a stretch but once we see how we can make pink lemons into pink lemonade snickerdoodle cookies that can then be made in into ice cream sandwiches, we won't care at all on how this post started because you will doing a Google search on where to find pink lemons.

Let's start with pink lemons.  

They look really neat right? The lime green stripes melt all over the warm yellow body of the fruit. Inside is a light pink flesh that is so sour and bright. Delicious.

Now, let's talk today's project. Let's create a batch of homemade Pink Lemonade Snicker Doodle Cookies. Here's the recipe:

Pink Lemonade Snicker Doodle Cookies (adapted from "The Best Snickerdoodles" at Averie Cooks)

Dough

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light packed brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• Juice of 2 pink lemons
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tarter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pink food coloring (optional)

For Rolling

• 1/2 cup granulated pink sugar

Step 1: Make the Dough. In the bowl of a stand up mixer whip the butter for 3 minutes scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the sugars and mix for another 3 min. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

Step 2: Add the egg, lemon juice and vanilla and mix for another 3 minutes. Scrape the sides of the bowl.

Step 3: In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cream of tarter and salt. Add the dry mixture to the butter mixture and mix on low speed for about 1 min. Add 1-3 drops of pink food coloring (optional).

Step 4: Place the dough in the refrigerator and let set for about 20 min. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and turn the oven to pre-heat to 350 degrees. After 20 min remove the dough from the refrigerator and roll into 2" balls. Place pink sugar in a bowl. Add the dough balls one at a time and cover the dough ball on outside completely. Place the sugar dough balls on the baking sheet approximately 2" apart and repeat until all dough has been rolled into a ball and on a sheet? Bake for 14-18 min.

Step 5: Remove cookies from oven and let cool. For an extra special treat take two cookies and add ice cream between them to create a pink lemonade snickerdoodle ice cream sandwich. Now hand it to mom.

Best Monday ever! See I told you pink lemons and Monday had something in common. They are both better with ice cream. Enjoy the recipe! See you tomorrow.

Day 129 - This is a special post for my mom. Mom thank you for: all the times I threw up on you, you took care of my bottom, you were there to let me cry, you told me I didn't need a bandage, you smothered me with cookies, you made a warm dinner to fill my belly and that you generally let me know that you loved me from the bottom of you beautiful toes. You are amazing! xoxo.

Today's project is to get out there and create something for mom. Make her a card, send her an e-mail or call her up. Let her know that you love her and you are thankful she is your mom. That's it for today! More tomorrow.

P.S. Mom, I am pretty sure a photo of my sister. 

Day 128 - Hey there. Ah. Saturday. It's a day for getting outside, hopefully connecting with the family or in my case catching up on everything that fell through the cracks this week. As I was cleaning off my desk, I was reminded of another part of a recent assignment from the altMBA. The assignment was about "closing the sale." For most of us, we don't think of selling much unless we are faced with buying something expensive and urgent. However, we sell to each other everyday. We sell ideas, emotions and actions. One key point in the learning was: to sell is to create stress. To be good at selling, we have to practice being very comfortable in a tense situation.

To practice, create stress today by using silence to create tension and then resolution. Stop yourself from rushing into speaking when the moment seems awkward or uncomfortable. Say nothing for 3, 5 or 12 seconds. Just experiment and see what the silence creates. Here is an example where I created tension:

It was interesting to watch my daughter struggle and for me to internally feel uncomfortable with the lack of action I was taking. It felt stressful and the feeling could be compared to a bottle of soda that has just gone through a washing machine. In all the stress, I ended up blurting out a compliment and her face lit up with joy. A few minutes later she ran up to me and thanked me for being a good mom. 

Try that golden silence today and let me if anything golden happens. Have a great Saturday and see you tomorrow!