Random goodness*

andrea_topo_ranch.jpg
Me in my Topo Ranch sweatshirt, Manzanita, ORCanon Digital Rebel XSi

Random good things:

My Topo Ranch Duster that I have barely taken off since I purchased it three months ago. Even Ben has taken to unzipping and demanding, “Take it off!” but I refuse.
Birthday breakfast with Brigette at Rick and Ann’s.
Birthday lunch with Maggie at Boulette’s Larder.
Birthday dinner with Matt at Chez Panisse. I could have eaten vats of their little gems lettuce and green goddess dressing.
My fantastic coach, Laura Neff. (tell her I sent you… she is amazing)
This video
(even just sixty seconds will do) will change your whole day.
The Kirtsy book just came out! (several of my photographs are a part of it)
Seeing Ben’s favorite band Octopretzel perform live.
Dinner at Dona Tomas with Amy Krouse Rosenthal and her husband.
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (it took nearly five years of resistance to finally pick this book up again. Now I see what a revelation it is)

A rainbow outside the library:

rainbow_albany.jpg

Ben’s collection of Schleich animals:

giraffe_sidewalk.jpg

Seeing sunset out on the pier at the Berkeley Marina:

sunset_pier.jpg

A random chair on a porch that caught my eye:

chair.jpg

And a conversation with Ben the other day:

Ben: (whining and dragging his feet behind me as we walk home from school) I’m roaring and crying.
Me: You’re what?
Ben: Roaring and crying.
Me: I know just how you feel. I roar and cry all the time.
Ben: I’m sad.
Me: What are you sad about?
Ben: I don’t know.
Me: Why don’t you just roar and cry then?
Ben: Okay.

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Hi, I’m Andrea

On this blog you’ll be learning with me how to use our voices, share our creative superpowers and live life in full color.

As an artist, photographer, life coach + mentor, I’m redefining what it means to be a SUPERHERO — ‘cause in my world, it’s got nothing to do with capes, spandex or sidekicks and everything to do with tenderness, intuition & baby steps of bravery.

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19 Comments

  1. Caroline

    Omg, I just spit out my drink watching that video! 🙂

  2. Jodie

    I don’t think I’ve ever commented here. Huge fan of yours. Funny thing though – one of the singers of Octopretzel is my best friend’s sister.

  3. cjm

    Love that chair, love the conversation with Ben, and love love love your sweatshirt (even before I noticed you were saying how much you love it). 🙂

  4. tonya

    you know you would love the podcast that oprah did with tolle on the spirit channel. you can download them on itunes or her website. they actually did a webcast class about A New Earth and i loved it and listen to it every once in a while to brush up on staying present.
    Ben is THE AWESOME.

  5. andrea

    that podcast is exactly why I gave
    the book a second chance!
    🙂
    I totally agree…. it’s really amazing.

  6. pixiemama

    It’s not just the duster. You are totally cute.
    xo

  7. amy k

    Your post today offers a little more confirmation that we are all connected : )
    I too, just picked The Power of Now again, after itunes randomly played Tolle’s A New Earth audio book while I was painting away in my studio the other day… just what I needed to hear *
    and I love “roaring and crying” …
    tell Ben he said it perfectly …
    I’ve been “roaring and crying” a little lately myself.
    you are special.
    xo
    amy

  8. Lisa

    Great post!
    Always good to catch up on your lovely and loved life!
    Happy Birthday 🙂
    (And, oh yes, here’s to roaring and crying!)

  9. Sarah

    The fact that you asked, “Why don’t you just roar and cry then?” was really beautiful because it showed a huge amount of compassion and understanding. 🙂

  10. pixie

    oh yes. a lot of roaring and crying around here. it’s good to see your face! and i love that sweatshirt, too!

  11. creativevoyage

    ooh I love that picture of the chair!
    And my friend was just enthusing about mondo beyondo today on the phone.

  12. Laura Neff - Life Leadership Coach

    I am totally going to use “roaring and crying” as an anchor for myself from now on! It’s so easy to stuff all those important raging-around emotions that can fester and get *so* toxic over time, and Ben is so lucky to have a momma who encourages his full expression. Thank you for all your links, Andrea, and for sharing all you do!
    xo,
    Laura

  13. Tina

    I wish my mama told me to go ahead and roar and cry. Might have been a few less dollars spent on therapy.

  14. Carol

    over and over again children astound me
    none of us older & ‘wiser’ ones can see the world the way a child can.
    what a pity!!!

  15. cath

    So many great things in this post, but that video… MAN!… tea shot out my nose with that one. Damn did that make my week (and made it in to many a friends’ email).
    Thanks a bunch!

  16. elizabeth

    we could all do with a little more roaring and crying, i think. clever ben.
    yup, still love that duster. i showed that photo to my sister so she could see that it is totally different from pjs. 😉

  17. celeste

    i love the North Berkeley library. i miss it terribly. great magazines and DVDs and the children’s area is great too!
    when i looked at your previous post too i thought…what they have cartfulls of apples now too? dude, they didn’t have those two years ago when i was going there two or three times a week!
    love the roaring and crying conversation…!!

  18. celeste

    i love the North Berkeley library. i miss it terribly. great magazines and DVDs and the children’s area is great too!
    when i looked at your previous post too i thought…what they have cartfulls of apples now too? dude, they didn’t have those two years ago when i was going there two or three times a week!
    love the roaring and crying conversation…!!

  19. Joan Bosson-Heenan

    OMG! Nearly peed my pants on that video!!
    My son has been growling and crying lately, and also can’t put a name on what’ making him sad. But the other night he said, “I growl because I need you to keep me safe”. Ahhhh the mind of a two year old is amazing!!

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