the dreaming Press.

Still the stars were visible.

We love a good sunset. September seems to shine this time of the day. We stopped to ogle the puffy pink clouds with stars peeking out from beneath.
No drama. No worries. No place else to be except right here.
Noticing.

New England, how I love thee

It's raining in New England.
Yet it is entirely beautiful. My background is Portuguese and English, two very seafaring cultures. I'm drawn to this place with it's endless shorelines, seafaring vessels and crab cakes. Picked up a lost chunk of my soul here for sure.
Blackened haddock for dinner. Could have eaten two of them. Just the cries of seagulls had me at hello.
Wish you were here.
xo Gillian

Happy Saturday :)

If you like food, and you love photography...do check out Food Practice by Elena Rego. Her knowledge of all that is delicious and healthy meets her passion for shooting it. Do have a visit.

When you need more information on bits & baubles then sign up for Christine Mason Miller's "Inspirational Bits & Baubles" newsletter. Everything she touches turns to gold so make sure you jump on board for this gem!

Look who is still firing up cosmetic sales since 1978! This ain't your grandma's cosmetic company anymore. Go online to shop for beauty and to make yourself feel just wonderful. I just happen to know the most knowledgeable and driven sales consultant also. Give her a try if you are in the GTA. She'll hook you right up.

Okay, now I really am out of here! Off to enjoy my sunflowers, my gladiolas, my family & my weekend. Cheers to all of you! The photo was taken in, yes, you guessed it...Jordan. xoxo

p.s. if you would like to join in on the Google+ fun, let me know and I'll email you an invitation. Warning, it's too much fun :)

It's magic~!

I love modern technology. Just when you think I'm home posting to Typepad, swooosh!!! I'm actually doing other things. Typepad is wonderful enough to allow blog updates that are timed. So very, very cool. I should use this feature all the time.

So, now instead of blogging on a Friday night I can write to you when things are fresh and lovely and then just time them to magically appear on Friday night. Friends of mine have used this feature for years but not I. Nope. I learn the difficult way.

Shown above is a lovely market in Amman, the Al Afghani Bazaar. Lots of treasures to be found there, be sure to load up on sweets when in Jordan...there is a ton to choose from. Rugs woven by hand in the Bani Hamida mountains, gold and more gold in the souks, also there are these tiny drippy little sweet honey encrusted pastry thingies that will make you lose your mind. Of course, as shown above, lots and lots of boho-ish Gypsy-ish Bedouin antique silver jewelery. But, you needn't spend anything there. The best treasure is to be found by using your eyes, ears and heart when in Jordan. No money required.

THIS is very cool, it's practically magic too. Instagram + Blurb= Instant LOVE <3 I am excited to get started on making my first book. I have so many Instagram shots that I love, and after sending Postagram's to all and sundry this gives me a new outlet with which to torture friends and family! I'll show you the results when they are in! Exciting!!

OH! and last but most certainly not least, a simple cupcake recipe that is sure to dazzle you beyond your wildest dreams. Have a sweet weekend. xo

Light As Air Magic Cupcakes

2 eggs 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup margarine 1/2 cup self-rising flour

Oven to 350, put ingredients all into a big beautiful bowl. Double this recipe for 24 cupcakes, it only makes 12. Whip it all together with your wire whisk, until smooth as smooth can get. Line cupcake tins with paper liners, fill each half full with the cupcake mixture. Bake 18 to 20 minutes until golden. Springs back to the touch when done. Cool and decorate with lots of sweet goodies, or just ice to perfection. Buttercream works nicely.

stoke the fires of your *atlas* heart

A couple, {heck a few!} urgent things. I'll get to them most hurriedly, so you don't waste a single precious moment that you could be using to sign on for grand explorations and juicy adventures {that you so deserve}.

First, my friend Debbie wants to extend an invitation for you to go to INDIA.

Second,my beautiful blogging friend Lisa has a deadline to meet, so that she can go to MEXICO.

Third, my friend Tara is hostessing the best life-changing trip {trust me, I've done it}, to JORDAN.

Last,but certainly not least, I am taking a group of women through the Women's Travel Network to MOROCCO.

So, now with all of these updates your way...it's all up to you. Maybe it's time to pay it forward and give a little to see another realize the work of her dreams...or maybe it's that time to pack a suitcase with your camera, your journal and a couple of pairs of undies, sunscreen...and hit the road to realize your own sweeping and vast dreams.

I've prioritized the list according to time deadlines. Lisa will need your help within the next ten days. Debbie has room for you up until tomorrow only.

The other two are very important, but can be discussed in another upcoming post real soon. If I were you I'd head over to see the INDIA and MEXICO links first. Thanks friends, fellow adventurers and loving hearts. You are all cherished, deeply, each of you. xo

p.s. photo of the lovely blue doorway taken from a bumbling yet speeding van in the Middle East while driving along sharing cups of hot nuts and listening to this or something like it...in March 2010

green teas & endless seas

i love green tea ice cream and the tiny bits of leaves you see strewn throughout, it has that sweet bite i love so much, and the colour is simply healthful & invigorating

sunday is more green tea ice cream

office organization

Hawaiian pineapple chicken for dinner No, Thai Pork with Papaya!!!!

walking the dog

running and yoga stretching

meditations upon which wallpaper design to choose for the bathroom (doing one wall adventurously and then painting the opposite wall in a very bright complimentary colour) it's time to shake things up with colour and vibrancy! reading a stack of twelve books, some are making me cry {what lessons they contain}

did you know??? there are seas upon endless seas of wisdom, love & compassion in YOU

really

xoxo

Precious

Each contact with a human being is so rare, so precious, one should preserve it.
~Anais Nin

Interwebs, you had me at hello.

I used to think the Internet a cold, uninhabitable place. A lonely hearts club. A place for the downtrodden who had no luck in "real" life for sustaining relationships. A place where those who were used to abandonment could do so with some degree of anonymity.
Well, that's true. Yes, entirely true. There are those who "like" you on Facebook. Those who "love this!!!!"
Those who admire and compliment and gush unnecessarily. Those who seek council then turn against you all cliquishly as if they still attended high school.
But.
There are also real folks out there. Brought together through a strange medium who otherwise would not have met. You and they bond, perhaps exchange emails, phone calls, gifts through the mail. These people are like you. Compassionate and caring. They like the connection to kindred souls the Internet brings. Well isn't that just like life? You don't necessarily meet the most ideal people in the flesh all the time either. Sometimes you meet people in life who make your skin crawl. Who make you feel like you just don't want to be around their scarred energy.
Well I've discovered something else.
I happen to have made the best connections as a result of this medium. I've travelled to far flung cities to meet with them in fact. And you know something? They seem to be the people that I miss the most in my everyday life. I miss the new found friendships, the ones forged with a common bond that originated the whole thing to begin with.
Yes I adore my soon to be husband with my very last breath. My children too. Some may argue that those people should be enough but I disagree. (All due respect to the ones I love.)
Families can sometimes be created. The choosing of such people is as entirely conscious as you wish it to be. Being blood relation to another does not immediately qualify as family. Family is listening, caring, going out on a limb. This crazy and wild Internet has introduced me to some family that I otherwise would not have known.
Those people know who they are. This post isn't to pat the backs of some fellow bloggers or to boost the egos of some wannabe artists. This is a straight shooting message to those of you who are looking for heartfelt connection. It isn't by sheer accident that you read this. It isn't by sheer accident that you took that trip. It's about recognizing that as humans we all just need a way to reach out emotionally to another and be understood.
It's why we blog.
It's why we travel.
It's why we create our art through paint or photograph.
It's why.
Simply why.
Because it is there. Waiting. So I leave you with this thought...a question really...what would you have done with yourself if there had been no Internet connectivity?
I wouldn't have travelled to Florida, Vancouver, Arizona, New York, Niagara-On-The-Lake, Nova Scotia, Jordan. And boy would I have missed out on some major family reunions.
Here's to the open highway, that web that leads us back to ourselves and one another.
xo
Love,
Gillian

return to summer

Return to YOU. Return to skipping ropes, hula hoops, soccer balls. Shed the drama. Lose yourself to who YOU really are. You are blue skies, green grass, puffy white clouds, barbeques. You are singing and hammocks and dancing until the sun comes up. Oh yeah (dance)!

You are not weak. You are not having to "put up" with others. Own your drama! It's ALL YOURS. So do as I do. If you react to someone inappropriately...just apologize. It's all you can do when you find yourself sinking into some unknown abyss. Remember it is all about your own choices.

So, let this first day of this new season be a blank slate for all the joyous possibility. Don't suffer fools. And certainly don't let them drag you down too. Remember your fins (swim), your wings (fly)...your freedom. Freedom to decide each and every glamourous moment of your one wild and precious life! Happy Summer Solstice xoxo

In love with raspberry coffees

Buzzy Friday afternoon. Not the bees...me! I'm buzzing from sucking back coffees. Wild mountain blueberry, sweet summer raspberry {fave so far!}, and if course...of course! butter toffee. I used to dislike coffee so much, but my new schedule of working 24 hours a day has me needing more of this jet fuel to keep me going.
Happy Fathers Day to all of the wonderful dads out there, mine especially! This Sunday tell Dad you think he's the bees knees.
Love,
Gillian xo