First-Friday in downtown Phoenix

On Friday, my sister Petrina and I joined creative forces and set up a table at the local, monthly art and cultural even here in Phoenix known as First-Friday. There were hundreds of people and we had a good amount of people show interest and even purchased our one-of-a-kind, handmade brooches, hair clips and headbands. Our little creative outlet/hobby is putting us in the middle of the art and cultural scene in Phoenix and I love staying connected.

Our plan is to continue this on a monthly basis so it's back to being creative again. Below are a few pictures of our table setup and the crowd that walked past us. It was quite crowded at one point, but so much fun!

Phoenix, First-Friday and Dinner

It was quite a lovely day here in Phoenix. I'm finding myself appreciating this city, which I disliked for so long, more and more every day. Even with the impending heat of summer, I still seem to have a cheery disposition about living in the desert. When I reflect on my attitude about this city, I recognize that much of my disdain had to do with where I was in life, maturity, and experience. Which could be the reason I'm actually enjoying life in Phoenix, in a home about four miles from the home where I grew up, about two miles from the high school I attended, and about five miles from the business/educational institution where I started my career and college education. The neighborhood where I grew up was actually gang infested and filled mostly with low-income families. These days, it's a thriving community with a mixture of similar low-income families, artsy-type singles and couples, and alternative-lifestyle families.

Older homes built in the early to mid-1900's have been renovated baring exposed brick, hardwood floors, and beautiful architecture. A cyclical downtown renovation reminiscent of what's occurred in many other large metropolitan cities such as Los Angeles and Seattle. Suddenly it's hip to live in downtown Phoenix. Which makes me even more proud to know that not only did I grow up in this part of the city, but upon my return I haven't gone much further.

Tonight, in downtown was a monthly event known as First-Friday. A cultural art event that brings together artists and vendors allowed to display and sell their creative inventions (whether it's art, handmade jewelry and clothing, or food). This monthly event draws people from all over the Phoenix metropolitan area and beyond. Next month, my good friend and artist, Fernando Moreno, will be showing his work, which consists of some of the most original, oil paintings on canvas. My sister Petrina and I are also hoping to get a booth to display and sell our handmade accessories. You can check out our items online at our Etsy store. Once we secure our booth I'll post additional information.

Dinner was lovely tonight as my hubby and I (well, mostly I) feasted on some of Chef Johnny Chu's fabulous Asian dishes at his restaurant Sens. If you live in Phoenix and haven't been, make it a point at some time to stop by and try some of his dishes. It's a tapas-style restaurant so be prepared to share. I love that we can find such unique restaurants so close to home.

Happy April family and friends! 

Continued learning...

The sky was an amazing blue after the sun lowered last night. I stood out on the patio of my sister's home, hugged my husband, and embraced the moment. Having spent the majority of that afternoon on that patio, my sister and I had dyed material and assembled flowers for our project. Finding very interesting color combinations I felt like a kid back in art class as I donned a painter's smock (okay, it was really an apron) and used paint brushes to apply the different colors. It was fun and relaxing, at the same time.

While sitting on the patio at the work table, a make-shift set-up my sister uses as her workstation, I remember thinking how wonderful the temperature was outside. Conducive to our afternoon of creativity. The music played in the background, a varied combination of tunes that came from her iPod. Most songs I knew and could sing along to, some I had heard and knew the tune, others completely new to me. 

Back on the patio, I stood there embraced by my husband, looked into the kitchen from the back window and as my sister sat on the table in her home, I felt the wicked sting of tears approaching. Not having a sad reason to cry, I knew they were happy tears. And happy tears I always welcome. Realizing what was happening my husband asked me what was wrong. After a moment of swallowing the approaching tears to the best of my ability, I finally got the words out to tell him they were happy tears. I looked into the window and told him how much I'm learning from my sister. He smiled, knowing what I was referring to.

As the day turned to evening, we found ourselves working on the dining room table as we each created new items for our shop. At one point, with music playing in the background, she and I both sung different parts of songs as we sewed petals together and beads on the petals. My brother-in-law, as he meandered into the kitchen, made note of the music we were singing along to. Yes, it could have been a Lilith Fair mix, but it wasn't, and he had totally missed our ode to the New Wave movement of the 80's. We continued to sing and hum...a connection we had even as small, young sisters, which obviously remains with us as adults.

Back on the patio, embraced by love in so many different ways, I relished in the moment, appreciated the day and headed back inside to create more. The sky, now a dark blue; the temperature, colder and brisk. Life, a continuous learning lesson.

Valentine's what?

This morning as I listened to a talk I was reminded that it was Valentine's Day. Actually, I can't say that I didn't notice the commercialized holiday advertised in the form of decorations and specialty holiday items in the many stores. Nor did I miss all the Hallmark commercials throughout the past few weeks. I still, somehow, managed to wake up, get dressed, leave my house, hop on my bike to ride to my destination (The Sitting Frog Zen Center) and still failed to remember it was 'the' day.

Something that my hubby and I agreed on from the very beginning was that we both had a disdain for the holiday created by big business. Now, don't get me wrong, we're not holding picket signs outside of the local Walgreen's in protest of greeting cards and stuffed teddy bears being sold - we simply don't celebrate the holiday. We figure if we have to use one day out of the year to tell each other how much we love each other, we're probably in trouble. Granted, it is possible that we're both scarred from the lack of Valentine cards we received, or rather, didn't receive in grade school but really, that's simply a possibility. ;)

So while today was a day for lovers, I celebrated it getting to know new friends over lunch, spending the late afternoon with a very tired Tech Director, creating a Facebook page for a project my sister and I are working on, doing research for the project, catching up on some reading, felting petals for two new flowers, and finally writing this. And I must say, it was a great day.