Artists Way Week 11...

This week was Recovering a sense of Autonomy.  Not gonna like - forgot what that meant and had to look it up - the right or condition of self government.  Ok so I'm guessing regulate myself yes?

How sad is it that this is the week I fell off the pages more than ever.  LOL!  Guess I'm not self governing that very well.  But let's be honest - the pages and me have a sordid relationship.  No regrets though - what it has helped me realize is working out in the morning and sticking to that routine is much more important and better for my well being.  I do plan to journal more - but when I feel like it.  I do like writing sometimes before bed, especially if Pat is reading, and I do find that some mornings when I have nothing to do for a while I can sit and have my coffee and write.  That is what the pages will be for me.

So this week was basically just a lot of writing tasks.  I think I found this week the least fun, only because the tasks felt more"Homeworky" to me than other weeks.

I did do most of them.  (Not all...some I just can't bring myself to do - like write a letter to myself and mail it?  No.)

But one was take 7 pages to write 10 wishes in each of these categories:  Health, Possessions, Leisure, Relationships, Creativity, Career and Spirituality.  I filled in every page - except Career - that one I said RETIRE.  Literally the only thing I want from my Career right now.  Spirituality I struggled with too because I really just want to continue to have faith in the Universe.

For my Artists Date this week I went on a bike ride!  I used to love riding my beach cruiser.  When I used to live near the beach I'd ride down there all the time.  Sadly I've had to part with my favorite beach cruiser (The Pink Panther I used to call her) but I do have access to another bike.  Pat's kiddo no longer uses it so it's basically now my bike.  So I thought - I'm taking it out for my Artists Date.  We live near the Santa Ana River Trail so I decided to take a ride down to Hart Park.  It's about an hour total so that'd be perfect.

Lessons Learned - I probably should have Pat show me how to ride a bike with speeds and gears and what not.  I forgot the breaks are not on the pedals so that was a fun almost crash.  This type of bike is also skinnier and lighter than my big ol cruiser - also almost crashed a few times.  I also saw other people riding bikes like this and had helmets...do I need a helmet?  But aside from those lessons and almost crashing a total of about 5 times - it was just lovely!  I forget how much I love riding my bike and also how far you can get riding a bike via walking.  It also was a really good work out (Probably also because when I went up hills I had no idea how to adjust the gears so I huffed it.)  There is going to be many more bike rides worked back into my life for sure!  I've missed this.

She's so wee

Didn't crash!

Poe's fave spot aka The Dog Park

Hart Park -I used to play softball here!

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment

So Week 11 done!  Only one more week of this journey and then I'll start right into the next one!

I should paint this bike to be more me....

Artists Way Week 10...

I'm going to stop staying Re-Do because this is when I dropped off last time.  I actually dropped off week 9, but tried to get it in still.  Damn the COVIDs.

Week 10 - Recovering a Sense of Self Protection.

This week had a lot of writing tasks.  There was a list of 20 questions - basically checking in if you prioritize work over yourself.  I'm sure this is the case for a lot of people - but for me - HELL NO.  So no problem there.

Then there was some "Awful Truth" questions.  What gets in your way, who does, whose toxic, whose constructive.  There were a few friends that popped up that I have been pulling away from lately and I can see why.  It's a bummer but I suppose it happens in life.

Then there were a few lists I want to list here so I remember:

5 Painful Behaviors:

1 - Low self esteem

2 - Laziness

3 - Quick to anger

4 - Don't let things go

5 - No patience

 

5 Small Victories:

1 - Have had successful "Dry Days"

2 - Kept up with this process

3 - Been blogging more often

4 - Got back in a workout routine

5 - Paying attention to food more

 

3 Nurturing Actions for my Artist:

1 - Walk - not on your phone - just walk

2 - Take more photos

3 - Stay healthy

 

3 Comforting Actions for my Artists:

1 - Like my work/projects no matter how they turn out

2 - Meditate (There it is again)

3 - Stay creative 

And here's one I def need to document:

3 Promises to Myself:

1 - I promise I will make creativity a part of my every day life

2 - I will continue my little adventure group & work more photo play days into the mix

3 - I will continue to stay active

 

There were a few other things, but I skipped them - some of these exercises actually just plain don't apply to me since I don't think I'm as "blocked" as some others may be.

I actually kinda had 2 Artists Dates this week.  1st one was I had to go in and glaze the pottery I made a few dates back!  I can't wait to see them all done!

One of them is a sparkly kind of glaze, so excited to see how that comes out!

The 2nd date was I took a solo hike with Poe.  I wanted to hit up my geocache, but the weather was warmer than expected so I didn't want to drag the dog too far if it got too hot.  But it was the 1st day of Autumn and just the perfect weather to signify Fall is coming.

Grabs every stick he can

 The pages fell off a bit and I'm finding myself really not want to stick to them anymore.  Not sure what that's all about, but I think it's really just a timing thing.  The thought of journaling a bit before bed appeals to me, but I need to figure out how I want to go about doing that.  The morning writing just doesn't seem to cut it for me.  

Only 2 more weeks left!

Taste of Europa Event...

So I think I mentioned sometime back that Pat & I joined a wine club.  We are members at Europa in Temecula.  We love it.

They have this event once a year called Taste of Europa.  You can buy tickets, and of course being members we get a bit of a discount, and it's this event where you wander around from 11-4 and eat and drink.  Um HELLO?!??!?!  This is literally my perfect event!  I was so thrilled when Pat was down to get tickets.  The event did not disappoint!

We decided to go ahead and stay the night down there since driving home on a Sunday after an event like that would have been rough.  Plus Pat left for Utah for almost a week, so this was a nice little mini fun couple of days before he headed out.  Mom agreed to Poe sit her Granddog and off we went!

We arrived on time and hopped into the line.  We were so excited!  They check you in, give you your landyard and your wine glass with a pour of bubbly and off you go!!  Hell to the yes!

Hell. Yes.

 

Ready for our culinary adventure!

You wandered around to different stations that had a food and wine pairing.  There were also wine tasting spots all around and those were unlimited!  Vendors and some other folks were scattered about as well.  They also had two areas where music was playing.  It was awesome!

That had these fun little 360 video things...which of course we had to partake!

Stop 1

This was Pat's fave.  Very flavorful!

Stop 2

Best ham & cheese I've had.  Plus a nice absorber for the wine!

Stop 3.  This was actually not on the list, so a freebie!

Honestly beautifully plated for BBQ and it was fucking delicious!  Pork on top of a potato mash with a pickled onion and micro greens

Found the Beer

Stop 4

We got one of each.  Delicious!

Stop 5.  They were hand making the pasta!

Handmade!

 

 

 

 

Found another 360 spot!

Stop 6

This was the most adorable set up!

Found some Sangrias and they were doing full glasses!

Stop 7

This was my favorite!

Stop 8 - missed the sign because I skipped this one, but a Chorizo Empanada

Stop 9

Look at that!!!!!

They underground cave

So pretty inside

Stop 10 - This may have been one of the most glorious things I've ever seen!

I had like 4 different ones!

By far my fave - I wanted to die

Pile of Cream Puffs!!!

Stop 11 - missed the food pick but Pat got Pistachio and I got Mango. Yum!

Relaxing by the grapes

Someone was getting tipsy...

There was a cigar spot you could get a free one!

 What an amazing event!!  After this we headed over to Cougar Winery to try to pick up a Sip Pass we had ordered.  Unfortunately it was apparently at a different winery so we'll have to get that another time, but by this point we were like - welp, let's have wine and a light dinner before we head to our hotel.  This is a dog friendly winery and has a really beautiful view, so we'll def be back!

Loved the framing of this

Happy

We stayed the night at South Coast Winery in the hotel portion and it was just lovely.  Had mimosas on the porch with our room service breakfast the next morning and was a perfect top off a lovely time away!

I got way too excited over these tiny condiments

Walking the vines

What a glorious culinary adventure!  Can't wait to go again next year!!  Whose coming?