Gone to Santa Fe

Santa Fe is pretty magical place for me.  I've never had a bad time there.  My friends keep moving there so I will always have a place to stay.  And the drive down is not too bad.  It is 6 hours and 21 minutes which is basically three episodes of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Three of This American Life, lots of twizzlers and Annie's bunny mix, and three bathroom breaks.

What is it about this town that so attracts?  Is it the possibility of seeing George R.R. Martin in person and asking him what the eff is wrong with King Joffrey?  Is it running into a psychic at a bar who tells you your energy is, like, seismic?  Is it hunting for pumpkin butter at Trader Joe's?  In truth, it is all these things and more.  Maybe it is the way the adobe buildings settle into the landscape as though they sprung up out of the arroyos.  There are no Tudor mansions in Santa Fe.  

And it is all about art.  Art is everywhere in Santa Fe, and people want you to get all into their art and talk about art and argue about art and accept art.  And the art is everywhere.  No, that is not a soup terrine, it is art.  No, that isn't a nifty throw blanket, it is art.    

And I observed.  I'm trying to be all creative and start a band and write songs and generally not hide my light under a shrubbery, but I just needed a weekend to watch and listen and be.  Usually I am a spitfire of hilarity, just ask my friends.  I have been described as "life of the party" on more than one occasion.  But not this weekend.  I'm sure I made for fun company, but I needed to listen more than I spoke.  I was taking it all in.  

I listened to The Shins and read the Nora Ephron book my mom loaned me.  I got a pedicure with my cousin, ate breakfast burritos while watching Wimbledon, and was entranced by "Moonrise Kingdom" (seriously... go see that movie).  My cousin Emily has this phrase, "that's sooo Santa Fe" which basically means that there is no standard, expect anything.  I think every vacation should be so serendipitous.  I still haven't seen the Georgia O'Keefe museum (but my mom went, does that count?) nor did I venture too far from my top three favorite places to eat (Harry's Roadhouse, El Parasol, and Plaza Cafe) but I did try new things and found some new favorites (La Casa Senna... heavenly patio of twinkly lights and gorgeousness).

The "Jesus cloud" outside Harry's Roadhouse.  

So I hope you're getting some vacation time in this summer.  And by vacation time, I don't mean running from museum to landmark to restaurant in a sprint.  Take some time, enjoy the place where you are and let it unfold itself to you.  Santa Fe wanted to impress me this weekend, so I let it.  

Happy trails to you.  

seize the moment

Do you seize the moment often?

This whole year has been about seizing moments and breaking out of my sad turtle shell... okay, I don't have a sad turtle shell, but I can be a little reclusive sometimes.  So lately I've been trying to say "YES, I WILL DO THAT!" more often than I say "No, I have to go buy stamps."  There's just something scary about not having an anticipation guide for life.  And I am sadly not one of those spontaneous, awesome people who buy stamps as needed.  But I've been trying to change that.  So when my friend Shannon called me the other day and said, "I have two free tickets to see Foster the People at Red Rocks tonight, wanna go?" I said, "um, yes."

Pretty

Foster the People... a little blurry... a little far away

So we went, we had a fabulous time and I was glad that I said YES to something I otherwise might have missed.  Now I don't want to be a perpetual YES person, but I think I overrule potential awesomeness with my overthinking.  Have I missed moments that could have changed my life?  Yes.  Is that okay?  Yes.  Have I done really awesome spontaneous things?  Yes.  Did I regret those moments?  No.  I think it is good to have a balance between the yes and no poles of decision making.  The trick is to own your decision and not beat yourself up either way.  And when you own a decision, really go for it with gusto.  Be present in the moment and appreciate it just for what it is.  Carry on.  

My cousin and her friend chillin out at the lake on the 4th