Weekly-ish notes on navigating big change

autumn

The Adventures

Every day is an adventure. I share the view, the gratitude and the news  on Fridays – you’re invited to join in. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

The view

Homemade cinnamon roll + coffee + knitting + Gilmore Girls = perfect Saturday morning. #taralovesmornings
I woke up to uneasy snuggles. This is the closest they've ever been (touching!) and the peace holds only if they don't acknowledge the other exists.   #taralovesmornings #catsofinstagram #caturday
Pho for dinner.  With roast broccoli, cilantro, lime, pickled ginger, tofu and noodles. #whatveganseat

I am so grateful for…

  • A warm home on cold nights
  • A fantastically warm welcome to my newest thing
  • Saying yes to something new and big and exciting

The Finds:

I’m thinking about:

  • Since reading this post (and a zillion other studies) on the importance of standing up every 20 minutes, I downloaded Timer+ and set up a timer to go off every 20 minutes until 8 or 9 at night. I'm walking more steps and feel less achy at the end of the day.
  • You know I love CoSchedule (I go into detail about how I use it here), and this is a great post about fixing your Bounce Rate. (It convinced me to rewrite the headline on my Home page.)
  • Jay is not into sweaters, so when he asked if I could knit something like this, I was thrilled. But now I can't find any patterns that are similar. Suggestions?

I’m eating: 

In case you missed it: 

  • Be a Professional. Make the shift.
  • Overcome by self-doubt? You're not alone!
  • I announced my newest thing (an awesome new class series, built to give you your best biz in 2015) to my email list and the reaction was delightful. If you aren't on the list, and you're curious, sign up here.

I've had a few questions this week about how to listen to the podcast, so I wanted to answer them here, in case you were wondering: 

  • If you don't usually listen to podcasts (and don't use an app on your phone), you can simply listen via the player in each post (it's a little arrow button under each picture. If you click it, it will play!)
  • Or you can download each episode! In the “How to Listen” section of each podcast post, there is a link (embedded in the words “download it”) to the MP3. If you click it, the MP3 will start playing right away . If you right click, you can save it to your computer.
  • If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod, you can use the “Podcast” app to listen – just click “add podcast”, search for “explore your enthusiasm” and select “subscribe”. This will ensure that each new episode will go write to your phone!
  • No matter what device you're on, you can listen to the podcast via Stitcher here.

What adventures have you had?

The Adventures

Every day is an adventure. I share the view, the gratitude and the finds on Fridays, and you’re invited to join in.
You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

The view

The happiest table at the farmer's market. #yayfall

I can't stop myself from taking leaf photos. #iloveautumn #foundwhilerunning

Gorgeous morning run. #foundwhilerunning (I officially started training for a 1/2 marathon.) #eep #6monthsaway

Yesterday's amazing apple crumble. (Very little left today.) #vegan #whatveganseat. Recipe from @isachandra (link in her profile)

I am so grateful for:

  • The opportunity to teach through Handmade in America. I have met so many amazing, delightful and creative entrepreneurs these last 3 weeks.
  • Cool, sunny runs
  • Autumn is really, truly here!
  • New brakes + new insurance for the car. It isn't glamorous, but it feels fabulous to feel safe.
  • Roasted butternut!
  • The invitations sparked by my request.
  • Lovely thank-yous of local wrestlers when I made them an entrance.
  • Apple crisp! (this one, with brown rice syrup+ maple syrup replacing the sugar)
  • Big shifts and tiny steps towards the Next Thing

 

The finds

“no baby, if you’re going to create

you’re going to create whether you work
16 hours a day in a coal mine
or
you’re going to create in a small room with 3 children
while you’re on
welfare,
you’re going to create with part of your mind and your body blown
away,
you’re going to create blind
crippled
demented,
you’re going to create with a cat crawling up your
back while
the whole city trembles in earthquake, bombardment,
flood and fire.

baby, air and light and time and space
have nothing to do with it
and don’t create anything
except maybe a longer life to find
new excuses
for.

Welcome Autumn

Happy First Day of Autumn!

I'm celebrating  with an uncharacteristically autumnal color: Plums. I usually dye and spin crazy bright colors, but these rainy first day of Autumn (and, I'll admit, a dyepot mistake) inspired this deep purpley gray.Plums

I'm stocking up on Autumnal inspiration by reading about everyone else's fall crafty-ness. Here are a few of my favorites:

I don't know if I'll be dyeing many more autumnal colors, because I still love my brights, but I love soaking in the colors of the season!