friday i'm in love... (& where i pause for a short station identification break)

September 30, 2016 Arlene Giddings

i have not been here in a while...
life
has been busy...
hectic...
a little downright crazy
between work and weddings,
editing and driver's licenses and signing forms...
planning for thanksgiving
and birthday parties for an almost 17 year old
grad photos
and answering emails...
life has been
busy.

but fall is here
and with it,
i always feel a renewed sense
of creativity mixed with a strong need for
some very serious
down time...
i'm almost at the end of
my wedding season
(my last wedding season, though that
still seems weird to say)
and the chill in the air
makes me want to curl up with books and movies and new music
hot chocolate
and fuzzy slippers
and hibernate
for a bit.

{winter is my true introvert season
but it starts off gradually in the fall...
there are signs...and symptoms...}

but it's friday and i'm in love with all of these good things -

a beginner's guide to meditation
♥ oh so pretty...i can't stop watching
yoga for my poor aching PMS-y back
i ordered this today from zulilly! :)
♥ i cannot wait to see this!!!!

#tbt (remember...you were forewarned)

August 25, 2016 Arlene Giddings

i told you.
i told you all
already
that my little girl
is getting ready to leave
the nest
and
i
am going to be
nothing
if not a blubbering
messy
anxiety-ridden
meltdown of a mess.

so don't look at me now
like you didn't think i would
start already...
like you thought maybe i would
hold it together
at least until
the end of august...

cause the deposit was just paid on the apartment.

and that means
she's really going.

and that...
that is all it takes, my friends.
feel free to avert your eyes
until at least november...
mid november at best.
maybe christmas.
i'll be fine by christmas.

lights... camera... island!!

March 5, 2016 Arlene Giddings

it has been a while since i have
been able to get to this page...
not that i haven't thought about it.

but some time before christmas,
i took a deep breath and a chance
to try something i had never
ever
done before...
i auditioned for a play.

and i got a part.

the funny thing was i read for two parts...
one was a bit of a panicky/anxiety-ridden girl
and the other was a "girl from away"
who was calm, poised, confident
and...kind of self absorbed/stressed/a little snarky...

i immediately thought
i AM panicky/anxiety girl
and was surprised when they said...no...you are alice.
:)

this is me...in the dressing room...crazy eyed with butterflies and feelings of what the hell have you gotten yourself into!

the play opened last night
with what felt like great success...
laughter in all the right places
and you could tell the audience was connecting the dots
of the story...it's a feeling i can't really
explain...but it was pretty damn exciting.

but that's not to say that i wasn't stressed out
up until this point.
almost every thing about doing this
pushed me so far out of my comfort zone...
i am not good with change, especially fast change
and there is a lot of that...
I like things to be black and white...
to be sure of what I am supposed to do
and to KNOW what I am doing...
well, for a long time during this play
i had NO idea of what I was doing...
i didn't know the terminology, i stuttered my lines,
i thought "upstaging" myself meant that i was
overacting...not that i had come too far out on the stage, haha :)
I was reminded that I am very much an introvert
and that being around people, no matter how awesome they are,
for long periods of time
is exhausting and may make me extra-emotional.
I won't lie...
there were tears and cursing and
"why am i doing this?" and "i will NEVER do this again"
but
last night
when it all came together
and it was lights and mics,
laughter and murmurs from the audience,
pats on the back and whispered praise to each other
as we came off stage,
shared giggles over lines almost missed...
well....
it all became worth it.

you can check out more info about the play here...
there is still time for you to come and see it, if you like!

happy happy happy happy happy happy

January 6, 2016 Arlene Giddings

every year, i pick a word
to use as a focus for the year...
some years, it works great for me.
some years, well...they have been duds.

last year's word was
RISK
and it worked pretty good for the 2015...
it was the stepping stone to this year's word choice really.

part of my reason for choosing RISK last year
was because I was thinking about slowing down on the
photography business...
but i was scared to.

but i did it.

for 2016, i have about 8 weddings booked
which far different from the 18-20 i have been doing the past couple of years.
and, although it still gives me a little fear...
what if i stop...will people forget me...will i lose out...what weddings will i miss...
how much regret will i have...
you know...that kind of thinking....the scary kind.

but i am also feeling happy...a sense of relief...
and am making plans.

my new years resolutions consist of a lot of the same items
i add every year...and every september...and every spring...
weight loss, walking, water, fitbit, yoga, eating better, etc, etc, etc.

but this year, i have intentionally added items
FOR FUN...things that will make me HAPPY :) :) :)

cause really...that's what i want this year....
just a big mess of giggly, loud, a-little-in-your-face,
hold your sides laugh out loud HAPPY...
(with a little bit of weight loss, cause really, who am i kidding?)

goalsetter... {nablopomo day 22}

November 22, 2015 Arlene Giddings

if you know me, even a little, you will know
i am a list maker...
i have an app on my phone
just for lists.
lists like:

Pick up
Groceries
Car
Movies to watch
Movies i have watched
Movies i would watch again
Finances
Music i love
Holidaze
Books i want to read
Books i have read
i want i want i want
Blog-about
Lunch ideas
Sizes
Things i want to know more about
Winter bucket list
I want to::

and that's just what is currently on there. :)
i also keep lists in my day-timer...first...and most importantly is "yay!"
where i post little things that happen during the week that make me smile
like finding a parking spot on a thursday morning or seeing a tiny flock of birds

and last week i added a special note to myself...
a reminder to calm down. to breathe. to let go.
and some ideas of what to do INSTEAD of working for
at least a little bit of the night...(and seriously when i read that...that sounds kind of sad.)
and, for the record, there are stickers...cause...well...they are stickers!

you will notice...i forgot to call my mother.

but mainly for the really important things...
like dinner dates with best friends <3

so...all this is to say that I am adding a new line to the Goals list for this week.
last week was all nablopomo and calm the eff down
(seriously, that's what it said. calm the eff down.)

but this week, i am adding walking...
and eating right again. but walking...I have to got to get back to doing something
other than sitting in a computer chair.
so i have made a commitment.
and
it's in the daytimer
so it's pretty much set in stone (it is written in pen)(and not the erasable one).

wish me luck.