Things I've Learned This Week

Things I Have Learned This Week:

1. Time Management is CRITICAL when you work for yourself. I found myself sort of feeling like I was supposed to be doing something, yet somehow I got everything accomplished. 

2. Yacht Rock is my latest obsession. I blame #BraggJam. Though I have always loved 10CC, The Commodores, Ambrosia, Christopher Cross,Hall & Oates,  etc... I am back on this soft rock kick from hell. Can't. Get. Enough. In particular... THIS song. I probably played it 1/2 a dozen times the other day as I was scooting across town to run errands.

 

3.  I have officially complicated my life... and I am WELL aware of it. Details will come.. and yes, it's in the "love interest" territory.. but .. c'est la vie. I'm having fun. ;-)

4. It's Clinique Bonus Time at Belk. Need I say more? The ugly phase is over. ;-)

5. I have a $183 grocery bill today. Why? It's a whole lot cheaper to purchase food to prepare versus going out to eat. Now that I am working from home, it just makes more sense. I checked out my Wells Fargo budget breakdown.. and... um... er.. I was spending close between $600 - $800 a month in "entertainment." Which when I looked closely - was restaurants/etc.  Yeah.. that grocery bill makes sooo much more sense now.

6. Okay.. now.. I'm just going to say it. It's not cool, but I don't care. I have spent money on super expensive shampoo, I've bought the natural stuff, and I've bought the smell good stuff. I TRIED to make a switch to some other "highly promoted" expensive crap, and my hair has felt like straw. (Which contributed to my ugly phase post.) I finally just picked up my old fave... Pantene Volume and it was like a miracle had occurred. I'm going on the record and saying this is the only shampoo that works for me. There, damn it. I'm done with trying other things. My old standby is perfect. No more ugly duck phases.

7. I have so much more "me" time and I feel complete joy. Did you hear me? JOY. 

8. I thought I would give a shout out to some of my friends in Macon. It was such a delight to pick up this month's Macon Magazine and see 4 of my friends right there listed as part of the 5 under 40. I don't think they could  have picked four more incredibly wonderful people. What do we all have in common? We're all Leadership Macon graduates! Dominique Johnson (is a minister, as well as one of the advisers to my Leadership Macon class,)  Chris Tsavatewa (is a professor at Middle Georgia State College & serves as the head of the community board I serve on for Star Choices, and I consider a newer friend (his wife is awesome too!,)) Jonathon Dye (is a very dear friend and the Communications Director at Macon Arts Alliance and now someone I work with doing the Art Matters Journalism bit,) and of course, Stacey Harwell (she is Jonathon's fiance and a minister at Centenary & a dear friend.) These four are soooo dedicated to our community and I am genuinely thrilled they were selected.

Dominique Johnson, Steward Vernon, Chris Tsavatewa, Jonathon Dye, Stacey Harwell

9. Is it just me.. or are you over summer? I figured out this week that I have a threshold for handling humidity and I have officially reached it. Bring on pumpkin spice, bring on the bold/Autumn colors, and bring on the cool evenings. DYING here, people.

10. Finally... I'm okay. Really! Maybe doing better than I have in a very long time. 

With that.. let me show you a little of what I have been up to:

Lynn, Scott, & Bill (& me.. though I'm taking the photo) at the Cox Capital Theater watching the Grammy Winning - Blind Boys of Alabama at Bragg Jam.

My friend and curator of the museum, Jeff, celebrating his 50th bday!

Need I say more?

Chilling with my mom at her Gallery

Hanging out at Macon Arts Alliance's opening for "Figures" with Glennean (artist,) Steven (dir of Main Street Macon,) Molly (PR guru,) Jonathon (mentioned him earlier,) and Melissa (dir of The 567 for Renewal (a gallery))

Friend & Coworker, Tonya, at Jeff's Bday party

Me about to facilitate the Board Retreat for Middle Georgia Art Association

The insanely talented artist, Eric O'Dell, with one of his paintings. Click on his name to learn more about his wildly successful career. :-)

Lynn with Dewayne Kendrick (artist,) Deonna (arts advocate,) and Franodo (great friend.)

Josephine (Station manager of GPB Macon - Georgia Public Broadcasting) and me at Bragg Jam.

Scott and I hanging out in downtown Macon

I went to see The Wedding Singer at Macon Little Theater. My friend Georgia portrayed Linda, and her husband, Brian, was Robby Hart! They did an incredible job!

That little nugget made a cheesy chicken casserole with me.

Two newer characters in my life. Two great friends- Brent Milner who owns the Milner Group of Georgia (Allstate agency) and Derek Huff - handles financial securities/etc with Allstate. I am doing some PR for them, and of course, we are actually all good friends.) Lynn and I hang out with them from time to time. :-)

Me - having lunch at Harpin's in Macon.

That crazy little "power couple" - Stacey & Jonathon with me - at Bragg Jam. #dyewell Yes.. they have their own hashtag. lol

Eleta & Alex Morrison at the Macon Arts Alliance exhibit opening reception. Alex is the King of downtown - as in the head of the Urban Development Authority. Super nice couple.

The fabulous Carey Pickard and Chris Howard. Chris & I were in Leadership Macon together. He is also my main contact at Cox Communications for promotions. :-)

The group I lead at the Board Retreat. Helping artists & arts organizations become the best they can be!

One of my dearest friends, JJ Hobbs. Click on that link and get blown away by incredibly cool she is. She and I were at The Wedding Singer together.

Molly & I at The Hummingbird during Bragg Jam. Check out her blog please - Make It Work Molly

Lynn & Eric (minister at Centenary) at Bragg Jam

Lynn, Craig Hamilton, and I at The Hummingbird at Bragg Jam. Craig is another PHENOMENAL and widely successful artist. Just how successful? Well.. he is the one who worked for DC Comics and created Aqua Man. Seriously. Just google him. You'll be blown away. ;-)

Deonna, me, & Jonathon at an exhibit opening at Macon Arts Alliance

Dean Brown (the wildly talented lead singer for Dean Brown & the Dub Shak,) and Lynn

Stopped by the say hi to Jason Frost - just one of the most talented artist/graphic artist around. He just will NOT smile for a pic. lol Check out his stuff HERE.

Stephanie & I at Bragg Jam

Molly & Scott

Just hanging out at a party with Representative James Beverly. ;-)

Hanging out with Paul Harpin (owner of Harpin's) and Molly

Enjoying art with my friends Melissa & Molly

The graphic artist, Jason Frost, with incredibly talented digital artist, Craig Coleman. Craig was showing one of his unique pieces.

Molly & Katie at the Tubman

Travis at Jeff's bday

Molly at Jeff's bday

As you can see - I have not been writing as much, but I have been out living, grabbing inspiration, and loving life.

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!!

Art - Music - Food - It was an Amazing Weekend in Macon

This weekend was full of really good stuff. I mean, REALLY good stuff. I know sometimes I get on this "whoa is me" kick, and I suppose that's just how I am and who I am. I want things a certain way, and I work really so hard to make things a certain way - that when they don't go my way, I pout and moan and complain. I'm a curmudgeon- We are our own worst enemies.

Remember all of the good stuff I shared with you in Friday's post? All of the good stuff I planned to do? Well, I did most of it, and I think it all went very well.

Friday I was super busy and super excited to do the whole "First Friday" in downtown Macon. If you are not from here, and most of you who read this are not, our little community pulls its resources together the first Friday of each month and offers special little incentives to shop and play downtown. Typically, I head to the art galleries, etc. I am not so much into the bar scene, and only sometimes do I even feel like eating dinner out at night. Lunch is my restaurant time of day.

I started the evening out at the Macon Arts Alliance's Gallery opening reception. Here is a pic of some people I was hanging out with - from left to right: Jeff Bruce, the Tubman Museum's Curator is in the back; Shandelia Shepard (our new Programs Manager;) Stacey's roommate (and a Health Educator.. I totally forgot her name.. just met her that night;) Stacey Harwell (a minister at Centenary Methodist Church;) and Heatherly Wakefield (the Director of Fine Arts at Macon Arts Alliance.) The show at this gallery was mainly based on print making. Great stuff. You can sort of sneak a peek behind everyone in that photo.

Here's a photo of Lauren Benedict (City Council woman, lawyer, and board member of MAA) and Jonathon Dye (the Communications Director of MAA.) They were working the bar that night.

Here is a photo of two spectacular friends - JJ Hobbs (local Opera Singer) and her partner, Cindy Hill (Arts Marketing Director for Mercer University and the Grand Opera House.) Cindy and I have known each other since we were kids. We used to do theater together.

After we left MAA, we headed outside to a pop-up boutique on 1st Street. I ran into Valerie Bradley (Communications Manager at the CVB) and Stephanie Robinson (former Marketing Director for the CVB.) We caught up for a few minutes, both of our groups were doing the same stuff, just going in a different order. lol You can see a little of downtown behind us.

Next, we popped into an empty space on 1st Street that was turned into a Pop-Up Boutique. It's basically a trend in using empty space and showcasing small businesses. This space was phenomenal.. and there were tons of small shops set up selling great items. Alex Morrison, the Executive Director of the Urban Dev. Authority (seen on the far right near the window,) Mechel McKinley (Main Street Macon) and my friend Molly Wilkins worked really hard on this. Check out the awesome blog of Molly's and more details on her idea and the event. I only took photos with my phone, her stuff is waaay better and you can see the goodies - HERE.

After that I headed on over to my mom's Gallery on Ingleside to see a truly inspiring art show - one that took cancer survivor's art work and put it on display. The stories and art were phenomenal, the crowd was spectacular, and the food.. OMG. Fountain of Juice catered (this organic food shop) and all I have to say is that the candied bacon is TOO. DIE. FOR.

After that final stop, I met up with my niece and she and I enjoyed an evening at my place. It's been a while since we got to hang out together and it was awesome. She is growing up soooo quick.

The next day she and I met with my family and Yasser for lunch. He wanted to catch up and see how we were all doing. It was actually nice, and I can 100% say we are simply friends now. We all sat for almost 2 hours, talking, eating and catching up.

After lunch, I headed back and got ready for date night. My new friend came over and we went to a phenomenal party at my friend's Tim & Leila's home. Sophia Bastian (from NYC) came and performed as part of new thing Macon hopes to do - a Music Ambassador program. (Check out the story on the link)

Here is a photo in Tim and Leila's Sun room. I knew probably 1/2 of the people there (about 70 or so) and it was GREAT seeing all of these wonderful people enjoying some time together.

If we are friends on FB, you can hear the video I recorded while there. Her voice is heavenly. Just go on YOUTUBE or see my previous post to hear "Gloryboxed." Oh my word.

The food and art they had on display was second to none.

After that, my friend and I went to Polly's for actual dinner.

Tex-Mex at it's finest. Under all of that cheese is a beef enchilada.

After a great dinner and a few laughs, we headed back to my house for a movie.Finally saw Identity Thief. It was really cute.

Needless to say, I've been an absolute bum today with small moments of cleaning. I'll do one task and rest for an hour.. then another task.. rest for another hour. lol

I hope each of you had a great weekend! I suppose I can sum up this busy weekend in one word - CULTURE. What did you do?

So many things!

There are sooo many good things happening right now, I simply don't know where to begin.

How about HERE. With the picture above.

My dear friend, Leanne, from "From Chaos Comes Happiness"  is a wonderful artist. She is witty, she is whimsical, she is tremendously creative and I am now the PROUD owner of some of her work. How COOL is that? I ordered the smaller print you see about "living life" and the magnet up on the right. But guess what I found when I opened my packaged- ALL OF THIS. My absolute favorite piece is the larger one above titled, "You are enough." I don't know if you remember me posting a quote a long time ago.. and it said something like, "I am enough." I love how Leanne captured that moment and sort of validated my affirmation with, "YOU ARE ENOUGH." I don't know what special "joo joo" she put into that picture when she was painting it, but it has empowered me... and good things will follow.

You KNOW I am all about supporting local artists. Why not support my friend Leanne? Like me, she was let go from her employer almost a year ago. Just a few months ago, she had an opportunity to go back into the corporate world, but she did something so many of us only wish we had the gall to do - She became what she always was - An Artist.

Please visit her Etsy site - Leanne's Etsy Shop link. Her prices are FANTASTIC. She makes jewelry, magnets, book marks, note cards, and basic artistic pieces. All are super positive and PS - Guess who created my little cartoon Nicole/Header? LEANNE!

Goood stuff, people. Just really good stuff!

ps - Though Leanne and I have never met in person, she and I formed such a wonderful friendship through blogging. Since then, we email and call one another to "check in." I hope some day soon Leanne and I will meet up - either in Chicago (her hometown,) or my southern belle of a city - Macon, Georgia. If you are a "silent follower" or have ever toyed with blogging, trust me - it's an excellent place to make friends from all over the world. I recommend you do it! You never know, one day I might be able to say, "You know that famous blogger/artist Leanne? Yep, she's my friend." ;-)

Expression is Key to Educating

I had a wonderful opportunity last night to meet a phenomenal artist. Not only were his works of art beautiful, poignant or striking, they told a story- a story of expression, of life, and of hope.

Curlee Raven Holton is an exhibiting artist, curator and distinguished educator. Over dinner last night, he shared his journey with me and four other people -  He studied drawing and painting at the Cleveland Institute of Art, then he went on to earn an MFA degree, with honors, in painting and printmaking from Kent State University in Ohio. Since completing his studies, Curlee has successfully maintained a dual career as an educator and a professional exhibiting artist.



Over the past week, I would take the long way to my office to view his works of art. Stopping from time to time to view ones that really caught my eye. Last night, during the opening, he opened up my mind to the expression and story behind each picture. While people were slowly pouring in, walking around, greeting one another, I was captivated by one picture called, "The Quilt." The colors, the sadness that emanated, the social cues that were sprinkled throughout the piece told a story. I knew it had something to do with Civil Rights, and I knew it had to have something to do with pain, as well as hope. During the lecture, Curlee explained where his inspiration for this piece came from. I was thrilled to learn that I was able to understand, without anything more than a title for the piece. It took me aback. It made me think. It touched on a heart string somewhere - and that my friends, is what Art is all about.
 
I knew then that I was in the right place, and the art I am promoting can very well open the minds of someone. Here I am, a white girl growing up in the south. I am looking at this piece done by a black man from the north. He shared his pain, his struggle, his interpretation of times past, and in some cases still present, and it made sense to me. A girl, again, that has absolutely no connection to being oppressed - yet I felt what he was feeling, and I knew, I had important work to do.
 
After the opening, I joined the Curator, the Artist and his sister-in-law, and Guest Services person and went to a local restaurant, The Tic Toc room. As I dined on filet mignon, and listened to this incredible man share his journey with us, I sort of chuckled. Just a month ago I was worrying how I would put gas in my car, or if I would ever be gainfully employed. Now I am immersed in art and culture and I realized life is as it should be.
 
I chose the Passion. In turn, I will keep the Momentum.
 
If you are interested in learning more about Curlee Holton, you can see his work, or attend one of his lectures. Since 1991 he has been the David and Linda Roth Professor of Art at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, where he teaches art and African American history. He has lectured and written extensively about African American art and artists. Perhaps most notably, he is the founding Director of the Experimental Printmaking Institute. EPI was founded in 1996 to promote research and experimentation with in the medium of printmaking. Since its founding the Institute has produced 100 print editions by 80 different artists. Works produced at EPI have been collected by prestigious museums throughout the United States.
 
As we move forward this week, let us remember to express ourselves. For those of who are writers, we need to make sure we are explaining, describing, interpreting and sharing what we see and hear. If you are an artist, then you must show us what you are feeling and seeing. If you are a musician, let us hear what you hear.
 
You never know, someone like me may come along and be forever changed.