Zen admist Chaos

I know I wrote before the cliff jumping girl was Jessica's first card mailed from Ghana, but the back of this one says it was her first one drawn there.  Who knows for sure, but both were from pretty early on in her new job there.  She writes that she is into the little dots and that they help to provide moments of zen in the chaos of life there. 

I have been thinking a lot about living abroad this week- not only will I host a Japanese teacher in a month- one of my old haunt Egypt has been on the news.  Its odd to think of a place I lived being the site of something so real and meaningful.  I also think of Jessica, stay safe pal!

Posting my secrets

Last night I found myself telling someone about this blog. Considering that it is always on the back of mind, it is sort of amazing how rarely it comes up. It, in itself, can feel like the most public secret I have. Which is fitting because it started as a way to keep our thoughts underground. Lynn and I began bloging in part because after a year of mailing postcards we each had a pile. Pretty designs on one side and sometimes sordid confessions on the other. My artist mom was dying to take a peek, and I was not sure I wanted our friendship laid out on her kitchen table. So we started a blog. Quite a counter intuitive approach to keeping our friend club to ourselves.

Recently, I have been feeling a bit like our secret blog. Having gotten better at being strategic about keeping my mouth shut and certain thoughts to myself, I am reminded that we are all a bit like postcards. Aren't we? However, this pent up frustration comes out in my art and reinforces my desire to gush gory details to Lynn via snail mail. Now and then I love to draw a mean postcard. It makes me feel better and I know Lynn can take it with a grain of salt - misposted frustrations.

Thus the reason I love PostSecret. It has gotten quite a lot of press, but is worth a visit now and then. In this spirit and since I have neglected to scan Lynn's post card, I have uploaded a recent submission that I sort of adore.

Watch out Lynn. I am going to the post office soon.

First Week

This card was written Jessica's first week in her new home and mailed to me from Ghana.  She had lots of positive feelings about her new job and home, and she wrote "I predict I will be gald I made the plunge."  Having moved to new countries before, I remember being impressed she was so positive.  I often felt overwhemeled the first few weeks, so I was glad to hear my friend was doing great.  She wrote, "I feel like I'm living on the edge and making room for opportunity"  Sometimes our cards are snippets of daily life, and sometimes like this one, they are powerful words.  Lets make room for opportunities in our lives!

Sewing Machine

This is a drawing of Lynn's grandma's sewing machine. It was old and apparently made the 90 inch seams of her duvet cover feel like they took forever. Lynn wrote that she was glad to back in the modern age after a recent upgrade, which lets her zip along with ease.

Since I have been wanting some new skirts, sewing is something I have been thinking a lot about recently. I dont have time to sew at the moment, but one perk of living in the developing world is that it is easy to get clothes made. All I need to do is dream up a design and buy some fabric - no new machine needed.

'thank yous'

With the holiday season over, I've been receiving a few lovely thank you notes.  Its always fun to get mail, and while these may not be the most fun to write, they are nice to receive.  Seeing the fun designs of cards made me file away several ideas in my inspiration sketchbook.  I thought I would share two favorites in this photo. 

sources Crane and Co., Laura Brown, and calligraphy via ISLY
What about you, are you still writing thank you notes?  Also, on a semi-related note this Slate article talks about the trouble we all have coming up with intelligent things to say in such notes, give it a read so you can make a good excuse why you didn't thank anyone this year.

Beer Margaritas

A fun recipe from Lynn, one year ago:

New Job, New County, New Year!

It has been a few weeks since a postcard was posted on the blog, and to be honest a while since I posted (i.e. sent one) to Jessica.  One reason for this was we were busy hanging out together spending time on another of our shared interests, eating!  When I visited Jess for a too-short-24 hour-stint in Traverse City, we enjoyed Soul Hole, Amical, and Patiserie Amie for each of the three meals.  Yummy! Now that your hungry, something for the eyes...

The title of this post is a quote from this card that Jessica had drawn at the beginning of 2010.  She was days from moving to Ghana and was feeling both excited and nervous (who wouldn't?)  The card feels like a good one to post at the beginning of this year because its a time when everyone is setting goals and making changes.  One of Jessica's goals this year is more work-life balance which is good for me, because she promises more phone calls as a way to socialize and spend time not working!  I am not sure if I have goals or resolutions yet, but balance is always a good one.