Amazing

And then sometimes I want to just be a photographer! I went out and took photos of the Start of Round the County a week ago from yesterday. Not only did I not want to freeze my butt off by doing the race, I didn’t have the time to commit to the full two-day event. Thankfully I have an awesome friend in Anacortes with a beautiful powerboat who took us out to take pictures of the start! I have missed racing in this event that I used to take part in for 10 years in a row so it was lovely to at least witness firsthand the excitement of Saturday morning. It was also a fabulous sunny day!

It recently has come to my attention multiple times that you are actually reading my diary/journal/blog/website! I have to admit I’m a little embarrassed to know that people (you included) are actually exploring my website and reading my words. Its great, don’t get me wrong, Thank You for being here and reading. However, it had always felt safe to assume that I was putting all of this into the ocean of the internet as but one tiny droplet of information and now I feel like a visible wave! How vulnerable I feel to know that you now know some of my personal innermost thoughts and feelings.

Does this mean I should stop oversharing?

I am running a business after-all but I am also my business so therefore you should know who you’re dealing with right? All my flaws and imperfections plus opinions and ideas laid out on the table for all who want to look can see. A little scary, I guess I had my head in the sand sort of when sharing here.

Now that my eyes are open maybe I shall curate my content a little bit more? Like the photo below, I probably should post the new pictures of the work that was just completed on Icon. However the perfectionist in me thinks that the images I took of the work are not good enough. There is still a lot of other work happening in and on the yacht and therefore I don’t feel appropriate sharing images yet before she is complete and clean. I have good intentions to share them later. Time flies and my intentions although good often can’t keep up with the pace of life. I’m doing the best I can.

Thanks for understanding and Thanks for reading. Time for me to get back to the sewing room!

A very old picture of me at the helm of Icon (a Perry Designed 65' Sloop cruiser/racer) on a delivery.

I used to co-manage the Icon program and was a vital member of the racing team. I love sailing and I very recently completed a bunch of canvas work for this beautiful yacht as the owner is planning on cruising her again after an almost 10 year hiatus.

Icon was for sale for a time and if I had had the money I would have purchased her in a heartbeat.

Happy Love Day

It’s another wildly commercialized holiday today and we get to choose whether or not to celebrate it. In my humble opinion we should choose to celebrate every single day! Life is short so why not celebrate it as much as we can and focus on the love? It doesn’t have to be only on holidays however if you feel you need an excuse to show and/or tell someone you love them then today is the day to do it.

The history of “Valentine’s Day”, like so many of the holiday’s we celebrate, is dark and murky. It’s hard to say exactly how it originated and the truth could possibly be a lie anyway. Why not just take it for what it has become as a day for love? There is no time like the present and the beauty of being human is that we get to assign whatever personal meaning we want to our own experiences.

We also tend to prove ourselves right whether we know it or not. What stories have you told yourself about this “Holiday” and how do those stories affect the way you feel? Is it possible you could change those stories to something else that makes you feel different- good or bad? Shift your focus maybe, from one bad experience to one good one or from what you don’t want to what you actually do want.

I used to tell myself that “Valentine’s Day” sucks. I held on to the memories I had of unfulfilled hopes for romance and expectations from partners that left me with feelings of general disappointment. Many times all I felt was sadness on a holiday that is supposed to be full of love.

One thing I have learned the hard way for sure, is how to love myself enough that all that other shit doesn’t matter. I proved myself right long enough to know that I don’t want to repeat that story anymore. I’ve had enough of the personal suffering from expecting to be disappointed. I choose to expect that today is another day and Love is always something worth celebrating. I don’t need chocolates or roses or sparkly gifts but I love them and it’s okay to love those things too so long as they don’t determine my happiness level.

So I wish you a very Happy Love Day today!