WINTER HOLIDAYS ARE UPON US

It's been a full few months since my last post and even though I think of this as my personal and important life blog, it comes short now because most my work is blogging for the art collective and events I co direct there.
Here in a nutshell:
A new home in June.
My new puppy Malibu in August.
The birth of my Grandson Rafael Manolo in September. OMG is he gorgeous!
and travelling to meet him in person in October...as well as my wonderful friend Kate in Budapest who runs a meditation center there where we convene once a year for a retreat.
Celebrating my 54th birthday in November.
Winter holiday season in northern California, I notice that there is not a thing I miss from anywhere else...except, my family and friends in Europe...yes, I miss them greatly, hanging out, cooking and eating, spazieren gehen in the woods, sharing stories and going deep on the meaning of life and how we are doing in the grand scheme of things...pretty darn good...for sure.
Then, there is a good reason for me to live in California, there is the inner work.
The becoming aware of mental patterns that create hurt and hinder healthy mental growth.
Yes, really, I have the great good fortune of time and leisure to observe and heal from having grown up with deeply hurt-(ing) parents who self medicated with alcohol their entire life to death...just mentioning this because it makes for a pretty crazy environment for a baby to be born into and grow up in...and yet so incredibly culturally normal in the fifties among artists in Europe.
So grateful for my own daughter who cares so much about family, health, mental and emotional well being, sound nutrition, exercise...all the things we know are healthy and part of a good wholesome life, yet so difficult to keep up with theses mentioned destructive patterns...aha, it's getting clearer...you see?
Funny, because all I wanted to do is post my pics of a nicely lit street I went window shopping on with my boyfriend the other day and share how nice it is here...hoping that my daughter with her growing family and my friends from Europe come visit me and share the swell vibe and natural wonders surrounding us.

Meanwhile, I'll send all the love and gratitude out with a shout, to you.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

Not everything in a chrysalis becomes a butterfly

HAD to write that down...a few weeks ago, I noticed a curled up leaf on my priced peppermint plant that grew almost overnight into a healthy monster spreading it's uplifting essential oils all over the new yard.
So, I look at this leaf, notice it;s a chrysalis of sorts...here is where it gets tricky...I choose a sentimental route, knowing deep inside it's not a butterfly and Bingo...I have the worst pest on that plant with moth like creatures all day that produce nasty little worms that eat...get this...peppermint only, it seems.
The tomatoes and oregano in the same planter are ok...it's a mint specific plague. That's actually the good news.
I'll look it up and see if there is a natural way to eradicate...might just cut it down to the roots which are super strong and let those critters die out.
Uhm...other than that things are going great at the new ranch.
Truly.
Loving my life as a budding grandma and sober girlfriend to my partner.
Golden.

MOVED.....AGAIN. I KNOW...

"Moving is so uprooting...even if it's to a super cool place I love...kinda like re-potting a plant, always takes time to establish a sense of harmony."

GRANDMA PRACTICE ON FRIDAYS

Tom rounded up a baby for us...Friday mornings...it's a BOY!
Micah, the son of Claudia and John from the meditation school down the street...
Tom even gets paid, how cool.

So, here we are, Grandma in training (I'm taking the pictures), Tom, eating turkey pinwheels and Micah, playing withe single dish washing glove I gave him as a TOY.
What a JOY!

THE DRESS AND THE REST

oscars ready

This is how it came together:
Sunglasses are new and a big splurge...Kate Spade
Bolero I bought in Mill Valley at Milli with the help of Sydney, who works there and always finds the coolest things for me
Dress I bout at Ross ca 2003 for $19.99 in case I get to go to the oscars and it survived several big moves around the state
Clutch is a gify from my friend Ela in Vienna for my 50th birthday
Shoes I found in Kentfield at a vintage shop 'what poppi wants' and are Dior with a chinchilla poof
Got those band aid boobi stickers to create a cleavage and commando below.
My super cool coat from Kate and Feri in Budapest did the trick and the necklace I made literally last minute before we left on our road trip to LA, it's a big ruby I once got at a crystals & mineral show in Marin and old shell carvings from Bali in 1979.
Voila!
OK, this is just the outfit.
To make this event as fun and successful, here are the other ingredients:
Boyfriend, chosen for Love and Understanding, for life being better with him in it than on my own one day at the time. Clean and sober. Has family who welcomes me and invites me to family events. Bingo. Invitation to Oscars: Check!
Friends who live in LA, who we both know, who love to see us, host us, feed us, walk their dogs with us, who have a house in nature: Check!
Girlfriend of 28 years who is the best esthethician in Mill Valley and gives us both facials two days before: Check!
Boyfriend's manager who has a rolemodel wife who rents hotel room where we all meet the day of to plume and perfume: Check!
Limo: Check!
Boyfriend who hold my hand and baby space with me throughout the night: Check!
What a gift!
Check!

MEETING MINDS AND HEARTS: KLAUS, MARINA AND TOM FRANCO

Our seat neighbors where amongst the wonderful surprises during the Oscars celebration.
Marina Abramovic and Klaus Biesenbach from New York.

I can only guess it was James's intention for everyone to meet since we were all invited and got our seats from the host...AND got along wonderfully.
Meeting of the minds and hearts.

PARTY PICS OSCARS NITE

James Franco's photo on WhoSay

BRAIN SWELLING AND BABY FEELINGS

Dreamed of my dad again..."that he wasn't really dead,but rather wanted to live on his own, without responsibilities, memories of our past and therefore faked his death. .." It's a recurring dream and equally saddening each time.
I thought really hard, in my dream, about all the "evidence of his death...the ashes, the old house in Vienna if it was available, the place in Budapest and most difficult: his phone number"...
I was looking for my iPhone in my dream to see if I had his number on it. Oy Vay.

happy Jules moments

Woke up with old old salty tears running down my cheeks, big tear buggers bubbling out of my nose and my sweetheart holding me and softly telling me that I was OK...it's a just a swelling, an emotional episode, ease fully let it go, it's feelings, ok to cry and be free of it...I am OK now.

My life is in order, I'm in a healthy relationship, am creating work and income as an Intuitive Creative. Contributing to people's lives with my talents and skills.
Lack and delay now crumble away and I step into my prosperous healthy love life under grace.
My family is healthy, loving and we have an earth angel on the way! Yay!

Great blessings to count for sure.

DELICIOUS MEDITATION UNRAVELS KNOTS

...in my body and mind...
Last night, exhausted after a full day of new life, instead of laying down to watch a movie on our tiny hand held dvd player, I decided to join Tom for a 20 minute meditation session. He was already sitting and the meditation energy spread it's stillness through the living room, where our central puja illuminates.
I have a new sitting set up, got an old yellow buckwheat filled pillow out of storage, which Dawn used as a teenager during yoga winter retreats in California. A splendid find as it turns out.

So, I sat down, slipped into the Om vibration of the mantra and slowly, like popcorn in a hot kettle, one area of my body after another popped open. Where there was tension, which goes unnoticed all day and perhaps even life, ease took place and pretty soon I felt light and exuberant. Ahhhh, the benefits of meditation.

always in meditation

My face cleared up radiating joy...wow, this clearly was the wing of grace joining the wing of self effort to let this baby bird fly.

What amazes me most, is the seeming casualness, with which such tremendous changes happen in meditation. Really, it has nothing to do with religion or any cultures we impose on the simple truth of life having a higher power actively at work...and as I make an effort to align my body mind and heart, it rushes to meet me half way.

I feel so supported and loved actually.

The night continued with closeness and very deep sleep in which I dreamed long scenes and story, history as it is, with my father. I woke up deeply affected and hope that in writing this down, the next steps of unraveling, will be equally as clear and liberating as was the meditation experience.

With a grateful heart, I thank my daughter and my partner, for being loving reminders of the presence
of true meditation masters in our lives.

GOING TO LA ON A FUN DATE

Just wanting to sketch my thoughts on what this upcoming weekend is for me now.Tom and I got an invitation from his brother to go to the Academy awards that he is hosting and has a nomination for. Peaking career experience.
We are road tripping it, staying at SY friend's house with 2 dogs and really look forward to playing, having each other's company and experiencing the exciting tinsel town toys like kittens on a long stick.
Like, we WILL touch this with a ten foot pole...hay yeaahh...come and play.

in a meeting at the North

Here is the challenge: remember we live in the bay area...this is our life now...we are artists , sensitive and creative...observant...meditators...we love our life...it's a good life!

The Self doesn't care if you choose a good life or a glamorous life, Julia. It's all the same. You choose.
Having chosen my partner, it's choosing the good life marbled with glamorous life...how creative the Shakti is and how kind and generous our Guru.
Her handwriting is all over this event.
All gifts and good fortune, well being and community, fellowship and committed relationship, rolled into one.
Yumm.

gallery art opening february 2011

PS: ...and....ssshhh, a grand child on the way!

Yay! A baby for the family. Welcome!

BOLINAS MORNING WALK

It's a blessing, both, to have a boyfriend I love, and dog sit in Bolinas a motley trio of rescue pups that where slated for the needle.
Tilly, may she RIP, left a month ago per old age and now the three left are without the alpha girl which makes them ungrounded, insecure and crazed.
Wonder if thats true for us humans too...a little?

Yeah.
Well, it was such a relief for me that Tom braved the long drive late at night, knowing that he had to leave to go back to the east bay for meetings early in the day...so we took a morning walk, to greet the sky, the moist green green earth and the pacific ocean.
Later in the evening, I made a new batch of "Golden Dawn", this time with amber and patchouly notes and Gayatri meditation oil and a mix of coconut, cocoa bean and shae nut butter...lanolin too. All organic ingredients, super good smelling and mollifying for my skin. The best stuff to keep a beautiful relaxed face.

LA LUNA IN HER GLORY JANUARY 2011

bolinas poplar road

CELEBRATING FULL MOON IN BOLINAS

Our friend Vicky has me take care of her dogs while she is getting body care herself... coinciding with a full moon oceanside in Bolinas, Dawn's birthplace, just a few days before her birthday.

A gift of the gods, again.

When great things like this happen, I don't ask myself, what did I do?

I just feel in the flow and grateful for having a clean and sober life with my boyfriend and growing family.

My prayers go out to Vicky, my family and for the flow of abundance in our lives. 

Tonight is full moon and I look forward to a walk on the beach lit of by the pearlescent rays of luna herself.

Yummmm...

lola, yoda and mabeline on walk on bolinas poplar field

rose quartz gift from tom

MY MIND

Love Martha Beck's quote today: "You are never required to do more than you can do in peace. Right now, take a breath, return to peace, and refuse to leave."

magnolias in the rain

Since I have stepped on the clean and sober path of serenity, courage and wisdom, all the hurts and scars I habitually washed away with alcohol and codependent relationships are itching and wanting to be noticed and somehow dealt with. Which is what I am learning to do with the help of family, friends and fellowship.

In my dream last night, a voice said: " Just go to your friends in high places for help."
I immediately thought of my spiritual teacher Gurumayi and in my dream set out to see her...slowly waking up to find myself smiling at the many options I do have to take a deep breath, know that everything that needs to be done can be done, and done elegantly with grace.

love in unexpected places

So, this very 'busy' pivotal weekend, I remember to breathe deeply, smile and include myself in the wonderful world of family and friends and fellowship. Asking for help as needed and offering peace as collateral.

How will I remember?
I have a rose quartz heart my boyfriend gave me last week in my pocket as a healing token and physical reminder.

I also ask you to pray for me.

MY PHOTOGRAPHY

My photography makes me happy!
It also gives to the people I love.
History is being made as I capture the moment and post it in the right place at the right time.
Co creating community & culture one day at the time.