Grin & Bear it.

Hi there! How is your week going so far? We are getting so much sun here in Portland that I’m a bit giddy! It’s a little bizarre but I’ll take it!

Maybe it’s the extra Vitamin D but even my dreams have been stranger than usual. You see, I have recurring dreams with a bear in it. Yup. A big ole’ grizzly bear that I always see on the outskirts of a forest. He is always tromping through the trees on two feet appearing rather ferocious. He never actually gets me or even gets very close but the dream is alarming and always stays with me all day. This last time, I woke up from the dream and this thought entered my mind – “The bear represents change.”  It hit me like a bolt and thinking back I realized that I have my “bear dream” when lots of change is entering my life. All of a sudden both the changes and the bear seemed less frightening.  I decided to look up what a bear stands for in dreams and found that actually the bear can symbolize being brave, facing the world alone and encourages independence and strength in motherhood. Be the Mama Bear. Okay. I can do that.

To remind me of this, I just bought this print from Corella Designs on Etsy. The wonderful artist is Donna McKenizie. I love this big bear and I love that what at first seemed scary is now making me stronger.

Here are some more of her gorgeous illustrations.

Do you connect with a special animal or see one in your dreams? Maybe it’s trying to tell you something…

Have a wonderful Tuesday.

xo,

Ivy

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Home again

Hi dear readers! Yes, I am home from beautiful Sydney and I’m still trying to take it all in. It is always a bit surreal when one day you are in another country and the next you are in your own bed. Always trips me out a bit. We actually got home a week ago but my family stayed on to celebrate Grace’s 7th birthday…so…this is my first chance to sit down and post.

I have dozens of photos and I promise not to unload them all at once but I thought today I would just share some of my favorite Instagram shots from the first day of our adventure.

We landed at 6:07 am. Bright and early!  After enduring all the fuss of customs and luggage wrangling, we jumped into a cab and headed to the Four Seasons Hotel. Even though I was exhausted, my heart was beating fast with excitement! I was actually here. The view from our room brought me to tears. Of joy.

Like good little travelers, we resisted the urge to stay in our room and sleep and instead went for a brisk walk in The Rocks district, discovered a sweet cafe, downed a few coffees and a tasty breakfast.

The feeling of being back in Sydney was rather indescribable. Surreal, bizarre, overwhelming, exhilarating. I was overcome with gratitude that somehow, in a matter of a few days, my dream of returning to my birth city had been actualized. I was in Sydney, with my beloved husband, staying at a beautiful hotel and only hours away from seeing my childhood friends. To quote my dear Aussie friend Jo – “I was completely spun out!”

After a very short nap, we got up showered and felt somewhat human again. We had to seriously rally because we were off to the Opera Bar for sunset drinks with my mates!

The Opera bar was swarming with people, all taking in the gorgeous view, the warm sun and of course the lovely drinks. I scanned the hundreds of people looking for familiar faces. The butterflies in my stomach raged and my trembling hands were doing their best to steady a glass of white wine. I was nervous and excited at the same time. What would it be like to see these girls after 19 years!?

Just when I thought that perhaps we arrived before them, two hands fell on my shoulders and spun me around. In front of me was two of my girls. Claire and Natalie. We screeched, laughed and embraced in one hysterical mess. I’m sure we looked crazy but we didn’t care. Before I knew it, another two friends arrived with bottles of bubbles, warm hugs and endless giggles. While the champagne flowed, we caught up with one another like no time had passed at all.

The night unfolded beautifully! We ended up at a sushi place where we were joined by another friend. Chris celebrated his birthday there – the actual day had been lost in time when we crossed the date line!

After that we meandered the Rocks, linking arms, sharing stories old and new and laughing about high school memories. My heart was flooded with happiness.  It felt good to be home.

Okay more to come – I will break it up a bit so I don’t bore you to tears – I promise.

What have you been up to while I was away? Anyone else travel or start a new Spring project? Do tell.

xo,

Ivy

Hello, Sydney.

{artwork via here}

Hi there my lovely readers!

Well, I have some exciting news to share with you today – we are leaving for Sydney, Australia on Thursday – yes, as in two days from now!! A last minute opportunity landed in our laps yesterday, when one of my hubby’s clients invited him to an executive retreat in Sydney. Well…as many of you know, that is my birthplace and there was NO way in hell that I wasn’t going with him. So we scrambled and made arrangements for my parents to fly in and take care of the girls! I’m in total shock!

I’ve gotten in touch with several of my childhood friends, so I hope to meet up with them and catch up! I haven’t been back since we left in 1994!! I was in the 11th grade. It was so hard to leave all my friends but at the time we kinda idolized America and I had fanciful notions of becoming a cheerleader, dating a quarterback and going to Prom! ha! Things didn’t quite pan out like that…

Anyway, I have always wanted to go back and visit so I feel incredibly grateful for this chance! I will be taking tons of photos and hope to post a bit while I’m there!

See you when I return from the land Down-Under…

xo,

Ivy

Ranch life…

Hi all,

Hope your week is off to a good start! As promised, here are shots from our trip to Brasada Ranch…(these are a mix of iPhone pics and shots with my Canon).

Central Oregon has a wild, rugged beauty to it. Gnarled Juniper trees with their soft blue berries, bristled sage brush and tall evergreens dominate the landscape.

Grace got to go on her very first trail ride…

and she tried out my camera on our photo walks together! It was too cute to see her snapping shots of everything.

Claire was a trooper too and loved being all snuggled up in her stroller for our long strolls around the property.

My favorite photos were taken during the golden hour when everything seemed to glow with the warmth of the setting sun.

  

This was the gorgeous view from our cabin’s deck…sigh…

Felt so very blessed to spend our Spring Break here. We will be going back to the ranch for sure!

Have a lovely Tuesday!

xo,

Ivy

Grace & Dottie

Hi there! How is week going so far? All is well, here at the Newports. Claire Bear is saying more “words” and is desperately trying to stand on her own. Grace is getting excited to celebrate her 7th birthday later this month so we are in party planning mode and my dear hubby is super busy but grateful for the work. As for me, I’m excited to start a new online art class with Jeanne Oliver on Monday! I’ve been absolutely dying to make some art but I always do better with a specific assignment and a deadline…must be programmed into my brain from art college! I’m hoping to gut my studio this weekend and prepare all my art supplies so I will be ready to dive in. Eeeek! Can’t wait!!

Okay, so I promised to share some photos from our trip to Brasada Ranch and I managed to get these done the other evening. This is Grace and the ranch dog, Dottie. Grace was completely smitten with her. Every chance she got she would beg us to take her up to the main lodge to visit her. It was really sweet to see the connection between the two of them…

More photos to come…

Hope you have a beautiful Friday!

xo,

Ivy

A Cup of Spring

Hi there friends!

How was your Easter? We had a fabulous time visiting the gorgeous Brasada Ranch in Central Oregon. I have so many pictures to share with you but they need to be processed, so while I’m working on all that, I wanted to show you some pretty pics of the recent teacup I found. She’s a real beauty and so perfect for Spring.

She is a lovely example of 1940’s lusterware by Royal Halsey and has a beautiful pearl like shimmer. The sweet clusters of rose blossoms go from petal pink to deep garnet and are paired perfectly with swirling gold embellishments.

She is in the shop now just waiting to be loved.

Hope you are enjoying all the beautiful blossoms of Spring!

xo,

Ivy