quiet post | shssh ...

do you see the tiny bee on the left heading for the cardoon (thistle-like flower)? that's what i've been feeling like with sleep, lately. it's too big for me. the butterfly probably isn't much better fluttering all over the place. they do look pretty though, but i didn't when i was getting a time out and ordered to take a nap while watching some of the original martha stewart tv show episodes sunday afternoon. even if she is as busy as a bee, martha can be so soothing ...

trip : house & garden

i'll take any one of these homes, but the last one is my favorite. it's just steps away from the beach and i appreciate that they don't have those tall hedges in front to keep out the blogarazzi ;). enjoy your weekend, everyone! scott is being flat leaver tomorrow because he has to work and i'm not sure what to do here in the big city. any ideas?

xo, cindy

ps rob drabkin is a musician i learned about recently and he just released a cover of melissa featuring davy knowles that is pretty great. i love that song, it just says summer to me. he has a sound similar to dave matthews and his own rise at sea is a wonderful track. and yes, his hair is pretty great, too!

quiet post | farms

people think of the hamptons as all glitz and glamor, but its real beauty lies within the natural elements, especially the farms. there are fewer these days because not too many farmers can turn down $2,000,000+ an acre, but fortunately charlie brown won't have to worry about finding a pumpkin patch this year.

work | keep it real

hello, hello! i've completed the third phase, reflection, of the institute of you program, which deals with measuring the gap between your personal vision and your current situation. as mentioned in the previous post, the difference between mine was substantial and addressing the gaps (problems) will provide the greatest opportunity for success in future endeavors. this phase helps reconcile the differences through four assignments:

1. day reflection – we all have perceptions about who controls our day – the boss, spouse, kids. many people feel they have limited or no control over their time and that perception may be far from reality. through a simple chart, this exercise identifies who has ownership over key parts of your day by listing your activities under ‘others’ and ‘you’. then, when/why are the lowest part of your day? when/why are the highest points? finally, what parts of those daily activities can you eliminate, reduce, lengthen and create. through this exercise i realized i need to reduce the undisciplined drifting i do from one thing to another throughout the day, which will create more time for focused, results-oriented work. i also need to reduce my tv-time.
2. skills – this is the third opportunity to evaluate your skills and using the information from the prior two phases you create a list the skills you would like to focus on and your strength in each one. for me, organization was a 10 (great!), while meeting new people was a 2 (ugh!). then, you put them in sequential order with the strongest at the top and your degree of use and passion for each skill. i realized i enjoy using most of my skills and can apply them to the projects i hope to work on in the future, which is great. except for networking, my obstacles are not really skill-related, so i don’t feel like i’ve been wasting my time through my work. networking is a big problem though and i need to push myself as it is holding me back. i’d like to come up with some sort of incentives to get me going – rewards.
3. project alignment – your personal vision and motivations are used to identify how you are allocating your time to projects and how that time might be helping or hindering your vision. i’ve realized i’m spending a tremendous amount of time on social networking through our blog, flickr, twitter and just generally keeping up with/commenting on numerous blogs. the drifting i willingly do has started to reveal itself in this exercise, and although it can be beneficial to my vision & personal satisfaction, it currently has very little focus or financial reward. when left to my own devices, i seem to need adult supervision when it comes to time management because i'm doing a terrible job (1). 
4. force field - i got a lot out of this component, which breaks down into drivers that propel you towards your vision and inhibitors that prevent you from achieving it. within this exercise, i realized the fear i always blamed for holding me back should actually be replaced with complacency. also, i have quite a few very smart and supportive people in my corner who think i’m creative, which is something i often doubt. i will listen to them more in an effort to drown out my inner doubt, which is a big inhibitor and time waste.

this phase provided an 'ah-ha' moment for me because my perceptions are not all based in reality. i feel a sense of relief because other than making adjustments to time management and developing a more disciplined plan making a major over haul to what i‘m doing might not be as critical as changing how i feel about it. simply giving myself permission to change my thinking from powerless to powerful is an option. sometimes, when you put yourself through personal development exercises there’s a sense you need to substantially shake things up to improve the situation and that's not always the case. maybe all you need is a change in diet vs. a tummy tuck. we shall see as this road takes many twists and turns the longer i'm on it. three phases down, two to go.

xo, cindy

ps i saw david gray's video for fugitive via michelle's blog and love how the artwork appears throughout. i think the video is just about right for this post as i've been shaking my head like david quite a bit myself.

quiet post | beach towns

a quick trip to our favorite beach towns kept us far from the maddening
crowds at least until noon.

pics | sign language

look behind you! no, the other way! PEACHES!

hello, hello! lately, i seem to be saying 'the writing is on the wall' a lot and generally referencing the book who moved my cheese? by spencer johnson. it's a memorable story about two mice who go to the same spot for cheese each day, until the cheese supply dwindles. simply written, it's a short and sweet story about how people deal with change and very compelling. hope you have a lovely weekend and find your cheese just where you left it.

xo, cindy

ps yellow by coldplay is still one of the sweetest songs of all time and the video contains a message for chris martin - it's raining, at least put your hood up! did i ever tell you that he ran past our car with his surfboard in the hamptons? it's true. we were thisclose to having him run into our car ;).

work | snapshot

hello, hello! as previously mentioned, i've completed the first phase of the institute of you program about aims, which deals with identifying your dreams and personal vision. it was so nice to be in that place for a spell. but, now it's on to the reality phase, which is about evaluating your current situation through lots of cool charts that make it fun. there were four assignments in this phase:

1. day in the life - choose three typical days and block out main activities on a graph. then, identify how you feel about each activity on a scale of 1 (dissatisfied) to 10 (bliss). i really enjoyed this part because i'd been feeling like i no longer wanted to work in marketing and this task helped me realize it's not the tasks causing me distress, but maybe something else.
2. skills -  readdress your skills by identifying those you are currently using in your work and those you are not.
3. motivations - create a card for each project you are working on in your personal life and at work. then, plot your degree of motivation in terms of passion, advancement and money on a scale of 1-10. ideally, you should have a completely filled in triangle, which i don't. mine are lopsided and divided by whether i earn money from the project or not.
4. snapshot - this exercise is unreal because you use the same form you did for your personal vision, your dreams, but apply it to your current situation and mine are COMPLETELY different. i've got some work to do.

i realized my personal vision was going to change almost as soon as i wrote it and will share it at the end, but how it reconciles with the snapshot will be very interesting. i'm not stressed at this point because i'm taking steps to do something to really find harmony in the things i naturally gravitate to and my work. the goal is for them to be the same. two phases down, three to go.

xo, cindy

ps i absolutely LOVE the song impossible from anberlin's new album. the video has some cool things going on, but is kind of weird. the song seems to be about a relationship gone bad, but i'm dedicating it to the things that hold me back, which are mostly located within me and not impossible to figure out!

nyc | seaside town

love seaside towns and city island is actually located nearby in the bronx.

it is quaint and has a nice mix of architectural-styles, along with the requisite lobster house. i love lobster rolls because they're compact and i don't have to actually choose a lobster.

this truck is fantastic and so is the matching house, which is represented in three photos in this set. can we say 'stalker' or 'peeping tom' ;)?

zinnias are a favorite flower and so are those flowing grasses. i know, it always comes back to flowers. i just can't help myself.

this is the view of the bay from the cemetery. pretty nice and quiet.

now, in the interest of full disclosure, these pics are were taken several months ago, but getting their debut, today. scott had to work saturday and yesterday we just wandered around aimlessly to give him a break. in my quiet, alone time, i did find quite a bit of new music for y'all. first up is laredo from band of horses with its quintessential summer vibe. i love the photography in the video, too. hope your weekend was great!

xo, cindy

ps we are so hooked on dexter. we'll get a dvd with four episodes on it and try to watch only one a day. IMPOSSIBLE! and, is anyone watching mad men this season?

garden | tranquil spaces

the unusual, especially the bitter melon and staghorn fern.

the quiet giant, sunflowers seem like such shy flowers.

the busy, the bee in the upper left corner is covered in pollen. i never saw that before and have scott to thank for his eagle eyes.

hello, hello! shhhh ... it's august and i'm supposed to be very, very quiet. these pics were taken at wave hill, which is generally a very tranquil place. enjoy your weekend! xo, cindy

life | neon wishes

hello, hello! this weekend we visited wave hill and saw these cool neon water lilies set amongst tires by daniel a. bruce. the piece was inspired by the water lilies at wave hill and the tradition of tossing a coin into a fountain and appropriately called make a wish. in order to turn the lights on, the viewer is meant to insert a quarter into a box.

well, this guy was just standing there, so we put in a coin and he was like 'i was hoping you would do that'. i started to take photos and so did he. he finishes up and says 'thanks'. great! i move around to where he was and he comes back and stands right in front of me and takes some more pictures! while i'm waiting for him to finish the lights go out and he laughs about it. what a jerk!

considering all that is going on in the world, i should probably forget about it, but it's one thing if you get in the shot inadvertently, i'm sure i do, and quite another if you are intentionally being selfish. he's just lucky i didn't go-flight attendant ;).

xo, cindy

ps i'll have some more flowers from wave hill soon, including one with the coolest pollen-covered bee!

craft | change it

hello, hello! thanks to wi-fi, i've been converting our computer cabinet into one for sewing, but having a terrible time photographing it - oy! one thing i haven't had a terrible time doing is making these pretty fabric covered hangers thanks to pascale's wonderful tutorial on \\between the lines\\. scott even likes them.

this weekend we took charlie and my brother to a favorite czech restaurant, encountered a couple of rude photographers (more on that later, although it makes me cranky to think about it) and started to watch season one of dexter via netflix. it's a bit graphic, but we are addicted and dexter usually takes care of bad (rude) people, permanently ;). hope you had a wonderful, rude-free weekend!

xo, cindy

life | senior getaway

in addition to the flowers, the queens botanical garden has such nice programs for its senior citizen community. the garden is so rejuvenating some try to make a getaway and we say 'run like the wind!' enjoy your weekend, everyone. go on and get out of that chair ;)!

xo, cindy

ps i just discovered the new show the fabulous beekman boys on planet green and love it! kind of like a modern day green acres, but in a much nicer house.

garden | queens in bloom

the bee garden is happy even if you're not a bee.

hello, hello! although we've lived in queens for many years, i'm sorry to say we've just visited the queens botanical garden for the first time, recently. it's a lovely garden embracing sustainability in landscape and building design through its LEED platinum program, which is helping the organization make a name for itself.

the new administration building and green roof are wonderful examples of sustainable design and include bioswales used to collect storm water.

i love structure in the garden and the copper rose trellis's are wonderful.

there are so many different 'rooms' within the garden and an emphasis on water. i didn't capture some of the water features very well and will have to go back.

this structure in the fragrance garden is the coolest one i've seen.

a few more trellis's.

lost & love

i hope little miss lost & haggard will find the love she's been dreaming of ;). and speaking of lost love, our local video store closed and we really miss it. we miss the owner's friendly hello, the parakeets who had babies, and browsing through the new movies. we joined netflix so any movie recommendations you might have are welcome. hope you all had a nice weekend!

xo, cindy

ps i know i'm supposed to be silent with these posts, but i think it's going to take some getting used to ;).