Boho Girl

cedar & me, taken with phone yesterday

Heather and I so enjoyed reading all of your comments. We are grateful to each of you for spreading your beauty and pouring droplets of encouragement into her heart as she transitions into her new life.

Although it was so hard for her to choose and she wanted to send each of you gifts of her art, there is one comment that spoke closely to her heart. How she wishes she will come to the place that this lovely woman has with her move…

The winner is Hayley, that said…

my husband and i moved from our lifelong home of indianapolis to charlotte 3 years ago this weekend…and it finally feels like home. i’m to the point now where i think even if we were able to move home, i’m not sure i would want to.

a year in, i felt like i started seeing familiar faces when i was “out and about”. two years in i felt the muscle memory and familiarity that comes from driving the same roads day after day. now, three years into this adventure, i feel that i have deeply rooted relationships that i would mourn the loss of should we ever move.

charlotte is a good place to be–thats what i’m thinking today.

Hayley, please contact me at denise (at) bohophoto (dot) com and send me your mailing address. Congratulations!

Dear beauties…I may be a wee bit absent for a few days. I am dealing with a bit of exhaustion and am needing to rest up and gather my reserves to take care of my darlings. Today is Boho Boy’s birthday, so we are spending our day today marinating in all the reasons we love him so.

{random side note:: will the lovelies that have scheduled sessions with me at Squam in September, please contact me? i switched personal emails and with it, my whole calendar went “poof” and i no longer have access to the session info (i know…me so smart). thank you!}

12×12 on wood panel, “to connect” by Heather Murphy

I met Heather when she graciously reached out and asked me to be part of a cool website project called “the good heARTed“ where she helps support/promote artists of all mediums. I was honored, truly honored to be included. I also resonated so deeply with her passion to support artists, as that is one of the many reasons I love photographing them.

This week we are giving away one of her beautiful pieces of art (shown above). But first, I’d love for you to meet Heather and hear some of her sharings…

self portrait of heather

I am a artist + web designer living in Charlotte, NC. I receive much
joy from playing with bits and pieces to create works of art with my
mouse and my paintbrush! I am inspired by nature and in ordinary
moments in my day. I believe there is a special magic in using old
photographs, letters and pages from old books in my work. Stories
unfold and I some how relate my work to where I am in my life too. I
believe in listening to good music, going outside the lines and
getting lost in the woods.

My recent pieces have been a reflection of my current “journey”.
having recently moved from Minneapolis, MN to Charlotte, NC I am
trying to embrace the deep sadness, excitement, finding new
communities, staying connected with my friends in MN, etc.

It is easy for me to think about the life I moved from and to focus on
what life will be like here once we are settled (living in an
apartment temp), but I am grateful for the moments when I can pause
and see the beauty in the “transition”, even when it feels messy,
stressful, like we made a mistake, I will see or hear something that
brings me into the moment and I trust that I am right where I need to
be, there are some rich moments that emerge from these experiences.
Today for instance I intentionally just got lost and ended up in this
neighborhood where there was this empty lot in the middle of things
and there pairs of blue chairs randomly placed in the lot. And again,
I was reminded and felt peaceful.

Rules:
Please leave a comment to enter
One comment per person
You may leave one word or share inspiration/feelings/thoughts
Comments will be open for entry Tuesday, June 23rd – Saturday, June 27th
Winner of her gorgeous art will be announced on the following Monday
Have fun!

my yummy boys today, taken with phone

Today Boho boy’s heart swelled. He woke up to his very first and long awaited Father’s Day. He sat up in bed first thing this morn’ and moved down over near me with his tousled hair and a big grin. I said in a sleepy (and probably slightly grumpy voice because mommy’s not a morning person), “Happy Father’s Day…can I sleep some more?” hee hee.

I ended getting up because his happiness was contagious and Cedar was awake and we brought him into bed with us and it was a sweet snuggle. So, I made Boho Boy his favorite yerba mate with rice milk and lots of agave nectar and our sweet day began.

Midday, there was this conversation, him up in the loft and me down below…

Boho Boy: “Honey, you should go for a pedicure and to see a film.”
Me: “What?!?!? Honey, its YOUR day! You get to do whatever you want!”
Boho boy: “After I get home from my massage, I want you to go…you deserve it.”
Me: “OKAY!!! Happy Father’s Day!” {insert huge grin}

Although, I decided not to go. I know I needed it but on this day, it didn’t feel right. Today isn’t about me and I really wanted to be with my boys and marinate in a surreal sort of day together.

I have learned such unselfishness from my husband and as I wrote in his card that he opened today, I so love observing him as a father. So in tune, so in love, so playful and teachable with his son. I learn…I learn a lot and this is exactly what I dreamed of in a partnership.

Happy first Father’s Day my love.

{oh and he’s so smart because i do deserve it, so am going tomorrow instead…hee hee}

cedar & me, taken with cell phone

This is what I look forward to every morning. When Cedar wakes and I bring him over to the magic blue couch. I lay him on my chest and we snuggle…snuggle hard. He squishes his face and forehead against mine and sucks on my cheeks with baby kisses. Then he sighs a really big sigh and mellows out while playing with my hair. Gentle strokes. On my hair, on my face or my eyelids. Its always gentleness in the morning and late night (the afternoons, he likes to squeeze and pinch and pull on my face not so gently).

This is just our time. While daddy is opening the library at the wee hours of the morning, mommy and Cedar are soaking up every morsel of the morning breeze, the smell of skin and the comfort of a love that feels indescribable. These are moments I have dreamed of for years and moments I will never take for granted.

The other day I tried to capture it with my phone, so that I could share it with my family.

photo by deb

Every other month, for one week, I feel like I am living in a different mind and body. PMS…I live it, breathe it, feel it…it is so real. After over 20 years of this, you’d think I’d become more comfortable with it. Not so much. Probably because I am a glass half full kind of person (I know, annoying) and I tend to look for the rosy posy in all situations but when this hormonal week hits, its all doom and gloom baby. It is such an out of body experience for me…how aggravated, irritated, short-tempered, tender, angry, irrational I can be about almost every. single. thing. I mean, I even cried because someone honked at me yesterday. I cried when a neighbor that I hardly know said to me...”what’s your name? I forgot your name!” I walked away thinking to myself...”see? you’re totally forgettable!” I laugh now. We laugh now but at the time, the world thought I was forgettable and that was such dread for a few hours.

My dear patient husband. So many months he has taken this ride of hormones with me and has tried his personal best not to take stuff personally and I bow to him for such expertise in the land of women. I remember reading a blog entry by Keri Smith, who has a stellar relationship with her husband much like I do and she opened up about how bad her PMS was. She said…“A week before my cycle, every month, I think I want to divorce my husband.” I giggle at this and I wouldn’t go as far as wanting to divorce Boho Boy, but I am extra hard on him and bring to surface all these things that any other day are not at all a big deal. Then as soon as my cycle starts, I look at him like he is the most amazing man in the world and I see all his beautiful goodness and I feel blessed beyond measure and madly in love love love (and want to rip his clothes off…ovulating much?).

Girls…we so need to go back to the days at the beginning of time when women had a Red Tent to retreat to, where they could be together during their cycle and cry and whine (while drinking wine) and bitch and moan and cry and cry. But also a time to be totally vulnerable and raw and open to the wisdom of other sisters. A time to connect and sooth and renew and reveal. Instead, we are having to function as we always are, when what we really want to do is crawl into that red tent and hang out for a while.

Today, as I was driving and on the verge of tears, I noticed a car in the lane on the right to me. The license plate read “Peace XO“. There were pretty multi-colored daisy and peace sign decals all over each side of the car. When we pulled side by side at a red light, I looked through the drivers window and saw a fiery redhead with short curly locks and a funky hippy shirt on. She reminded me of the beauty of my marmie. Her head was bobbing to music and her red plump lips against her white skin had a smirk. A very confident, sure of herself, in her own little world of bliss smirk. She then glanced over at me (probably just realizing a stalker was observing her groove) and I got so nervous that I giggled and waved. Then she waved back with a huge grin, turned away and continued grooving. SHE MADE MY DAY.

She was my red tent.

Some magic and soul for you…from my delicious sister friend lover woman that I miss and get to snuggleupagainst soon.

Jonatha is the only close person in my life that has met Cedar’s birth parents. It truly bonded JB and I in a way that words cannot describe. It was a doorway into our lives that otherwise K and T wouldn’t have known. It was a comfort. It was a beautiful and significant piece of our home that felt good and safe to share with K and T. Just that at least one person in our life experienced the rare and beautiful connection we shared as adoptive/birth parents to Cedar leaves a sweet imprint within our story.

When Jonatha hugged K and T for the first time, it was emotional and beautiful and surreal for us all. It was so wonderful to be be able to snuggle up with Jonatha in the hotel later that evening and talk to her about our excitement, our fears and the absolute wildness of it all. I will forever be grateful for her support during a time that felt wobbly and new and heart soaked.

We love you over here, JB. I have a feeling Cedar will grow up learning to write songs because of you. He is so drawn to the sound of a guitar…and your voice along with it.