°❀⋆.❀Flower Beds & Glowing Teeth⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

Hi friends, Kandarchists, slackers, and stud-muffins! How are we doing? Happy Friday. How was your week? Did you do anything fun? Did you get to enjoy some spring weather? The weather here has been all over the place and it has decided to continue freezing at night which has made my seasonal plants VERY unhappy. My whole table is filled with all the plants that I could physically pick up and take inside… and every night I have to wrap the ones in the ground because IT IS TOO DAMN COLD! My poor plant babies. Speaking of gardening, THIS week I volunteered at the Arts Council and fixed up their back courtyard garden. It is literally plants in dirt on pavement but it has potential to look incredibly cute. I ripped up all the dead matter, dug up the dirt to loosen the soil a bit, took out a TON of crocosmia bulbs, and then added some plants from my own yard (THEY ARE FREE, DUH), and mulched it all just in time for the artist reception they have tonight! (Pictures are down below, for proof that I kicked ass.)

We did go celebrate my husband’s birthday in Grand Rapids on Saturday and had a really great time. We ended up going to an indoor market that had incredible Greek food (homemade baklava ´ཀ` ), we went to an arcade and played Glow putt-putt, then went shopping and made him buy some things for himself… which he hates doing, and then we went to see a stand-up comedy show that was really good! We’ve only been to one other stand-up show live, but Nate really likes to watch the videos on his phone so it may be something we try to do more in person.

A freaking GIANT, LARGE, BIG, MACHO, INCREDIBLE news for you: My painting, “The Cactus Hollow Hotel” (Remember it, huh, do ya?!), was ACCEPTED into the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art at Bedford, PA for their Biennial exhibition!!! I’m SO excited! The show begins at the end of July and runs through October. My husband and I have already talked about driving that way (it’s 8.5 hours to Bedford, PA from us) for a quick trip just to SEE MY ART IN AN ART MUSEUM!!! Of course, I want everyone to know… myself included… that this is just the beginning! I should not need the validation from anyone or anything but this acceptance does feel like some kind of proper validation. My art career has just been stuck for the last year or so and I have had a really hard time knowing which direction it should go… hopefully this is a good path to take! Fingers crossed, y’all! ⚔ (Those are swords but it’s kinda the same thing.)

Image captions: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th pictures are the proof I did hard work… hopefully the plants will prosper & fill out well! 5th picture is boo & I at glow golf. It was in Grand Rapids and I highly recommend it. It’s a small course but they only allow a certain number of groups playing the holes at a time so it feels quite private! They also have a bunch of arcade games, including free ones, that you can play while you wait for your turn to get on to the course! We will bring our kids next time! Image 6 is a small update about our new bird Cleo (he’s the white one)! He is now in the cage with Leo and is doing incredibly well! They freaking LOVE each other and it is just precious to watch.

Finally, I just want to touch up on the fact that I am no longer on social apps and it feels INCREDIBLE. I’ve been doing a LOT of work on myself and between not drinking, no longer seeing so much negativity online, and keeping myself active, I am starting to see a difference. I do wonder if I am going a little TOO hard… Like, maybe I am trying to distract myself a little too much? How does one find their equilibrium? I keep taking on more projects and saying yes to more things… I’ll sit down only to stand back up. Does anyone else do this? How do you slow yourself down?

Friday Query Corner:

I know I said I was going to nix this part and do something different.. and I will… But I haven’t figured out what that is yet so until then, I’m just going to keep you guessing and you won’t know what this part is going to be because I MAKE THE RULES HERE- MOHAHAHAˊᗜˋ

What have you been listening to lately?

WELL… I’m one that has the same playlist since… essentially middle school. I’ll add some new things every now and again but I'm stuck in the late 90’s-2000’s alternative rock scene & honey…. I don’t want to get out. That being SAID, a newer band that I’ve discovered and freaking love is called PREP. They are an English indie pop group that has really fun, disco-esque vocals with some funky jazz instrument solos that hit home SO GOOD. If you give them a listen, try songs: On & On, Who’s Got You Singing Again, and/or Years Don’t Lie

Be good, y’all, and have a great weekend!

xxx- Kanda 𐦆