Gypsea Tree has Moved!

I am happy to announce that Gypsea Tree has moved to a new home! Please join the caravan and head THIS WAY.

I look forward to seeing you there and am excited to say that I will be hosting a give-away this week to celebrate the new adventure. I hope you will sign up to follow the new Gypsea Tree. See you there!

Summer Projects

Changes are afoot at Gypsea Tree. I’m currently packing up the wagon a preparing to lead this merry little band to greener pastures. More on this soon. I’m excited for a change!

Despite the fact that I am currently jobless and actively seeking (anyone in the Pacific Northwest want to hire a gypsy type yearning for creativity?) I have still managed to be quite busy. I’m trying to keep up a daily writing routine and this week I’m adding exercise to the daily rituals. I’m trying to take full advantage of the extra time this transition is allowing me and do many of those things that we always say we would do if only we only had the time. Tomorrow I’m heading for the mountains with a good friend and I can’t wait!

I also finally got around to making some feather earrings as I blogged about a while back. There are often things I want to buy, but refuse to because I think “I can make that!”. It’s such a good feeling when I actually do it!  The pair pictured are for one of my dearest friends. She made the painting that the earrings are photographed with!

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Have you been working on any summer projects? I would love to hear about them. In the meantime enjoy the sunshine and I will be back soon with some new announcements.

Accomplishment

This has been a lovely summer hasn’t it? It’s flown by, but I’m trying not to think about that too much. I know it’s been good because I occasionally let myself bask in a few giddy moments of anticipating Fall. This week I finally got into something of a regular writing routine. It makes me feel so good when I finally start doing some of the things I constantly long to do, but for some reason don’t. Self discipline is not one of my strong points, but I’m working on it.

I’m not sure where I originally came upon the photo above so forgive my lack of source. I think its from a Toast catalog. It’s not far from what I imagine heaven will look like.

How have you been spending your summer? I hope you have managed a lazy day here and there. Maybe even a few hours spent in the hammock…

San Francisco Love Song

I was quite certain that I would fall head over heals for San Francisco once we finally had the opportunity to become acquainted. It was a hurried affair, but I can assure you, this is True Love.

After the Sequoias, SF was our next top destination for the Great California Road Trip. We had limited time, but my main wish was to walk a lot and just marvel and photograph all the wonderful buildings. The day we were there it was sunny and absolutely perfect. I tried to throw away all inhibitions over the embarrassment of appearing the Blatant Tourist and managed to only walk into one bike rack while lost in rapture over the architecture.

I am not generally a girl who loves cities, but that must only be because I was waiting for the right city. It felt like home. It was everything I dreamed it would be, but different and even more wonderful.

In the 60′s my mom lived in California for a while. She likes to distinguish the fact that she was flower child vs. a hippie. (Either way I just wish she had had the foresight to hang onto her wardrobe for her future daughter!) She has a picture of herself at the corner of Haight Ashbury so I had to get mine too for side-by-side framing of course!

The Haight District was Hippie Heaven for me and we spent the greater part of they day there vintage shopping, picture taking, eating, and just enjoying the general splendor.

This Victorian vintage shop was so lovely it was almost heartbreaking. I wish I had a better image to show you.

Here is another vintage shop that I almost completely lost my head in. An entire old meat locker filled with old hats and vintage suits. The afternoon ended with my fellow well-hatted and very dashing… (Sorry no pics, he is internet shy.. sigh…)

After returning home I discovered I have a cousin who lives (or used to) within blocks of these stunning stained glass windows.

For the sake of time and other interests we skipped the busy Fisherman’s Wharf and didn’t plan ahead enough for Alcatraz. We did make it to Coit Tower and walked up and down Lombard Street. We managed to fit in quite a bit in 24 hours and I loved every minute of it. I can’t wait to go back and maybe, maybe someday I will even be lucky enough to call it home.

{all images are property of Gypsea Tree}

Summer Reading

I have a problem. I’m addicted to buying books. Not only that, but I buy them in bulk. I rarely leave the bookstore with less than four at a time. This wouldn’t be so very terrible if 1.) I was endlessly rich  2.) I actually read them all.  I must confess that of all the books I have purchased in the last year or two, I may have read about half of them.

So I made a deal with myself. I was allowed one last buying frenzy, but now I have to read what I already have or finally get that library card. I have lived in this city for nearly two years and have neglected to do so. Oh dear…

I took this picture to give myself a tiny visual of a few of my most recent purchases that I needed to read. I took it about four days ago and since then I have finished White Oleander and made a good start on Ghost Orchid. It’s only a coincidence that they are both botanically titled. I think…

White Oleander was a book I could hardly put down. I used to watch the movie whenever it was on TV and although I never thought it was particularly good, there was something about it that made want to watch it over and over. The book is far better and broke my heart a little. It made me think about the human need to strive for beauty in the most horrendous of circumstances and how sometimes once it’s lost it can never be regained in quite the same way. Have you read it? What did you think?

What are you reading this summer?

The Gypsea Among the Trees

I am back from my California Road Trip and oh my it was wonderful! Any journey that involves a pilgrimage to one of the largest trees on the planet has to be amazing don’t you think? Since visiting Sequoia National Park was the original inspiration for this trip I will start with that.

General Sherman is the largest tree in the world by volume and is about 2,700 years old. It is truly a tree of wonder. Originally I was diappointed that I could touch it, but we took many hikes through equally impressive groves of these ancient giants and I was able to touch and marvel to my hearts content.

No picture can quite do them justice. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to visit, I highly recommend planning to do so. It is so incredible that after the first few hours I literally ran out of adjectives. It is pure magic to walk in these ancient places.

We covered a lot of ground in eight days. We only camped one night here, but it was just wonderful. I think we decided that this was  perhaps our favorite part of an incredible trip.

I saw lizards for the first time and was quite taken with them. They are so delightfully quirky!

I also saw a couple of bears! I was very concerned with bear confrontations at first, but after seeing the first one it put my mind at ease. He couldn’t have been more indifferent to my presence. Bear management is carefully attended to. I was glad to see the extreme importance they placed on protecting the wildlife and environment of the park.  It was impressive to see how well managed the park is. It manages to be accessible to everyone yet still  retain its mystery and wildness for those willing to explore a little deeper.

{please note all images are property of Gypsea Tree}

More of my California adventure will follow!

Are you all enjoying these summery days as well?

The Possible Time Traveler

My lack of posting lately is due entirely to the wonders of modern technology.

Specifically: my new iPod Touch!

I finally purchased this wonderful gadget a few days ago and I love it! I have been listening to a lot of podcasts and that is where I heard about the photo below. Does anyone seem out of place to you?

{source}

The photo is from a museum gallery and is about as authentic as they come. The speculation is that the out-of-place fellow is wearing clothes so era-inappropriate that perhaps he just may be a time traveler caught on film. This is very much the kind of craziness that I love! I don’t care if it’s ridiculous or not, I just love contemplating the possibility. I love that there is enough ambiguity to the photo that it’s even worth contemplating.

Your thoughts? I’m most curious…