"P" is for Positivity (and Pizza)

I've been pretty bummin' lately with all of the crazy things going on in the world (Gaza, Ferguson, the death of Robin Williams) so I thought I'd do a post centering around all of the positive things in my life. Sound like a good idea?

I thought so too.

So here's a short list of positive aspects of my life and things that make me happy:

*I'm healthy. I am so fortunate to have a healthy body and am so thankful that it takes care of me. A year ago I started exercising regularly after having an injury and it has really helped to strengthen my body and calm my mind. Taking care of your body is super important and you feel so much better physically and mentally when your body is well cared for.

*My family. Of course my family can drive me absolutely crazy at times but I really am lucky to have them (minus the demon brother). My parents are two of the kindest people I know and have been so good to me. They've supported me through every decision (good and bad) that I've been inclined to make and have shown me what it means to love someone unconditionally (even if they are a 30 year old spinster struggling artist babe).

*My best friend and soul mate, Melissa. This girl came into my life 7 years ago (thanks to Myspace) and over the years we've grown from internet buds, to pen pals, to best friends (forever). She is a delightful and beautiful human being and I'm so privileged to have her in my life. Even though we live an ocean apart I feel closer to her than anyone else I know. No matter how crummy I'm feeling she knows just what to say to cheer me up. I wish we lived in the same time zone but hey, you never know, someday we might!

*Dogs. Dogs have brought immeasurable joy into my life. Don't get me wrong, I love cats with all of my heart but dogs give their love so openly and freely and without judgment. Whenever I see a dog I light up like a birthday cake. Dogs seem to be naturally drawn to me and I to them (I like to think of myself as a modern-day Snow White). I loved how easy it was to communicate with all of the dogs I encountered in Europe; they took one look at me and they knew I was a friend. I'm very much looking forward to the day I can get my own dog (or two). I think it's going to be one of the happiest days of my life.

*Art. Even though it has been difficult and the field is extremely competitive, I still believe that my purpose in this life is to make art. There are times where I feel like I've let my parents down by choosing art since I had the grades to pursue whatever career I wanted but none of those paths felt right until I ultimately followed my heart and chose to be an artist. I am a firm believer that people should do what they love regardless of how much money they'll make. Art hasn't made me rich and most likely never will but if you're just making art for the money, then you're in the wrong business. When I am working on a piece I become totally engulfed in the process and work into the late hours of the night often without even realizing it. Nothing else has ever captivated me as much as making art and I'd like to continue to make it for the rest of my life. Another thing I'm grateful for is knowing that my art brings joy to others. Imagine that something that brings you so much happiness is also able to bring happiness to other human beings. It's win-win! My fans are very special to me and have no idea how much I appreciate their support.



As a person who has struggled with depression and anxiety it's all too easy to focus on the negative parts of life. To be honest, Robin Williams death really affected me personally because I know from personal experience how hard it is to hide your true feelings and thoughts from others and conceal your pain. Often times people who have depression are the ones who are making everyone laugh and seem happy on the outside because they don't want people to feel the things they feel. I've made tremendous progress with my anxiety but dealing with depression is still something I struggle with. I've learned that self-love and acceptance are very important, though, and I'm working on finding happiness inside myself instead of seeking it through other people. I'm a work in progress, but we all are, right?

I recommend that you take sometime tonight (or whatever time of day you're reading this) to reflect on the good things and people in your life. And if you are struggling and need help, don't be afraid to ask for it. You are very important and we all deserve love and respect.

Thanks for reading this post and take care, sweet potato!

Love,
Iggy

Queen of Summer Time

Little Merbabe

It's crazy that it's already been 3 months since I got back from Europe. Mentally, I haven't completely come back yet. I find myself daydreaming about it a million times a day. It's also a bit of a drag coming back to your everyday life after going on an adventure. A week after I got home I was already super jealous of my friends going on vacation. Why can't I just go on all the vacations? Oh, yeah, because I'm an adult and being an adult SUCKSSS.

I have had some good times this summer, though. I got this adorable mermaid bikini and got to wear it to a waterpark. I hadn't been to a waterpark since I was 10 so I didn't really know what to expect but Michelle and I had a great time. We went to Big Surf in Tempe and after 3pm tickets were half price. I don't think I'd have the energy to go all the time, but it was fun. From an anthropological standpoint, it was very interesting as well. You see ALL KINDS of people at a waterpark and I love me some good people watching.



Sophie and Kiki

Another fun thing I did this summer was that I went to Phoenix Comic Con for the first time. I went as Kiki from "Kiki's Delivery Service" and was stoked by how many people knew who I was. I took pictures with people all day (so much that my friends were getting super annoyed by me being stopped every few minutes). I only went on Saturday but I feel like I got the full experience in that one day. I got to ride the light rail in full costume and look like an absolute freak to people who didn't know about Comic Con, I got to see John Barrowman and Nathan Fillion who were both really funny, I got to see TONS of great cosplayers, and I got to shop (I didn't actually buy anything but I do love a good browse). I'm already super excited about next year! I just need to narrow down which costume I want to put together...I've been wanting to get a Sailor Mars costume for a while since my hair is finally long enough but I really really don't want to wear heels all day. Maybe I'll go as Nausicaa. Who knows!



Michelle and I

Two weeks ago I went to an art show and that was cool. It's funny that as an artist, I never go to art shows. People ask me all the time if I ever show my work and I'm always like, "OH, YEAH! I SHOULD DO THAT!" and then I never do. I'm one of those artists who are more interested in making more work than showing existing work. It would probably do me some good to get some more local exposure but I'm just sooooo lazy about that stuff. I need a manager or an assistant. I'll just lock myself in my room and sew while I watch the X-files while some grunt goes out and shows my portfolio to galleries, haha. Anyway, my friend's bf was having a show at a venue called "Monarch" in downtown Phoenix so all of us girls went to show our support. Art shows are apparently also great places to people watch; they attract all sorts of weirdos (including me).




The Duce

I went dancing one last time at the beginning of the summer before it got crazy hot. We like to go dancing at The Duce but they don't have A/C so going in the summer months is no bueno. Even going in June it got a bit too hot for Mama.



#sarinotsorry

Recently, I went to a "Sari Party" at Sharleen's last month and that was a lot of fun too. Since I didn't have a sari I had to make do with a bed sheet, haha. Sharleen ordered Indian food for all of us and made these delicious drinks called "mango lassi". I watched my first Bollywood film and LOVED IT! It was called "Three Idiots" and it was SO GOOD! It had everything: comedy, drama, singing, dancing, and even a bit of horror. I don't think I've enjoyed a movie so much in a long time. RENT IT.

I probably did a lot more fun things this summer but these stand out the most in my memory. There's still a little over a month left but I'm pretty ready for fall. Halloween is so close I can almost taste it, haha :)

Next post I really am going to post some new art. Promise!

Paris Part II and the Journey Home

Notre Dame

As I sit down to write this final travel post, I realize that we did not even come close to taking enough pictures of our trip. At the time we felt like we were taking mountains of photos but looking back on them I think I only took a total of 200 or maybe even less than that. From this experience I have learned that when it comes to vacations (and life in general) you can never take ENOUGH pictures.

Now let me wrap up our final day in Paris. Since it was our last day we wanted more of a leisurely day where we could just walk around and enjoy the city without a huge itinerary to follow. We decided to begin with Notre Dame. When we arrived there was already a sizeable queue but having survived the queue at Versailles the day before this one pretty small potatoes. It started sprinkling a bit while we were waiting outside but the line moved pretty quickly and we were inside in no time.



Mon chatton and the Seine

 
As many of you know, I'm not a religious person (though I was baptized Catholic) but upon walking into this church I felt strangely calm. My tummy had been a little weird since I had woken up (probably anticipation anxiety about this being our last day) but I felt fine as soon as I walked in the doors...Pretty weird! Also, I had been looking for a souvenir for my mother the whole trip and hadn't found anything yet but as we were walking out of Notre Dame I saw a gift shop. I thought it was a little blasphemous that they had a gift shop right inside the church but whatever. I had to shove my way through a mob of people but I managed to snag a beautiful azure blue rosary for my mum. Supposedly, all of the rosaries had been blessed and I knew my mom would love that.

I'd been waiting to shop in Paris since we arrived and when Melissa told me there was a Forever21 a few blocks away from Notre Dame I knew my time had come. On our walk over we got to see lots of adorable flower shops and I saw another pug! When we got to F21 we both separated for a bit while we perused the goods. We met up at the line to the fitting room and could not believe that we had picked the same romper but in slightly different cuts! We truly are soul sisters!

Shopping built up our appetites so we went in search of lunch. We stumbled upon a little café where a cute boy was making Nutella crepes outside. After we sat down Melissa went to the restroom so I was left alone at the table. I knew the waitress was going to come while I was there by myself and sure as sugar she did. She spoke in rapid French as I sat there with a blank look on my face like O__O She then asked if I spoke French and when I said "no" she made a face and put the menus on the table and walked away. That was my one and only taste of the French being snooty. Once Melissa came back she ordered for us while I sat there being a mute once again. I got a vegetable soup and bread which was just okay but I was pretty starving so I would've eaten just about anything. I remember Melissa getting this bright green minty soda that I thought tasted like mouthwash. ;)



Spooky art at the Louvre

After lunch we headed over to the Louvre since you can't visit Paris without seeing the Louvre (those are the rules). When we were waiting in line for tickets these two super cute girls asked us if we wanted their tickets and we scooped them up! Thanks, strangers! I'm all about random acts of kindness. Since we hadn't actually paid for our tickets we weren't given a map so we just picked a wing at random. This was not the best decision since we ended up in the medieval section. It was nothing but religious paintings and they all bummed us out. You can only see so many crucifixion paintings before you start to feel cruddy. To be honest, I only think we spent an hour and half in the museum. We quickly realized that you needed to set an entire day aside to really appreciate this museum and we just didn't have that kind of time so we bailed. It was also easier to bail early since we hadn't spent any money getting in. Boop!



I'm a huge Amelie fan and had been dying to see Montmartre so we got on the metro and headed over. On our walk around Montmartre we got to see the Moulin Rouge but didn't go in. When we got to "Les Deux Moulins" I totally geeked out. I could not believe that I was actually standing right outside the café that my favorite fictional heroine worked at. It was pretty packed inside but we went in anyway. They sat us down in the back by a mirror with a huge poster from the movie on it. It was so cool to get to have a pineapple juice in The Two Windmills. I even used their toilets, which I might add, were UNISEX! I'd never been in a unisex toilet before so that's something to mark off the list.

After our little break we walked over to the park where the Sacré-Cœur is since that's one of my favorite scenes from the movie. It started to rain as soon as we got there and we were pretty beat so we took a few pics then headed back to the metro. I don't think we even had dinner that night since we were so exhausted.

The next morning we tidied up the apartment and then headed back to the airport. It was rainy and cold when we got back to Scotland but Melissa didn't care. She was just super happy to be back home (it was way cute). We watched "Our Idiot Brother" when we got back to her place (one of my faves) then her mum took us out for Chinese food for dinner. That night her mum told us all about her childhood growing up in Glasgow and I loved hearing all of her stories. I always get along great with people's mothers since I'm sweet and polite :)

My flight back to the states came earlier than I'd hoped. Melissa and I both wore our matching rompers and her mum took this adorable photo of us. As I was expecting there would be, there were some tears as we said goodbye to each other. I felt like I was leaving one of my limbs behind. We got so used to each other's company after spending 17 days together. Even now, three months later I get super emotional thinking about it and I miss her everyday. Sigh...



Matchy Matchy

My flight to the UK was nothing compared to the journey home. I had a layover in Heathrow for FOUR HOURS. Since I had run out of pounds ages ago I decided to wait until my flight back to the states to eat so I finished off my last protein bar and washed it down with water. The time didn't go by fast but it didn't go by as slow as I thought it was going to. When we boarded our plane I thought I was going to luck out again and get the row to myself but at the last minute a little old lady sat in the aisle seat. This is when I learned that on a long flight NEVER EVER TAKE THE WINDOW SEAT. This woman decided to sleep the whole flight so I was essentially trapped for 13 HOURS. I think I woke her up to go pee maybe 3 times since I hate waking people up so I was severely dehydrated when I got home and felt horrible. I tried watching some movies on the plane but they all sucked so I just read Game of Thrones most of the time. I got the urge to look out the window a few times and I'm glad I did because I got to see the tips of Greenland and Iceland and they were unlike anything I'd ever seen. Just massive chunks of ice in the ocean. It was UNREAL. When I wasn't looking out the window I was looking at this very cute boy sitting across the aisle from me and stared at him for hours and hours (and hours). I was hoping he might be from Phoenix too but when we landed I heard him speaking a language that I couldn't even identify. Bummer. That would've been such a "meet-cute" if I met my future boyfriend on my flight home from Europe.

My dad picked me up from the airport and I was sooooo happy to see him. He told me how awful it was having me an ocean away and not knowing where I was at all times. I tried telling him that I was officially a grown up now but he told me he'd always worry about me.

It only took about a week for Melissa and I to start planning our next meeting, haha! We've decided to do another Europe trip in 2016 but this time we'll visit Italy, Greece and possibly Switzerland. I'd like to dedicate an entire week to Italy and we've decided to go in June next time so we can swim in the Mediterranean. This trip was definitely missing swimming. I'm not in a huge hurry to be 32 but I can't wait to see my baby girl and Europe again. I'm so happy to have found my travelling soul mate.

Thank you so much for sharing this journey with me and reading up to the end. After this I'll be back to art blogging so stay tuned because Mama has been VERY busy.

Cheers!