kaytlyn sanders

A short to do list with absolutely no pressure to accomplish:

• travel to San Francisco, Portland and New York
• drink more tea with friends
• give myself lots of time
• purge more stuff to live a minimalist lifestyle
• visit my friends (and their little ones) on friday afternoons
• take more photos
• take more walks
• weekends are family time only
• call my sister more often
• have lunch with my mom more often
• have dinner out with Myk more often
• find more volunteer opportunities
• create more beauty around me
• love myself completely

What do you want to create for yourself in 2009?

greens, yellows, oranges and reds—almost like it can’t make up its mind

I really can’t believe it’s that time of year again. I love fall, with all of its spectacular colors, running from warm buildings out into blustery streets, then back inside to drink something hot. I have always loved change—when you see the differences and experience things that are unfamiliar.

Don’t get me wrong. I can be a homebody just as much as the next person here in Seattle (which I think is why I love the northwest autumnal season even more), so at times it feels like I am not making myself or my surroundings change at all.

But I am a careful observer. I soak in the details of the sun, rain, even sights and smells. I soak them in— internalizing them until they are words no longer and absorb them into a feeling. Myk tends to think that I don’t remember things (I don’t), but my memories take a different course as they turn into colors, moods, fleeting moments and blurs in my mind. They are still there, but have transformed. More →

The truth is, I don’t know for sure. But I am fine with that.

It’s been a crazy road with bumps and turns I did not expect, especially the last few months. They were more of a wake-up call of sorts. Between family, friends and business all commingling together. It doesn’t make much sense, but I can’t deny any of it. It’s all real and here to stay.

Because life happens in a blur, is that a good thing? Does that mean I am enjoying it and living it to the fullest?

Or does it mean I am not paying attention and working to hard? More →

my thirty ring

The ring above I purchased the day before my birthday. I was meeting with a client who had flown in from out-of-town and met her and her husband at a local coffee shop. I love meeting all my clients either for the first or tenth time-they are the nicest people!

Being in a good mood afterwards, I hopped into a little shop next to the cafe where we had met. I looked around at the handmade items from local artists and started going through their silver jewelry that looked like it had been reformed from flatware. I can’t say for sure that the ring I found had been flatware prior to this as it wasn’t directly labeled as such, but I suspect it was. I didn’t ask. It was so sweet and simple. Not perfect as part of the design was a little mashed in, but I knew it when I saw it that I wanted something I could wear to remind me every day that I was now going to be thirty. More →

June 7th, 2003 at the Leach Botanical Gardens - Portland Oregon

Although we have technically been together eleven years, meeting during our school days at the Art Institute of Seattle, today is our five year wedding anniversary. To be honest, I knew it was coming up today, but when the day started, I had completely forgotten. Myk had to remind me as he does with most things. More →