summertime

Today is my first official day of vacation, but I think it's probably safe to say that I entered vacation mode even before I left work at 5pm on Friday. The past few days have been all about celebrating and relaxing: drinks and cake with family; trip to the farmers' market; afternoon spent at the beach; lazy reading in the (hot!) sun; waking up without an alarm; puttering around the house; knitting; watching my new favourite show; listening to the best cd I've heard in a while; taking photos... It's been just what I need, I think.



The truth is, I've been dreading my birthday. Normally, I'm a fan of birthdays, but turning 28 was not something to which I was looking forward. For a while, I couldn't figure out why it was bothering me. It wasn't one of the 'big' birthdays that often get associated with dread. In the end, I realised that there were an array of factors that were contributing to the birthday blahs, much of which has to do with feeling stalled. I haven't been doing very much creatively these past few weeks and months. The big tools that I need for prospective professional development are out of reach in the short term (I need to establish some sort of savings game plan) and I've let this become an excuse for not doing anything at all.



Being reminded that you're another year older when you're not feeling especially good about the place you're in kind of sucks. In the end, though, getting messages and calls from friends and family makes it all bearable. So, in a completely uncharacteristic Meaghan move, I'm doing my damnedest to make lemonade out of my lemons. Having come into a bit of money (income tax, work bonus) that I'm doing my very best to save for a rainy day, I made an executive decision a took a relatively small portion of said money and bought myself a few things to tide me over until I have enough together to make those large ticket purchases.



It started with a couple of Elizabeth Zimmermann books (Knitting Without Tears and The Knitter's Almanac) that I knew would help me get out of my knitting rut. Then it was the the Knitterly Things Wee Skein 4 Color Sock Kit that I'd been eying for forever (I'd never been able to choose a colour, but when I clicked on the shop last week, I just knew it had to be #32). To top it off, I decided on something a little more practical. I've had piles of fabric sitting in my closet since the fall that are waiting to be made into blinds. And I've wanted for a long time to make more of my clothes. Yep, I bought a sewing machine. I've been thinking about it for ages and, with my mom's expert advice I choose a model that should afford me a great deal of leeway and provide lots of learning opportunities while serving my creative needs. I'm pretty excited.



I've been a bit spendy perhaps, but I don't think it's too extravagant. I've been justifying the purchases as birthday gifts for myself, but I think that it's a bit of this, too. And I'm dusting off the fantastic book that Anjali sent me a few months ago. It's time for me to get serious about something (or at least figure out what it is that I'm getting serious about).



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Tomorrow I head off to Halifax to celebrate and take part in the wedding of good friends Michelle and David. I'm looking forward to spending time in my favourite city with friends that I'm always happy to get to hang out with.



I'll be back next week, hopefully with lots of photos.