Blog Archives

Queen Of Fun

12/11/2013

Happy Hour Guidebook

I’ve been musing about books and writers the last few entries. Not only do I enjoy the fruits of their labor - that which can be read - but I’m also fascinated by the individual author’s process. What’s their inspiration, do they write daily no matter what, or, do they wait for their Muse to appear, perhaps in belly dancing costume, finger cymbals ringing, summoning them into secret chambers and whispering best selling phrases.

Do published authors write their first drafts with a special pen or pencil or is it all tickling the keyboards these days? Do they have a superstitious ritual to initiate their creativity, do they work in the same place or crave variety? Do they research via the Internet or go on fact-finding missions?

Well, last night I was able to shadow a writer and catch a glimpse of her process. If you had asked me to describe The Queen of Fun, before having met her, I would have imagined a woman wearing a colorful pointy party hat, perhaps with an elastic chin strap holding it in place, blowing on a party horn, and magically have confetti follow her around.

While Cindy Anderson, author of Happy Hour Guidebook, is indeed fun, she’s also a smart business woman, graphic designer and fairly new to Portland.

Moving from Chicago where apparently they don’t have happy hours, Cindy was delighted to discover the concept was thriving here in the Northwest. With a fresh perspective, she appreciated the idea of happy hour and went about immediately exploring the many options available in this foodie town.

In short order, friends wanted to know where to gather and which places to avoid, and inevitably someone said those magic words, “You ought to write a book…” and the rest is history. She has such a great attitude about appreciating and exploring and encourages others to get out there and enjoy too.

Cindy has visited more than 800 establishments in this area alone (I didn’t know we even had 800) and has designed her own formula for rating a place, and it was interesting to watch her in process. We went to Redwood, but you’ll just have to find her book to see what she thinks of it.

Now in its 8th edition, the 2014 Happy Hour Guidebook was just released and yes, I have my own copy.

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A Light Dusting

12/10/2013

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Fred & Ginger Bread

A well-written book can serve as a time machine, transporting the reader, summoning the imagination like a magic carpet ride through history, scrolling back the years until it arrives at the desired year and place.

Steeped in the romantic version of Paris in the 1860’s through Debra Finerman’s Mademoiselle Victorine (see yesterday’s entry), I woke up to snow again, a light dusting of the sweet stuff, like powdered sugar sprinkled on freshly baked cookies.

With the chill outside and the hunger for a certain je ne c’est quoi on the inside, I pull out my best pedestal china cup and saucer to finesse my mood and consider, shall I have home spun hot chocolate, a civilized spot o’ tea, or an espresso?

Whatever I choose, it will go well with “Fred and Ginger Bread,” a spicy pair of earrings created for the occasion.

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December 09th, 2013

12/9/2013

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Mademoiselle Victorine

If I have a super power, so far it has taken the form of attracting books. Books arrive in the mail, sometimes with sender known, at other times, delightful reads from anonymous benefactors. Books leap off the shelf while in bookstores or libraries, there are several book exchanges within walking distance in our neighborhood, and friends often share books, a thoughtful note tucked inside such as, “Saw this, thought of you, enjoy.”

I adore books and art and feel a kindred affinity with both writers and artists. The latest book that found its way to me is Mademoiselle Victorine by Debra Finerman. It combines several of my favorite things such as art, history, intrigue and a sumptuous glimpse of Paris in the 1860’s.

The story revolves around Edouard Manet and his muse. I will not spill any more details of the plot, no spoilers here.

Debra Finerman is an engaging writer and I adored her pacing. Neither slow, nor premature climax, she paints with words, giving us enough detail to set the scene, but does not burden her readers with unnecessary description or elongate the story just to hear herself write.

Thankfully she does not try to cram in everything she learned along the way of researching this tale, but if I have one little criticism, it’s HOW IMPORTANT it was to either the publisher or the author that anyone holding Madame Victorine in their hands will know that Debra Finerman “attended the prestigious Christie’s Graduate Program in Connoisseurship and the Art Market.”

It says that on the back cover, it repeats it in the “About the Author” page, and in case you missed it those two times, she also refers to in the Acknowledgments page. And in case that didn’t impress you properly, there’s also the part where you are meant to learn that the Harvard Writing Workshop provided their “invaluable insights” about this manuscript and for good measure, she lets you know that her son is a “Harvard history major.”

Rather than being duly impressed, I felt perhaps the insecurity of a first time novelist wanting to convince her readers that she really does know what she’s writing about. However, once I let that La Dee Dah and Whoop dee doo go, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, enough to give it a shout out here.

Did I mention that she “attended the prestigious Christie’s Graduate Program in Connoisseurship and the Art Market?” Ha, just kidding.

Sip into something comfortable to drink and enjoy the luxurious romp.

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Water is Listening

12/8/2013

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Thank You Water by Fuchsia

Last evening Groom and I attended a dinner party hosted by a couple of our friends. He is a Naturopath and She is an artist. We gathered to celebrate the Holidays and his recent invitation to Paris to present a paper next year. Not surprising, all the guests it turned out, were either in the medical profession or active in the arts.

Yesterday I wrote about the Hawaiian prayer of forgiveness, Ho’ O’ Pono Pono: “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.” As lucky coincidence serendipity alignment would have it, one of the women attending the party last night was a costume designer and performance artist named Fuschia.

Her work, “Crystals of Transformation,” is inspired by Dr. Masaru Emoto, a renowned scholar, researcher and author best known for his discovery that human consciousness has an effect on the molecular structure of water. His ideas were presented in the movie, What the Bleep Do We Know.

Both Dr. Masaru Emoto and Fuschia convey the message that water molecules, when exposed to positive thoughts, words and feelings, transform into beautiful crystals. When water molecules are exposed to negative thoughts, words and feelings, they are transformed into deformed structures.

Since humans are comprised of a large percentage of water and the surface of the planet is about 70% water, think of the impact we have on our own bodies and our beloved earth by the way we think, speak and feel.

Fuchsia says, “Water’s most favorite words are ‘Thank You’ and ‘I love you.’ Respect and honor our fresh water resources. Water is sacred and amazing and so are we as we are mostly water.”

The idea of Ho’ O’ Pono Pono is that we repeat the four phrases (I’m sorry, please forgive me, Thank You, I love you), to help clear and release negative energy that has built up, but after conversing with Fuschia, if water responds best to those words, the wisdom of that prayer has the potential to change and transform us all the way to the molecular level.

To see a gallery of Dr. Masuro Emoto’s water crystals, go to www.masaru-emoto.net/english/water-crystal.html or see Fuschia’s work at www.fuchsialin.com

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Mele Kalikimaka and Ho' O' Pono Pono

12/7/2013

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Cindia with Dr. Joe Vitale

I can hear Mr. Rogers singing in my memory, “It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood,” as I look outside my window. The sun is shining, the snow has melted and the trees are reflecting light in such a way that I can understand the original inspiration for bringing nature inside and dressing it up for the Holidays.

Groom is in the kitchen making his famous key lime pie for a festive party tonight, tea is steaming in my mug, and Kitty is being his adorable, cute self. In other words, in this moment, life is ideal. But that’s because I’m intentionally putting my attention on what’s working.

When I become distracted and lose my momentum in gratitude, my thoughts return to autopilot and I can easily begin to notice what’s “broken.”

For many people, the Holidays can bring up feelings of loss, impossible relatives, disappointment or unmet expectations, which translates into plain old feeling rotten.

When we feel rotten, the conflict is straight forward: we wish certain things were different than they are. Byron Katie, author of The Work says, “If you argue with what is, you will lose, but only all of the time.”

Okay, that’s brilliant, and we’ve also heard, “What you resists, persists.” On the other hand, Transformational wisdom also says not to get into agreement with your circumstances by talking about it, telling your friends, beating the drum, etc., if you want things to change.

But what if “What Is” bites the big one?

Let me get this straight, if suffering is caused by arguing with What Is and resistance is futile, yet agreeing with and putting attention on the situation makes it grow even worse, what are we to do?? Yeesh, that sounds like a recipe for getting stuck.

Kitty being adorable

If you’re feeling stuck and want to move forward, I was spellbound by the story told to a group of us last month in San Diego by Dr. Joe Vitale of the movie, The Secret. During his one hour presentation, Joe Vitale shared the success of Dr. Len, a therapist in Hawaii who used the powerful Hawaiian prayer of forgiveness called Ho’O’ pono pono to heal an entire ward of criminally insane inmates without ever interacting with them. He simply repeated the Hawaiian prayer of forgiveness over and over, affirming his connection to The Divine and clearing negative thoughts.

Don’t let the long word with mainly O’s and a couple of apostrophes put you off. Ho O pono pono. The prayer contains four easy phrases to remember: “I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.”

Talk about stuck! The inmates were physically restrained or on heavy doses of sedatives. They were definitely arguing with What Is and turning to violence in an attempt to change it, sowing even more seeds of suffering. Dr. Len was not responsible for the actions of those criminally insane inmates, but he was willing to change what was inside of him in order to help the situation “out there.” And it worked. After months of invoking those words, the inmates were healed and released.

The crux of the idea is that if you see something reflected “out there” in your world that is not to your liking, be the one willing to step up and release the negativity. Kinda like, if you seen it, clean it.

“Whenever you forgive radically, you release enormous amounts of life force energy that then can be made available for healing, creativity, and expressing your true purpose in life,” writes Collin Tipping.

Byron Katie sums it up perfectly. “Even if you’ve forgiven 99%, you aren’t free until your forgiveness is complete. The 1% you haven’t forgiven them is the very place where you’re stuck in all your other relationships including your relationship with yourself.”

You can investigate further by using our friend Google if you want to learn more about these remarkable Forgiveness Pioneers and their tools.

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Two Degrees of Separation

12/6/2013

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Nelson Mandela Biography

It’s snowing here today in the Rose City, the icy streets and breath-stealing temperatures an emotional backdrop for the loss of the great Nelson Mandela (18 July, 1918 – 5 December, 2013). The wind from the gorge is howling its way down our street, kicking up the powdery snow with a few brittle leaves, autumn and winter fighting for dominance in our front yard.

Several themes are converging at the corner of December and 1990. Twenty-three years ago at this time, I was finishing up my last term in college and had the once-in-a lifetime opportunity to spend it with Fatima Meer, the author of Higher Than Hope, the first authorized biography of Nelson Mandela.

Fatima Meer (12 August, 1928 – 12 March, 2010), was a prominent anti-apartheid activist who was imprisoned with Nelson Mandela in South Africa and was granted rare access to conduct personal interviews with him in his cell.

Fatima Meer inscription

1990 was the year Mr. Mandela was released from prison and when early negotiations to end apartheid were underway. Apartheid, from the Afrikaans, “the state of being apart,” was an official policy of racial segregation.

That period before he became President of South Africa was certainly a time of upheaval and also the most perfect time to be in the presence of such a living historical figure as Professor Meer. She had personally experienced apartheid and it was unraveling on the world stage.

As I spent those months with Fatima Meer listening to her personal stories, becoming acquainted, we grew attached to each other. I was honored beyond words when she invited me to return with her to Durban, South Africa and spend a year in her home, writing her biography.

The corner of December and 1990. Do I go to South Africa and begin my career as a writer or do I stay in Oregon, marry Groom and begin my career as an artist, designing funky, whimsical jewelry?

Telegram from South Africa

To answer that, here’s a photo of my Western Union Telegram that I received from Fatima Meer, thanking me for a piece of jewelry I had made for her.

Did I make the right decision? Well, I’m still madly in love with Groom, so that’s a good sign and yet there’s this wistful part that wonders what it would have been like to jump into the middle of the action in South Africa, to have met Nelson Mandela and taken a completely different path?

As the white snow and dark leaves do their dance out my window, I am left with gratitude for being able to sit with someone and hear poignant stories of a hero directly from a person who knew him well. The world was blessed to have you, Nelson Mandela, Rest In Peace.

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Getting a Tan In Winter

12/5/2013

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Amy Tan at Powell's

Manifestation, the art of bringing the invisible forth into the visible realm such as ideas, creativity, physical objects and experiences, is one of my favorite things to play with. A fun manifesting moment happened for us last night.

I have been enjoying Amy Tan’s writing since The Joy Luck Club was first published in 1989. Other well-known works of hers include The Kitchen God’s Wife, The Hundred Secret Senses, The Bonesetter’s Daughter and Saving Fish from Drowning.

I started reading her in college and have grown up with her over the years. The notion of hearing Amy Tan speak about her work, her inspiration and writing process in person has appealed to me and was on my bucket list.

So guess who shows up in Portland last night to talk about her new novel?

So while I have not yet read her latest book, The Valley of Amazement, I have it to look forward to as a Holiday read. Go ahead, get a Tan in winter.

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Money and Life Freedom

12/4/2013

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Photo by Octavia Hunter Photography

Transformation is a prominent theme in both the Cinderella story and in our line of jewelry. In the fairy tale, the story arc is a personal journey that continues until the young girl’s outer experience matches that of her interior world.

Cinderella is portrayed as a young woman who maintains poise over her emotions, responding in kindness to her cruel step-sisters rather than “in kind,” nurturing a positive attitude instead of allowing her circumstances to be the excuse of perpetuating bad behavior.

She is grace under fire and her integrity is rewarded at story’s end with the fulfillment of all of her dreams and a “happily ever after.”

In other words, she refused to come into agreement with her negative circumstances and instead, manifested a much better life for herself.

Transformation in our jewelry also takes place each time we repurpose the elements to create something brand new.

But transformation does not end with ornaments and fairytales.

It happens in real life, too. During this past year, I have had the opportunity to meet with some amazing people who have transformed their circumstances and are now living their dreams full time and are teaching others to do the same.

Funny enough, three of these people I met at different times this year are working together at their company called MoneyandLifeFreedom.com

Jane Cabrera, Tanya Villar, and Beth Lefevre, are powerful women who understand money on all its levels and speak the languages of accountant, woo-woo, or coach, depending on what a person needs to hear. Between them, they are intuitive, practical and smart and they are hosting a Money Freedom Weekend Experience in Norway next January. Check it out.

Our paths intersected because I am equally passionate about living one’s purpose and fulfilling one’s dream. Over the years, many people have suggested that Groom and I create an interactive website for the purpose of selling our jewelry, but it was Jane and Tanya who were able to inspire us to action. So this blog entry is to thank them for their excellent advice. Even Cinderella had a coach…

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We're Baaaaack......

12/3/2013

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In Florida

Hello There,

Whether you’re new to our jewelry or a returning customer, welcome! The purpose of today’s blog entry is to update everyone on what’s been going on behind the scenes of Cinderella Lucinda.

Groom and I started creating this whimsical line of jewelry back in 1991 and we were based in Eugene, Oregon. Working from our home studio and traveling around the Pacific Northwest, we exhibited at art fairs and festivals, old school style. Meaning, we made stuff and sold it. When we started, there was no Internet or a need for websites or social media.

However, the world is changing and we must adapt. After years of people requesting that we take photos of our work and post online, we have finally done it. After Christmas, we are planning to update the website and add shopping cart technology.

For now though, the prices of our pins, earrings and necklaces are listed and we’ll be adding new pieces as they are created. Just contact us to purchase the items that catch your eye.

We’re also making the space for adding other products and services…

Two years ago, in 2011, we were Inspired to move to Portland. We answered the call and everything fell beautifully into place by the beginning of 2012. That meant we had to give up our wonderful booth spaces at both the Eugene Saturday Market and the Holiday Market. We miss our friends and loyal customers more than we could possibly have anticipated, yet we are also in love with our new home base in Portland.

Designing jewelry from home for over two decades has afforded us a certain freedom and lifestyle. Yet my spirit is urging me to do more. To explore what that might be, we took 2013 off to investigate. We’re on a personal vision quest and so far, it’s taken us to Florida, San Diego and Vancouver, BC. We’ve been diligently studying, taking lots of classes, and I’ve expanded my tool box to include getting certification as a Life Coach and a Passion Test Facilitator -- but that’s another story.

So while we’re also fine tuning other outlets for our creativity and passions, we realized how much this jewelry is a part of our lives. Ironically, no matter where we’ve gone, what we’ve tried, who we’ve met, the message is always the same: “Don’t quit making the jewelry!!!”

So for now, we’re opening our online store and we thank you for shopping this site.

Stay tuned!

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