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So……The Gypsy Life is still moving along.  Last week was a tough week.  I had Buster to worry about, and I was homesick.  Feels kind of odd sometimes to say I’m homesick.  There’s a part of me that NEVER “owns” a state.  I mean, come on, I’ve lived in 7 states and have lived in 32 different homes.  So, “homesick” has always felt kind of odd.  I grew up in CA, and it used to be that when I said “homesick” it was always for “home”….CA.

Now, I don’t even have a House,  I have my things stored in a storage unit.

But, yes, I was/am homesick.  My family is MY home.  I AM MY HOME.  I am missing Buster, Adam, Penny, Kai Kai, and Austin.  When I am in Florida I miss Vanessa, Mark, and Zion.  And now that I’m here I miss all my family in Florida.  Such is life.  I have lived with missing someone my whole life with all the moves.  But you never ever get used to it.  How can you get used to it?  Its of the heart, its about loving people, its about missing a human that is dear and that you love.  No, I don’t ever get used to it, but I appreciate what I have, and I am grateful for the love that I feel for the ones that I miss.  Then I am sure to give ZION a big kiss on the cheek and remember that there was a time I was missing him just as much.

In the midst of a tough week Vanessa decided to put on a dinner.  Well, that’s kind of funny, because Vanessa works hard all week, and doesn’t get home often until 5 or so.  The dinner is at 6:30…..who do you think is REALLY the one doing the dinner.  Well, I will give her credit, she came up with the menu, and she did buy the groceries, that’s a least 1/2 the battle.

But when it comes to decorations, it is assumed that Momma will do the deed.

I’m not gonna lie.  I am most myself when I’m creating, and designing and putting together magical moments.  I absolutely feel most in my element.

So, what a welcome task to create a dinner for Vanessa and her friends.  On my Gypsy Life the things I miss most are my “creative materials”……V is my daughter so she has some pretty good stuff too that she’s picked up along the way.  I was so thrilled to put this together.

I will soon do a blog on some of my creations.  I guess that part of me has kind of been dormant for a few years, only showing its beautiful head occasionally.  I am finding on this journey of mine, that I simply MUST find ways to fuel this creative part of me.  It IS the thing that brings me JOY and LIFE, and it allows me to feel INSPIRED.

What a beautiful Fall night.  Good friends, Good wine, and a little baby that got to stay up past his bedtime to enjoy the Fun.

Oh, yeah,  the MENU.

Spaghetti squash, with sauteed onions, garlic and diced tomatoes.  Feta cheese added at the end, along with minced black olives and fresh basil from Mark’s basil plant.  So FABULOUS.

Stuffed large portabello mushrooms with cheese and tomatoes.

A lovely field greens salad with toasted almonds, avocados, and cherry tomatoes with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, mixed with italian herbs.

And lots of other goodies brought by friends, wine, fresh fruit, homemade zucchini bread, blueberry/cranberry bread, cookies from local bakery and fabulous bread.

Yep it was a night that was good for this Gypsy Soul.

As I write this my precious dog Buster is going into surgery. They have found he has testicular cancer.He is to have some major surgery today.  Buster has been my friend, and companion for over 5 years.  He seriously laid at my feet for over 2 years as I have healed from my major accident.

Today, the Gypsy Life is feeling unsettling and I’m missing him.  I had to leave Buster for this crazy Gypsy Life I am now living.  I miss him so much, and I hate the fact that I won’t be there to help nurse him back to recovery.  My son Adam and Penny and precious Kai Kai get the honor.

If you are not a dog lover, then you can move on from here, because you may not even have understood any of what I just said. Ha.

I’m missing Austin as well. He’s in college, but he came home last week to Florida.  It was the first time he came “home” and I wasn’t there.  This picture is the essence of my life in Florida,  Austin with his girlfriend Lauren, both of them loving on Buster, and me serving tea time for everyone.

Ahhh, Buster….

So, life continues on in my Gypsy World.

Today, I wait to see how he is.  So, I sit here with my famous Tetley Tea, I write, I wait for the phone call.  Hopefully all is well.

I know Steve Jobs died yesterday, and this seems so small in so many ways.  Steve died of cancer, what an incredible man.  And here I am writing about my DOG.

BUT……What I KNOW about life is that it is OURS.  Ours to live, and ours to experience.  We spend so much time denying how we feel for fear that someone has it worse.  Of course Steve Jobs’ family has it worse today.  But we aren’t talking about Worse, we are talking about my dog Buster, who I fear may too be dying and its my journey for today.  And it would be a great loss.  It would be MY loss.

Mix ingredients well and then add chocolate chips. Pour into greased muffin tin (or use muffin liners). Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Don’t over bake or they will be dry! 

The gypsy lifestyle requires a certain mentality.  You have to be more “free”, not so laden with “stuff” if you are going to take on this lifestyle for a bit. I’m trying.

That makes it even harder for me.  Things that I really like will be just picked up by some random stranger.  Things that I have loved and had hung on to with the hopes of “doing something with it”. Yuk, that doesn’t feel good at all. Suddenly you are looking at dreams you had and they are sitting right there at the curb, in the garbage. 


These pics don’t display the range of items.  Because quite truthfully by the time I came out to take some pics, lots and lots and lots of stuff was already taken. Oh My.


You’re probably asking, what in the world do these pictures have anything to do with dreams.


Well, I always have the dream of having a home big enough to have my family come over.  I have a dream of having my little garden again. The one that is full of cute flowers, and it has places to put beautiful little lanterns on little tables.  The tables are always the things that I love.  


I have dreams of cooking, gardening, writing, riding my bike, traveling, speaking, coaching etc. etc. And HOME is where it all starts for me. I have dreams of living life in new and exciting ways.


Yep, believe it or not, the willow loveseat and willow chairs are gone. They were “out at the curb” probably an hour. 

Below is a perfect example of choosing to just let go.  This particular little table was such a delight when I found it at a garage sale.  And the black lantern cage, well I Adore.  Yep, they’re rusted, they have spots, but still lots of life in them, in my dream little garden.

And then of course the Barbie jeep.  Well, need I say more.  This was at grandma’s house, for Kai Kai to come and play with. I certainly never planned on throwing it away.


Pretty sad to let go of my beach chairs.  They represent all the days at the beach and also all the missed days at the beach.  Throwing them to the curb felt  like I was saying goodbye to Florida forever, which I certainly don’t want to say goodbye forever. I hope to return in the next year.

The storage unit started filling up pretty fast and I had to just do it.  I had to let it go.  This beautiful, drop dead gorgeous piece of “junk” furniture just makes my heart sing.  It literally pains me to see it in the garbage.  It was the PERFECT PROJECT.  It has all the lines, the perfect detail, the “look” that I wanted to paint, and distress and make shabby chic.  I was going to replace the fabric on the doors with some beautiful fabric print, probably with some beautiful old roses or something.  But, I never got to it. Something deep inside me kept saying let it go, just let it go. The part that is sooo funny, is that to most people I am sure this stuff is just junk.  But not to me. 

Yes by the end of the day it was almost ALL gone. The strangers had come and taken the treasures.  A strange sense of freedom overwhelmed me.

I’m still carrying around all of my children’s books.  And of course, now they are all fighting over which ones were their favorites and who gets which ones.  Now that I have Kai and Zion as grandchildren, I am delighted that I get to read to them from their mommy and daddy’s books.

Check out my bike in storage.  I will miss it.  I finally was getting physically strong enough to ride it.  It just feels so weird when you see all your “stuff” just piled in a big heap.  That’s my HOME, my STUFF, my LIFE.  It’s just all nestled there in Space 926, in Sarasota, FL, at a place called Compass Storage.  Kind of an odd feeling.  Freeing and sad all at the same time.