the dailies: marisa from creative thursday.

Yay! Another daily today; this one from the CRAZY talented Marisa Haedike from Creative Thursday. Blogger, artist and illustrator extraordinaire, Marisa has the most creative Thursdays of anyone I've ever met, and you, my lucky readers, get to hear what REALLY happens behind the blog... [thank you, my dear Marisa!!!]
---

6:45 ~ wake-up and first things first. Small (2 cats) and LARGE (1 great dane) animals anxiously waiting to be fed! Riley's ready as you can see from the photo. (He also wakes me up at this crazy early hour too. But, I have to say once I'm up and the initial morning crankiness wears off, I love being up early. It's so peaceful and quiet and I seem to get so much more done.

8:15 After my morning shower ~ my new thing. I've found that if I shower every day first thing, like I used to when I worked a 9 - 5 job, I'm also more productive and "ready" for my day, however it evolves. And my other new thing is to journal a bit before I jump into my computer, I mean my day. I'm trying to set the tone, so to speak, for each day so that it stays calm and feels easy and fun... I may have checked email already before this....but like I said this is a new ritual, so it hasn't quite taken hold just yet.

8:30 I start my "fulfillment" process of printing prints, signing them and packaging them up to ship out. I usually try to get everything ready the day before so that I don't put myself under pressure while I scramble to get things out. But today's an exception because I have a few things that must go out, and the spring time weather is so gorgeous that Lulu and I are going to walk to the post office today. Oh, but before I do that, it's time to make the first morning rescue of Garbo from the tree. You see, HER ritual is to go outside after eating and climb up on our neighbor's roof and get stuck, then proceeds to meow from the closest tree until someone comes to get her. Yup, she can get up but she cannot get down.

9:00 Sean is up and it's time for another ritual on most mornings. We have coffee together. He sits across from me in my cozy sun room studio and this is how he looks when I chatter on about all that's happening. And, this is my all time favorite mug that I like to drink my coffee out of. It's made by one of my all time favorite artists and friends Outi.

11:00 I finish fulfillment and Lulu and I are ready to head to the post office, where I use one of the best inventions ever~ the do-it yourself postage machine. I highly recommend it versus standing in line...which has sometimes taken me as long as 45 minutes, just the waiting part...which speaking of waiting my fearless Lulu waits patiently outside while I do my shipping.

12:00 After a pleasant walk back, and a little snack for lunch, it's time to actually be CREATIVE on THURSDAY. It's a must! So, I sit down to start my daily painting while listening to one of my favorite inspiring online radio shows, "You can have what you want" with Michael Neill as the host. You can find it over at hayhouseradio.com. I love to listen to podcasts and music when I paint and some days I treasure complete silence when I can only hear the bird's sing. Today's painting is called "oscar among dandelions".

2:30 I send out my painting via email, blog post about it, check email and do a little web surfing, and photograph one of my first LARGE size paintings of my characters, "sock monkeys", to post for sale on my website. And then it's time for my official "lunch break" ~ today I'm taking an afternoon nap. Oh the luxury of taking a nap in the afternoon! All of my life 2-4 pm has been my "tired" part of the day. Now I can actually give into it instead of falling asleep in my English class...

4:30 The second installment of "rescue Garbo from the tree".

5:00 My turn to make dinner. I love to cook actually ~ dishes, not so much. Tonight we're having sauteed scallops and spinach, set against the backdrop of my bright yellow tea kettle by OXO, that I LOVE. After dinner I head off to my weekly yoga class with my wonderful teacher, Leslie. I've been practicing yoga, Iyengar yoga to be exact, for 8 years now. The longest I've ever stuck to one exercise regimen. Speaking of peace and balance (the present theme to my days, if you hadn't already noticed), yoga is one of my highlights of the week. I always feel so good after class. As I drive I notice that it looks like one of those gorgeous full moons is appearing.

10:00 I return home soft and happy from yoga class and close out the night with some laughter while watching the Daily Show and Colbert Report with Seanie. Then it's time for bed. And another good Creative Thursday it was! The BEST!
(Thank you Erin for inviting me to share my day with you and your readers!)