The world is not black and white... but shades of Grey

Wow! Life has changed. On October 19, 2011 Clara Grey Erstling was born.

The actual birth... after 10 long months of worrying about her health and my health... was the most amazing event of my life. I don't really know how to describe it. Being an active participant in the birth of a new person is such a profound experience. It is as close to god as I think we get in this world. I've said this to a few friends and a few family members, but birth and death, while so different, have for me - brought out the same emotions. Plain and simple awe and raw real all-consuming love.

Grey is perfect in every way. A beautiful, healthy and happy baby girl.

So what has becoming a mom done for me in the last three short weeks? It has made me refocus my priorities. It's made me take a hard look at the choices I have made and hopefully the choices that I will make related to how I spend my time going forward. It's made me fall in love with my husband even more every day as I watch just how much he loves Grey and how much he loves me.

It's humbled me and made me realize that I don't know quite as much as I thought.

It's made me so appreciative of my family... all of them... and so in love with having a new meaning to family.

I hope I can hold onto all this good stuff when life gets busy and the mundaneness of taking care of silly things sets back in. Here's to the adventures and beauty of being a parent. To a new chapter and to having a whole lot to learn.

Spring, Daffodils and Guerrilla Gardening!

Victory! Elation! New beginnings, of the earth, organic - A New Leaf Studio...

Dorky... yes, I know - but yesterday on my way to work I was ecstatic to see the fruits of last fall's guerrilla gardening project continuing to bless Spring Street. The daffodil bulbs that the 25+ participants of the guerrilla gardening party in October planted are now in bloom!

A little bit of bright yellow in the plant wells along Spring Street adds happiness and hope of good things to come. Something we can all probably use right now in the midst of tough economic times and at the end of a long winter.

Greg Watkins, of Islandscape Landscaping, and I got so excited by the daffodils that we began discussing our next Guerrilla Gardening adventure. Stay tuned for something fun this spring!

In the meantime... Next time you are driving down Spring Street in the Elliotborough neighborhood of Charleston, SC - check the plant wells between Coming and Rutledge Streets for little pockets of yellow love.