Cities to Explore
The best cities in the world to explore.
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Creative Wanderlust Story: Poolside Gossip – Flash Fiction Inspired by Slim Aarons’s Iconic 1970s Photograph
I wore yellow because Jane hates the color. That’s just the kind of mood I’m in today. Shitty. Carl has once again left me here in Palm Springs to “cool my jets” as he hops off to Positano or Portofino or somewhere panoramic pawning his next screenplay. Another story of a horny middle aged man’s disenchantment with married life leading him to find solace in the arms of a hooker. And, yes, Dawn is en route with him. She’s no doubt packed her satin disco dress and hot pants, clueless to fashion rules in coast side Italy. She’ll be doing her own type of pawning, or pawing playing the leading lady role…
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Watercolor a Palm Springs Sunset
Follow along with this process video and learn how to watercolor a Palm Springs inspired sunset with palm trees in silhouette. Here is the final work! For more details about this Creative Wanderlust Prompt and more, see: Add Creativity to Your Everyday and Creative Wanderlust Prompts: Palm Springs
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Draw and Watercolor Mid Century Modern Motifs and Images Inspired by Palm Springs
Follow along with this video and learn how to draw and watercolor playful mid-century modern motifs and icons images inspired by Palm Spring, California! Below is the final drawing in my sketch book. For more details about this Creative Wanderlust Prompt and more, see: Add Creativity to Your Everyday and Creative Wanderlust Prompts: Palm Springs
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Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Palm Springs
It’s time for a little Southern California, mid-century modern, wanderlust adventure this week with our Creative Wanderlust Prompt: Palm Springs! Palm Springs is a desert resort area in California’s Colorado Desert, a 7 million acre area of land that is part of the Sonoran Desert. The landscape is arid and brown like many deserts, yet unique as it is surrounded on three sides by towering mountain ranges: Little San Bernardino Mountains to the north, the Santa Rosa Mountains on the south, and the San Jacinto Mountains to the west. San Jacinto Peak rises 3,302 m or 10,834 ft and is often covered in snow in the winter. Palm Springs is also…
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Wanderlust Inspiration: Old Books at Trinity College Library
The smell of old books and intriguing tales wafted through the quiet room. Some where and at some time, every page had been turned. For any book lover, a visit to Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland is a pilgrimage. The iconic Long Room in the Old Library, completed in 1732 represents the ultimate in book sanctuaries. This exceptionally long space (213 feet/65 meters) is laid out in rows of nooks, each filled with stacks of shelves lined with tightly packed old books. Some of the nooks have ladders to reach the upper shelves, and some have a beautiful iron spiral staircase leading to the second level. At the entrance…
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Wanderlust Los Angeles Book Launch Party!
Join me in celebrating the launch of my new book, Wanderlust Los Angeles! This is the third book in a series of Creative Guides to various cities (Wanderlust San Francisco and Wanderlust Seattle are both available as well.) Enjoy a signature Wanderlust Los Angeles cocktail (or mocktail) and dabble in a small creative endeavor inspired by the City of Angels while toasting to the new book! Click the image above, or email me to get more information about the event. I’d love to see you there!
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Travel Journal: A Day at Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia
I’ll never forget our perfect day hanging out on famed Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. It was winter time, yet the sunny, mid-seventy degree (fahrenheit) weather would suggest otherwise. We took a metro train from the Circular Quay to a bus and wandered our way to the beach through various neighborhoods and suburbs.* When we arrived I felt like we had been transported far from the CBD, and had landed in beach heaven! It was hard to believe that Sydney’s relaxed, laid back vibe could get any cooler, but in Bondi, it definitely did! After grabbing a bite to eat, we hung out on the beach and dipped our legs…
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Creative Travel: Capturing the Look of a Neighborhood – A Walk Down Grand Ave, South San Francisco (incl Free Printable Coloring Page)
Trying to capture a neighborhood or location with a few simple drawings can sometimes feel like a daunting task! Take any given neighborhood, from residential to downtown and it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the many things to see; different building styles, different colors, different types of nature, etc. In a recent online class I hosted with South San Francisco Library, I boiled down this problem and created a simple recipe to help you capture your own neighborhood! Recipe to Capture a Neighborhood = Common Elements + Nature + Unique Elements + Oddities Using this recipe, I headed to downtown South San Francisco’s Grand Avenue to see what I could…
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Travel Story – Cabins of Lake Tahoe
One of my favorite things to do when I’m in Tahoe is to take long walks. Walks along the lakeside are amazing, but I also love to wander in and out of the neighborhoods on the North Shore and up into the mountains. My favorite part of wandering in the neighborhoods is playing the childhood game of “I Spy” and finding the sweet old cabins that once filled these neighborhoods. Many of them were built as summer cabins, with very little in the way of insulation (fine for summer in Tahoe), yet completely ill equipped for living in during the snowy winters. Trust me, I lived in one through two…
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At Home Creative Adventures: Create a Landscape Painting Inspired by Van Gogh
Needing some culture or creative inspiration, but not wanting to leave the house? Museums around the world offer virtual tours of their collection to offer you colorful inspiration for days! Today, I virtually traveled to Amsterdam, Netherlands and visited the Van Gogh Museum. I have always admired Van Gogh’s work. His bright colors and exuberant brush strokes just bring me joy! In this creative exercise, head to the the Van Gogh Museum online and browse the amazing work. Find a painting that resonates with you and get inspired! Inspiration vs. Copying Painting from inspiration does not mean copying. I encourage you to make the painting your own. Perhaps you use…
