first weekend in november, sam visited me in new york, with his lovely girlfriend maggie! it was totally wonderful, sharing my new york life with my favorite brother and meeting a new friend all at once. maggie has the photoshoots of all of us (in parks! on the high line! eating!), but I have these pictures from my mini-cruise with Sam!
Filed under adventures
Our day off! so excited to spend the day with my soul sister, Juliet.
Plan: adventure to the big city… Buffalo NY.
This I call the “Nautical-NASCAR Boyfriend” sweatshirt. Wish I had one to give it to/borrow it from. Was not purchased. 
A story and art piece in itself — I want to call Kenny (upstairs) and see what he’s up to. Was not purchased. We left the store with multiple onesies, dresses with potentials & plans, plain solid shirts.
SPOT coffee shop flagship store: NOSTALGIC&CUTIES. We went for coffee/dessert next door (our real destination) to SPOT COFFEE!! 
my favorite down-town hang out in Delray Beach — basically where I was everyday this winter when I lived there. They even have the same menu boards! and same cuties behind the counter! I introduced myself and the guy, Andy, said that he had just returned from Delray — that he was there when they opened up the store down there!! I didn’t recognize him specifically, but he was the same caliber of cute that I expect from SPOT coffee shops. and very friendly. Too bad I don’t really live in Buffalo. Needless to say I went back for many cups of water from Andy over the evening.
we had businesslady time: Juliet made some edits on an ad she’s working on, and I made a phone call and did some very productive Facebooking.
It was the best day. so full of fun and a total transportation out of all my lives so far (NYC, NYSSSA, etc). The more I hang out with Juliet the more I love her and realize we are incredibly similar in a crazy&amazing way. So excited and a little sad that we only have 1.5 weeks left of NYSSSA. Juliet and I are already planning our next trip together, meals to cook together, futures on the west coast.
back home. the air in the dorms isn’t moving and all the new yorkers are complaining about the heat. I’ll sleep pretending I’m in a Florida sauna spa.Filed under thoughts
The students and everyone here at NYSSSA love my earrings and I’ve sold out of all the ones I brought (not too many — just brought them on a random let’s-throw-it-in impulse).
Sold 2 pairs of light bulb earrings to Arynn and Malana – a fav student and fellow counselor!
We tried to do a photoshoot to document them and the awesomeness of all wearing the same earrings, but it was a disaster. You couldn’t really see the earrings at all… mostly because I move too much…. But it was fun anyways (photoshoots are always fun).
Earrings are still available for purchase here on my Etsy shop. Keep in mind that orders won’t be fulfilled until after august 1 — but feel free to buy now and I’ll send them as soon as I get home!!
Filed under thoughts
POST SCRIPT: as of November 1, 2010, this isn’t happening anymore. see THIS post. sorry.
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the next adventure has begun!
This outfit was made inspired by my random made up not based in reality ideas and images of Dallas:
this is the official notice that the Bonar Family Residency Program will be closing its doors the last week of October as the Residency Director and Resident completes her stay here and moves to Dallas! In Dallas she will be taking on the 1-year position as Community Art Coordinator for the organization buildingcommunityWORKSHOP. She will be looking at how to use art and community development to transform homelessness and stigmas around homelessness in Dallas Texas!
the finale of the South Florida Residency will include much sewing, making friends, eating delicious meals, collecting images for the photo book “Florida is a Feeling”, selling things, fixing the lightning-fast mobile, going to the beach, packing, make quilts, make websites (really!), make dresses, research Dallas, soak in the sunshine state.
more continued updates during the last month… for now enjoy this sneak peak photoshoot taken to list my clothes/sewn items on my amazing friend Eliza’s handmade garment line WANNAMAKE.
joshua the photographer!
welcome to san francisco!
i loved all the rail systems. i coulda ridden the air tram for days.
First stop: meeting up with Adrienne from Elsewhere! Terrible Documentation Faux Paux, I didn’t get any pictures of us together. but the important thing was that we got to “stare into each other’s eyes” over delicious vietnamese lunch specials at Sunflower Cafe. So much to say, and so much future to plan. Philly 2011, look out baby.
Some shoe shopping for her parent’s re-marriage back to each other coming up this week (the dress she is wearing “demands a simple black pump”) took us to various delightful thrift stores. I particularly enjoyed the combo of flannel next to short shorts:
BUT, then it was time to go. A combination of my conference schedule and her wedding and “Girls Together Only” time (bachelorette party? with your mom? sorta?) schedule meant this would probably be our last meeting for now. with lots of hope for the future we parted ways.
And more transit rail systems! I loved all the escalators.
AND then off to the most magical Team Management Leadership Weekend. I completed my first year of the program and oh my goodness it was so lovely. All my hard work was acknowledged and looking back on the year, I realized that I really am unrecognizable to myself from where I started. I was in a situation where I felt no power, no freedom, and no self expression. Now I am in a total open space, ready to take on what’s next and even powerfully create whatever it is that’s next — not just wait around for it to happen to me. I could even declare myself now as a Community Artist in the World, making a difference now — really, me . yikes this still scares me. Over the course of the weekend anyone I was frustrated with, mad at, incomplete with, or had felt like I had been banging my head against a wall with for the past 3 months (or more even) completed with me so that we were both freed up from whatever was there that made it so frustrating before. I saw that I had really really made a difference for everyone around me, even when I thought I had been doing nothing right. I just fell in love with everyone I saw. Everyone looked so beautiful. I don’t know how else to say it but I just feel so empowered and ready to take on the world.
On the last night of the weekend we all went to dinner at this moroccan restaurant. I was surrounded by about 20 of my favorite people, all seated on these low couches and eating delicious things. They told me amazing stories, created collaborative futures with me, shared what they were grateful for, and danced. I had the priviledge of dancing with some of the most talented salsa dancers I know (thank you miami), and then letting it rip, being totally free and myself.
Businesslady Aliya Rocks AND gets down, basically.
Over the weekend I also got to meet in the flesh a lot of people I’d been talking to on the phone every week for the past 3 months: Here are some of my favorite Team Leaders from across the eastern region — Ritajean from Philladelphia, Joshua from Baltimore, Morganlea from NJ, and Brad from Indianna.
On monday morning Ritajean and I took a walk up the crazy crazy hills in san fran. look! such a huge hill!
And here are some of my favorite people from my Florida Team: Debbie, Fernanda, Lynn, Brandy, my brilliant coach Gladys, and Henry
From one life to another: After the TMLP weekend, Businesslady Aliya turned into Hampshire Alum Aliya and met up with some favorites from college: Kate, Julia, and a new friend Maureen
(in the shade)
(in the light!)
Oakland living (you can tell we’re in Oakland because of all the bikes)! Thrift stores, walking through adorable neighborhoods, coffee shops, cuties.
Beautiful bathingsuit:
way too adorable/involved chalk drawings. you crazy californian kids.
Really complicated hopscotching:
I’m not sure if you’re supposed to have 4 feet for this square…
The Salami and Ravioli Factory! ……
…… is protected by both a barbed wire fence AND a series of cacti!!
maybe there’s more than salami and ravioli in there.
beautiful car installation art. grade: B – (high marks for ambition in utilizing an outdoor installation and indoor/outdoor coordination, low marks for not fully utillizing the rest of the coat hanger wire diamond)
Guerrilla “MaRia R” Installation Art: grade C (high marks for effort but low for production quality)
Sculents I love you.
Further Research and Investigation into the Pregnancy Romance Novel Genre continues (domestic research) (note, there is a whole sub-series of these novels called “Texas Maternity” and “Texas Paternity”
While Kate’s at her super-important grown up GRAD SCHOOL orientation, A day with Julia!!
Self Portrait with Birds.
No Karate Parking.
Post-Grad School Orientation Reunion (and photoshoot): (note Kate’s very profesh yet Mad Cute outfit choice definitely not deliberated over for and hour plus)
Marriage: A tough financial decision either way
After an evening and morning of watching Ke$ha, Miley, Beyonce and other variations of their music videos, we had to close our visit with a diva-licious photoshoot (i.e. add awesome boots to current outfit — which for many was choice pajamas):
another ride on the rail transit system reminds me I am not in Florida:
me & my trusty luggage: like old married people we know how to travel together.
someday i'll sew the "courage" onto "urge"
good bye west coast. you were fun.
still definitely not florida:
oh houston airport.
And, Home.
back to “normal” life. my intention is to move out of florida (or at least into a job I love that is a total self expression, which may involve florida) by the end of September. I’m not sure at all what that looks like. My upcoming weeks I am envisioining lots of catch-up sewing, working on my new website, packing crap that has sat around since I graduated, writing/photographing for my culminating “Bonar Family Residency” publication “Florida is a Feeling”, watching movies, making friends, calling back old friends I’ve missed.
OK south florida, show me what you got.
I love you all so much, near and far. You are so incredibly beautiful. Let me see your face soon.
LOVE
ALIYA
Filed under thoughts
