Stresses: I has them.
- Last week I swore myself off sugar in an attempt to drop a bit of weight; a good idea in theory, but the timing couldn’t have been worse!
- I have a final tomorrow for my Math for Economists class (uh, what?) and the very thought of partial differentials and income functions makes my heart beat faster and a feeling of nauseous panic rise from my chest to my throat.
- Relationship Drama: It’s a factor.
- Personal Drama: An even bigger factor.
- The rest of my stress mostly comes from the explosions of my life (see: above) that have taken over my apartment. I’m the kind of person who craves a clean apartment. At the moment I do not have a clean apartment. Not one little bit.
Add these factors up and what do you get? A big, old mess. And how do I deal? I bought several boxes of sidewalk chalk and spent all day Saturday coloring on the cement at a family reunion.
The beginnings of my sidewalk-chalk masterpiece.
The “black” piece of chalk was really more like “concrete-gray”, so I hoisted a few pieces of charcoal from the fire-pit and used those instead.
Ta-daah! My sidewalk-chalk version of Starry Night may never hang in the Louvre, but I think it’s cool.
“Building” my city, heidikins-opolis.
Finished, complete with all my favorite things: shoes, cupcakes, world-travels, books, and the Crimson Nation taking over the biggest, reddest building. (In case you missed it, my school was inducted into the PAC-10 (now PAC-12) last week and I celebrated a little. Please also note the teeny little “Y” building in the corner, included to irk my die-hard Y-fan uncle more than anything else. For more on “The U” vs. “The Y” please see this post. Or just look up “Holy War“.)
All in all, the sidewalk-chalk weekend was just what I needed to recharge for yet another really hard week; I highly recommend it.
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Wow, that is…wow! Very cool.
Comment by DiaryofWhy 2010 June 21 @ 6:35 pmYour chalk art is so cool. I went to the Chalk Art Festival at the Gateway this weekend, so when I read the title of your post I figured you were talking about that. I am not artistic and would never have the skills to do chalk art, so I’m impressed. (And if you’ve never been to a chalk art festival, they use pastels instead of chalk, which makes the colors far more vibrant. You may want to give it a try if you are ever feeling artsy again!)
Comment by Sherry 2010 June 21 @ 6:45 pmAmazing! You’re really good at that! And it looks like a lot of fun
Comment by Inna 2010 June 21 @ 6:58 pmGlad you’re relieving your stresses!
um nicely done lady, those are amazing! if i could stand using chalk i’d love to do that too, but seriously excellent work.
Comment by katelin 2010 June 21 @ 6:59 pmThat is incredible! I’m super impressed.
Comment by Janssen 2010 June 21 @ 7:10 pmI am SO. TEMPTED. RIGHT. NOW. And I am actually at my sister’s house babysitting, too. When my niece wakes up from her nap, we may be taking a trip to buy some chalk
Comment by Allie 2010 June 21 @ 7:21 pmWow, they look amazing! Love your city, it really has got everything a girl needs!
Comment by v. 2010 June 21 @ 7:42 pmyou are pretty much amazing! i always wanted to be like Bert in Merry Poppins drawing beautiful chalk pictures on the sidewalk, but i am not anywhere near your caliber! so awesome! it was so good to see you saturday!
Comment by lacey 2010 June 21 @ 8:15 pmThat looks like great fun! Nice job.
Comment by Sra 2010 June 21 @ 10:42 pmI would buy your chalk painting! Love the Starry night one. You talented so and so.
Comment by Aly 2010 June 22 @ 5:45 amOh, you have inspired me. Starry Night may be just the thing I need to draw on the chalk once we get unpacked at the new place.
Sorry you have so many stresses. If I were you, I may consider holding off on that sugar ban for a bit. Consider it a kindness to yourself.
Comment by Heather W 2010 June 22 @ 6:20 amAll I can say is:
1. You are an artist, girl!
Comment by Pieces of a Sometimes Extraordinary Life 2010 June 22 @ 6:24 am2. You look INCREDIBLY thin, so I’d say go for the sugar.
Fun! I need to find me some concrete.
Comment by Melanie 2010 June 22 @ 6:38 amI have always wanted to see sidewalk chalk liek this in person. Yes, I aim low cause I know I could never do it.
Comment by Sarakastic 2010 June 22 @ 9:23 amI love playing with sidewalk chalk, but I’m not nearly as talented as you!
Comment by Erin 2010 June 22 @ 12:35 pmWell done, that’s awesome, I love them both. Aren’t you clever!
Comment by A 2010 June 22 @ 1:49 pmI is inspir-ed. Diggin that U flag. Go Utes! Go all the way to the PAC 12! And it was so… and it was good.
Comment by Andrea Cox 2010 June 22 @ 6:21 pmUm…Heidi, you’re very talented…and brilliant….and freaking hilarious.
Comment by Briana 2010 June 22 @ 7:07 pmYou have talent, girl! You should consider turning your sidewalk masterpieces into transferable pieces of art you can sell on Etsy. Just saying…
Comment by Nilsa @ SoMi Speaks 2010 June 23 @ 8:26 amHoly crap, I’m impressed. What a fun idea. Seriously, you rock.
Comment by Isabel 2010 June 23 @ 11:09 amI so heart your form of therapy. And you.
Any better?
Comment by Cheeky Monkey 2010 June 23 @ 1:21 pmGood lord, these are awesome. You are highly talented.
Sorry about the drama, though. What’s going on?
Comment by Jess 2010 June 23 @ 1:27 pmShit, I’ve been drinking and reality tv-ing my way through stress. Never occurred to me to do something productive with the energy! You so smart!!
P.S. Don’tcha love how UT Austin screwed that up for everyone??
Comment by thecoconutdiaries 2010 June 24 @ 2:00 pmThat is the most beautiful sidewalk chalk picture I have ever seen! Look how talented you are! I only ever think to write my name and trace my foot!
Comment by Natalie Duerden 2010 June 24 @ 5:06 pmHey, that’s a pretty good Starry Night! I’m glad you had a way to de-stress. This week will be better for you, love.
Comment by nancypearlwannabe 2010 June 28 @ 3:58 pmOkay, so is there anything you can’t do?!?! You are so talented… your sidewalk drawing would make Bert, Jane and Michael beg Mary Poppins to jump them into!
Comment by Shannon 2010 June 28 @ 4:09 pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The best I can do is flipping hopscotch. On the upside, I’m pretty good at hopscotch.
And I was told there would be no math.
Comment by Science Teacher Mommy 2010 June 30 @ 7:03 amYour sidewalk chalk art is AWESOME!!!!
And I got a huge kick out of your little “Y” building. Even here at BYU-I there is quite a bit of rivalry in the neighborhood where people will steal each others “U” and “Y” signs from their yards. People are so funny.
Comment by Heather 2010 July 1 @ 2:13 pmHeidi, that is so cool! Were you inspired by the Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival? I really want to try this!
Comment by Jannifer 2010 July 2 @ 5:18 pmYou are quite the artist! Those are fantastic! Love the starry night one a lot =)
Comment by Mikael 2010 July 16 @ 9:03 am