Normally I would be hesitant to walk into a dark unfamiliar basement...

but the mysterious green stairwell leading downstairs into the secret room below felt really inviting. I had ventured down to Soho on Sunday to try and find Spring Studio. I walked by it almost three times until I realized that the lonely red door amongst the high-end boutiques was the entrance to this gold mind. Spring Studio isn't fancy at all...it is literally a single staircase leading into a basement that smells like a really old library and is filled with rickety old desks, easels and drawing supplies (an artist's HEAVEN!). The idea is simple: you pay $14 bucks and get to sit there for four hours drawing live models. The studio offers three sessions a day. I happened to attend on the day where we were doing portraits. This was my first drawing class in quite some time so I was naturally very intimidated by the people around me. They all had top of the line drawing pencils, charcoals, acrylic paint, etc. I on the other hand had a single pencil that Kate let me borrow, a pencil sharpener and a $.99 notepad that I found at "The Bargain Stop" near my house. Yeeeaaaahhh it was a little obvious that I was a bit rusty. However, once we began drawing, I realized that I wasn't as much as a newby as I thought that I might be and that it didn't matter how well I could draw, or how well the people around me could draw in the first place. What mattered was that I was in a creative, peaceful environment with others who cared about art, too. I can't tell you how nice it was to focus my attention on something other than sales figures and selling techniques. I listened to my ipod for two hours and concentrated on the deep lines and crevices of the woman's face in front of us.


Due to work-related reasons, I couldn't stay for the whole four hours but the two hours that I was there made me feel wonderful for the rest of the day. I'm going to return on Sunday and do it again. Whoohoo for creative outlets!!

This morning I decided to go in at 12:00 instead of open up the store with C. I woke up feeling really rested and ready to start the day. Even Kate mentioned that it was the first morning she had seen me wake up without groaning loudly. Haha. I'm enjoying taking my time sipping my coffee after taking a long shower. I even opened up one of our kitchen windows above the fire escape because the weather is absolutely beautiful. I can't believe the high is 57 degrees today. THANK GOD! Soon I will be off, but I think today is going to be a good one.