Deadlines and Art Dates

It's that time again, guys. I have a looming deadline, projects in the works and these allergies are making me feel so beat. Even the sunshine in my eyes feels like bloody torture. Oh how I wish I could up and go to a secluded place and unwind with this book I've been trying to read for the past month, but that'll have to wait until my calendar eases up a bit in the coming week. (I hope. Funny how the week fills up and flies by so quickly, huh?)

I did, however, take a nice break from my agenda last night with a three-hour art date with my friend, Ky. I played around with crayons, markers and colored pencils while she strummed a few notes on her guitar before creating a teeny tiny canvas painting of the tulips on Park Avenue. A lot of sarcasm and laughs were involved (as well as pizza squares, cocktail shrimp and a bit of whoopie pie) so meeting up for the sole purpose of creating art in good company turned out to be a delightful idea. I don't know about you, but I sometimes get so lost in to-do lists that I forget to schedule in time for the things that soothe me. It's a bit hard to sit yourself down and dedicate time to your art when you go at it alone so it's much nicer when you have someone to share that experience with. That said, we're getting together again on Monday and even though we've only met up once, it's already making me want to be more productive on that front.

So how do you guys zen out during your hectic times?