{ a day in the life of ME - tara hogan from ink+wit }

Today's {a day in the life of ME} guest is Tara Hogan, the amazing designer behind the Ink + Wit line of goods and a yoga teacher in upstate New York. I met Tara at the National Stationary Show last year and was instantly smitten with her poise (amidst chaos at the show), her amazing designs and illustrations and her desire to get out of the show and to a yoga class stat (as that is what my body + mind were calling for too - well that and some babycakes cupcakes, but that's another story). I also grew up and went to college right near where she now lives with her husband and cats.

Before I turn it over to Tara...I wanted to link to a couple of great posts on Decor 8 and show a few more images of her home and work.

ink + wit's everything counts poster {seen here in my kitchen}

Pommebirds letterpress print.


Tara's living room via decor 8.


More of Tara's home via decor 8.

Okay, onto Tara and what her days are like... I asked Tara what helps keep her sane amidst being a one woman working show...and how she tries to keep things simple.

I stay sane by doing the following things:

FAST ( with green juices + watermelon)
YOGA (daily practice)
MEDITATE (5 minutes daily)
BREATHE
WALK
KISS AND HUG MY HUSBAND
ASK FOR HELP
PLAY WITH MY CATS
VACATION
PURGE THE OFFICE CLUTTER
TAKE IT ONE DAY AT A TIME
LOSE THE EGO

Staying sane, hmmm, is that a trick question? Seriously, I have had my days where my sanity went out the window. I admit it. And, what I realized I had to do was hire help, take frequent breaks away from the computer and iPhone and just not think. Thinking about everything will give you a heap of anxiety and stress. You just cannot get it all done. It is impossible. Especially in today's world. The demands on creativity are so high that we have almost become robotic at times trying to finish and please the audience. But, it is a commercial profession and with that comes acceptance of grinding out a lot of concept, design, and production. Hence, hire help.

INK+WIT started to grow a lot since October of 2007. As soon as bloggers took notice more and more (a big thanks to you all) more tasks came to be on my end. In the beginning you try to juggle all of them and then you learn to let go. Letting go, here is where yoga philosophy comes into play with me anyway. You must surrender to what is. Be present. Stay still, meditate on what you want. Purify your space, body, mind, and intentions. Practice tapis, yogic discipline. The cleaner the body (the cleaner the mind and lack of attachments).

It is easy to get attached to business, press, stellar performance. I have kept myself grounded by understanding everything goes through a funnel and passes through a series of individuals in this creative world. With that known you learn to receive each bit of press and possibility for your life and business with ease as you fully know it may not work out. That will take a load of stress off feeling like everyone you ask to is going to give you a blog post, magazine coverage, or contract. What is meant to be is meant to be. You plant and sow your seeds. You weed your garden. You decide how to arrange it and what to move and shift. But, you also know nature rules all and that when life is up in arms you remain still like nothing happened.

In terms of what I put into my body {I am a vegan}...
I have to say there is not much meal planning, even with my Feed ME meal planner! While my husband eats many of the vegan dishes I have grown to love such as quinoa with Braggs amino Acids, sesame oil, agave, and spinach, he eats meat and dairy too. Minimally ,but it is part of his menu. He likes to cook so he often makes his own dinner. Because of the food difference we do not plan many meals with exception to going out for Thai, Indian, and Japanese. Most of what I prepare are young thai coconut milkshakes. I drink one everyday. Meat from 2 Thai coconut, the water, agave, acai, and vanilla. Or, I skip the acia and do banana cacao powder. One example of my lunch and dinner is a large bowl of avocado with greens, and sometimes quinoa, brown rice, jasmine rice, or spirited bread. BUT, the sprouted bread we have now has wheat gluten and can really make me ill. It takes time to test out what works. I feel great being vegan. It makes perfect sense to me and I feel better than ever. Key: GREEN JUICE. It keeps you alert and strong.

{We do not have children but we do have 3 cats that are our kids and they all eat healthy too. They eat Mark's free range chicken 1X a week, some dolphin safe tuna, and Pet Guard's soft cat foods as well as have some olive oil here and there. I did try to make them real people dishes with brown rice, shredded carrot and fish but they got finicky. Animals get tried of the same foods too like us. And, they need their cat dish washed after every meal just like us.}

In terms of new products and projects, I am in the process of launching a line of woman's apparel.



Thanks so much Tara for sharing with us more about your day and your new projects! To check out her great goods click here and to subscribe to her great blog click here.