40 Days Left & A [HUGE] Launch

Ok friends, here it is!!!

In an effort to creatively gather donations for my upcoming TRIP TO FRANCE with Pioneers ministries I have:

1. Uploaded my support letter online. It's handmade and fun.

See it here!

2. Created and LAUNCHED an ETSY account where I will be selling JOURNALS, CARDS, and so so much more.

Oh! A Pretty Pigeon is my etsy store. So excited!

The name is something James, my dear friend and travel companion this past fall, said while we were walking the streets of Paris. The timing, the day, everything was perfectly funny and we laughed about it for months...I could think of nothing better than such a fun memory for my etsy store name.

3. ANNOUNCED my BENEFIT SHOW. So excited for this.

"We Eat. We Play. We Listen." featuring the musical stylings of James Roquemore and Floodwork. I am making my infamous chili, cooking up some BBQ, and setting out a SLIP'N'SLIDE. Wrapping up the whole day with a night movie on the lawn.

Come out, be blessed by good food, good friends and good music.

May 15th. 2pm. My casa.

Click here to see the event on Facebook for more info.

EXCITING DAY. Oh man.

:)

And so much more to come...can't wait!

I can't hold it back...

Friends, get excited for some new things that will be launching soon.

I am!

Ok, That's all.

:)

Update! Update!

Hello dear friends!

It's about time for a little update, no?

Life has me so excited as I watch the Lord prepare my summer for me. Oh what a beautiful Jesus we have!

This Easter was a wonderful celebration of the redemption, hope, and JOY we all have in the promises of the Lord.

For Good Friday, I drove out to Winter Garden to go to a prayer experience hosted by Westwood Church. It was just lovely and I cherished the time I got to spend at each station of the cross.

While there, I ran across Sweet Traditions, a DELIGHTFUL French bakery and restaurant (that I will be frequenting, I am sure). I got a tarte aux framboises. While I savored every bite it reminded me of my sweet time this past fall and built excitement for the beautiful culture I will be able to minister to this summer.

I crossed the street and came across Lacey's music store, which was a vintage music treasure trove. I immediately connected with Lacey and we talked about life, love, and, of course, good music. I acquired a pristine record of Renee Lebas singing in French. It's called "Cherie, I Love You" and is filled with French classics and favorites from the 1950's.

That night I had a beautiful time with the Lord listening to Renee sing in French and praying over my summer in this wonderful country.

In addition, I have been learning the LANGUAGE through a podcast I discovered last year called Coffee Break French. These are 20-30 minute little snippets of language, culture, and grammar that have really been helping me learn French. I pair my time listening to this podcast with reading Harry Potter in French, a copy of which I picked up this autumn at a used bookstore in Paris' Latin Quarter.

Friends, as I grow more in love with this culture I become more moved to pray for them. PLEASE JOIN ME in praying.

As a FINANCIAL update, I wish I could tell you more of where I am with money. I am certain I have about $100 in, but Pioneers takes about two weeks or so to process money, so I am truly uncertain of where I am.

That being said, the deadline for $500 came and went yesterday, April 5th...I am sure I will definitely need all the help I can get because I don't think I am close to this amount yet.

If you have not received one of my support letters yet, please LET ME KNOW! I would love to send one to you. As always, if you feel so moved to partner with me financially, please follow the link at the top of the blog. I've made it super easy to give online!

More to come soon. Life is getting exciting and literally BLOSSOMING like the flowers around here. Until then, I will leave you by sharing a few things that have been blessing me as of late.

1. This Flickr Set of vintage Parisian pictures. Look at the passion of this culture. I can't wait to show these people the passion of our God. Oh France, I'm falling in love all over again...

2. The album Storyboards by Sleeping At Last, my hands down favorite band of the moment. Their music leads me to the Lord. AND THEIR ALBUM IS FREE FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS! JUST CLICK!

3. The phrase "Il n'y a qu'un bonheur dans la vie, c'est d'aimer et d'être aimé." Roughly translated: There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved. Ahh oui, vraiment.

à bientôt! (see you soon!)

legit, again

I feel completely okay about writing in my Sheena Does Europe blog again, because...I'M GOING TO FRANCE for the summer!!!

Being back in Orlando has been just lovely, and I see the ways that God has me here, ways that He has so greatly BLESSED me and so greatly USED me.

But honestly, I've been heartsick and being back has been harder than I want to admit.

I was talking to my best friend Sarah, who I visited in Bilbao this past fall, on Skype the other day. In a moment of honest expression, I shared how I truly feel this has been the most amazing time in my life. With this past Fall as a catalyst, God has been developing and sharing with me a life of amazing miracles and amazing loves. I can see the Lord answering prayers, prayers I've prayed for years, and I see the ways the Lord is actively pursuing me and healing my life. I'm daily in awe of the Lord's love for me. Hallelujah. Hallelu.

Oh we have a great GOD.

However, even in the midst of the most lovely community, my heart feels torn and incomplete.

I talked to James for awhile the other day, and it seems we both have left our hearts in (Paris) France. I have spent days missing the culture and the people, the atmosphere of France and the ways and rhythms of life that I created while there. I miss sitting in beauty, being cocooned in love, and talking to strangers about beauty and life and love.

Awhile ago I got a message from my dear friend Gerin encouraging me to go on an Edge trip (short term summer mission project) with Pioneers ministries. I love Pioneers and all my dear friends there, and am passionate about the work of church planting that they do there. I am also drawn to their trips because they tend to be smaller and more intimate, with teams of about five or so.
They specialize in ministering to unreached people groups. Upon going to their website, I was praying about opportunities for my summer. I really do think God has arranged my life to spend my summer serving, and I want to be a good steward of such opportunity.

So I went to the website, thinking maybe there would be an opportunity to serve an unreached people group in Africa or perhaps the Middle East. I've prayed passionately for the Kingdom to come in these places, and while it's not France, I could see the ways I could bless and be blessed by a summer of service in these places.

Imagine my surprise when I went to the Pioneers website and saw their was an Edge trip to southern France. France?! Unreached peoples? What?
Yes, it's true. Basque country is a place of hardened and cynical souls to the Gospel. This was something I've learned and have learned as Sarah is living there and sharing her life with me. As details about this mission trip unfolded I learned that it involved working and serving in a hostel and building relationships and talking to people about life, and love....and beauty....and God.

Everything my heart was missing...

Is this real?

Well friends, I prayed, applied, and got accepted to go on this trip. I just found out yesterday.
Faithfully, I will leave on June 6th, and be in France, again.

I can't wait to post more details as I hear them and once again share with others my adventures in Europe.

So yes, I'm "doing" Europe, again. Oh love.

pieces.

Can I still write in this? I am technically not "doing Europe" anymore. Let's call this a "Sheena does NY" post.

Life in the Big Apple has been grand.
After my goodbyes on Sunday I went to my friend Brittany's apartment in the Upper East Side. It was so nice to live and be with her for a bit. I got deathly sick that night though, which was a bummer, but not enough to keep me away from Trinity Grace Chelsea. Oh that church, that church is just wonderful. Totally something I could see myself being a part of and Jon Tyson is just amazing and creating a completely grace-filled Christ-centered community. Thank you Jesus for using these people so powerfully in this City.
Crashed the next day...and the next. However, I saw Lee Ann and John and their friend Heidi for a bit on Monday. That was fun, I finally walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, which I never did when I lived here as a little girl. Crazy I know. Then we had a great dinner in Little Italy and then went to GROM!!
Grom is a true Florentine gelato place; the locals in Florence told us there were two best gelato places, La Carraia and Grom. Well, we went to Gelateria la Carraia (best gelato of my life) but Grom is a chain so we thought we'd go to their store in NY! They ship all the ingredients from Florence and make it just like they do in Florence! It costs your first born, but it was so worth it.
Well Grom was situated in the Upper West Side, and while we're eating this semi-drunk woman and her daughter come in raving about how they just saw Bill Clinton at dinner. So naturally, I'm like "No way!" and the woman is like "GO THERE! See for yourself! Cesca...you'll see all the Secret Service."
So John, Lee Anne, Heidi and I decide to go!
And sure enough, we get to the corner where the restaurant is and there's like three black, blacked out Escalades in front of it and Secret Service men on the corner. Excited, we go in to the bar and wine is half off a bottle, so we get a bottle and take turns "going to the bathroom."
Sure 'nuff, bam, Bill Clinton, right there, sitting having dinner.
Eeee!

Then we had a glass of wine and went to a free comedy show at Upright People's Brigade, which was decently funny.

The next day I woke up super late, researched nonprofits, and then walked around Central Park and Greenwich Village some. It was lovely just getting lost in the city. And I went to Bryant Park for a bit to watch the ice skaters. So wonderful.

The next day went pretty much the same, except I finally found Strawberry Fields, the tribute to John Lennon in Central Park. And I walked through the Rambles, which was so beautiful. I can't believe this is Manhattan.
Then I walked around Midtown and window shopped for a bit and when home and honestly, I fell asleep around 9pm.
Lame, I know. Even more lame, being sick.

Thursday I moved to Brooklyn Heights, where I am renting a room from a couple that goes to Trinity Grace. Then I napped, visited charity: water headquarters, and then saw Hannah and Susan WIllard! That was lovely, they were in town checking out colleges. We met up at Colombia and then got lunch and at a cute little place near there on the Upper West Side. I met Deb, an amazing woman who's Susan's friend. I think sometime this week we will make a date to bake together. AHH YESS!

Then went back to the Brooklyn.

Friday was much of the same, sleeping in and such, except I got a new book at Barnes and Noble and walked to Trader Joe's.
UM...my mom's old bank is now Trader Joe's...what the heck? It's pretty crazy...
What's crazier is living back in my hometown. It feels weird and is just crazy to think that the last time I walked these streets was as a little girl.
And I still remember so much. I haven't gotten lost/not known where I was yet. That's just crazy.
Another weird thing, my fav chinese take out is now an American Apparel. Hmph.

Made some dinner and food for the rest of the weekend, then went to WTC to watch Brittany Logan's dance show. It was really interesting, sixty 60sec pieces composed by different composers and choreographed by different choreographers. Really interesting. Brittany and her roommates danced together and they did great.
Then we went to Greenpoint in Brooklyn to watch a show - the Pearl and the Beard. Fell asleep before the show started (it started at like 2am!) so I just went home.

This morning I volunteered in BedSty at a church to help immigrants learn English. It was fun and I RANDOMLY met the guy that Lee Ann and John stayed with earlier in the week. Isn't that CRAZY!?!

This world is just too small. Seriously? Insane.

Then I went shopping in Williamsburg and hung out there. It's a really cool part of town and definitely was not this cool when I lived here. UBER hipster (the birthplace of the hipster) but really nice. I talked to some people I met on the street for awhile. I wish I were staying here because we totally would've been friends...

And now...just sitting in Brooklyn after getting rained on all day. Boo. I need to get better. I need to. But tomorrow should be great, I'm checking out Redeemer Pres with my new friend Deb, then hopefully serving at the Bowery Mission (ee!) and then church later on that night at Trinity Grace. Maybe squeeze a yoga class in there.

We'll see.

Random:
Construction on the sub has been crazy, so I had to take the N over the Manhattan Bridge (what?!) to get home. As I was going over the bridge my eyes beheld the Brooklyn Bridge and the beautiful, foggy, gray skyline of NYC...and tears came - out of nowhere! It was so surprising but in thinking about it I think I realized that a piece of my heart always stayed in New York.

Oh New York.

and now, the end. well sort of.

There's something beautifully poetic about the journey of life taking you right back where you started.

My current location is Brooklyn, NY. United States of America.

Home. Maybe....

My trip to Europe started here about ten weeks ago. Ten weeks ago. Gosh that's ridiculous.
Ten weeks ago, James and I met at Orlando International Airport and hopped on a plane to NYC. It was the first day of our trip, the first plane we would ride, the first bus we would take, the first subway we would board, the first day we lugged luggage around for more than and hour, the first day we got lost... Fast forward ten weeks and here I sit again, in Brooklyn, NY, with innumerous "firsts" under my belt, calloused hands, weathered luggage, longer hair and a mind full of beautiful memories.

Right back where I started.

James left for Orlando this morning. Friends in Otown, be sure to say hi (and Happy Birthday) to him soon.

How strange this all is! Thoughts of home, of having a home, of having a car, having a life, a job, a cat - this all seems so overwhelming to me right now. What a funny state to be in, so awkwardly thrust into reality again.

Although I guess my reality hasn't completely arrived yet. I am still traveling. Still a nomad.
Perhaps I should explain.

My travel plans have changed past the Eurotrip that James and I have so thoroughly organized.

I have decided to spend a little more time in New York, seeing how my subleaser Kaitlyn needed a place to stay for longer in Orlando. My rent in Orlando is being paid for and I have the opportunity of a lifetime to live and work in the City, so I figured, why not?
Perhaps this will be the perfect extended ending. At least I think so.

Our days here in New York were just beautiful. James and I arrived at JFK and traveled to Phillip's house in Williamsburg with ease, practically public transportation pro's by now. Jet-lagging like crazy, we ordered Chinese food and watched a movie on the couch as soon as we got in. Dinner and a movie: Hello America. I didn't last the whole movie, surprise surprise, but we did really well, falling asleep around 11pm. Two days later and I think we're pretty much over jetlag.

The next day we work up early. Actually, James and I woke up with a start at 6:45am. Um, that's like 1pm in Europe. Getting back to sleep for a bit did not come easy, for ME at least. Infer what you will about James. :)

We finally got up around 9am though and left for the financial district. There would be a Yankees Champion Parade that day; a tickertape parade through the Canyon of Heroes. Quintessential New York. It was wonderful; the streets were filled with New Yorkers doing what they do best (being loud, ha!) and people decked out in their Yankees gear. Office workers of the highrises above were throwing tickertape and shredded paper (even some toilet paper!) out their windows into the parade below. So much noise. So much litter. And people selling propaganda everywhere. Oh America.

After the parade, Phillip's roommate Evan took us to this awesome mexican restaurant in Soho. El Paso. Soup and bread, chips and salsa, two chimis and rice and beans for $7.00. So awesome.
We ate until we were grossly stuffed and felt strangely patriotic doing it.

Then James and I ventured to Central Park. It was the last day of peak season, which means that the leaves are in full color for fall. It did not disappoint. Autumn is my favorite season and I've experienced the most beautiful autumn of my life, I'm sure. Such blessings.
We walked through the park for bit until we found this big grassy field. Just perfect. We laid out in the grass and people watched while letting the sun warm us. Oh beautiful sun. Oh beautiful city. Oh beautiful life.

Then we walked down to Serendipity; I wanted a little cookie something and some coffee and thought it would be cute. We got there and there was an hour and a half wait. Ha! So instead we took a picture, went to CVS, got A&W Root Beer and Butterfingers and laughed about how we were such Americans.

We did some shopping at H&M, which is cheaper in America than in Europe. Oh happy day. Urban Outfitters was having a crazy sale for women's gear so I got a dress and shirt for $15. At Urban!?! For reals, I was so happy. James was upset men don't have these types of deals, but happy for me of course.

Shopped out two hours later, we returned to Brooklyn and went to a 24hr falafel place down the street to use internet. Manna.
Hours passed through good coffee, good conversation, and good company, and we successfully stayed awake in time to meet Daniel Beeler at midnite. Yes, my childhood friend was able to take a random trip to NY before a work trip to Minnesota. So sweet. After getting him settled we fell asleep to some great Jim Gaffigan.

The next day I took Daniel to the Staten Island Ferry, then Wall Street, the World Trade Center, Central Park, the Empire State Building, Rockafellar Center, and Times Square! We ate NY pretzels and pizza. This day feels like a blur. I was quite the tour guide, and we had a great day, although I think I wore Daniel out. Apparently, I'm euro-walking conditioned. Suh-weet.

We met James at Junior's in Times Square for dinner; some good american eats and NY cheesecake. It was also perfect that this was James and I's last meal together because this was where we had our last meal in America before our flight to Europe.
Round and round this full circle we go. So perfect.
We sat in a booth near the same one we had before and all got amazing steakburgers with fries. Then we each got a slice of cheesecake; Daniel got original, I got raspberry swirl, and James got strawberry cheesepie. It was lovely and everything Junior's cheesecake is supposed to be.

We left for Brooklyn and went to Manna again, getting internet. Then we stumbled home, tired (and sick, in my case) and went to bed. I had a hard time sleeping without the ability to breathe, but was up in time to tell James an early goodbye.
Goodbye.
So strange.
Then Daniel and I got breakfast at Gimme Coffee! and I told him bye.

So many goodbyes.

And here I sit. In New York. Alone and back where I began.
Postgrad Eurotrip, check. Done and done. And now? Now, I am faced with the decision of what to do next in this endeavor called life. I wonder what will happen, where I will be, what I will decide...no one told me how terrifying and exhilarating this would be.

I'm right back where I began.

About 22 years ago I was born at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn, NY.
Sweet life, you've brought me here again. My hometown.
Full circle. And just perfect.

Thank you friends for joining me on this journey. It's not done and I'm sure will never be. But I'll see you soon I'm sure...

the burbs.

Friends.
For the past two days James and I have been staying in the most wonderful home of the Minors, residents of Middlesex London, the burbs if you will. They live in a lovely little town called Hampton Hill, and life here has been so refreshing. God gave us the perfect ending to our long and wonderful Eurotrip. The Minors have an AMAZING home that they graciously invited us into. I can't tell you how refreshing just sitting in the hottub with a glass of wine has been these past two nights, refreshing to my body mind and soul.
Tonight I will be in New York.
This is craziness.

I am so sad to be leaving this continent, but excited to have a working cell phone that will put me in touch with loved ones soon.
Look out tonight, I might call you.

Love love.