I just read this on my student, Brandy’s, pages…

I thought so appropriate…especially because I’ve been so absent in my blogging, working on so many new things right now—a new webpage, a new blog idea, some scrapbooking,  working at the Cultivator of course, and now, getting ready for two weeks of dance instensives, Collective Soul Level’s One, Two, Three, and Teacher Training Level One. Dancers from California, Portland, Scotland, Washington, Florida, and Australia are heading my way to undertake the challenge!

woo hoo…

so in the meantime, read this and tell me what you think!

“The mind should dance with the body, the whole Universe is your stage, the soul your choreographer. Try to feel that whatever you are doing is the most beautiful thing, the prettiest dance, because you dance with the whole Universe. Don’t resent anything. Forgive everything. Express your essence. Let your heart guide you, free of all limitation, regimentation, and fear.’ Yogi Bhajan

gina and crazy amanda

carol and karen  enjoying lunch

gina, nina, and kristi

kristi, pamela, paulette, carol, and karen

and a big hug from grazia!

I have finally gotten the Cultivator on Facebook! My little shop in Clatksanie, OR…woo hoo…

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Clatskanie-OR/Cultivator-General-Store/114161111960750?ref=ts 

or search for Cultivator General Store!
Friend/Fan us so you can get the latest on our daily menus, new items, events, photos, and more.

As always, thanks for being a friend of the Cultivator…
see you there…

Paulette and her mama!

**We are proud and delighted to share the Tribal Fest stage with our troupe from Portland, Oregon, combining the Gypsy Caravan Dance Company with the Caravan Dance Collective and the Collective Soul International dancers!

Thanks for your years of support and for your tribal spirit.

Eleven of us from Portland and our dancing sisters from around the world will take the stage together on Saturday, just after 6 pm…Will you be there?

I’ll let you know how our road trip goes…

Ok, let me hear it for next month’s D-Quad.
Delicious Divas Dancing Dreams…our dancing writer’s forum. This is a place to share your thoughts and inspirations about your dance, maybe art work and photographs if you care to share those too! Once yearly I publish an anthology of the year’s collections, which comes out in the Fall.

Next month’s entrees due May 10th, can you write it down for us? Don’t be shy. And if not to share, at least write it down for yourself.

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Here is something for you to think and write about. In the recent past, we have discussed how dancer’s move on from teachers, and into and out of troupes, friends, relationships.

Find out what is is about what you witness that strikes you as something you want in your own life. When you see a great dancer or troupe, what are the qualities that you want to possess for yourself? Take a pen and paper, right now, and quickly without thinking too hard or editing yourself, list five things about that person or that dance/art form that speak out to you. Do it. Now, look at those five things. How can you bring those up from inside yourself? And manifest them into your art form?

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Bring it on, writers and dancers!

Thanks for sharing….

Hello lovely friends of Cultivator General Store, and happy earth day to you all…

I meant to write this yesterday to you all, but we were slammed busy at the shop, unloading about 50 boxes of beautiful fresh produce—artichokes, strawberries, portobella mushrooms, and much more—
and we will soon be carrying more of our local produce from our hardworking farmers right here in Clatskanie. Yea!
We also got in boxes of beautiful cheeses— I was so hungry unpacking fresh mozzarella balls, more haloumi, cheddar chipotle, the shelves are jammed tight with cheesey goodness! Plus more crackers, chips, pastas, chocolates, gluten-free breads, not to mention new varieties of wine and beer. (are you hungry yet? think Humboldt Fog cheese paired with a dab of quince paste and a glass of your favorite) Jeff and I can’t wait to share them all with you.
Our baked goods and lunches went over so well this week, and miss Heidi has more yummy sweet treats in store for you today too.
Dont’ forget our wine tasting tonight (and every Friday) from 5-7 pm. In honor of Earth Day, we will be sampling some delectable organic and biodynamic wines from Italy, France, and California. $5.00 for 5 tastes. Have a fabulous nibble of olives and almonds and goodies while you are enjoying the wine too.
We are getting more choices every week, and I am finding some wines with no sulfites too.

So in honor of earth day, please bring your reusable grocery bag when you come shopping. We even got some wonderfully colorful grocery bags yesterday for you to purchase if you don’t have one.
And to learn more about what you can do for our great planet earth, check out these pages if you have a minute:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/the-earth-day-not-rocket-science-eco-abcs.html

Jeff and I, and our fabulous staff, Heidi, Laurita, Brett, and Jani, thank you all again for your excitement and support of the Cultivator. We want you to eat well, be happy, and keep our community thriving!
See you there…
Paulette

EVENTS:
**Coffee tasting Saturday, May 1st, 11 am, with Marcus from Batdorf and Bronson coffee roasters,
(and Jeff will be playing music later that day at Kennedy School in Portland with the Ripe Fig Rhythms and Gypsy Caravan Dance Company at 5:30–an action packed day!)
**Special wine tasting with Scott and Marty Denis, from Uncorked NW, first Thursday, May 6th, 5-7 pm, tasting wines of France!

Paulette
Cultivator General Store
503-728-3496

all things good–local, organic, sustainable, yummy…
wines, cheeses, coffee, produce, fresh-baked goodies, home lovelies, and funky eclectic farmgirl delights!

302 N. Nehalem St.
Clatskanie, OR 97016

This review just in from writer and dancer, Jess Titterington.

Review: Tribal Vision: A Celebration of Life Through Tribal Belly Dance
Paulette Rees-Denis, the founder of Tribal belly dance in Portland, OR, was kind enough to let me read a copy of Tribal Vision: A Celebration of Life Through Tribal Belly Dance (Cultivator Press, 2008).

I’m primarily a fusion belly dancer: a little oriental, a little salsa, a little Turkish, even a little ballet here and there. I realize my own fusion comes from my main teacher and HER penchant for fusion, but part of my satisfaction with my current group is the ability to try new fun styles as they come up and encouragement to learn everywhere. I suspect that’s why I so thoroughly enjoyed this book. I wasn’t sure where it was going at first: the beginning chapters are an intertwining of the author’s life as well as the evolution of Tribal on the West Coast. As both stories unfolded, however, it became clear that her life in dance was one of the driving forces behind the development of Tribal belly dance, and that both were a journey of exploration and experimentation.

The real connection for me came through the author’s desire to create a safe, sacred space for herself and her students. The ability to let go of the real world and just be is difficult enough, but to be able to do it in front of/with a group of women takes a special level of comfort, and I appreciate her desire to give that to her students. I also loved that every aspect of dance is covered, from troupe origin to costuming to watching a student have that “aha!” moment when her body does exactly what she’s trying to get it to do.

The photos were fantastic: a visual history of Paulette, the dancers, the students, and the myriad of costumes through the years. Cammi Vance was in MN a few years ago doing workshops, so it was fun to see her “back in the day” as well.

All in all I’d recommend Tribal Vision to any dancer who wants to enrich her knowledge and dance philosophy. And you can be sure the next time I’m in Portland I’ll be looking for a class!

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Thank you Jess, for reading and listening. The best to you….

her blog:

NO PITHY PHRASE
MAYBE I’LL BE NORMAL TOMORROW.

http://nopithyphrase.blogspot.com/

I have not written with a One More Thing for several weeks, and so I wanted to share this story and link with you. Donations, even small ones, can be so helpful for those who can spend their time fighting for good causes, so I urge you to  donate to this cause in helping save the baby seals from slaughter, a senseless act of killing.

https://secure.humanesociety.org/site/Donation2?df_id=3480&3480.donation=form1&autologin=true

The Protectseals team is in Newfoundland, bearing witness to the tragic slaughter of survivors. Despite the worst ice conditions in decades already claiming the lives of countless seal pups, the Canadian government has done the unthinkable: It’s raised this year’s seal hunt quota by 50,000 seals to nearly 400,000—all for fur….

Come on dancers and friends,  if not this cause, pick one that you believe in, and show support. Share with us what your causes are, I would love to hear about them.

And thank you!

Wow! A HUGE thank you to all of you who have come out to support our new shop, Cultivator General Store this last week. We had a fabulous opening week, with great soups, eats, coffees, and wine tastings! Jeff and I could not be more thrilled by your enthusiasm and excitement about the food and shopping goodies that you are loving at our general store. I thank each of you for stopping by to check it out, and what a delight to meet so many of you face to face.

I thank Sherri, and Kris, Lori, and Victoria, and my mom, Scott and Mary, and so many of you I cannot even name, for encouraging us to follow our vision. I thank all of you who have volunteered your time in getting us up and running. I thank Heidi and Laurita, Jani, and Brett, our fabulous staff for working and believing in Jeff and myself, with out you we could not have done this. And I thank the musicians—Scott and Bill, Victoria, and Joe and others, and the fabulous bellydancers, Gyspy Caravan Dance Company—who helped to celebrate last Thursday on our opening day and night. What an honor to have your talents in Clatskanie.

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We are happy to bring our wonderful town more events, starting this Friday, April 9^th, with an informal wine tasting with some delicious wines from Chile. Drop by from 5-7 pm, for a tasting of four yummy wines for $4.00. And try a delicious cheese platter while you are there…

Also tomorrow, Friday, we will have our first delivery from the Blue Scorcher bakery in Astoria, featuring fresh baked loaves of bread, bran muffins and oatcakes, regular and gluten-free cookies, so come by early to get in on that with our daily soup specials and sandwich pizzetas from kitchen wiz Heidi!

We have had the pleasure of serving you fresh goods from the Houlton Bakery in St. Helens all week as well, so look for Gainor’s goods on Tuesdays too!

Also coming up, Saturday May 1^st, starting at 11 am, we will have coffee expert Marcus, from Batdorf and Bronson, coffee roasters from Olympia, WA, come and give a talk with several tastings (free) about their fabulous coffees. Now is the time to come and learn more about coffee and have you questions answered.

And May 6^th, First Thursday, we will have wine experts Scott and Mary Denis (uncorkednw.com) out again to sample wines from France, so mark that in your calendar, 5-7pm. And follow that with a night of music at Victoria’s open night mic at the Blue Nutria, (7-10 pm) and we have a wonderful community event happening!

Many other events coming up, including the Garden Club’s fashion show Friday morning and  the poetry slam this Saturday. How cool is that?

And the possibility of an upcoming Portland artist’s show of botanical and herbal drawings with an art class in just that. Interested? Let me know.

And we have just begun…

We were happy and appreciative to have been written up in the Clatskanie and Longview newspapers, many thanks for that acknowledgement and exposure.

So again we thank you all for being here. It takes all of us to make a community thrive, and I am excited about our future together.

Paulette

And Jeff too!

Pass this email along to your friends, and I am trying to establish a good weekly newsletter to let you know about these events! Have a request or some event to pass along, send it to me.

As always, if you don’t want to be on this email list, just reply back with unsubscribe in the subject line.

Also, those of you who are taking my yoga and/or bellydance classes on Wednesday nights, I will see you next Wednesday at the Goldenspire! Can’t wait…

302 N. Nehalem, Clatskanie, OR   97016    503.728.3496
(Post to 23808 Blunk Dr.)                paulette@cultivatorgeneralstore.com

Open hours–Tuesday-Friday, 10 am – 7 pm;  Saturday, 9:00am-5pm;
and Sunday 11am- 4:00 pm; closed Mondays

all things good–local, organic, sustainable, yummy…
wines, cheeses, coffee, produce, fresh-baked goodies, home lovelies, and funky eclectic farmgirl delights!

Well, it has happened. My delightful blog has taken a back seat, but just for the time being. And why, you ask? Or, better, I  assume you ask. Because my new shop, Cultivator General Store, has opened. Last Thursday was our opening day, with an action packed couple of days, with wine and cheese tasting, bellydancing with my fabulous troupe who braved the commute to come and dance for me and to honor the new adventure.

The community has honored Jeff and myself by coming to visit, and shop, and drink and eat, and I am beyond thrilled. What pleasure it gives me to serve a lovely little lunch of fresh soup and salad made up by my kitchen wiz, Heidi, or myself, with wines or coffees, and add chocolates, and a new apron, and wow….

But it does make other things in my life take a back seat, like emails. this blog, and even my dance world, just to get the store up and open and stocked and running. And it is a beautiful shop, with most of it built by Jeff the husband and amazing carpenter, and designed by moi.  A paradise to visit, sip, shop, and be inspired by organic foods, cheeses, and so much more. Fresh, some local, improvisational cooking at its finest! Soups, salads, cheese plates, oh my…

I will share tales and photos of the whole process when I can breath again, but for now, I am still here, but lurking with thoughts of garbanzo bean and mushroom stew with a garnish of avocado and a roasted red pepper couli, platters of Oregon’s Rogue blue, Washington’s Beecher’s No Woman Jamaican spiced cheese, and a fried up plate of Holoumi (from Cyprus) with capers and lemon, with a full glass of Goat’s Head Red from down the Cascade Cliff Winery (WA)…I’m a happy girl.

and I do plan to give you updates on my dancing journey to Cues and Tattoos, Seattle, last weekend, and my upcoming week in Huntingdon Valley, PA, doing CS1 and CS2 this coming week… but first I must go get off my feet for a spell, and have a sip…

Thanks for hanging on….