Things I Love Thursday

• Catching up on my journal. Reading a lot. Writing down ideas.
• Dita Von Teese on Twitter. She just seems like a super-nice person.
  
• Taking time out for me and saying "no" when I need to. Also, not feeling bad when I say it.
• Making lists for travel. Looking forward to seeing my best friend soon.
• Regretsy. So good and so wrong. Hah!
• Hula-hooping and working up a sweat.
• Finding out that my cousin will be stationed 5 hours from me. I fully expect some crazy times over the next 4 years.
  
• Very much needed down time. I actually have nothing to do sometimes and it feels mighty nice.
• Recently attending: Hope Sandoval and the Warm Inventions (would've loved a photo or two but the NO PHOTOS signs were everywhere) and David Cross (too bad Atlanta treated him like crap).
• Gala Darling's Podcast: Love & Sequins
• Coffee, coffee, coffee!
• & last but not least: The Sun Magazine. I love it so much and every issue has at least one story that brings a tear to my eye.

Finally! New Prints!

I've added two new prints to my Etsy shop this week. They're small little prints but they're great! There's 10 of the seahorse and 8 of the angelfish. Get them before they're gone!

http://www.momentofstars.etsy.com

I'm working on a new print right now and hopefully will be listed in the shop next week!

Sneak Peaks

Today I took a much needed ME day and focused only on my own personal projects. In the above pictures you can see the carving of a new lino block in progress. I worked for hours on that thing and it messed up my back and my drawing hand! I've got to find a better way to carve these blocks! During lunch I read an article about Shepard Fairy from a past issue of Juxtapoz magazine. He's a major inspiration to me! I've also put a lot of thought into artist's statements and bios and what-not. I'm trying my best to get my art career back on track, or at least ON a track.

So, yes, it was a good quiet morning and early afternoon. Then the kiddo came home from school and ran circles around the house with the dog right behind her. She would laugh and laugh at something Dexter did and my little heart just beamed. I'm so glad she has this puppy. Awwww.

Things I Love Thursday

This fish makes me laugh everytime! I took this video while visiting the Audobon Aquarium of the Americas in NOLA. My cousin and I laughed at it for hours, especially at 4 a.m.

More things I love: New Orleans & believing whole-heartedly that the spirit of the city watched over me and my family while we were there, making goals and setting out to make them happen, ZOMBIELAND! (& my big fat crush on Woody Harrelson), planning planning planning and making lists, Evan B. Harris (the artist I discovered from a girl's very large back tattoo), feeling relaxed, getting a haircut, saying no (this is so hard for me!), this weekend's plans: Hope Sandoval, David Cross, and Where the Wild Things Are, Matt Cipov & Circa Ceramics working together, listening to Journey all week!, rainy days and staying in my pajamas, getting more hours at work this month, reading in bed with the hubs, my BFF and going to see her soon, more adventures ahead. & this quote:

“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, & demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long & its purpose in the service of your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people & grovel to none. When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food & for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one & no thing, for abuse turns the wise ones to fools & robs the spirit of its vision. When it comes your time to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep & pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song & die like a hero going home.” — Tecumseh

From Gala Darling's very own TiLT.

That quote is how I want to live my life everyday. Also this comic from A Softer World.

Love Love Love. More art soon!

Currently Working On

Oh thank goodness, I've had some time to get down in the studio and paint! Between work, school, and taking care of the babies (the kiddo and the doggy), and trying to hang out with my husband, I have barely any time to myself. So sleep has to be sacrificed. Not too much though, just enough to finish a painting in time for a fundraiser at the end of the month. I will get a better photo when it dries.

Also, I know two ladies that are having a crafty give-away! They're lovely Georgia crafters and make cute little crochet items and jewelry. Visit the details here on heatherxdawn.blogspot.com.

Where Have You Been, What Have You Seen?

My brother knee-deep in the Gulf of Mexico.
Last weekend my brother and I went on a roadtrip and I've been trying to recover from ever since. We made our first stop in Biloxi to pick up our cousin, then made our way to New Orleans. At first, my brother thought we should stay in Biloxi but I figure, hey, it's only an hour drive, why not?! And since so much happened in 48 hours, I can only write in list form:

Driving though the deep south, deciding to stop and eat then not finding a restaurant for 50 miles, 10 mile long bridges, the best Arby's sandwich but too excited to eat, finding the meeting place only to be seriously heartbroken, moping around on the beach for an hour, but I'm on a beach!, finally finding our cousin, talking the whole way to NOLA, getting lost right away but finding the hotel, the very very nice hotel and valet parking, getting ready to go out almost immediately, very bad pizza on Bourbon Street, 3 for 1 beers, a shot of Crown (disgusting), watching the boys dance, finding a new bar with an AMAZING cover band that play classic rock and 90's alternative, first time for everything, wanting to crash early (9 p.m.), and getting lost on the way back to the hotel.


Waking up at 4 a.m. to an argument, the boys fussing about who lost who, calming them down & trying not to get kicked out of hotel, finally crashing, early morning for me & I refuse to stay in and "just watch t.v.", walking down Canal, the river, the French Market, THE BEST CREOLE OMELETTE EVER, reading in a cafe, visiting art galleries, hippie shops, and voodoo shops, the boys sleeping in, going to the Aquarium alone, seahorses & jellyfish (my favorite underwater creatures), strange graffiti near the hotel, talking to street musicians, discovering a new artist thanks to a huge tattoo on a girl's back.


The boys finally up, walking around for food, wonderful po-boys, beers to-go, scoping out Bourbon St. thinking we're going to bar-hop til we drop, "classing it up!", back on the town, back to 3 for 1 beer, then back to AWESOME cover band where we jam out for 4 hours, walk brother back to the hotel where he crashes for the night, cousin and I back to rock to the cover band for 3 more hours, laughing, jumping, fist pumping in the air, not caring who's watching, a guy hits on me & cousin tells him to go away, yawning & deciding to call it a night, heart-to-hearts walking down the street, sleeping in until check-out time.

Ears ringing, "WHAT?", the boys telling me that this was the best decision, stopping at Waffle House for lunch/breakfast, good cuppa coffee, a quiet ride back to Biloxi, quick hugs and trying not to cry, stopping in Mobile and determined not to stop until we get home. & we didn't. Home to tacos and happy hubby and kiddo. Watching Showtime and winding down.

It was an amazing weekend with my boys. It cost a lot of money but I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Since getting back I've been swamped with housework, schoolwork, and work-work. Hello Sunday morning and finally feeling somewhat caught up.