Shades of Gray

*This post was updated with pics taken from the original date on 1/5/2012.

Well, I don't have my card reader anymore. It's late and I'm tired. If I get a card reader tomorrow, I'll post pics for yesterday and today.

Today, I made three pictures of the solar system as a demonstration for my classes using a crayon resist technique. The kids think it's AMAZING to wipe paint off their picture and reveal the colors below. I immediately tore up my examples, because I have learned that children will copy your picture, and it also helps them loosen up - not to be so hard on themselves and just have fun.

1st grade example. Don't you like her girl astronaut in the rocket ship?

5th grade example.

With the help of my Art Club, we made a frame for our Chinese dragon head using chicken wire and a pizza box. I have never done this before.

And,
I mixed 18 containers of paint for an upcoming project, therefore I made light blue, (or baby blue as the kids call it),

Marbled paint always reminds me of Rome.

Gray, light gray (baby gray, J/K! Couldn't resist), and dark gray.

Kind of reminds me of the phases of the moon.

Now I need to buy some more white paint.

Made It

Today I made it to two, TWO(!) going away parties.

Good-bye N.M. Love, Steph.

Skirt shot at Cosmo's.

Tuesday's Art Club made...

A dragon head sketch.

Make Someone Happy

Last night, I made some birthday cards,

Sorry for the terrible picture quality.
Therefore, today I made someone happy.

It was back to work today, which was both good and bad.

I made some missing pieces from my classroom calendar.

I made some plans (lessons) for this week and the month of January. 

Today, I made...

Today, I made tea,

I made a mess,

(Italian black ink stains my hands as I type this post.)

And I made up my mind for 2012:

Inspired by Elise Blaha and this post, I decided on a word to guide me through 2012.

I love the romantic notion of New Year's Day. It's a chance to to reflect, revel in traditions and start anew.

Reflection of 2011:  It wasn't such a bad year, I ...

• got engaged at Walter de Maria's Lightning Field,
• traveled to a new city - Seattle
• traveled to New York, Chicago, Austin, San Antonio, Maryland, New Haven, and Albuquerque
• stayed at a job longer than one year
• stayed at a residence longer than one year

Revel in tradition: This New Years' traditions included:

• 12 grapes at midnight
• Doughnuts 
• Black eyed peas
• Champagne wishes and ceviche dreams
• Family and friends
• Mustaches

Start Anew...

I fell off the blogging bandwagon, so here we go again. I miss it! I blame my absence on work, but to be truthful, I stopped blogging because I am not sure what I have in mind for this blog space of mine. 

"We'll see..." 

That's something I find myself saying a lot these days, and it's the truth. I have some idea of what I want for my life, but I have to find the courage to say it out loud. I love my blog for the space to create and share.  And so we shall see what will happen in 2012. I am excited.

To Post or to Clean... That is the Question.

The past two days have brought on the following excitement:

• The bird
• Lessons with colors and lines
• Missoni for Target

Jon comes home tomorrow, so I must clean this house! I promise to catch up on these posts later this week, most likely Thursday night.

Have a great day!

Times Square, New York. May, 2011

Over the Weekend...

Blue and yellow - a nice color combination. Chicago. July 2011. 

Jon, aka Mr. Wonderful, has been out of town on business this past week. He's in China, on his way to the Great Wall as I write this post. I miss him so much. But while he's been gone, I've spent more time with my girlfriends than I have in a long time, which has been amazing and so much fun! I'm going to make a point to hang out more with my female friends from now on. They're just too great not to.

I discovered that my camera cord is not communicating with my camera, so I am unable to upload any pictures from the weekend. I wanted to write about a skirt that I wore for Girls Night Out on Saturday, but the colorful photo from a trip to Chicago sums up my outfit. I'll save the skirt for another time.

In 2005 - 2006, I worked as an intern at the Dallas Museum of Art. There were nine of us; all working for peanuts, but following our dreams. I never would have thought that these ladies would be some of my very best friends six years later. Saturday, we got together to celebrate six years of friendship. We talked about the past, the present and the future. Six years later some of us are married, have children, have completed our Master's degrees, and have lived in foreign countries. Some still work in museums, some of us don't. These ladies are amazing - talented, intelligent and beautiful, and I am so lucky to know them. It was an impromptu get together, but we made a time capsule that we're supposed to open six years from now. How cool is that?

Sunday was September 11. I will never forget.

Poster graffiti.  Brooklyn. May 2011

Nine. Ten. Eleven

This is how my pie turned out.

Nine. Ten. Eleven. Seems like a good date to start blogging again. I took a break with the intentions of coming back soon... But then soon turned into almost seven months. 

I felt like I had nothing new or interesting to offer the world wide web. Maybe I still don't, but who cares? 

I'll be honest, my old friend 'Self Doubt' came back to visit and stayed for a while. Working and coming back to Dallas, adjusting to life as it happens, just made me want to recoil and figure it all out. 

But guess what? I still don't have it figured out, but my life is good and happy. 

I am in very much in love. 

I still take pictures with the same small camera.

I have a job that I love - it's different everyday and allows me to be creative. 

I still make things.

I still travel. 

I have great friends.

I have a loving family.

I have goals and projects that I am working on.

I still wear skirts. 

I like my life,

And I want to write about it all right here.

A First

While I've been healing, I've been reading my share of magazines. The inspiration for this post is the latest issue of Victoria, a magazine that I thought had gone under!

In the January/February issue there is an article, Peaks of Perfection, which is styled so scrumptiously and is totally on the topic of desserts with meringues. I have always been intrigued by meringues. They are so light and yet so dense at the same time. How and why is it like that? The best part is the way that it melts in your mouth. Mmmmm.

While I've always been intrigued, I've also been a bit petrified to make anything that has any inkling to be like meringue. I think I've filed the experience away in my brain as daunting, something that must be timed and perfectly produced, otherwise... disaster. Is this true?

I am about to find out. I am making a coconut cream pie, and to make a pie, one needs a crust.

This was my first crust from scratch, and hard work in my convalescing condition. Jon had to roll the last bit of thick dough for me.

I didn't have pie weights, so I had to improvise. A source on the internet recommended using beans or rice instead.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes until golden brown.

A first!

Now comes the hard part, but I'm saving it for tomorrow.

The Gall of it All

I had emergency surgery this morning to remove my gall bladder.



My flowers from Mr. Wonderful, who really is wonderful! He ran lights to get me to the emergency room, and stayed with me through the 5 hour wait to be seen by a doctor.

I'm fine now, just sore. Nothing pain meds can't help. Guess 2011 is all about clearing out the clutter!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Gaston Ave,Dallas,United States

Road Trip

Mr. Wonderful and I escaped the Super Bowl madness with a trip to Austin this weekend.

With all of the ice and snow, it took us a while to get out of Dallas County, but eventually we made it and we stopped to eat breakfast at this yummy hole in the wall Mexican & Chinese Restaurant in Waco. By the way, it's pronounced WAY-CO, and not WHACK-O, like my nephews like to say. :)

We went to Austin to check out this exhibition at the University of Texas School of Architecture.

Mr. Wonderful played a big part on a few of the projects on display. 

We caught up with friends and ate some wonderful food - both home cooked and restaurant meals.

Eat here. 'Nough said. 

Mr. Wonderful took this picture of my chicken and waffles. 

It was sooooo good. Absolutely amazing! So delicious! My mouth waters just looking at this picture. I had always wanted to try chicken and waffles, and another one of my life's dream was fulfilled! Yay!

It was a lovely trip, so inspirational and fun! There is such a creative and entrepreneurial vibe to Austin, it's hard not to catch it. Our trip was short, but it was enough to rejuvenate us and get the creative juices rolling. And, it was sunny and 75 degrees!