Home in Oregon- No Place I'd Rather Be!

A few pics from my current trip to Oregon- so far lots of rain, board games, food and of course family...no place I'd rather be!!

Full Heart

Ahh Christmas in San Diego..after almost 7 years in southern california I am still not used to holidays here but I must say that a date night with my hubby on Christmas Eve in Coronado was beautiful with an amazing sunset and cool breeze! Not much to tell just lots of food, family and more food...I am not sure I have ever been this SICK of food but I just keep eating regardless! Tomorrow it is off to Oregon for a few days and more family and most likely more food! My heart and tummy are full!!

Yummy

Another busy weekend but this weekend was full of social activity! In between finishing up last minute orders and cleaning the house we went to a dinner party hosted by my in laws and had YUMMY indonesian food. I actually made myself not do anything for a while on both Sat and Sun and managed to watch a couple of movies and veg out for a while before jumping back into "the list". Then last night was spent cooking and serving pancakes to students for our annual pancake study break- I ate way too much bacon and woke up this morning feeling it! This week is going to be crazy with holiday parties, finishing up gifts and trying to get the house cleaned!

Secret Life

My head has been spinning this week with so much going on- I feel like I am jumping back and forth between so many different worlds, trying to balance the job life vs. the art life, keeping up with all my different emotions, pulling together with my hubby to start planning our future and our housing options for when we buy a place soon! When I think too much about it all it makes my head hurts and I freak out so all I can do is just keep my eyes focused on what is in front of me and moving forward and not get distracted by drama or things that do not fill me with goodness- But boy oh boy can this be a challenge!!!!!!!!!!!!! And to top it off the house is a mess right now…piles of canvas creations everywhere, ribbon and beads stuck in our shag living room rug, drawings all over my computer desk, stacks of fabric all over my art room…this time of year is always insane and honestly I am eager for it to be over with!

But of course amidst the chaos of life right now, there are a few things that bring me back to the center like my loyal friend Anna, who was kind of enough to help me at my little craft fair yesterday! Though Anna and I are very different she is one of those people in my life that truly gets me, she brings me a sense of stability, calm and just fun. I met her the day I moved to San Diego and we started out as work friends and now almost 7 years later I think of her as family! Right now I yearn to have people around me that support and understand who I am- life has gotten crazy this last year and with all the wonderful creative opportunities I have found it hard to relate to people, hard to go to work some days- I feel like I am living a secret life full of creative, amazing things. It is hard for me sometimes to not shout from the roof tops...I JUST WROTE A BOOK...I AM PURSUING MY DREAMS...I AM ACTUALLY MAKING IT AS AN ARTIST.... YAHOOOOOO!!!!...instead I keep my head down, stay quiet and keep working hard on everything all the while cherishing the people who appreciate my secret life all the while holding in my heart that hope for one day not having to be so quiet about success!

Illustration Friday-Little Things

A Good Week

So this week is proving to be a nice week- my cupcakes went over great, I have gotten lots of work done, managed to make it to the gym (to hopefully make up for all the cupcakes I ate!) and received these lovely earrings in the mail! I just opened a shop on Etsy and since I don't yet have time to get a variety of paintings up, I have put a variety of earrings up for sale and ended up trading a pair of mine for a pair of crocheted gold earrings from juanitatortilla who makes very beautiful and unique jewlery. So not only do I have a fancy pair of earrings but a new talented online friend who has written the kindest blog entry about our little trade! To top it off I stopped by the annual Alternative Gift Fair at USD and found this lovely purse handmade in Guatemala! The best part is that it even matches my new earrings! When I am not wearing professional attire (which usually means all black) I like to call my style bohemian chic with a (twist of punk) and these two accessories will be the perfect addition to wardrobe!

Cupcake Responsibilities

Busy evening at home tonight...making over 50 cupcakes! Despite my creative endeavors, I still have responsibilities with my "normal job" (at least for now!) and part of this means spending time with the college students that we live and work with! And this month that means a sugary sweet study break at our apartment tomorrow night! Now I just need to practice self control to not eat cupcakes between tonight and tomorrow!!

Creative = Relaxing

So far the weekend has been creative, productive and relaxing! I spent all day Sat making things to sell at a local craft fair- above is a little sneak peak at the ornaments I have created this year to sell and I am so happy with the way that they turned out.

Illustration Friday- Excess