sweet surprise goodness

so, the other day, i got this comment on my valentine's day post:

hmm.

i had no idea who anonymous blog follower was!

i asked matt.

negative, he had no idea what i was talking about.

then, my brother aaron showed up at our door that afternoon, grinning from ear to ear and holding a huge stockpot inverted over a plate.

he announced that he was my anonymous blog follower,

and with a flourish, pulled the pot up to reveal the amazing and delicious surprise underneath.

you might remember that my siblings are very creative, 

and that aaron made me this rockin' birthday present last year!

remember this post?

well, my awesome brother made. the. cake.

and not only that, but he improved upon it. 

check out this amazing love written out on top of the cake.

and then, for the surprise inside!

sidenote: my brother has never made a cake in his entire life.

ruby is smart, so she's quick to try and grab some.

(of course she didn't eat any, my friends- what, are you crazy? she's 8 months old!)

so rad.

have a lovely and sweet day, my friends!

ruby finally gets something to eat

sweet ruby loves nursing.

but since she turns 9 months old in a week, 

we figured it was time to start her on some solid food a couple of weeks ago.

mind you, m started on solids when she was 5 months or so, 

so we are running a little behind. 

but take one look at those cheeks and you'll realize that ruby has been managing just fine.

these pictures are from the second time she ate solid food...

 as you can see, she was ready. 

 she finally grabs it and tries to eat the final tastes of rice cereal...

 empty bowl, happy baby

 that would be ruby, sticking the spoon in her mouth all by herself.

 killing me with her big eyed messy face

she's moved on to bananas, peas & carrots, although she attempts to grab anything and everything that i put into my mouth, so her next meal may be meatballs & onion tart at this rate!

her sister didn't look so happy when she was eating some of her first foods...

happy valentine's day!

i'm home with these two valentines today

(aren't they little munchkins?)

 i am behind on some of my deadlines, so plenty to fill the day- including making treats for m's class valentine's day party tomorrow. plus, i'll be makin some extra treats for our neighbors. (i'm making these!)

meanwhile, this is what our first thing valentine's morning looked like:

 our thematic breakfast- easy with a cookie cutter & red plate...

 a valentine from my love to enjoy while i eat breakfast

 little reminders of today on my mantel

a pretty bouquet from my valentine

i'm not into the sappy, romantic valentine's day. 

maybe i am too scarred by those days back in high school when valentine's day meant candy grams- a brilliant idea by the leadership class or the administration to highlight the divide between the most and least popular or the single and the dating by distributing flowers and candy to kids in the middle of class, all day long. 

candy grams.

pretty much 7 long periods of hoping you got a cheap carnation with a piece of candy glued to construction paper. some people had empty desks, and some people had desks piled high every period with candy-grams from their bff's and significant others. (it's kind of the cruelest form of a public popularity contest for teenagers, especially of the girl variety.) don't get me wrong, i did get and send candy-grams, but i still remember the only time that the candy-gram was from a boy that i liked and who liked me (i was in senora charnow's spanish class when my friend in leadership dropped it off-funny the things we remember); the rest were from other girlfriends or boys who were just friends and single who, like me, didn't want to sit through valentine's day with an empty desk.

now

fast forward twenty years
(wow, i'm getting old)

 i love valentine's day, not for the love part of it, 

because i know there are plenty of people who don't have valentines,

but just because it is an excuse to bake and do sweet things for other people.

i hope you have a sweet day!

do you celebrate valentine's day?

hello, sweetie!

here's a valentine's day tip!

go buy one of my cards for the one you love.

here are two for you to hunt down, but there are others out there...

(you'll score big points)

meister

{meister last month}

yesterday afternoon

my mom's dog meister died.

you may know -or maybe not- that i am not so much a dog person.

or a pet person.

(except for my college roommate adriane's cat, who was awesome)

meister was in a lot of pain, physically incapacitated and had aged really, really quickly, 

and it was sad to see him struggling so much.

meister had been a part of the family for a long time; he originally was supposed to be my youngest brother aaron's dog, but because aaron's living situations never allowed, meister always lived at my parent's house, then at my sister's house when my parents were no longer together and my mom couldn't keep him at her rental, and finally, at my mom's once she bought her own place.

although he used to drive me crazy when he was a young and hyper golden retriever,

he was a sweet dog.

in some ways he was a perfect dog for our family-stubborn, social, liked to sneak out (ok, maybe that was just when we kids were in high school), a snacker,
and needing to be within 2 feet of human contact at all times.

hmm. maybe some of the reasons i used to get so exasperated with him were related to the traits we shared.

well, that and that it was a lot of additional work for my mom to take care of him when she always already had a full plate.

this past year especially

i was always reassured that he was napping on the floor at my mom's house,

guarding the house and keeping her safe.

my mom is kind of sad, but relieved that he isn't hurting anymore.

m made my mom a card yesterday, because i told her grandma was probably having a hard day.

she drew four airplanes on the cover of her card:

one was hers, one was her grandma's, one was our neighbor boy freddy's,

and the biggest, purple one was for meister.

today

{this pretty much sums up a lot of life these days- m needing some extra snuggling & ruby needing some extra nursing. love this picture of my little family}

Outside my window...a crisp morning & bright sunshine! grateful for the warm sun after a night of getting up and down with the girls.

I am thinking...of my list of work to get done this morning-freelance, tax prep, the online course i'm taking, to do's around the house (why is the list always longer than the amount of time i have?)

I am thankful for...another morning of life & health, for the sleeping baby up in the crib, for m's independent spirit and strong will, for (small moments of) time and space to think and create

From the kitchen...the low buzz of our refrigerator, lady grey tea brewing on the counter, an empty plate of crumbs (a couple of hours ago it held matt's remaining amazing scones)

I am wearing... a black sweatshirt, a grey striped shirt, slouchy boyfriend jeans, and super cozy sweatery boots that my sister got me for christmas (they instantly make me warm).

I am creating...a typographical poster for the online class i'm taking (more on that in another post!), potential easter card designs for papyrus

I am going...to learn how to become more patient, kind and fair(thanks to aforementioned daughter of independent spirit & strong will).

I am reading...if a tree falls, by jennifer rosner (a memoir written by a mother who has two deaf daughters)

I am hoping...that i get in the habit of making time to exercise more often. dear endorphines, i miss you. and i miss your friends burning calories & muscles too.

I am hearing...the swish and whir of the washer downstairs, the intermittent click of our heater, my fingers on the keyboard and not much else.

Around the house...folded laundry to put away, receipts and files to organize for our tax appointment on monday, little reminders-scattered toys missed during cleanup, abandoned crayons-that we have children

A few of my favorite things...a striking sunrise rising and spreading beauty over our not-always-so-beautiful corner of east oakland 

A few more of my favorite things...getting a real, handwritten letter in the mail (thanks to nicola in way too far away england, i got just that this week! xo), sleeping in, freshly sharpened pencils, a new magazine in the mail, clean sheets, my mom's nobake cookies, sharing a flight of fenton's ice cream with my besties

A few plans for the rest of the week: meeting brand spanking new baby keeran jack, baking some treats for the staff at the elementary school around the corner, mailing out the valentine's m made, knocking out some fabulous new card designs.

what does your day look like today?

(p.s. just a reminder that it isn't so hard to comment. you don't need an account. you can post anonymously, or just using your name. just click on the little "0 (or whatever number of comments are posted already) comments" link at the bottom of each post. then leave your comment in the provided text box. then click on name/url and type in your name or click anonymous. your choice. i do love to hear from you.)

reading time

m's latest favorite activity: to read to her baby sister. 

 she is very serious & focused, and makes up a story or summarizes the real thing from memory

 then she points to the page and asks, "can you find the window?" or "what do you see?"

savoring these sweet sister moments,

because soon ruby will be able to grab the book or be a little less compliant with her big sister's agenda.

be still my beating heart

um. this looks amazing.

and just in time for valentine's day!

you can find this heart cake tutorial here.

(from i am baker, but i spotted this loveliness on ali loves curtis)

of course i am so wiped out today that to imagine making this is pretty laughable, but nonetheless, it is pretty & maybe, just maybe, someday...

psst-a giveaway!

my friend nicole makes super cute garlands for her etsy shop. 

oh yes, i know, i rave about them all the time. 

well, just in time for valentine's day she is doing a giveaway for one of these sweet garlands! 

go to her blog to enter! 

have a wonderful weekend!

(do you have any good etsy shop recommendations? always looking for some new ones!)

for gisela

i've had this thought running through my head all week:

i have this one life.

on wednesday i went to the memorial service for gisela, my friend sandy's mom. sandy is a dear friend; i have known her since i was 17 years old and a freshman in college. sandy's parents lived about 15 minutes from my parents, and she had a car and i didn't, so many of my first memories of sandy are the rides home from college on long weekends or vacations. we'd get to her house and i'd go inside, wait to get picked up by my mom or dad, and chat with her mom. it seems so surreal that those drives, those hundreds of college experiences, those brief conversations with her mom, are already half a lifetime away. 

i sat in the back of the service, holding ruby, who has recently discovered some of the capabilities of her tongue - especially when it comes to making sound. she is quite smitten with making raspberries. loudly. often. maybe even constantly. in this quiet space for grief and remembering, the distinctive sounds of a baby playing were magnified and impossible to contain. 

at first i was embarrassed and tried to shoosh her, but i realized how much her unrestrained baby sounds were holy and a gift as we collectively remembered the fullness of a woman's life. people who knew gisela best shared stories of her life - stories that i'd never heard, stories that formed a patchwork quilt of moments spanning decades.

perhaps because as i held a wriggling, noisy baby, i represented almost an exact midpoint between gisela's 69 years and ruby's 8 months, the brevity of life seemed to be a physical weight in my arms. i've been thinking a lot this month about the coming year, about who i am as a mother and artist, about how to raise children while also maintaining my identity as a maker and painter. i've been evaluating how to love and live well, how to serve others, how to have integrity in the ways i fill my days.

i don't have any easy answers for myself. i do know that we do have this one life. we have these sacred days, and they go so quickly. it hasn't been a guilt trip for me, it has been more of a gift to savor the moments of even the most frustrating day, and to appreciate the season of life that i'm in. it is so easy, especially with all of the mind-numbing ways to entertain or fill our time, to just trudge through a year. all of a sudden another year has passed without much intention or meaning. and then another year, and another. we have the capacity for so much more than just existing and surviving. (although don't get me wrong- sometimes we are in seasons of life where all we can do is just make it through today.)

we have this one life.

how will we use it? 

get your craft on

so, a few months ago i threatened to throw a craftapalooza of sorts, inspired by lena corwin's book printing by hand. (here is her similarly inspiring blog)

mid-december i did just that.

i've wanted to do something like this for ages, but we never had the space OR a diningroom table to work at. as soon as matt's amazing diningroom table was done (which was in the works for a long time - a post on it will follow soon, because it is surely worth at least one post,) we finally had a large enough space!

i loaded up on moleskin journals, paper, envelopes, ink, and other supplies. matt whipped up a fierce (delicious & yet incredibly strong) punch concoction & homemade bread, and i made soups and yummy desserts. (you have to have some edible sustenance when you are making things, you know?)

and then, the making/eating/talking extravaganza began:

i'd made samples of what you could print using stamps that i'd made, and pre-made rubber stamps.

i made these stamps by tracing and then cutting out images (some i got from lena corwin's book and some i just made up) from sheets of self-adhesive foam (i got a pack of it at michaels.) then i peeled off the backing and stuck the shapes onto clear acrylic stamp backers that i also got at michaels. we used brayers and acrylic paint instead of ink pads to work with these stamps.

teaching the technique & trying out the stamps on scratch paper.

craft central.

renetta & rebecca working away on projects.

shauna working on a journal, using a stamp i got on etsy.

i'd seen a diy on design mom for making personalized mugs using porcelaine pens (also at michaels). after striking out at the local thrift stores (apparently plain old white mugs do not exist there,) i found a bunch of inexpensive white mugs at ikea! perfect. (sidenote: this is a great and easy project, although the pens run out of ink very quickly and are better for older kids or adults. the paint was easy or a toddler to use- with my hands on supervision. later, using porcelaine paint, m made a bunch of beautiful abstractly painted mugs for family members and friends for christmas.)

i also baked christmas cookies that people could decorate and take home to share or give away!

some of the handiwork:

 a travel journel that jennifer made

some original stationary

projects drying

some people preferred to chat in the kitchen

(smart-they were close to the food)

meanwhile jennifer rocked multi-tasking by holding flora and making projects

art school gossip corner

danelle & kendra frosting cookies

it was such a great afternoon of talking, working, eating, meeting new friends...

and snuggling!

(shocking that ruby is snuggling)

so satisfying to make something with your own two hands, and then share it with someone else.

such a great time together. you should come next time!