Leavin' on a jet plane!

Very early tomorrow I leave for NYC. My bags are packed (I can't believe I am not scrambling at the last minute like usual!) and I am ready to go. All my work has been tied up into a neat little package, sealed and delivered, my household is ready to be down one soldier and everything else is, well, just put on hold. A whole week in that lovely city, meeting fellow illustrators, walking the city, photographing culture, eating great food . . . it's along time coming!
Anyway, I am having to postpone my Alphabet Cards because I am taking my laptop that doesn't have any design programs. I am waiting for Adobe CS4 to come out and then I'll be locked and loaded but for now it's just email and the net. So that brings me around to the dilemma of my daily illustrations. Well, I have me a brand new moleskin and a digital camera and we'll just see what kind of illustrations I can do with that. An experiment of sorts. All my posts until I come back will be me, my black ink pen and my moleskin. And photos of course. Stay tuned, things could get interesting around here.

Tuesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful to be really prepared for my trip. I've never been before and it's a great feeling!

V is for Violin!

Sweet violin vascilates between wanting to be free from a tight grasp and just sticking around to play great music. Oh, what's a violin to do?

U is for Umbrella.

Expect clouds among the showers this afternoon!

One more day of WORK, WORK, WORK and then I am off to NYC! Yipee! I am hopefully going to meet the fabulously talented Jannie Ho and Melanie Hope Greenberg, whom I met at the SCBWI conference this past August, while I am in NYC. Hooray, new friends!

Monday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a lot of cross offs on my list!

Fruits of Our Labor.

We have had this little lemon tree for about, oh I don't know, 10 years and it still has yet to produce some stellar fruit. My son went "fruit picking" the other day and this is what his bounty consisted of... (yup, that's a quarter you see!)

T is for Telephone.

Ring, ring goes the telephone. You better see who it is!

Sunday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for some time to prepare for my NYC trip coming up in TWO days!!

What did she say?

Remember when you were a kid and you would hear the popular songs being played from the large boomboxes of yesterday and you would try really hard to remember the lyrics? Of course you were MUCH younger than you should have been listening to those songs but it was a first step into being an "older" kid. The lyrics you heard were always very different than what was actually being sung, at least in my head anyway. But I would proudly sing them at the top of my lungs thinking I was the cooliest.
Well, this past weekend I realized that I still hear different lyrics than what is actually being sung. I am embarrassed to say this but I can laugh at my own dorkness. The Hollaback song by Gwen Stefani is one of my top 100 and when I was in LA last Friday, I found out there is an area called Hollaback and it's not that nice of an area. In the song she is singing about that particular area and saying she ain't no "Hollaback girl." WEEEELLLLL, I thought she was saying she was no holla back girl as in she doesn't "hollar" back!! Ack, what a dork I am. Always just one cookie shy of the cookie jar, one cookie shy. Ha-ha!

It's Official!

Well, today was one of the highlights in my life. I hung my series of paintings in a restaurant, for all the public to see. I'm hanging out there, wide and exposed and there is no turning back. Tomorrow, this restaurant, that is a hip and popular breakfast and lunch joint, will be filled with patrons. Looking at my art. LOOKING AT MY ART. Sadly, I am vascilating between complete fear and complete excitement. I say sadly because I wish that I didn't care and it wouldn't matter what anyone else said. Truthfully, it really doesn't matter but it's hard to give up that insecurity.








Saturday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for opportunities to grow and expand.

S is for Swing.

S is for swinging on a warm summer day. Wish I was on one right now!

Friday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a successful meeting with a client in LA. I love it when a presentation nails it on the head and that is what happened today. For that I am very grateful. Plus, a nice relaxing train ride was fun too!

Inspired Series...

These are two more paintings I have added to my inspired series. A really, really great thing is going to happen to all of them on Saturday but I can't go into it until it happens. But I do have to say it involves wall space and nails in a public place! I'll post more with photos this weekend! I can't believe this is my life right now, I am over the top ecstatic!

R is for Raccoon

These rascally raccoons are resting when they should be rifling through someone's rubbish!

Thursday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a BIG presentation tomorrow in Los Angeles. A large pitch for graphics within the Halloween industry. Used to dread these meetings, now I love them!

Q is for Quail.

Queenie the quail stomps about in her pink pumps while asking questions to no one in particular.

What if this was your last day?

What if today was your last day here? Did you tell everyone you love how much you love them? Did you follow your heart and do something just for you? Did you not get angry or mad just so you could have a full day of happy? Did you give your child an extra hug and a kiss and tell them everything is going to be OK? Did you? I didn't but I thought about it. I know, bucket full of crazy over here but I think thoughts like these. I believe it sometimes keeps me in the present and not so wrapped up in getting my "to do" list done and meeting my deadlines and worrying if my car is clean. So, tomorrow, think about what you would do if this was your last day and just do it!

Wednesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for nice friends to chat with on the cell while driving my car! Yikes! Better not let a policeman see me!

P is for Possum.

This precocious possum is not as pretentious as rumor has it.

Helloooooooo Fall!

Stopped by my favorite bakery, Bread and Cie, for a graphics meeting with my fabulous graphics partner Barron and to eyeball the beautiful pastries and the lovely bakers behind all the hoopla. I had to settle for some wonderful Soup Au Pistou and veggie quiche but Barron had this little delectable. Mmmm. Looks like ice cream or poached eggs but it is really greek style yogurt with granola. So fall-like it screamed for a photo!

Tuesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for an uphill walk I squeezed into a very busy day!

O is for Ostrich.

These ornery ostriches have been ostracized from the party and they are not too happy about it!

On another note...
Ya know the guys who stand on the island at intersections and have a cardboard sign that says, "Will eat for money" or "Down and out, have a nice day?" We all see them, especially here in southern California and most of the time we all go about our day and just ignore them. At least I do because I usually don't have much cash on me or I am in a hurry and I'm racing to make the light or the dark side of me thinks that if I give them my money they'll just go and buy a bottle of booze. Well today, my sister and I were feeling generous when we spotted a disabled vet who was looking pretty down and out. We handed him a few bucks as he made the long saunter down the island towards our car. He perked up quickly and started talking about the "big" game and asked if we were going. Huh? Oh yeah, the Charger game. As if. We were on our way to Whole Foods for some raw pad thai and brown rice sushi. NOT a football game. He didn't appreciate that very much but seemed quite pleased with the extra dollars. As we drove away, we joked that he was saving up tonight's stash for a beer at the pub to watch that game. Why didn't we go away from there feeling like we were helping out a down and out soul? Why did we feel like that was money wasted? I hope it wasn't but you never know. Am I just another hardened soul or is it really not that helpful to hand out cash to the ones that market themselves on street corners? I am just curious. How about you?

Monday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a lovely first day of Fall!

N is for Nest.

Nesting. Settling in to cooler weather, warmer clothes and a crispness in the air. This is what the Fall brings and tomorrow is the first day of Fall. Today's Alphabet Card is N for nest.

Goodbye Summer. You came and went so quickly. We'll miss you terribly until next year!

Sunday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a nice long walk through Balboa Park this evening at dusk with my sister.

Label-tinis and Yummy-tinis for moi!

Although my birthday was over a month ago, I have been meaning to post this because it's just so DANG clever and cute. My very good friend and very talented designer Barron over at henzel design, gave me a collection of drink-tinis with a custom label, awesome drink stirrers and drink crystals with a label from SHAG (an all time favorite illustrator of mine!). All of this and a great dinner out. Birthday's don't get much better than this! Many thanks my friend!

The Sand Man.

I buried my kid in sand today. What did you do?

Sweet!!

The lovely Edrian Thomidis nominated me for a deliciously sweet award. I am SO honored! Please stop by her blog and check out her work. She is truly talented and when I view her work, I am humbled by her artistic ability. Thank you Edrian!

Here is what's behind the cupcake award originated by Diana Evans...
"I am giving this award to all the wonderful people that I visit almost every day....they have inspired me and shared their wonderful lives with all of us....I only ask that you nominate some of the wonderful people you visit each and every day...."

So here goes, just a few now, I nominate...
Helen Dardik
Danielle McDonald
Jennifer
Tash

M is for Monkey.

M is for monkeys who eat mangoes. Little mischievous monkeys who steal mangoes from their friends!

Saturday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a morning to meet new people during a surf lesson. (Not my lesson, I was only a chatty observer!)

Ahoy all Yee Pirates!

This is a photo of some Pirate packaging I created years ago for a costume company that I worked for. I came across this when my little family of three went up to LA for a long weekend a few weeks ago. The packaging is plain and simple, not so exciting but DANG that's a FUN logo! I love seeing packaging that I have created in stores and especially when I least expect it and I stumble blindly upon it. It's like finding a $20 bill in your jeans when you do the laundry! (well, for me anyway!)

Wicked Good Art.

These are two paintings from my lovely nieces ages 9 and 6. Such talent I tell you, wish they were mine (the paintings that is! But I'd take the girls too!)

L is for Lion.

Not the cowardly kind, this lion has self confidence that rivals no other animal. He is quite likable and knows it!

Friday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a very nice meal tonight along with a tasty glass of wine.

How old are your lips?

Last night as I was sharing "tiny stories" with my son before he went to sleep, he looks at me very intently and states, "Mommy, your lips look like they are 1,000 years old." Ouch. 1,000 years old? I calmly asked him why he says that and he said, "Because you have little brown dots all over them." What? You can imagine the race to the lighted mirror was wicked fast, the fastest I have EVER moved to this date, and I studied my lips in the mirror because who in their right mind wants to walk around with 1,000 year old lips? To my dismay, I couldn't see whatever the heck he was talking about. So, I stared harder. Even got my glasses and stared intently. Nope. Don't see these so called dots. Still to this minute, the very next day, I have no idea what he was seeing and out in the daylight with a magnifying mirror I still don't see those 1,000 year old lips. Wish I could because then THAT really would make for a good post!! Boy am I really glad he doesn't mention my laugh lines!

K is for Kangaroo and Kites.

This happy kangaroo and her baby are kindly enjoying kite flying.

Thursday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for the ability to clear my head to make room for some well needed creativity.

J is for Jackalope Jack-in-the-Box.

This crazy jackalope bounds out of his box with JOY! How's that for J?

Wednesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a new carpet to replace the one my dog repeatedly threw up all over! No, she had to use the rug instead of the hardwood floors! Great excuse for a new carpet anyhow!

I is for Igloo.

An igloo would most certainly be an interesting type of home. This little igloo dweller thinks so!

Tuesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for little sparkles of wisdom.

This cupcake has double frosting!

I just finished reading "A Piece of Cake" by Cupcake Brown. It is a memoir about a lady who has lived a hard life from a very young age. She was place into abusive situations, participated in drugs, prostitution, gangs and a very rough life. She miraculously changed her life by getting sober, going to college and then becoming a lawyer. That is truly amazing as all the odds were stacked against this one. Although her book is a long one and quite difficult to read, it is inspiring and so is she. I went to her website and stumbled upon the paragraph below. It resonates so clearly with me and is worth sharing. Hope you enjoy...

LIFE IS A THEATER -- INVITE YOUR AUDIENCE CAREFULLY.

Not everyone is holy enough or healthy enough to have a front row seat in our lives. There are some people in your life that need to be loved from a distance (and others from a long, long distance). It's amazing what you can accomplish when you let go, or at least minimize your time with draining, negative, incompatible, not-going-anywhere relationships, friendships, and fellowships. Observe the relationships around you.

Pay attention to:

* Which ones lift and which ones lean?

* Which ones encourage and which ones discourage?

* Which ones are on a path of growth up hill and which ones are going down hill?

*When you leave certain people, do you feel better or feel worse?

*Which ones always have drama or don't really understand, know, and appreciate you and the gift that lies within you?

*The more you seek God and the things of God -- the more you seek quality.

*The more you seek not just the hand of God but the face of God -- the more you seek things honorable.

The more you seek growth, peace of mind, love and truth around you -- the easier it will become for you to decide who gets to sit in the FRONT ROW, who should be moved to the balcony, and who should be booted from the theater of your life.

You cannot change the people around you....but you can change the people you are around!

Ask God for wisdom and discernment and choose wisely the people who sit in the front row of your life.

Read the leaves, or is it just the tag?

OK. Did I not just post about quieting the mind, relaxing one's brain into a soft padded room of silence? Yes, I believe I did yesterday and today when I poured myself a nice hot cup of vanilla hazelnut herbal tea, what would I find on the tea bag? Mental happiness is total relaxation. WOAH! Eerie I tell you, the universe is spitting out messages right and left and I just happen to be lingering at the base of the gumball machine with my hands open ready to catch the prize. He-he.

H is for Happy Hippo.

Henry the happy hippo is patiently awaiting his hor d' orves by the shoreline.

Wow, what a day. My sister and I met the most extraordinary individual today. She is a transpersonal psychologist who engages in the art of transformation through mind, body and spirit integration. We talked about fast paced lifestyles (type A personalities) and how hard it is to turn off the mind yet how life preserving and essential it is to do just that. Right. Turn off the mind. How do you do that I wonder? Apparently just attempting the process is a start and does quite a bit of good, it readies the mind and prepares the mind to slow down and lean in the direction of turning off, if even for a moment or two.

I know deep down how important that is but also one of THE hardest things for me to do. Just turn off my mind for a moment. It is always going, going and quite frankly I actually enjoy the fast paced speed of my mind and when I get into the groove, it's like a runner's high. I know my adrenal glands are compromised by this and if my body is always in the flight or flight mode, when does it get to rest? It's like a drug, this constant state of movement. However, a drug I have to learn to go without as much as I can. How I am going to do that I have no idea but I am married to the thought of trying to accomplish just that. So with all that being said, I am going to sign off and just go breathe for a few minutes and check out. See you tomorrow with the letter I!!

Monday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for new and interesting people in this crazy, wacked out world.

G is for Goat.

Watch out for this little goat, he'll eat the paper he resides on!

I went to the SCBWI San Diego chapter meeting yesterday. The topic was "San Diego's New Children's Book Imprint" with Allyn Johnson and Andrea Welch. Beach Lane Books is the new imprint of Simon & Schuster located right here in La Jolla. The talk was about their expectations and experiences with manuscript submissions along with the do's and do not's of the business. I liked them very much and felt the talk was very informative yet personal. I'll be going back for more!

I was able to ask a few questions and learn something new. I have an interesting project in the back of my mind and think it would be a very interesting book. I learned some info from this talk that just might help me and the others involved get the ball rolling. I'd love to talk about the idea but I can't for obvious reasons. Someday soon I may be able to mention more though. It does have to do with one of the blogs I participate in though!

Sunday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for the opportunity to express myself in the form of art.

F is for Frog.

F is for frog frolicking in the marsh.

I have a very funny child. Every day he comes up with hilarious things, in fact he is really into writing to Santa at the present moment. Santa is really nice and will give him whatever he asks for so he says. (Little does he know that Santa has a cap!) One of his lists recently was for $1,000 along with a whole slew of other boyish items. Yeah, right. Santa is going to drop off a Grover Cleveland into his stocking Christmas Eve!

After we discussed the idea of shortening the list, he claimed that he thinks I should buy him the Star Wars Lego set that is on that list. Maybe buy it right now. Well, I'd love more than anything to run right out and buy him a $119 lego set, really I would, but if I did that the next item would be even more and his level of what he thinks he should get just because he breathes would just keep going up and up. Not much makes me more sad than to see parents in the stores buying things for their kids just because they are whining or demanding. It is so easy to just cave in and buy the stuff because frankly we all want to provide for our children things that we may not have had when we were young. But where is the message in doing that? There is no message except for the child to believe that they have entitlement. A false sense of entitlement really. That they should have things just because they want it.

Anyway, I want my child to learn that sometimes you have to wait and work towards something in order to get it. So we made up a list of chores for him to do and assigned a value in a dollar amount to each job so he can earn the lego set. He has a few jobs around the house to do just because he is part of a family household but the extra jobs entail things like unloading the dishwasher, helping wash mom's car, yard work, making his bed unassisted, etc. That boy was very busy today! Very busy.

Saturday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for seeing a new movie called The Women. It was so funny, I can't wait to see it again!

E is of course for Elephant.

Obviously, this one was going to be elephant. I really tried and tried to illustrate emotion, escape, eject, emu and egret but to no avail. NO ONE would have guessed the image! So back to elephant and this one just escaped from the circus and is quite elated about it!

New York has been on my mind so much these past few days. I will be there in 19 days and counting. I have raised my required (and then some!) money for the charity all thanks to my very generous family and friends and will be walking the marathon and a half on October 4th and 5th! I am so excited I could just squeal with glee. However, not much squealing going on finding a place to shack up for a week. Does anyone have any good recommendations of a nice place to stay in the city? I was trying to find something other than a big hotel but that may just have to be my choice. I'll be posting my top things to do in NY soon, I just have to get through all my research!!

Friday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for new friends to play with!

Illustration Friday_Clutter

After a visit with an Egyptian intuitive, apparently I am holding onto past emotions. I am a walking clutter of emotional baggage and I need to leave it all at the baggage claim to move forward in peace and love.

Thursday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for the one piece of luggage I was able to drop off at the curb!

D is for Dog (of course!)

The obvious choice for my D alphabet card is dog. I have a fascination with pugs and would love to have one someday. This little spunky one is very curious and trustworthy but has a habit of digging in the yard whilst looking for treasure.

Wednesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for healthy choices. ( All the ones I am going to make today!)

C is for Cupcake.

Thanks to my good friend Lisa L, I had inspiration for C's alphabet card. C is for cupcake with a cherry on top! Wish I could have one but then it would have to be gluten free without sugar and there is not much fun in that.

Tuesday's Gratitude:

I am so grateful for an evening out with friends to discuss an exciting project!

6 Random things.

I have been tagged by the multi talented Christine. I am to list six random things about myself and then tag six other individuals to do the same. I tried to do this with another friend but just list three at a time and THAT was difficult so here goes double or nothing.

1. I LOVE the sound of tires crunching over a gravel driveway.

2. I am paralyzed by new technology or computer updates or anything that changes my electronic setup. I love my gadgets but don't touch 'em!

3. I am crazy head over heels over children's artwork. Especially my own child's talent. It rocks.

4. I make lists. Sometimes when I start a day without one, I'll stop midday and write down everything to accomplish that day even if I already did it. Then I get to cross things off and that makes me feel really good.

5. People think I am really organized and a neat freak but my office always seems to be in some sort of disarray and it doesn't bother me.

6. If you are my friend, I'll do anything for you.

OK. Now I am tagging...barron, mike, krissy, jennifer, cindy, and tash. Sigh.

B is for Boy Blowing Bubbles.

The next card in my alphabet series. Couldn't resist a little young lad blowing bubbles from a soapy filled bucket.

Cake for all.

I am reading a new book called "A Piece of Cake" by Cupcake Brown. Who would NOT want to read a book by a person named Cupcake? I have had my eye on this book for about a year and finally got my hot little mitts on it. So far, her young life is very miserable with prostitution, drugs and gangs. Not for the light hearted anyway, I'll let you know how it finishes up.

Monday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a day back in front of my painting easel.

A is for Alligator.

Stumbling along this past week, trying to find the inner child's voice again for illustration, I have decided to start a 26 Day Challenge of illustrating alphabet cards. Have always wanted to so here and now is the time. Today's card is obviously A and Ali the atrocious alligator!

Today we visited my father's grave to wish him a happy birthday. We stop by for a chat every now and then and honor him by flying kites, if the day permits. Since the cemetery is right along the ocean and high, high up on a cliff, the weather most always permits us to bring out the kites. Late this afternoon, with not a soul in site, we proceeded to fly a kite and in the process made the caretaker very angry. He stormed over in his large SUV and quite angrily vituperated us for treating the place like a playground. Ooooo, who stole his toast and jam this morning? After informing him we were honoring and not being disrespectful in the least, we folded up our kites and quickly left the place. Some people really do not know how to have any fun. Really. Even when the gravestones are the only audience.

Sunday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a lovely day that was not too hot.

Yo ho yo ho...

Barnacles Batman, we've got a western pirate on our hands. Throw him some candy!

Saturday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for an afternoon of photographs on the beach!

Another Thank You!

This little love bird is here to thank the lovely Adriana Whitney for the beeeaaauuutiful ATC she sent. Her painting and illustration style is so sweet and very expressive, I am so honored to have a tiny piece of her original art. I will display it proudly Adri!!



Friday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a very informative afternoon with an intuitive and a nutritionist. One can never have too much information!

Thank you TASH!!

A shout out of THANKS to Tash for sending me an ITunes gift card for winning a little contest she had over at her blog. It was a little story about something stranger than fiction. You can read it here. I am long over due in posting this...THANKS so much Tash!

Thursday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for good news. Well needed good news.

Starbucks, Shmarbucks...whatever.

OK. Thought I'd take my new laptop to Starbucks today and geek out for a while. I was really needing a cup of coffee since I am trying to wean myself off the stuff, yet again, and sitting in a coffee shop searching the internet can be a whole lot more fun than sitting at home doing that. So, when at Starbucks, I was having trouble connecting to the internet so I kindly asked the barista if there was a "secret code" I should know about and then she casually waved her hand in the other direction and mumbled something about a pamphlet about connection. Huh? After searching for whatever she was talking about I asked another, this time friendlier barista how to connect at that store and she gave me the so called pamphlet. OK. Not only do I have to pay top dollar for a mediocre cup of joe but now I have to pay to connect to the internet. Didn't it used to be free? Don't they want to have people lurking around dishing out their money for caffeine fix after caffeine fix? Doesn't the internet connection lure the suckers in? Well, not anymore. Apparently, things have hit rock bottom over at the Starbucks and they have to charge for everything, including the toilet paper in the bathroom. (Just kidding.) I am so not going to Starbucks anymore. EVER. I am done. That'll show them!

For Lease...

Thoughts of life have been on my mind quite a bit lately. Prevalent, in the utmost forefront, and seemingly ubiquitous at every corner, fragment of breath. I have wondered how much of our life is a gift and how much of that we do not grasp. The concept that we are here on borrowed time. So many people don't think about that or live their lives with that in mind. I am not coming from a place of judgement, only observation as I myself have been very guilty of living without gratitude for something so simple as life. I take it for granted all the time and certainly used to when I was much younger. When something big happens in your life, affecting your family and close ones around you, that is when you see the bigger picture. You drop the querulous minute details and appreciate the finer, sweet sticky moments that make life, ... well, worth it. How can one grasp onto that concept of gratitude for life and live it each and every day? How can one make it stick? I'd like to know. Really, like to know. Because our lives are just a lease, negotiate my friend, negotiate well.

Wednesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a good night's sleep and a great power walk today.

Meet Larry.

This is Larry. He comes equipped with his own dwelling. No need to set him up with anything except a garden full of tomatoes, cantaloupe and zucchini.

Tuesday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for a flash of light at the end of a really dark tunnel.

First Day Jitters.

Not everyone suffers from first day jitters! Hopefully my day tomorrow will go like this when I drop my son off at school, all fresh and clean stocked with brand new school supplies. I always dreaded the first day of school. Did you?

Monday's Gratitude:
I am so grateful for an early night of sleep tonight!