still giving thanks

Well, I’d planned to show a few photos from Thanksgiving but I’ve been too lazy to download them from my camera. One thing I will say is that the holiday was great. I was here with Derek and his family and I really love them. About thirty family members ate together and I made paper crowns for the kids to color and wear. I made flowers out of pipe cleaners with kids sitting on my lap as I talked with Derek’s cousin about marriage and movies and accents and 80’s trivia. There were more than 15 pies for dessert. Scrabble was played. The men watched football and later sat around a fire pit outside. I hugged his cousins and we giggled and were genuinely giddy to see one another. We hugged a lot. In the middle of one big long hug one cousin said, “ Let’s just stay this way all day.” I said, “Yeah and then we can just pause when we take a bite of turkey.” It may sound sappy but it was sweet and sincere and sometimes you just have to give into the love.

This morning a bunch of us went over to Derek’s grandma’s house for breakfast and to get in a few last moments with relatives from Southern California. We all talked and laughed over blueberry pancakes, bacon, eggs, fruit, juice and coffee. I know that one of the reasons I feel so connected to this man (my husband and friend) is because his family structure is so similar to my own. There’s an environment of hospitality – large family gatherings with food, conversation and laughter. And for that, I am grateful.

80 things I'm thankful for...

In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich.-- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Several bloggers have listed things they are grateful for this week. Karen made a list of 100 things she was thankful for. She inspired me to create my own list, which I created over the past two days. It was fun to appreciate the ordinary and to look and reflect upon moments both big and small that make my life sweet. Try it. Attempt to make a list of more than 50- 100 things you are thankful for and you will see just how much joy it brings.

80 things I'm thankful for -
1. God’s faithfulness
2. Accountability
3. Fashion – Bottega Veneta, Valentino, Alexander McQueen, YSL
4. My friend April
5. My mom’s hospitality
6. The Color Purple
7. Pieces of April
8. As Good as it Gets
9. Derek’s sense of humor
10. Target
11. Dancing
12. Gospel music
13. The smell of old books
14. Dave Chappelle (his intellect and nerdiness is attractive)
15. Talking to my nieces and realizing how deep I can let my imagination go
16. My camera – which is compact and easy to hold
17. Wire sculpture
18. Sourdough bread
19. My Utmost for His Highest – by Oswald Chambers
20. Givenchy fragrances
21. My mother in laws profound way of viewing spirituality
22. My inspiring friend Jessie
23. Hot coffee
24. My brothers who are great guys
25. Friendships established through blogging
26. Project runway
27. People who are comfortable in their own skin
28. Art supplies
29. Lorenzo’s Mexican food
30. Quirky people
31. Starbucks
32. Forgiveness
33. Great stationery
34. Calligraphy pens
35. Hand puppets
36. Anne et Valentin optical frames
37. Kara Walker (for pushing me to go after my dream)
38. Silver jewelry
39. photojournalism
40. People who are real and down to earth
41. Hershey bars
42. Feeling loved
43. Big coffee mugs
44. My extended family
45. Quiet mornings
46. Listening to various foreign accents
47. Mood transforming music
48. good storytelling
49. Creative people
50. my husband bringing me coffee in bed every morning
51. Laughing to the point of tears
52. Housewives of Atlanta
53. Scarlet red
54. Knowing how to cook well
55. Almond croissants
56. Never having to go to bed hungry
57. A faith that is continually strengthened
58. San Francisco – all day, every day
59. Cold crisp winter air
60. Wendy Williams’ hot topics (don’t judge)
61. High thread count sheets
62. Dark hard wood floors
63. When Derek and I burst out laughing simultaneously
64. A home that’s safe and warm
65. A love of learning
66. God’s grace
67. Lake Tahoe
68. Craigslist
69. John Chiara
70. Artists who inspire me with their courage
71. A good night’s sleep
72. Eavesdropping in on the conversations of strangers
73. Handwritten letters
74. People watching
75. Joey Youngman aka Wolfgang Gartner
76. My wedding ring
77. Grandma Ramona’s pies
78. Independent Film Channel
79. Imagination
80. Down comforters

domestic day...

My hands smell like thanksgiving. I have washed them several times but they still smell like celery, bell pepper and onion. Today I made cornbread dressing. This is the smell that waffles through my mama’s house as she prepares for Thanksgiving. Did you know that some cooks call the combination of celery, bell pepper and onion the trinity? Well, it definitely smells heavenly around here! Tomorrow we will celebrate the holiday with my husband’s family so I decided to make a dish that reminded me of childhood and past Thanksgivings. I have made ornaments the past few years and given them to family and friends at the beginning of the Christmas season. I see it as a way of savoring the season. I am contemplating making ornaments to give out tomorrow to the family members who will be celebrating Thanksgiving with us. We shall see. It’s one more thing on my ‘inspired’ list of things that would be fun to do. EDITED: Ornaments – not gonna happen, at least not for tomorrow.

The past few days I have had several projects going. We are painting tea towels in my next ‘creative everyday’ workshop series. This is a project I have never tried so I have been experimenting with a few tea towels to see if there are some ways to teach the class with greater ease and clarity. It’s been fun to learn, play and try out different things. I even made a few stamps to use.
I am working on a fabulous wire dress right now. (I love the idea of seeing a photo of a garment and then being able to see it come to life in wire.) While fun and exciting, the logistics of creating have been tedious.

This evening I went on a cleaning binge. I’d been putting it off for quite a while, watching the clutter build in our studio. Sadly enough the motivation came when I realized we might have company and I did not want them to wade through a mess. Two cups of coffee and some really good music got me through a few hours of cleaning. I like moments like this because the lack of time and hurried cleaning makes me throw things away more readily. I spend less time making decisions or making up excuses like, “I may need that some day…” I also went through my closet and packed away my summer shirts. I happened to find a blouse I bought months ago but forgot about so now I have something new to wear to thanksgiving. (Bonus!)

I’m thankful for many things but one small thing I feel grateful for is the peace that comes from a clean space – this feeling of exhaling. This will be even more exciting when we wake up tomorrow to a clean ordered space. I think it will start the day off just right…

five senses friday no.8

SEE
this small town I live in
the purple sky at dawn
rain
foggy mornings
construction happening here and next door at the same time


HEAR
the TV playing constantly
my husband and I telling the same old stories over and over
the hammering banging maddening sound of construction


SMELL
honeysuckle soap
my husband's cologne


TASTE
broiled salmon
fresh artichokes
rice krispy treats
hot coffee


TOUCH/FEEL
my favorite blue sweater
confusion mixed with the knowledge that I need to be courageous

more storefront pics...

1. The community comes together…, 2. Me talking to Joyce Grimm from Triple Base Gallery, 3. California Senator Mark Leno and Luis R. Cancel, Director of the SF Arts Commission, 4. neighborhood people and art people mix and mingle, 5. Me talking about my window, 6. Portrait artist, Elisheva Biernoff and her window, 7. Malik Seneferu and his window, 8. ART 94124 (a neighborhood gallery) has a window, 9. grandmother and granddaughter looking at my window

(click on picture to see bigger or click links to see individual images...)

hope, expect, desire, trust

"Without hope, our faith gives us only an acquaintance with God. Without love and hope, faith only knows Him as a stranger. For hope casts us into the arms of His mercy and of His providence. If we hope in Him, we will not only come to know that He is merciful but we will experience His mercy in our own lives." Thomas Merton

ducks like crackers

We had our usual Sunday night dinner with the whole family – my in-laws, my sister-in-law and her husband and kids… We gather together every Sunday night. Last weekend and the weekend before the kids were concerned because I was hoarse. Their mom told them I had a frog in my throat and so of course as 4 and 7 year olds are, they wanted to know all about this frog that lived in my throat. Why was he there? How long would he stay? Where did he live?

Tonight one of the twins came up to me after her bath in her cute little pink pajamas and said, “ Where’d the frog go?”
I was caught off guard at first, not in the frog mindset so I looked at her a bit surprised.
“Where did he go? Where did the frog go?” she asked again.
“He left?”
“Why?” she said.
“He needed to go home.”
“To the pond?” she asked.
“Yes, to the pond”
“Why?” she asked.
“He needed to go home.” I said.
“To the lily pad?”
“Yes, to the lily pad on the pond” I said.
“Why?” she said.
“He missed his mama and went home to be with her.”
“Why?” she said.
“He wanted her special soup.”
“Why?”
“He also wanted dessert. They were having his favorite -- cotton candy.”
“Really?!” she said, her eyes getting big as she smiled. “Ducks like crackers.”
And with that she walked away.