Tag Archives: squirrels

The Watched Pot

Posted on June 15, 2010 | 4 Comments

I know you aren’t supposed to hang out staring at the water on the stove. You aren’t doing anything to help it. The water knows how to boil on its own, and you are just a foolish human spectator.

I watch it anyway. It is boring, but beautiful, and lets me zone out.

Sadly, zoning out is a daily thing for me now. Not by choice. I’m feeling some guilt about this, as we are busy at work. I’m not on top of my game at all. Brainstorms? I usually love them. Now I am a spectator with little to add. Speaking in coherent sentences to freelance illustrators? Not really. I’m trying, I really am. It seems that my mind is occupied with growing a human. I wince during meetings while Baby B tries to exit out of my left side. Glad to know he is well in there, but oooowww. He needs a swaddling. If anyone on my team is reading this, a thousand apologies. I am probably not going to be the sharpest art director for the next 39 days.

Are there advantages of living with this distracted and mushy mind?

Ummmm.

derrrrr…what…wait…what was I talking about? Where am I? Huh?

Hey, want to see a picture of a pie that I totally messed up?

oops

Yeah, it is clearly a runny pie. But the good news is, we dumped it in a container and used it for ice cream topping for a couple of days. So how can I count that as a total failure? Some may even call it a win.

And something else that I (ahem, nature) accomplished recently is growing these little wonders from seed. I don’t think I have grown anything from seed since elementary school.

Not claiming this took brain power to grow or anything, but it's something.

This mushy mind is good for something after all. I can let my eyes rest on things that an overactive mind would pass up. I can relax into a comfortable stare in .2 seconds on just about anything. Uncooked pasta becomes interesting. Bread is beauty. My squirrel collection is the Last Supper. My life is not yet a blur. It feels more like someone sat on the remote and paused me. So I will stare at the still frame awhile longer, and enjoy the quiet peace.

Patrick is healing nicely. He just needs a few more years in the cast.

→ 4 Comments

Posted in baby, baking, Daily Picture

Tagged Daily Picture, morning glories, pasta, pregnancy, pregnancy brain, squirrels, the watched pot never boils, waiting

The Color (Not the Mood)

Posted on March 5, 2009 | 6 Comments

Blue stuff. And an attentive squirrel.

Blue/turquoise/Tiffany green/robins egg blue is my favorite color right now. Blue gets a bad wrap for being a sad color. Or a color for boys only. I am here to disagree with this nonsense. Certainly there are shades or variations or blue that can be very dull or sad. Stormy blue and navy blue generally are the grumps of the blue bunch. That is why I have to stick with the brighter sky blue and leave cobalt to sulk in the corner. It is the color of robins eggs, warm Caribbean water, and a clear morning sky. I challenge you to find even a hint of sadness in that.

Cooking even became happier when I received this for Christmas from my mama:

Lens flare sold separately.

During this early photo shoot lit by the rising sun, I realized why this color evokes such happiness for me. It is the color of the sky before 10 am. I am a morning person. If you are not a morning person, but would like to try it, I suggest reading this. This lifestyle doesn’t come naturally to some people, but I have been an early riser for the last 7 years or so. To me, morning is the best time of day because everything seems possible. I am inspired to start many projects in the early hours. These do not always get done at the end of the day, but every time I wake up they seem doable once again. I always feel like the morning has forgiven me for whatever happened (or didn’t happen) the day before.

Just today I was inspired to finally organize my spices. I have to say that this is a really embarrassing photo for me to post. My house is very clean except the cupboards and closets. Consider this a “before” photo. Hopefully an “after” will follow shortly.

This will horrify a certain group of you.

Ugh. It is so bad in there.

I simply cannot end the post like that…

Morning tulips.

→ 6 Comments

Posted in Daily Picture

Tagged blue, color, Daily Picture, dutch oven, early riser, happiness, morning person, motivation, organizing, photography, squirrels, tulips, turquoise

Mr & Mrs

Posted on January 19, 2009 | 1 Comment

Jordan gave me these for my birthday last year. They live in the bathroom. They like long baths, acorn panini, and candlelight. They have 87 grandchildren. They are my happy picture from yesterday.

Daily Picture 011809

Check out more of Ryan Berkley’s drawings on Etsy. They are splendid.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Daily Picture

Tagged Daily Picture, Etsy, ryan berkley, squirrels

Daily Picture 122708

Posted on December 28, 2008 | 1 Comment

Meet Patrick.

Yes, he is in a wheelchair.

Hand painted detailing.

The injury.

What can I really say about this? It is the weirdest Christmas present I have ever gotten. Although, now that the rest of my family knows about Etsy’s Alchemy function, I am sure it will not be the last. You can basically post an idea that you have for a custom project on the website. Then artists will get in touch with you and make it for you if they think they have the right skills or interest. I will update this post with the name of the artist that got to make this little guy when my brother gets back to me with her name. (Update: The artist is Amy Lira.)

Patrick is truly one of a kind, and will be hanging out with Murray in the entryway of our apartment. I am hoping that his injury will heal with time. He is enjoying the wheelchair though, and all the extra attention he is getting. He was never much for exercise anyway. Patrick is pleased to hear that he is now on the Internet, as he wishes to be famous one day. I will relay any messages/fan mail that you may have for him.

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Daily Picture

Tagged christmas, Daily Picture, Etsy, Gift, Handmade, squirrels

New

Posted on December 13, 2008 | 4 Comments

I am just going to start.

Yay!

Because I am not a focused person, this will not be. Awhile ago, I opened up the boxes that mom gave me to store, since I now have a basement. I found some journals ranging from when I was in first grade through high school. Hilarious. Justin thought so, too. I would like to keep something like a journal again…hence the blog…if for nothing more than to laugh at it years later.

I am not very concerned with grammar, seeing as I was an art major. I will try harder. I, love, commas. I am also used to typing in chat windows, so sometimes i don’t capitalize my words. Sorry, I will try harder.

I love food. I love cooking. I love baking bread. Hopefully there will be some documentation of that on here.

I have two cats. Porpus and Schween. If you don’t like cats, I am sorry for you. You would like them if you got one. Seriously, get a cat. Get two. I also like squirrels, but I beg of you not to get me squirrels as gifts for the rest of my life. My mom had a serious cow problem at one point, that was not entirely her fault, but I just can’t go there.

I work in advertising. Someday I’d like to write and illustrate children’s books if I can rein in use of my commas. I love design, but this will probably not be a design blog. I bought some art supplies again months ago. I need to actually use them. I want to use them. I used to make art constantly before I was working. What happened? More on that later.

I live in Chicago and love it. I am embarrassed by the governor. But I still love it. My neighborhood is south Andersonville. Also, a little bit in love. It is winter now, so I am not out as much. I do have a really puffy coat this year. Boots to match. This is helping. I have very good friends that inspire me to leave the house in 17 degree weather and I love them for that. They usually have wine with them too. But for the most part, I make very good friends with the computer in the winter.

I haven’t kept up with the news lately, since I suffered an overdose during the election, but sometimes I have strong opinions about what is going on out there. They will probably show up. If you have any questions about current events or politics, please call Justin instead. He will be able to talk to you at length about anything you want. I pretty much agree with whatever he says about them. Mostly. That doesn’t mean I don’t form my own opinion. We are just lucky they don’t conflict too often. I know a few couples that have very different political views or world views, and I can’t for the life of me wrap my head around how that works. Congrats to you.

Christmas is coming up. Yay! We will be renting a house with my side of the family somewhere in Michigan City. Pretty excited. I kind of went all out with the gift buying this year. Gifting is fun for me, and I can rarely keep the gifts a secret because I get so excited. Justin has been giving his as they arrive to the house. Saves wrapping paper I suppose.

Now I am going to try and figure out how this all works. Thanks for stopping by. Here is a picture of Schween doing nothing while Justin studies. Typical. cimg7367