Back to School

To begin with, I want to thank the very sweet and talented Lisa of LLCreations for this award. She received the award herself and it was very much deserved. Please visit her blog to see her beautiful work.

Well, I'm all alone, my son is back in school and I just went through registration with my daughter, I then left her at the school for orientation. They'll have lunch at the school then get on a bus and head for the coast, it's an overnight adventure trip so I don't pick her up 'til tomorrow night.

The weekend was a bit busy with my son playing in three soccer games. On Sunday, after a morning game, my daughter and I were able to get away for a bit and we headed for Pleasanton where we had a nice time at Art Paperie and Pleasantries. We met a couple of fellow art bloggers, had a nice lunch together and brought home lots of goodies to play with.

Well, I just want to end this post by wishing everyone a Happy Back to School Day whether it was last week, this week or the next. Cheers!

English Garden Cottage

I fell in love with this house. No, I'm not back in Carmel, the house, built in 1935, is right here in Alamo. I dragged my family to the open house about a week ago and it's just as quaint on the inside as it is on the outside. We're not in the market for a house but I've always dreamed of living in a cottage. So I mention this house because a couple of days ago the kids wanted Subway for lunch

and since the thrift store is right next door I had to go in. Look what my daughter found. A miniature garden cottage. Look at the details. Do you see the nest just above the window?

Look at the details inside. The side porch is below complete with a heart wreath above the door.
And guess what? It lights up at night!
The house is signed on the back (Pamela Reynolds) and is titled "English Gardener," when I googled her name I found one article from 2000 commenting on her work. She's from Chino, CA , her houses take 24+ hours to complete and they sell from $275. Well, I brought this one home for $25 and after hot gluing a couple of pieces back in place and dusting it completely using paint brushes and Century Duster it now sits in my daughter's bedroom.

Recent Find

Found these two little bears (mother and child) at a nearby thrift store. They're hand sewn (little tiny stitches) using felt, bits of fabric and trim. When I find handmade items like this, I often find myself wondering about the story behind them. Who, when, where, for whom, and why did they wind up at the thrift store or buried in a box at a garage sale? I bought these two for $5 and they now have a home on my desk.

Kahlo and Chihuly in San Francisco

We got together over the weekend with my sister and her family to view the Frida Kahlo Exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. It was everything I thought it would be. Being of Mexican decent I was familiar with Frida's life and her art years before she became so popular here.

We had lunch at the Thai Cafe on Geary Street - the best. My husband and I ate here all of the time when we were dating, he lived just a couple of blocks away. Little did we know then that we'd someday be eating there with our kids. The restaurant has been there for 28 years and my husband and I met in '82, that means that they had only been open a couple of years when we started dating.

After lunch we headed to the De Young Museum in Golden Gate Park for the Dale Chihuly Exhibit - it was amazing! Eleven galleries filled with beautiful art - brilliant colors, lovely shapes and textures. We finished our outing with a little walk through the Botanical Garden and then headed home. We really should drive into the city more often, it's only a 45 minute drive and brings back so many memories.

Art Play Date

Two very talented ladies were over last week for a little art play date. Connie (Govea Stuart) and Colleen Moody came by for a couple of hours and we worked on some fun paper tags.It was easy to be inspired with all the goodies that Connie brought over. My kids were home and though I knew my daughter would join us I was surprised when my son asked if he could make tags too. Love art play dates.

Oh and Connie gave me the heads up and I was finally able to visit Friendship Farm Antiques and find it open. I've lived 5 minutes away for almost 2 years and I didn't know what I'd been

missing. Inside Tricia sells "Ribbons and Fine Things," including all kinds of treasures that one might want to incorporate into their art. It was fun hunting for item in all the baskets, boxes and dresser drawers. Wish I had taken a picture.