Marry an Artist

This is all I'm saying. Marry an Artist. Or at least befriend one and give them things. For artists have the power to make any boring old space into a beautiful one. I've been searching for art for Henry's walls for a while now and my sweet husband has either made or funded almost all of my choices. First, I (yes me, not Wade) made a banner of flags to go over his bed (although Wade may or may not have provided some guidance on the color choices, I'm not telling). And then I found these adorable cardboard deer heads to go in the middle. I bought a tiny one for Henry's room and saved the board with the cut outs so that Wade could make a big one for our living room out of old Rudy's pizza boxes (which reminds me, I should order a pizza for delivery). I La La Love these posters with lyrics from one of my favorite songs. Wade showed me exactly how to make them and then it was just off to Kinkos for a quick color print on poster board. This sweet little elephant was an Etsy find. I love her and I plan to copy the idea to make a peacock and an umbrella to go over Henry's desk. Wade has instructed me on the trials and tribulations of Modge Podge and I feel ready to take this project on.

This whale is another Esty find. I love it, but I'm not in love with it. I think chalkboards are fun but I am thinking Henry needs something bigger, to really show off his mad skillz.
And lastly, there is this panting. Also and Etsy find. Wade tells me we could paint something similar here at home. But I love it and I think I am going to buy it and marry it. This may not go in Henry's room. I might put it in our room. I need a house with less windows and more walls.
So, in conclusion. Marry an artist. He or she can then teach you how to make all the art you have been eyeballing for years. They will make fun of you for not coming up with the idea on your own. But artists are moody and hey, you are the one that decided to marry one.

Cakes

In my dreams I own a cupcake shop. It's tiny, with wood floors and brick walls. I imagine those old glass and wood cases full of layer upon layer of different cakes. There would be frosting shots for icing enthusiasts and naked cakes for weirdos that do not like frosting (like my hubby). So fun!
I have a deep and sincere love of the cupcake. I love it for its built in portion control. I love it for its super handy holder that can also serve as a frosting scraper should one get too much frosting (pfh, as if). I love how it perfectly holds one candle and for its inability to hold 32 candles (going on 33). It is a perfect model, never takes a bad picture. But most of all, I love it because it doesn't hold me down to one option. Make a cake, that's all you've got. Make cupcakes and you may have sprinkles or no sprinkles. Chocolate icing..yes please. Or maybe vanilla. Add a filling, if you like or turn the whole thing upside down and dip it in something rich and prepare to unbutton your jeans. I love cupcakes.Martha Stewart has a cupcake book and it has become my new bedtime story. I daydream about what cupcake coma I will enjoy next. I have to admit I have only made 2 recipes from the cookbook and both of them were okay. Not the best cupcakes I have made, definitely not the worst (so sad to remember those neon-red red velvet cakes I made 2 years ago, sitting so perfectly red in the trash can. Tasted like a wet sponge dipped in cardboard).
My idea is to try one of Martha's cupcakes each week Her cookbook has 175 recipes and I will not do all of them. Ahem, Ginger and Banana....no thanks. But I think I will try any of them with ingredients that do not make me want to hurl. Then I will take a pic and put it on this blog. I do recognize that this is not an original idea and no, I am not trying to create my own baked goods version of Julie and Julia. I don't have that kind of time.
In these pics are MS version of coconut cupcakes. My thoughts: too buttery. They almost tasted like bread. The frosting was good though. I think I'll try it again with less butter and more coconut. Coconut cupcakes are my favorite. Or maybe red velvet. No, german chocolate.

Next please

I am very close to finishing school, 3 classes to be exact. And I think for a lot of people finishing school the next step would be grab that degree and run out into the job market determined to put all their years of hard work to good use. I, however, do not have that ambition. I have no plans to use my degree. Let’s just be totally honest, I have no desire to use my degree. My degree is quite simply a symbol of A) my stubbornness B) my desire to please my father. That’s it. I like Biology, it’s interesting and fun, but I do not want to spend my time looking in a microscope or taking soil samples. Sorry.

Here is the problem. That sucks. I hate it. Because I would much rather say that 12 years of school and thousands of dollars in student loan debt led me to my dream work scenario. I thought when I went back to school in 2002 that finishing school would feel like a major accomplishment but frankly I can’t get over how long it took, how much it cost, and how it really isn’t what I wanted in the first place. If I was 22 and graduating I would say “Screw it” and I would go ahead and follow my heart. I would chalk it up to a good experience, knowledge gained, something I can be proud of and then look for what is next, search out what is really in my heart. But at 32 that feels kinda like something kids do. At 32 it feels like time to get my shit together…like yesterday.

I realize that is no way to live. I realize that if I don’t give myself the same options that I would have given myself 10 years ago then I am just signing up to never get to do anything that I actually want to do. So, I’ll veto that and I’ll try to forget my number (32 32 32 32 32…okay, that got it out of my system). And in the spirit of new opportunities and taking chances and following your heart no matter what your past looks like, no matter how sad and unproductive I have been up to this point, I will make a list of things that I love and then, maybe if I stare at it long enough, I can find the courage to do something with it-
I like

To cook:
Cupcakes
Fresh food
Compassionately
Fresh baked bread
Cookies

To grow:
Succulents
Vegetables
Flowers

To make:
Embroidery
Paper flowers
Sew

I like:
Photography
Vintage
Polaroid
Sunshine

What can I do with this information? Well…just free form ideas here…

A bakery.
A café.
Chef school.
Grow my own succulents and sell them at the famers market or online
A cupcake shop
Make homemade sewn or embroidered goods to sell on etsy

That’s all I have for now. It’s something, right? I will leave you with some photos that inspire me. I can’t take credit for them but some of them I can’t give credit for either because I saved them years ago. Blog faux pas, I know. Love me anyway.

A long story short

It's been a while...I know. Visitors, illnesses and just general busyness has kept me away. So I thought I might try to get back into your good graces with a super long post about really nothing at all. We are all good. Henry is enormous....his hair is just as blond and poofy as can be and it seems to attract attention wherever we go. Wade is good. Building some cool stuff with recycled wood, including an art easel for Henry. He has become quite a painter. In fact, at school when other kids are working on their stations Henry will almost always ask to paint. We have some beautiful art around here now :) Wade has also been busy doing design work for the school's 5K/10K run. The Easter bunny brought WAY too much candy to our house this year and I have been doing a terrible job of staying away from it. I've also been staying busy with my normal activities--sewing, cooking, watching movies, reading, staring at cupcake cookbooks for hours...and coming up with schemes to start a cupcake shop/bakery in downtown Lawrence. Believe it or not it's coming along much easier than I anticipated. So we'll see...

Tonight I had an urge for Chinese food but I can't actually get Chinese food because A) Not vegan B) I can't feed that stuff to my child and feel good about it (that reminds me of a funny story. Henry and I went to the park last night to work off the slice of pizza the size of our face we ate for dinner. A little girl whose mother was sitting on the park bench on the cell phone (happens every time I go to the park) latched on to us and began to play. Henry and I were pretending to drive the firetruck to a fire. The little girl hopped into the drivers seat and Henry asked "Where is the fire?" "McDonald's!" she yelled. She pretended to drive to McDonald's. Then my friend that was with us asked "where is the fire?" "At Old McDonald's" Henry said. And then he started singing the song. My child thinks McDonald's is a farm with a cow (moo moo) and not a fast food restaurant. You have no idea how happy this makes me. Back to Chinese food...) C) MSG gives me a headache. So I decided to make my own spring rolls tonight and boy where they fantastic. I combined two recipes and did a little improvising (I am terrible at following recipes) to include the food we already had at home. I used tofu, carrots, cabbage, red bell peppers and green onions. Yum. It started like this

And ended like thisWhat else? I bought 2 yards of this fabric last weekend so that I can attempt to make a purse from my Amy Butler book. I would like to buy this instead and save myself the time, but I just can't justify spending that much on something that I will probably ruin in a few months. I also bought some of this and this to make more pillows. It's getting a little insane with the pillows around here. Pretty soon my husband is going to make me start selling them.

What else??? Well, against my better judgment I joined facebook. I have caught up with a few really good friends that I haven't heard from in years, which is great. But I have been also tracked down by some people that I haven't heard from in years and really prefer it that way. Facebook is a weird experience for me and I don't know how long I will stay on it. Besides I hear that twittering is all the rage these days. Always a day late and a dollar short... :) I tried to take a photo of myself for my facebook page so I went into the bathroom and did this. Eye closed. Camera in my face. Why am I an idiot?

Oh and I almost forgot. I took #'s 1, 9, 13 and 18 off my list. I still have a long way to go, but I will knock #'s 2, 5, 6, 8 and 10 off this summer. And if I could only convince Wade that this is worth $45 (it SO is...for my birthday...) I could work a little on #22.

Hope you all are doing well.

Oh...and these are for Lisa (pay no attention to the insanely messy house) I thought you might appreciate that one of us has the attention span for yoga :) ---