anniversary day :)

anniversary day :), originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

we turned 12 on april 27th! 7 married, 12 all together :) yay!

...in 1997 (which is this photo) we took our first cross country road trip together in the original nellie vw bus - it was my first time west past chicago and i fell in LOVE. (well, with the mister & the traveling!) this is on the west coast up in oregon - i adore the west coast and especially the oregon coast - so rugged & breathtaking.

we never thought we'd end up out here in SF, but we moved here right after we got married in 2001. and we are still hanging on :) our ongoing dilemma is just how does one stay put in one of the most expensive, amazing cities in america on two artists salaries? (plus the art educator/free lance photo salary which really doesn't add up to a whole heck of a lot!!!) any tips on that? ;) do share!

i gave the mister a few little card and art treats for the a. day; i'll share them a bit later. on monday, we both had the day off, so we went down to the monterey bay aquarium - we had never been. i have a thing with zoos and aquariums and i'm sure you can imagine all my distraught captivity political thoughts that go swirling around in my brain (you did know didn't you, that my life's agenda was going to be to work with dolphins during my formative youth years?! oh yes, up until my senior year when i took a.p. oceanography and one - "we have to dissect what?" - i quickly became the 'illustrator' in the group. and then two - "we have to do what kind of math?" DRAT! i HATE math. boo hoo hoo....off to be an artist ;) i guess....sigh....as i curl up and read madeleine l'engle's -- a ring of endless of light"
for the umpteenth time and get lost in vicky's dolphin & boy world...)

so, yes, i have a thing for the sea animals too. it wasn't as disheartening as it could have been, and i did LOVE the jellies, but it's kind of hard to look at big fish & sharks swimming round and round and round and round...wouldn't you go crazy too?! oh, the penguins & sea otters were pretty darn rad also...

the drive down was beauteous & we had a fun time together...here's to many more years ahead for us! :) hoorah!

the other news is i'm finally finished with my k-8 students art show - the hugest event of the year that i put on - PHEW. i'll post photos soon. it's also the most rewarding night of the year for me :)

off to catch up on my sorely neglected sprout studio business; i have lots of updating to do. i've made scores of new glass necklaces just waiting to be posted - check them out in the next week or so.

happy wednesdsay lovies! (or muffins as mati likes to say...OR, i'm kinda fond of "poppet" myself!)

xxx.

ladies dinner pARTy

ladies dinner pARTy, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

i hosted a dinner pARTy on saturday night with some lovely bay area art ladies & bloggers. i've "known" some of these women for quite some time via their work & blogs, and have hung out with a few of them when time allows!

it was a super evening with lots of great chatter, musings, art talk, humorous conversation, and general good fun. i hope to do it again soon with them all :)

in attendance: diana, kelly rae, mati, shash, annie, lisa (ms dixie loo, my mister, a longtime friend and photo professor, & diana's niece.

yesterday was a great day of roaming the south bay salt marsh trails, and having a veggie Q with some friends.

hope your weekends were equally full of fun!
xxx.

mental detox week

mental detox week

unplug from the madness...take a walk instead :)

april 21-27! join me?
xxx.

oh where have i been?

a wee little painting doodle, originally uploaded by sproutgirl74.

...not feeling so well, painting doodles, preparing for my art show that is a huge endeavor (happens in 2 weeks - eep!), having 2, 18 year old boys in the house for a week, having a coming house guest in town for another week, thinking about summer trips, packaging sprout studio orders (always), wanting may to be here because i have spring/summer fever, having a bay area art ladies dinner next weekend, hosted a brunch this past weekend, starting up a book club, trying to squeeze in some downtime...& all those little bits & pieces of things & stuff that take up so much of ones free time.

but, during those teensy bits of free time i have been watching melvin goes to dinner & 2 days in paris -- both highly recommended. super witty & entertaining. and i have 3 books i'm reading - eat, pray, love, whale warriors" (the mister and i are reading it together), & blue like jazz ...i'll let you know how they come along.

hopefully all is swell in your worlds.
xxx.