What I Love About Early Spring...

Discovering new buds, leaves, and flowers everywhere...Such sweet

surprises when we are out and about. I can't help but snap some photos of

the beauty.

Early morning trips into NYC by ferry or by car...Either way, there is nothing

like riding towards one of my "spirit" homes on a cool, crisp, morning with the sun shining above and my little girl riding along with me.

Eating primarily vegan due to allergies and all around dietary benefits means easier meals to cook!

Vegan baking...always my FAVORITE!

These vegan cupcakes were absolutely scrumptious and I wasn't the only one who thought so!

Some non-vegan friends couldn't even tell the buttercream was vegan!

This recipe is a keeper.

In the city visiting one of our favorite people.

I love how she actually uses that water bottle tote I

crocheted for her!

Not only is she cute, she is practical too!

Love. Her.

...And no trip to the city would be complete without visiting one of our favorite stores.

She picked out the Magic Mushroom bath bomb all by herself!

I am afraid she has inherited my obsession with yummy

bath paraphernalia!

(And all things that smell delightful!)

Yes, that is pale yellow nail polish.

I have decided recently that I should never give up wearing crazy colored polish on my nails.

I'm not going to get sucked into that "age appropriate" vortex. Ha! No Way.

I will like what I like and that's that!

Conveniently, Sinful Colors are sold in CVS-

The colors are beautiful, the polish is long-lasting and its super affordable.

So, you don't have to feel guilty about

splurging on novelty!

What are you diggin' on these early days of Spring?

Art Everywhere! Weekend, Part II

A sunny, crisp-cold morning boat ride into Manhattan started our day.

My girl pointed out this dress to me in a paper goods store window.

The dress is made out of party invites.

Just Adorable.

The dress is nice, too! Ha, ha!

I'm pretty much vegetarian now...and flirting with vegan all the time. Put it this way,

all of the recipes, blogs, and cookbooks I've been sourcing are strictly vegan.

I think I'm what you'd call a "cheating vegan" because I do use butter and cheese occasionally.

Anyway, it has been an educational and enlightening experience...all of this food research!

Here is a meal we ate tonight...a garden salad and a deeelicious vegetable casserole made with couscous. I found the recipe in my new favorite cookbook. I spent an hour copying recipes out of it in Barnes and Nobel last night while Cub and Daddy read books together.

Pretty-pretty.

Best of all, Girl Cub LOVED it and asked for seconds.

Holy Guacamole!

And at least once a day my daughter "wows" me with

either something she says or does...or both.

Tonight, she made an actual test for each of her little friends, passed out pencils,

"helped" them to take it, then graded them.

Think she is a teacher's daughter, or what?!

If only my students were as cooperative as

Mama Owl

Mia

Dino

Orange Tiger

Lambie

&

Leo.

There is Art Everywhere...

Today was one of those all-around great days.

Look what I found staring up at me while I paid the cashier at the Russian supermarket this morning.

These are actual chocolate bar wrappers!

How beautiful are they? I was so struck by that girl's face.

You get two treats for the price of one...chocolate and the pretty picture.

Sorry about the tags. Couldn't find any without the prices!

Later this afternoon we were blessed with a wonderful piano concert performed by the amazingly talented and very lovely Celeste Lederer.

She played so many beautiful pieces of classical music- Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Debussy, & Beethoven.

Then we were treated to some good ol' fashioned ragtime.

Loved it all.

My girl however, fell asleep on her daddy's lap after the first

three songs!

There was a late-lunch, a trip to the crafts store to

buy some yarn for another crochet handbag, and then the

mandatory "walk through" at Toys R Us.

I couldn't help myself.

Still a sucker for Smurfs.

It was a really nice day. I needed it after the all-consuming

weeks I've been having.

Tomorrow, we are off to the city to take care of taxes and hopefully

catch this amazing show at the Cooper Hewitt Museum.

I have been influenced lately by the colors and patterns Sonia Delaunay used in her

work. She has been inspiring many of my

recent crochet projects, too.

Magic Girl

Because perfume,

the fabulous 80's,

and all things French make me HAPPY...

I am in love with this video.

Hope you it puts a smile on your face.

Wild Weekend In Philly

Me & my girl met up with some good friends this past weekend for the Sendak in Spring festival in Philadelphia.

Besides all things Wild, we enjoyed

Ethiopian food

the gorgeous Super Moon

yummy crepe breakfast at the awesome Reading Terminal Market

the beautiful sights of the city

super strong coffee

yummy cupcakes

& best of all was the company of LOVING FRIENDS.

Looking forward to a lot more adventures...

Healing. Inspiring. Doing.

I made that crochet eyeball for my daughter's father and we gave it to him for Valentine's Day. It's all part of the healing, I suppose.

Besides, I had fun making it.

He gave us each a piece of his artwork.

Giving a handmade gift that will make the recipient smile is nice.

No matter what the situation.

(Even if he did rip up the last handmade gift I gave him--a painting.)

Lately, I've been obsessed with crocheting. Funny to me, because I took so many months away from it to focus on sewing. Now, I'm into crochet. Sewing can wait.

Yes, I am a fickle pickle. Oh, well. I'm enjoying myself.

Best of it is I've secured a table at a spring craft event on Staten Island.

This puts the pressure on a bit...and I have no idea what I'm doing, really.

But I want/need to put myself out there.

I craft for others after all, not myself...So, it will be kinda perfect-

whether I sell anything or not. Something new.

And while I'm on the topic of crochet...

I was super-excited to see granny squares hit the runway for Fall 2011.

Crochet scarves were trendy this past fall/winter-

glad to see it taken to another level.

Hats off to HOUSE OF HOLLAND!

2011 So far, so good.

Haven't updated in a while, but I finally figured out how to download my photos again!

So far, this year has been good to us.

I've rediscovered my love for crochet and have been making time

to create some new goodies for my loved ones.

Here's a hat I made for my girl while watching a movie one night last week.

I'm happy to say, she loves it!

We've been having some nice winter visits with Cub's daddy, too.

This inspiring place has become a favorite of ours.
There is so much peace and beauty there and usually we have most
of the place to ourselves.

I love taking photos when I'm there. The light is perfect and there are so many
beautiful and interesting things to capture.
You travel back in time while you are there.

Other things I've been enjoying A LOT this year...


Indian Cooking
Vegan Baking
Crocheting handbags and body parts...yup, body parts.
Watercolor Painting
What seems to be a revival in QUALITY American mainstream filmmaking.
Getting back into working my "program." Yay, healing!
Quiting smoking...for the umpteenth time. It's gonna stick this time around. I know it is!
Yoga three times a week! Whoo-hoo!
Continuing to feed my guilty pleasure...building my perfume collection-now adding vintage bottles and miniatures. Oh, boy.
Planning an exotic summer getaway with my daughter! More to come on that one...

What have you been up to?