Lemoncholy's flight of fancy: October 2008

Friday, October 31, 2008

happy halloween!

Happy Halloween

this was a few years ago when i went out to a club as a ghoul bride. it was fun.

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Friday morning after checking out of our hotel in Seal Beach, my sister, Kim, took the pups and headed back home and then my mom, me and erika drove over to the other hotel where i was staying for the retreat. after getting checked in we met up with Cindy, Jamie and Theresa and headed over to Old Towne Orange. Our first stop was Country Roads on Chapman Avenue. what a wonderful place! it was so huge, i kept getting lost and losing my mom and erika. i'd be yelling "Erika" where are you again and again because we kept losing each other because there were so many nooks and crannies (don't worry she was always close by) We met Kelly Snelling there (sorry we kept you waiting) and it was good to meet my online friend. isn't she so lovely? and funny too. i told her i did an exercise from Kelly Rae Roberts book and that the girl i painted looked a lot like Kelly. i'll see if i can drag up a picture of the piece.

this store is awesome! i think everyone found a bit of something here except me! i think i was too busy talking to kelly and hanging with my mom and erika to shop

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

mom and erika waiting outside with me for kelly

---------------------------------------------------------

here she comes! a girl after my own heart with the parasol!
-------------------------------------------------------------------

her necklace was so pretty. i think she said that was on the cover of her collaberative book with Ruth Rae, "a charming exchange".

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

clowning around in the store

erika and i loved the way they used these doll heads

in our family, we love Smokey the Bear! i would love to own this sign. i'd put it in my mother's yard.

outside in the garden

lunch with the girls - yummy greek food!

mom, cindy, jamie and theresa at lunch

--------------------------------------------------------------

jamie and theresa

----------------------------------------------------------------

erika and i at my hotel getting ready to say goodbye

-------------------------------------------------------------------

i just love this picture! erika told me she was sad to leave me, which made me sad! being on the east coast i really don't get to see my family as much as i should. but we will be back together this summer at Bass Lake in August for my mother's 70th birthday. should be fun, any of you cali girls (or ohio, florida, chicago, arizona, oregon, etc. etc. etc.!) want to come?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

a few days with my mom, sister and niece in Seal Beach

at the dog beach in Huntington. Paddington (the retriever pup) doesn't seem to be too interested in going in the water. we had a great time there. dogs everywhere - it was like "doggie disneyland". that's me and erika's feet in the water.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

this is a really cool store we made a pit stop at. the architectural elements were unbelievable.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

saw this cute little yard when i went out for an early morning bike ride.

----------------------------------------------------------

erika and i went out for a nice walk by ourselves, did a little shopping, got my hair cut, had some lunch. that's erika with her digital camera; just like her auntie.

---------------------------------------------------------------

cool gate at a garden center in town

-----------------------------------------------------

shadow pic on my bike ride down at the beach

---------------------------------

at the pier

-------------------------------------

a soon-to-be monarch butterfly

---------------------------------------------

shadow pic of Blossom

---------------------------------------------------

erika swimming at the hotel pool. too cold for me!

--------------------------------------------------------

flowers found on our walk

------------------------------------------

my mom and erika walking the pups

----------------------------------------------------

shadow picture of Paddington

-------------------------------------------------------

more gorgeous flowers

----------------------------------------------

at the garden nursey

-------------------------------------------------------------

kim and erika walking on main in seal beach

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

my rental car

------------------------------------------

miss blossom. isn't she the cutest? love that droopy ear! erika and i fought over who got to sleep with blossom each night since blossom is an awesome snuggler.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

mom and her newest pup, Paddington

--------------------------------------------------

Monday, October 27, 2008

heading home today

well, the weekend with Cindy has come to a close. i loved the workshops with Cindy and learned so much. however there were so many students (30) of us that it made it really hard on her. i once taught a class with 30 students and it was overwhelming, which i am sure is how she felt. i had a great time meeting so many of my online friends (cindy, jamie, kelly) and new ones (heather, theresa, jenny, karen and so many more); that really was the best part was hanging out with these really fun and liked minded girls. i'm at my hotel waiting for the shuttle ride to come pick me up and head to LAX. i think i'll be back in NJ around 11:00 and then home by midnite. i'm having a hard time leaving california with its 93 degree weather and heading to NJ where it was 32 the other day. yuck! we had a small tremor here and 2 other tremors up north in Humboldt county. i'll start posting pictures when i get home.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

off tomorrow

i'm heading out tomorrow for California. My mom, sister, neice and 2 puppies are pick me up at LAX and then we will drive to Seal Beach to play. i will spend 2 days with them before joining some girls on Friday for a shopping day before classes begin with Cindy on Saturday. i'm not taking my laptop, so ta-ta till then!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

well i think i'm caught up with sharing all my photos and artwork from Artnsoul AND my photos and pictures from Art is. I think i was probably a little crazy to do back to back art retreats, but it just sort of worked out that way. i took the red eye home, repacked and was headed to Connecticut 3 hours later. it definitely was crazy. i got so tired driving, i had to pull over at a rest stop on the parkway and take a nap. I'm glad i headed up to Connecticut as i had a wonderful time and made some great contacts and may possibly be doing some teaching there next year.

Now here's where i get even crazier, i'm leaving on Wednesday for California to take 2 days of classes with Cindy Forrestor. I'm going 2 days early and will get to spend time with my mom and meet her 2 new dogs, Blossom and Paddington, and also get to see my sister and niece who happens to be on fall break. we found a dog friendly hotel in Seal Beach and will find some fun things to do for 2 days before i head over to meet up with the retreat girls for a big shopping day on Friday.

and yes, when i get home, i will be taking a little break from traveling (but don't quote me!). i've got some holiday orders to start filling, a show in Nov. and a show in Dec. so i think that will keep me busy enough!