Illustrating Modern Life: The Golden Age of American Illustration

Last weekend I went with Craig and Dri to an art exhibit at Pepperdine University. I'm so glad Dri told us about it, because the art on display was seriously amazing. I like all kinds of art, but the work I saw there was right up my alley.

The artists I walked away most enthralled with were J. C. Leyendecker and Dean Cornwell. Beautiful work! Sigh! I love art.

Happy Weekend!

I was going to do an update, but all I've been up to lately is lots of work and movie watching. So I'm just going to leave you with these amazing commercials for Prada's "Candy" perfume, directed by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola. I want to live in these!

Minty Ice Cream Cake

I recently started making ice cream cakes for different occasions. The nice thing about them is they're totally customizable! For a family dinner taking place on St. Patrick's Day, I made this green minty version. The crust is crushed Mint Oreos, the middle is mint chip ice cream blended with Cool Whip, and the top is hot fudge, ground up mint MnMs, and more Mint Oreo cookie pieces. I think it was a hit!

Next time I make an ice cream cake I think I'll make a video, or at least take photos documenting the process! 

On a side note, looking at this ice cream cake is making my oatmeal breakfast look pretty depressing by comparison... *sigh*

On The Hunt...

I'm on the hunt for the perfect day-to-night neutral versatile bag. I have a purse right now that I love but it has a very bright and loud pattern on it that clashes when I want to wear patterns. I'm leaning toward the upper-right one on this page, but I haven't made up my mind completely. Hmm. What I REALLY want is a $500 Kate Spade or Tory Burch handbag, but I digress...(these are all under $100 by the way)

1st Row: 1  2

2nd Row: 1  2

3rd Row: 1  2

Feel free to attach a link if you've seen something similar!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It's St. Patrick's Day and for some that might mean lots of green beer and corn beef, but for this teetotaler vegetarian, it means that I'm going to brunch with friends, do a bit of shopping, and then have a nice family dinner. I'm wearing green gingham and I made an awesome minty green ice cream cake (pics/recipe coming soon!) so I'm not completely being a spoil sport! Mostly everybody probably celebrated yesterday, but if you're out drinking tonight please be responsible!

Here's some hot Sean Connery for the end of your weekend ;)

Improving the Morning Commute with Karen Savage

I am LIVING for audio books right now! I had been meaning to catch up on some classics that I somehow missed reading when I was younger, and found myself wanting to listen to something during my drive to and from work. So I got the Audiobooks app (has a ton of early classics for free) and listened to Pride and Prejudice via Librivox, read by Karen Savage. HOOKED! Her narration was fantastic and I wanted to see what else she had done. After that I listened to The Secret Garden which I hadn't read since I was probably 9 or 10. Another excellent reading. Right now I'm almost done with Anne of Green Gables (how did I miss reading this as a young girl?) and have some more Anne books lined up in my queue. I'm afraid Miss Savage's readings have spoiled me and I won't be able to listen to audiobooks read by anyone else! Hopefully the other narrators are ok...I want to listen to some Shakespeare or non-Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald. And I can read other books on my lunch break and get twice as many books in! Yay!

Any audiobooks you're enjoying? Or are you strictly a real-book type of person?

Trip to the Getty

I've been fighting an awful cold for about a week now. I was tired of being cooped up in the house last weekend, so on Sunday I tagged along on my roommates' trip to the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The weather was perfect and the art was beckoning, so I threw on a sundress, grabbed my good camera, and away we went! I got to document baby Jamey's first museum trip, and it was a lot of fun.

Every time I go to a museum, I wish I could visit one every weekend. It helps me forget about the day-to-day stresses and worries that tend to consume me, and remember that the world is bigger than me and whatever problems I think I have. I can't wait to take my own future child to look at art and watch their eyes grow huge at an amazing sculpture or tapestry or gigantic painting... 

(all photos by yours truly)

The Return of Wednesday

Well I feel silly. I had just finished mourning for Wednesday and writing her a fond farewell when she turned up at our kitchen door a month after she went missing, meowing like she always did. Crazy cat. She's got a proper collar now and she's starting to put weight back on, and she hangs out on her tower like nothing ever happened. Little brat! It's good to have her home!