I Am Art

cool stuff

* Ikea's new BE BRAVE, NOT BEIGE campaign. We quadruple love this.
*Greeting Flix!: Create little movie greeting cards with your OWN images! And it is free!
* Finally after all these years, I was able to get LindaWoods.net. Man, there are lots of Linda Woodses. I wonder how long I'll have to wait for lindawoods.com?
* Today has been really good so far. This officially kicks off the time of year everyone who is married to anyone who works in the industry dreads: Hiatus. Most shows are done filming for the summer and we get 3 months with our spouses at home. I am gonna look on the bright side and think of all the home improvements that are going to be happening around me while I work from home.

not buying it

I finally got around to watching Alec Baldwin on The View and I really have to know how many people actually bought what he was trying to sell.  As the children of divorced parents who could not ever get it together-even for the sake of their children- Alec's the media made it worse, a mean guy released the tape, the other side is evil  defense is a song we've heard way too many times. And, watching him spew it while continually rubbing Barbara and Rosie's knees made me want to barf. It was like watching our own father on tv. Of course all parents yell at their kids and say things they later regret, but calling your daughter a pig on an answering machine is really totally different. Totally different. Alec could've gone on tv and said I'm sorry. I totally fucked up (remember Hugh Grant?) and everyone would've forgiven him. But instead, he explained how when his daughter is at his house, he wakes her up gently and when his daughter is with her mother, she screams to wake her up. That is not acting in the best interest of the child, is it? Speaking ill of your child's mother (or father) will never, ever ,ever  make your child's life better.  Honey, I didn't mean to call YOU a pig, I meant to call your mother that. That poor kid. I am sure he does love his daughter, and I am sure lots of people like him (as he kept telling the audience), but having a lot of friends who know you love your daughter does not make you a good dad.
That interview really irritated me.

There's a great book about how to reunite with your children if you are an absent parent called The Prodigal Father.

soul searching

Many years ago on a train bound for Betws-y-Coed, Wales, we decided to turn our love of art and writing into our workshops and website, Sisters On Sojourn, which over the years grew in popularity and eventually into this. And the other day on a train bound for San Juan Capistrano with a bunch of home-schoolers, we decided to slow down our workshop schedule a bit to work on other things related to our love of art and writing...and sleep. Traveling all over the place and packing and unpacking the same things over and over again is tiring. We will continue to do many FREE appearances and events and book signings and we will be limiting our workshops. Our only workshop for 2007 is at the Omega Institute in New York in July. There are still some spaces left so if you'd like to join us, reserve your spot soon!
In addition to the 3 hours of soul searching on the train, we had a wonderful time visiting the mission and exploring historic San Juan Capistrano. If your kids have the mission project to do, this mission  is the perfect place for your kids to explore on the internet at home while you relax in the blooming garden with your friends and some cookies. It is beautiful. Though, we're always a bit iffy when we read about how the White Man was so nice and generous to the Native Americans who just happily handed their newborns over to be baptized. Yeah, right.

Behind the train station are beautiful homes and gardens bursting with glorious color and texture. There's even an adorable tea house  with handmade scones and giant bowls of sugar on each table!

I took many photos that would show you how gorgeous it was but I am too lazy to upload everything right now. You just have to trust us.
Now that we are back home, I was lucky enough to dine in style tonight with gal pals Suzi Finer and Holly Dye. Suzi is the queen of good eats. We enjoyed salmon and fattening treats while hearing all about the visit Britney Spears made at Sweetpeas & Snapshots the other day. How sad. The paparazzi just doesn't leave her alone... usually it is hard to get men to go into a scrapbook store!

*Dessert photo stolen from Suzi's blog.

out of our heads

We suddenly got really busy doing stuff. The problem is in order for me to make sure the stuff is good, I have to do other stuff so I can think about the stuff at hand. Lots of stuff going on.
In the midst of the stuff, we were amazed and delighted to have once again discovered excellent customer service. The fine folks at Fran's did right by us. Karen wrote to them to let them know how sad we were about the "new" coconut bars and were told they haven't changed the recipe and that it was probably just a bad batch. The very nice customer service representative not only replaced the candy, but they also sent a $25 gift card. Now THAT is how to do business. Fran, you are GOLD!

Tomorrow we are off for the day to explore San Juan Capistrano and get out of our heads for a little bit. 3 hours on the train to and fro, imagine all the talking we'll be able to do! And picture taking!  I can't wait to know all the funny things that will happen during our 12-hour adventure.

heaven

Today We're FEELIN' GROOVY about:
~The Tudors. I think Henry's friend who slept with Henry's sister is way hotter than Henry.
~Excellent advice from dear friends in a frenzied moment
~Thursday we're taking the train to San Juan Capistrano for the day to visit the mission with Karen's son. We haven't taken a train ride together in a long time and I am sensing some good photo ops to go with the adventure.
~Help, lots of help from kind people. Heaven is gonna be a really full place.
~Having lots of good problems for a change

Our Bêtes Noires:
~Aveda lipstick comes in great colors but it tastes gross.  In the 80's their lipstick used to taste minty and good.
~One of the soccer mom neighbors from across the street keeps putting on a hooded sweat jacket then  sneaks around the corner to smoke. When she's done smoking she puts out the cigarette on the sidewalk (she's a litter bug),  takes off the hooded jacket, fixes her hair, puts on lipstick then walks back to her house. I see her do this a few times a day as I am working. What is worse is I can smell it. It's funny to me how smokers always think nobody knows they are smoking. I can smell cigarette smoke from 3 miles away. Let it be known that if she were sneaking around the corner to eat Ding Dongs, I'd join her.
~People not helping each other. How sad. Lately we've been noticing how few people really go out of their way to help other people. Or not even out of their way, just not at all even when it would be easy. WTF?

the revolution is real

Tonight I was talking on the phone to my dear little brother while surfing the net and I almost fell out of my chair when I saw that our book, JOURNAL REVOLUTION, is now available for pre-order on Amazon. YES! Oh my Buddha! The book is really REAL. The great news is that our curse has not ended and there's a typo in the description~ and we take that as a good sign. And because I am ME and Karen is KAREN, I spared no time trying to get the typo fixed.  A new book and new typos. Oh man, this year is gonna be interesting.

*and* I have new prints in my etsy shop and art on ebay with $1 opening bids.

blogs we like

Last week, lovelies Maria, Lain and Suzi all included this blog of ours in their lists of 5 blogs they like. We are so honored because we know how hard it is to pick only five. It's so hard to choose only 5 that I am going to list even more than that. And, we hope that if you have a blog or there's a blog YOU like, that you'll leave us a link to it in the comments so we can spend more time blog-hopping and less time working.

These are some blogs we visit on a regular basis- some of these blogs are also listed over there on the right side (and down a little)------->. Also included in sites we visit regularly are of course, the blogs of Maria, Lain and Suzi.

1. Candy Blog: Really good and reliable reviews from the queen of candy. It was here that I discovered the amazing Take 5 candy bar and life has not been the same since.
2. Dispatch From LA: I love Miss Dispatch. Her art is too cool for words, she travels with her sister and she knows good food. And, I can swear in emails to her and she doesn't fall over from shock. From Dispatch's blog, I found ...
3. Lisa Hoffman's blog:  She's so funny. I've never met her in reality but I really want to have lunch with her. She seems like the type of friend you could call in the middle of the night when you see a giant spider on the ceiling and can't sleep because it might drop then crawl on your face and she'd totally be able to relate.
4.  Funky Finds: I suspect this blog is on a lot of good blog lists. We love the way Jessica supports and encourages so many wonderful artists. There is nothing that makes the day of an artist better than reading that someone likes their art. We all need an ego boost every once in a while.  Miss Funky Finds builds confidence in people and that is such a gift.
5. Aubergine: Every time I read this blog I wish Dona lived next door to me so I could pop over and borrow some of her soup, knitted stuff or just flip through her journals....and maybe she'd help me plant my garden. I love the way she writes and she makes good stuff.
6. Belinda Del Pesco: Belinda is just so cool. She is a super talented artist and I love the way she always shows photos of her art in progress. I read her blog and suddenly feel like I am sure I could make the most awesome woodcut prints even though I never have tried. She's also really tall and a really good hugger. I am not really a hugger but I do always notice when a tall person is a good hugger because it is really hard to hug a  short person (me).
7. Carol and Tena: Carol and Tena are really funny and look like us. How could we not love them? They have a new book out, LIFELINES. I just ordered it and am sure I will be raving about it here very soon. These women are both so inspiring and creative! Take their classes- buy their books- read their blogs. You will LOVE them.

*If your blog is not on this little list it doesn't mean we don't love it. I could go on and on about blogs we like. And I might again, soon.

perfect yellow

Last week was the first trip we've taken where we didn't bring a journal. HOW WEIRD! We always have a trip journal. Actually, I did have a journal with us, but we never wrote in it. I just stuck stuff on the pages (important stuff like receipts, wrappers and tags which all tell a story).
A few of the things we loved and laughed about on our adventure:
1. We realized that another way Karen and I are opposite is she prefers her sandwiches toasted and I prefer mine not toasted. And, both Karen and her daughter, Emily, thought the Passion Iced Tea at Starbucks was gross and I liked it.

2. In honor of me dearest friend, Sujata, we lived it up by having macaroni and cheese at the Nordstrom cafe in Seattle after finding jeans that fit both of us and some cool red shoes. Sujata was right! The Nordstrom Mac N Cheese was perfect! Their version of the 7 Layer bar isn't very good so stick with the cheese cake or giant coconut macaroons if you go there. If you are curvy or short and curvy, try the  Not Your Daughters Jeans. If you are  skinny and want to look curvier, try the  David Kahn jeans (tho you can find them cheaper than at Nordies) . If you like cool, comfy, colorful shoes, get some TOMS. Be warned, the TOMS shoes run half a size too small. Further warning: if you eat lots of the Mac N Cheese at the cafe, your new jeans will feel a half size too small.

3. People who live in yellow houses in Seattle are paranoid wackos. Yes, I base this broad judgment on only one experience. We were driving around Madison Park on the way to visit Nana when we noticed many yellow houses. Many perfect yellow houses. Of course I had to take photos so I could stand at the paint counter at Home Depot trying to match the paint swatches to my photos. One of the perfect yellow (very little) houses was the type with a "private property" sign, gated entry, triple bolted front doors and as I soon found out, an owner who just sits in her house waiting for artists to come by with a camera.  I very quickly (in the pouring rain) stood at the front gate and took a photo and as I turned around to walk back to the car the  front door swung open and the owner was screaming, " Can I help you? What do you WANT?"  I responded that I just wanted a picture of her house because I love the shade of yellow she used and am searching for a yellow for my own house. People are so weird about what other people take pictures of. I plan on having cookies on a plate and lemonade in my fridge for all the people who will soon be standing in my front yard taking pictures of my cute yellow house! Here's the house with the paranoid owner. A picture of her house on the internet is probably her worst fear. 

we're back

We're back from our few days of shopping, eating, shopping, eating, shopping and eating in Seattle. We had such a good time! Of course it rained most of the time we were there and everywhere we went we were bundled up and flat-haired.
Here we are at Pike Place seeking cover:

And here we are at a candy shop, for a little excitement, I stood on the other side:
 
And here we are hugging on the balcony of our Nana's apartment because we are both so happy we found jeans that fit. [more on the jeans tomorrow]

and here are me and Emily hugging because she is still young enough to let her aunt hug her (and she won't be almost my height for much longer):

And here is the conclusion: we look exactly the same in every photo taken of us whether it is candid or not. We've come to the realization that this is just how we look. So....now you'll just have to wait until the book comes out to see the author photo we ended up with. We love it.
Before we left for Seattle, Karen and I kept telling Emily that we'd have delicious chocolate croissants there. We've always had excellent pastries there. Because we are us, every chocolate croissant we had there ended up being, well, LAME!
Look:

They call this a CHOCOLATE croissant! Where's the chocolate? One little blob of chocolate at the bottom of a thick bun is not a chocolate croissant! Sheesh. And, to make matters worse, Fran seems to have changed the recipe of her Coconut Gold Bars and now they aren't that good. What is going on in Seattle that is making all things chocolate go weird? Anyway, even though the so-called chocolate croissants at The Essential Baking Company on Madison in Seattle aren't very chocolaty, their sandwiches are delish! We'd always wanted to go there so are happy we got a chance to try it.

Up next: new red shoes + a good yellow house with paranoid owners

we're off to the emerald city

We're packing up and getting ready to head out to Seattle way too early tomorrow morning. We're only going for a few days so we can visit our beloved Nana (she'll be 95 this month!), check out some bookstores where we may want to do some signings this fall (we'll be back!), eat some Fran's Coconut Gold Bars, wander aimlessly through the aisles of QFC at U Village (the best grocery store EVER),and take some long walks as we make plans-laugh- and take CANDID photos! We like to walk and talk. We also like to walk and eat. I think we'll do both. We're getting on a plane, so you know what that means= PMSX2. Well, actually, PMSX3 because we're bringing Karen's tween daughter with us for this adventure. Normally when we go to Seattle we let all our aunts, uncles and cousins know we're coming and we spend lots of time going here and there to see people. We didn't tell anyone we're coming this time because we want a chance to breathe and: PMSX3...nobody should have to suffer us this weekend. We promise we'll give lots of notice before our next trip to the land of salmon, grunge and BRANDI CARLILE!!!
So, if you see 3 girls in I AM ART shirts taking pictures in the Tampax aisle in QFC, it'll be us in all our glory. If we have internet access at our hotel, we'll report on our adventure when we aren't at the waffle bar.