I Am Art

Not for anti-carb people

Both of these pieces of wheat bread have roughly the same caloric and nutritional values but one tastes much better. Can you tell by looking which one it is? Which piece of bread would you rather eat? If you were making a sandwich, which bread would you use?
In case you miss your seester, this is an exact conversation Karen and I had this morning.

*The term "wheat" may be used loosely here.

To Grow or Not To Grow

This week~

1. Back when I had football helmet hair and was trying ways to disguise that, a lot of people told me I should try a style without bangs. I don't want to be the type of person who doesn't pay attention when people give me advice and I've been in the mood for change. I've been growing my bangs out. They are at that annoying stage and I am tempted to have the stylist cut them tomorrow. At home, I have started clipping them back because I can't stand to have them in my eyes when I am trying to SEE things. This is a major decision since it's likely to cause major stress while other things cause major stress. Seriously, bad hair makes bad everything else way worse. I took lots of pictures so I could really see myself without bangs. Not that my hair style without bangs would be a style with my bangs clipped on top of my head, but still, I wanted an idea. It's good to really see yourself. To grow or not to grow, this is my question.

2. On Monday my husband got injured at work. He fell and hurt his ankle and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. His first ambulance ride! At the hospital all they did was a lousy x-ray for broken bones and told him they suspect ligament damage and to see and Orthopedic doctor to get more tests,  tossed a bunch of paperwork at him, then said he can't work.  They didn't even give him a prescription for the horrible pain he was in! What the hell?!  Then it took 35 calls for us to find out who the insurance carrier was who would handle the claim, and 4 days later still nobody has returned his calls, set up an appointment, or referred him to any doctors. He's back on the couch with a bottle of Advil, a bag of ice, and his video games. The lady at the deli counter  said she wondered where I'd been. I am back to making lunch and dinner and my husband is back to being at home. My life is on repeat.

3. It's been very windy here and the apples from our tree have been lethal weapons. I have to take cover when I walk outside or risk head injury from flying fruit. It's a shame my hair is not really a football helmet on days like this. Every time I picked up an apple off the street, another one landed. I'm sure it was quite a sight!

*I'm resisting the urge to redo that photo and put some lipstick on. I hope my seester doesn't see this. The iPhone needs a lipstick App!

These shoes were made for walking

In addition to being a lotion hoader, I am a walking shoe hoarder. Except I don't really hoard them. I actually try on more than I buy because I have to have the perfect shoe for walking. I hoard the trying on process to be sure I have the ultimate in comfort and support.  I can't walk in crappy shoes. When I say walk, I mean walk walk like for exercise or adventure.   I am not a lotion snob but I am a shoe snob. I have never understood those people who walk 7 miles on pavement wearing a pair of arch support-less Keds. Or thongs.  And when I say thongs I mean the sandals adults now call by the sound they make.
I  have 3 pairs of walking shoes.  The best pair I had for walking was a pair of MBTs. I got them when they first came out and they are so damn ugly. So ugly they could only be worn at home on the treadmill or with really long pants so nobody could see how ugly they were. Still, everyone teased me about them and called them Frankenstein shoes. Then years later when Sketchers copied MBT and everyone got them (including me, but they were not as good as MBT) I was all "SEEEE!!!!" to all my friends who dissed me for the last few years. The Sketchers version of MBTs are much cheaper than the real thing but the problem with both of them (for me) was that while great for walking, I could not stand in them. Or walk up hill. Or downhill. They were mostly the best shoes ever for walking on the treadmill. That was fine because I walk on the treadmill a lot. But, I really needed shoes I could wear while standing up.
So I got Earth shoes. The were the best shoes ever for standing up! They were especially good for easing back pain. I could stand in these shoes all day long and be fine. I could not, however, walk in these shoes without tripping over my feet. The base of these shoes were wide and clunky and I felt like a duck. But, man oh man, if I put them on the second I felt lower back pain, it sure did help.
Both shoes were expensive, both had benefits, both were hideously ugly, and both had another bad problem: I could not wear either while driving. Both pairs were too bulky and big and I could barely feel the gas pedal. I kept thinking someone needed to invent a shoe that was a mix of the MBT and the Earth shoe and make it less ugly, less chunky, less heavy, and less wide at the toe. And, they should be good for walking and standing. How hard could that be?
Someone at New Balance apparently read my mind because they have invented my dream walking shoe. It is half MBT and half Earth and way less Frankenstein-like.  My husband's glasses broke and we went to the mall to get him new glasses when I saw the New Balance Rock & Tone shoes at Lady Foot Locker and had to try them (just in case I was missing something). These were the shoes I have dreamed about. I can stand and walk in these and they are so cushioned  it's like walking on marshmallows dipped in Cool Whip. The "rocker" part feels like the MBTs and whatever special design element they are claiming all their own feels just like the special quality in Earth shoes. The toe is much narrower and the bottom is not all thick and wavy and I can drive in these. And, they weigh next to nothing. They are not super attractive but nobody has called me Big Foot, Frankentstein, or Peggy Hill yet. I am in love with these shoes.
The thing is, I have no idea how long these shoes have been on the market. They were on sale for $59 at Lady Foot Locker which might be a bad sign. I don't know if they are New Balance's new shoes or if they are phasing them out. If you are a walker, go try them on. They had a few different colors (unless you are a size 8). Zappos has them but they are more expensive there. They are style number 1442.

In one week, I found out that my dream lotion and my dream walking shoes have both been invented. Does this mean there is also a refrigerator with a Diet Coke dispenser in the door instead of a water dispenser?

What are you wishing someone would invent?

I'm a lotion hoarder

It's no secret to anyone around here that I am lotion hoarder. I can't stand to have dry skin and I put it on the second I get out of the shower, right before bed, and on my hands a few times during the day (after I was the paint off).  I am not a lotion snob (Jergens is one of my faves~ it's in every room of my house) and it's always a gift I love to receive.
The other day I was going stir crazy at home after being cooped up working on some projects so I decided to dash over to Cost Plus* and get some of my favorite tea. They were out of the tea (of course) so I thought I could extend my time away from the office by trying out all their lotions that I had not seen before. I went through my usual routine of trying the citrus scents first then the gardenia and honeysuckle, then finally  the "zen" scents that always smell kind of like old Ikea wood furniture if it were sitting on grass, but less good.
And then I saw the Jasmine lotion. I love the scent of real jasmine. Jasmine scented stuff rarely ever smells like real jasmine. It usually smells like bananas and salt on top of pink bubblegum. And it causes migraines. I was kind of hungry so I thought smelling it might be a good way to stop my appetite. Boy, was I wrong.
I popped the lid and it was like standing in a real garden full of blooming jasmine!  I was sure it was a fluke so I opened another tube of the Jasmine lotion and that one smelled good, too. I tried some on my hands and it was smooth and creamy (not greasy!) and it smelled like I was standing in front of the  jasmine in my garden and a gentle breeze was blowing. FINALLY! A Jasmine lotion that smells like jasmine.  One of my wishes has been granted!
If you like Jasmine, it's the Cost Plus brand called THERE and it comes in a few products and sizes. I got the small travel size in case I ended up hating it the next day but I love it (no headache!).  A little bit goes a long way and the scent lasts a long time. It's a really clean and refreshing scent, just like the real thing. If you don't like jasmine,  don't go smell this.

 

*I know, people call it World Market now. It's still Cost Plus to us.

Another one of my wishes was granted. I will save that for my next post. It's amazing what you find when you leave the house!

as the clouds move

  I sure do love all the colors and textures of this time of year. I hate that I have to love it while bundled in three layers of hoodies and scarves. My house is freezing. I always love how the leaves from our giant eucalyptus tree make really cool shadows all over our yard. They are inky and blurry in all the right spots, and they twinkle as the clouds move. The other day I was outside spray painting some stuff and I set some canvases down and the shadows shimmered on them. I traced them as they were, painted them in their pretty inky blurriness, and now they are not just shadows. Actually, I painted a lot of them (in a variety of colors). I didn't want to waste good shadows. I'm bringing the outdoors indoors to my own living room.  I put a few of the extras  in my etsy shop.
Now I just need good fingerless gloves so I can keep working indoors this winter.

This, I remember

Thanks for sharing your weekend plans with us! That was fun to read. We'll be asking that question again!
This weekend a big thing happened. Karen's baby girl turned 16. Or is it sixteen? Either way, she can drive now. I know this because we met her for dinner and she sat with the car keys and cell phone on the table to the right of her plate, like they were part of the place setting ( just like an adult). Her dad drove with her, but still, she has a key chain with her name on it. She can merge. We all know what merging leads to.
I fear she will merge her way to Starbucks in a pair of  pajamas and Uggs like all the kids do.

After the birthday celebrating, my husband and I went to an open studios day in Santa Monica. Most of the studios were in an old airport hangar and were painted bright white. You could just tell that none of the artists really worked there. They just displayed their art there and called it a studio because they thought it sounded cool to say in the studio. Across the parking lot in a little building were more realistic  artist studios with paint on the floor, messes, and life going on. Nobody had cleaned up to look more impressive, yet these artists were actually the most successful of the bunch (I learned later via google)! These artists were laughy and having a pizza and didn't seem too concerned with whether or not the big spenders came their way. One of the artists took me and Dustin on a tour of her secret studio down a long path, behind a shack. It had a blue door and was filled with fantastic paintings of the beach, rows of shelves filled with art books, and tubes of oil paint scattered everywhere. I wanted to take a photo but I felt weird whipping out a camera while she was talking to us like we were family visiting for the weekend. 
In front of the building where it wasn't painted a sterile white, the laughy artists had created an outdoor living room for themselves. I noticed what looked like the word "BE" on the door. Oh, how I loved this!
I barely remember what was in the big white section. This, I remember.
*******

The winner is: Kel, who went spent the weekend searching for someone to fix her hair. We'll be sending you a book so you can journal about your weekend. Thanks to all who commented!

I'm feeling givey

I have no idea what the hell I am doing. I realized I have not updated my bio or my portfolio in way too long. I'm so out of date which makes me the type of person I would fire if I were me. While I went deep in thought about why I haven't kept my stuff current and why I have been dragging my feet, I started procrastinating even more. Since I couldn't eat to distract myself, I started clicking around the internet and found this cool etsy on sale site. So, while I work on not being a dumb ass this weekend, I put everything in my etsy shop on sale! You don't even need a code or anything. All items are 25% off. The sale ends at midnight on Sunday.

What are you doing this weekend? Tell us. I will send a copy of Visual Chronicles or Journal Revolution to one lucky commenter (winner's choice).

just thinking

When we were in college, someone once told Karen that if she wrote a nice note to the spiders in our apartment asking them to leave, they would.  I figure that probably works about as well as crossing your fingers while rubbing your tummy and making a wish. But one morning I woke up and there were little "spiders, please leave" post-it notes on the walls in our two rooms. We laughed and laughed and laughed. And then our kitchen was covered in ants.
Karen's daughter turns 16 this weekend and it has me thinking about all the things she will need to know when she goes out into the real world on her own.
Be specific when you leave notes on your wall.

 

*I know I have mentioned the spider notes before. For some reason, they were on my mind today.

contagious yawns

What We Are Liking:
~Exaggerated, contagious yawns
~Tuna sandwiches on paper plates
~Time to take photos at stop lights
~The Diptic App
~Sister Wives. I am so hooked on that show. They are on Oprah tomorrow. I need one of those sister wives who does all the cooking, cleaning, and running of errands. I prefer she live down the street and only come over a few hours a day. I think that's the 4th wife.


What Is Annoying Us:
~Shows we like are boring us to tears. Has anything new even happened on Parenthood this season? Is Dexter going to lock that girl in a cage in a cabin the same way he locked Doakes in a cage?
~A 3-hour commute
~Mysterious bumps that make us all too aware of too much time spent in tanning salons from 1989-1992.
~People not listening to anything we say then getting all pissy with us. Yes, this is still on our list. We aren't all pissy with people who warned us about tanning salons 20 years ago. Two weeks ago, right before the insurance adjuster who hasn't returned any of my calls wanted to pet Suki, I told her our beloved cat was a fraidy cat who would run when strangers tried to pet her so it's best to admire her from afar. Then (ignoring me) the  self-proclaimed cat lover insurance adjuster leaned down and tried to pet Suki. Suki screamed and ran away (it looked kind of like her yawning up there).  I could barely contain my laughter! And, well, my kitchen is still wet.
~I keep seeing candy corn in the stores. I still remember that delicious bite of candy corn that rendered me toothless.
~I'm taking too long to do anything lately.

on the loose

This weekend~

1. I became addicted to Tootsie Rolls.

2. Our cabinets are still wet. It's been ten days since the insurance adjuster and the mold "experts" were here and nothing has happened yet. I haven't even recieved an estimate or a letter saying how much my too-high deductible is. I realize I have chosen the wrong career. I suspect both people have been paid by their employers during that ten day period.

3. Last week my husband got a flu shot. He's been sick ever since.

4. I had a dinner date with our little brother on Friday night. As dinner dates with little brothers always go, it involved a trip to an ice-cream parlor. I made a fashion observation: loose beige pants are less flattering than loose jeans. Also, the "Germanchokolatekake" at Coldstone is so good! If you are on a diet, only have 3 bites.