Monday again. Seriously, why can’t all weekends be three-dayers? We finished off Alex’s 18th birthday celebration with a Saturday afternoon lunch a Morimoto (as in Iron Chef Morimoto) in Napa with Alex’s good friend Emily (they have been together since first grade…sigh). Alex’s birthday lasted a week and included 5 meals with 5 different sets of friends. That girl is something.

I didn’t do a good job of documenting our lunch…I tried, but somehow I didn’t capture the sea urchin carbonara, the most delicious light and fluffy (and warm) donuts dipped in lavender honey and green tea sugar) and the Taro Tartare, which I can’t even explain, you just have to try it. There were other delicious bites, and I consider it a win that I didn’t lick my plate.

We wandered around town and even played with the cha cha cha steps. Mostly we just felt like the past 18 years have gone by way too fast. Happy Monday.

Don’t believe it.

I have lost my keys, which are kind of important, not the least because my key ring includes my Swiss Army Knife (with a story of its own). My Swiss Army Knife has a corkscrew on it. I don’t use it very often, but it’s comforting to know it’s there.

My keys are somewhere in my house. My very, very, very messy house. Steve and I both came down with the same-but-different cold on Tuesday. The one that makes you look and feel and sound very, very old. The good news is that it was a look into the future. The not so good news is that it wasn’t the cute old people holding hands while rocking in their chairs on the front porch future. Sigh.

I am embarrassed to tell you how much TV I have been watching…but it’s enough that I can now tell the three Kardashian sisters apart  (I can’t believe I just confessed to that).

I also can’t find the cord that connects my iPhone to my computer. The one that would enable me to publish the cute photo of my tea mug with my cough drops. Because I know you were all just waiting for that one.

Update….here it is:

Tonight I am going for the shot of whiskey with my tea. And then a family scavenger hunt for my keys. Because we know how to have a good time over here.

Happy Friday. See you on the flip side.

I found it here, but you can buy your own here.  Or you can just stay put and imagine it here.

Of course, multiple coffee dates. Deborah, Tom and Tommy and myself. Because I am special that way.

Thrifting and crafting with the Lee sisters, and the traveling sisterhood of Chico, San Francisco and Sacramento. We ate pizza, had crafty show and tell, and made roses out of newspaper. Fun and inspiring.

In fact, I was so inspired that I came home and made a coffee filter pom pom garland for Alex’s birthday. Celebrating all week.

If you’ve hung with me this long, I will reward you with a tidbit that will change your life. Baked potatoes in the crock pot. Seriously. I did overcook a bit, but this is a winner. If you do this, you might be able to actually get something else on the table. Or you can just pile everything (depending who you are in this family, that would include brocolli, chili, black beans, fat free sour cream, green onions, red onion, cheese, turkey bacon or any leftovers that are still in the fridge) onto the potato. You’re welcome.

Apropos of nothing, but it makes me laugh every time I see it (it’s on my Pinterest page, which is my go-to instant happy place). And we could all use a Tuesday morning laugh. From http://thinkermaker.com.au/

Global Re:positioning  |  Oil on canvas. Size: 36″ x 50.” This one hangs in our studio and is also on the homepage of the studio’s website, here.

by West South  | Oil on canvas. Sizes: 12″ x 12.”

Medusa  |  Mixed media—oil, acrylic and collage. Size: 24″ x 36.” This one is inspired by the kids who work in the electronic graveyards in Africa, scavenging for parts. The ends of the computer cables are all attached to maps of imagined origins.

Barracuda  |  Oil on board and found object. Size: 16″ x 16.” re:mapping the gulf oil spill, and the romance of the American automobile. And yes, that is a real dip stick.

Steve is the most self-disciplined person I know. He works without dramatic proclamations, or an audience, and certainly without checking his blog stats. He just works. Unlike someone else I know who has to muster up personal challenges to make stuff happen for more than ten minutes. I think his work is inspiring and thought provoking. Take a look.

I think that’s a pretty good way to begin a week, or a year, or just a new chapter. Don’t you?

Source: http://conflictingheart.tumblr.com/

I think it’s an old auto parts store. We have the windows on the left…so much light!

There’s a red door!

Entering our studio.

My office is to the right, with a huge window looking out to the main area. Plus a skylight.

And this lamp. I look at it when I want to feel fancy.

My desk….so clean, so unusual, so not quite me.

The chairs are waiting for you…

Looking into Steve’s area.

The guy really needs a new monitor. Somehow the old one just doesn’t look right.

Because it’s always about the cup of coffee and the calendar.

Happy weekend!

I have plenty of bloggable thoughts, but none of them organized enough to blog about (though I will toss out there that this is going to be a very long campaign season if we have to keep hearing about “class warfare” rather than just being kind and helpful and working together to climb our own mountains). The new studio is great, work is good with moments of great, the weather is great, though I worry about that too. Alex is almost 18, and that’s just weird. Yesterday I said yes to something that scared me, and then it didn’t happen, so I got the win of facing the fear in an abstract sense, but not really having to face it face it. Know what I mean? Yeah, probably not. So I was right about that part where my bloggable thoughts weren’t quite baked yet. Let me get another cup…be right back.