A Peek Inside My LIfe

Outside My Window... we've got beautiful blue skies and sunshine, but threats of rain in the forecast. It's been the driest winter in several years, so we could use the rain.
Around the house and garden... Paul put the vegetable garden in this weekend. . . lettuce, squash, tomatoes, beans, herbs. The pear trees have started to blossom, and the apple trees are getting their buds. A few flowers have started to bloom.  I'm hoping to do a little more purging of the kids' rooms since they will be around this week.
I am thinking... about what the week will be like. I have to work, but both the kids are on school break. Clara sometimes finds herself at loose ends without structure. They both probably have some homework to do, too, which they never like doing on break. I know Clara has some knitting to finish up from a class she just finished. Henry missed a week of school, so he will have lots of catch-up for sure. I'd like to give them some house-cleaning chores as well.  Such random thoughts.
I am thankful for... the fact that Henry is returning home from Dallas today. He went for a week with his soccer team, and I really missed him. I am thankful his team was invited and they had the opportunity to play soccer against teams from all over the world (Canada, Mexico, Sweden and the U.S.).  I hope he enjoyed himself and grew from the experience.
From the kitchen... Paul got the cooking bug this last weekend. He made a beautiful spanakopita for Easter. Plus, there will be the inevitable (but welcome)  egg salad this week. And we've been enjoying lentejas (a slightly spicy Mexican lentil soup).
I am wearing ... my pajamas, but will be changing into my running shoes soon to get a run in with Clara. Training takes up a lot of time, but it is definitely worth it.
I am hoping ... that a big work event we have planned for Thursday night goes well. It's an annual lecture for our labor and employment law program.  I always worry about how it will turn out, even though it's always been a success so far (this is our ninth one).
I am reading... not much!  In the blog world, I am definitely enjoying Julie Kirk's blog series, "Push-Up Bra Blogging."  If you haven't seen it yet, check it out here.
I am busy creating... lots of stuff! I was very heavily into photography during March, but I'm thinking April may see a return to more mixed media.  Over the weekend, I finished my dry art journal for Kelly Kilmer's class. I'll post a class review soon. My iphonography class with Cheryl Johnson is also coming to an end soon. Ditto on the review post. I have a few scrapbook pages to post, too. Plus, the end of the month will bring my "Photo-Heart Connection" post, and the new month will witness my newest "Storytelling Sunday" post.
I am hearing... birds outside the window in the kitchen and Clara telling me it's time to get ready to go run.
What's going on in your life right now?

Vintage Inspiration: dry art journal page

It's a very relaxing weekend around here, and I've seized the opportunity to do some creating. Today, I made three art journal pages, finishing up the "dry" art journal I began for Kelly Kilmer's class. This page started as a page about Easter, but somehow morphed into one about how my style is influenced by vintage elements. I like the colors and variety of elements.  The focal image is one of my favorite heritage photos - that's Paul's grandmother sitting in an ostrich cart in Griffith Park, California.
It's a rainy weekend, and I've been watching a lot of television.  Our cable provider has a "free" weekend for many premium channels and I watched the entire first season of Homeland! I really liked it, but they aren't showing season 2.  And, tonight, Paul and I are engaging in our annual viewing of The Ten Commandments. I may not be able to stay up until Moses gets the tablets, but I think I will make it through the parting of the Red Sea.
Do you watch any special shows for Easter?

Monthly Make: Purple Thank-You's

I made 24 thank-you cards today!  I have been so blessed with the outpouring of support from people supporting me and Clara in our training for a half-marathon and our fundraising to help find a cure for leukemia and lymphoma (you can read more about it here or click here to join us) that I have run out of thank-you cards in my extensive stash.  I wanted to make purple thank-you cards, as that is the color of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training program. So I gathered an assortment of purple papers and got to work.
How did I make them so quickly?  I used a couple of "assembly line" card making formulas that were developed by Julie Heyer of the Cape Cod Scrapper blog.  The first recipe is at this link, and the second one is here.  I used 24 sheets of 8.5x11 paper to create 24 cards. Pretty cool, huh? I'm calling this my Monthly Make for March (a project started by The Felt Fairy blog, which I am continuing this year, even if she is not formally running it this year due to her health).  
It felt really good to get back to card making after such a long time. I'd forgotten how nice it is to make cards. Let me know if you check out Julie's blog or if there's something you've returned to lately.

My Photographer's Eye

Vignette #12: Cracks in the Wall
Walking to work past the plastered buildings, I suddenly noticed that each wall contained cracks. I stopped to examine them more closely. As I stared at the cracks, it seemed as if  whole worlds existed in the patterns they contained. My photographer's eye decided to capture one small square to see what the close-up would reveal. I think I see a cat, stretching her face up to the sun.  What do you see?
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My Photographer's Eye is a semi-regular series designed to feature my instagram photography and a brief accompanying narrative. You can see the other vignettes in this series by clicking on this link

Marriage Equality: It's Time

Warning: Political Content!
Yesterday and today, the United States Supreme Court has considered two major cases about whether every person in the United States should be able to marry the person they love (even if that person is of the same sex). I have been a strong proponent of marriage equality for a long time.  In fact, I created this photograph a couple of years ago.  Although I have posted it several times before, it just seemed like the right time to post it again.
And, judging by Facebook, I am not alone in my support of marriage equality.  Many people have been changing their profile pictures to reflect support of marriage equality.  The first profile suggestion was very simple and straight-forward:

After that, several variations started to appear:
Beautiful Rings:

Delicious Truth:

Puppies for Equality:

King cake babies (a New Orleans mardi gras tradition) in support of equality:

The variations have been so much fun that it's hard to think anyone could be offended. I hope you haven't been! 
Come back Friday for a return to regular, nonpolitical content!

Look Up//Look Down #12: World Baseball Classic

About a year ago, Henry and I were sitting at a baseball game at AT&T Park in San Francisco, and we saw advertisements for something called the "World Baseball Classic" which was coming to the stadium in March, 2013.  We talked about how it might be fun to get tickets and watch national teams from outside the United States come to our ball park to play. So, for Christmas this year, I bought tickets for Henry, and last Tuesday we watched the Dominican Republic beat Costa Rica in the championship game.  The game had a very different feel than a typical U.S. major league baseball game. There was much more music and lots of chanting and singing.  And a lot more emotion. It felt like a cross between a little league world series game and an international soccer match. Even though it was a bit of dreary night weather-wise, I'm glad we went. 
As a bonus, I thought it would also make a fun entry for my weekly look up//look down post, inspired by Helena. Looking down at the opening ceremonies and looking up at the confetti during the trophy ceremony. Although you can click on both pictures to see them in more detail, I think these photos do begin to show the limits of the iphone camera. It is hard to get really clear photos at a distance.  I still like the photo pair, as I feel they capture the atmosphere of a very fun night.
On the upside, the iphone really does a great job on videos. Check this look up//look down video taken during the celebration.  Click on this link. 

My Photographer's Eye

Vignette #11 A Riot of Poppies
The poppies didn't wait for the first day of spring to come to life. By the time the equinox arrived, they were rioting and rollicking and spilling from their container. Almost past their prime, my photographer's eye recognized their beauty in the urban landscape and stopped to document it.
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My Photographer's Eye is a semi-regular series designed to feature my instagram photography and a brief accompanying narrative. You can see the other vignettes in this series by clicking on this link.