Hope Suspended

All those pretty painted baubles from the last post

came together to make an Advent mobile

to hang in the worship space

Z uses with his students.

The idea is that each orb represents the hopes

 of the student who made it.

When hung up above the font, 

their hopes are suspended during Advent, 

waiting and watching for Christmas.

An Artsy Saturday

I headed up to Longmont today

for some lunch & pottery painting with a friend.

I'd never been to a pottery painting

place before, and it was lots of fun 

picking out the right piece, 

coming up with design, painting, 

and visiting.

Here's my piece while being painted

(with tape on it).

Here's what it looked like once i removed the tape.

Can't wait to see it glazed & fired.

After we finished painted our painting, 

we found this public art in downtown Longmont.

I loved it so much I made 

mac and cheese for supper :)

What a lovely Saturday!

When art meets science.

Just came across this print & wanted to share it with you.

Isn't it awesome?

I adore the vibrant colors, the range of subjects, 

the style, everything about it.

I would love to see it in wrapping paper form, 

or even matted in a frame.

What about you?

via ScientificIllustration

Charles Harper- “Giant Golden Book of Biology”

Vacation Road Trip

When it was time to leave our

lovely Sonoma Valley hideaway, 

we made our way over to Napa.

We stopped by 

the Oxbow Public Market

where we picked up some

cherries from the farmer's market, 

some of Kara's Cupcakes,

a fresh loaf from 

the Model Bakery, 

& Z's favorite, 

some charcuterie delicacies from

the Fatted Calf.

We took our yummy treats

& headed for San Francisco.

It was raining as we drove over 

the Bay Bridge...

But by the time we arrived at

Golden Gate Park, 

the precipitation had paused.

We had a cozy picnic in our car

before taking a stroll around the park.

We hit the road again, 

driving along the coast on the 

gorgeous 101

until we reached Santa Cruz.

Finally, we stopped for 

a bite to eat before heading home

& came across this fellow.

We could have used a few more days of vacation,

but what a fabulous way to end the trip!

A day in LA/LB

After dropping off
Mama & Daddy
at the airport in the morning,
we had the day to kill
before our red eye flight
back to NC.

We started at a cute diner for breakfast.

Then I wanted to check out
the La Brea Tar Pits
to reenact the scene from
My Girl 2.

Anyway, they were doing some excavations
at some of the pits.

A sign said they had found some
bones from various animals,
including mastadons, saber-toothed kittens,
and giant ground sloths
the day we were there!

Then we went next door
to the Los Angeles County
Museum of Art
to see some outdoor exhibits.

We drove around to see other sights,
but of course we ended up at
Dodger Stadium.

After cruising around LA
we made our way down
to Long Beach where we mostly
hung out by the water
until it was back to the airport!