The Holidays

The holidays are such a fun time. I have always enjoyed dressing up in coats, gloves, and hats. Growing up in Florida I would dress up in my winter gear and sit around the air conditioned house.

Now living in the North I can go outside in my cute coat and my warm toasty mittens.

We spent Christmas in Puerto Rico where there was no need for wool. We went to my favorite beach Montones and swam, we played Texas hold em, went to a casino, ate good food, visited with family and friends. And we did it all in three days.(see posts from January 2009 for more PR pictures)

On our flight to PR we flew over snow covered cities which was

a first for both of us.

A few weeks ago our neighborhood parade closed down the streets. It was the perfect day for a parade crisp and clear.

Nothing says Christmas like Santa on the back of a Semi!

Fritz & Jennifer's wedding weekend

Here I have a few images out of 300 to share. The wedding was lovely, the bride was beautiful, and the groom, well, he's alright...

Florida visit

We are back in Florida for my brothers wedding on Saturday. So far we have been catching up with family. Eating good food. And enjoying the warm sunshine.
top picture - my Great Aunt Bonnie and Ella

bottom picture - Ella

Last day in my 20's...

What a fun last day in my 20's!

Early in the afternoon we will go to the Butchers Hill Flea Market & Craft Fair downtown... There will be over 100 booths of vendors. Live music. Fair food. oh, and it feels like fall.

In the evening we will get dinner in the neighborhood and head back downtown to see our very first Charm City Roller Girls Bout! I will post pictures next week.

Saturday - A day of firsts

We have been in Baltimore about 6 months now. Seeing an O's game was a must on our list of things to do. With the season coming to an end the pressure was building. So Saturday we caught an afternoon game. We had prefect shady seats to watch a fun game,the O's won!!!
Earlier in the day I got my first major hair cut/color in three years.
The winning moment!
We drank our first beers in aluminum bottles....
My personal favorite! We saw our first beauty pageant winner, Miss Maryland. How bizarre...

Exhibit - Expressions In Wine & Music at Pure Wine Cafe

I began painting again a few weeks ago after reading a call for wine art on Craigslist. Last night we dropped these paintings off at their new home, The Pure Wine Cafe in Ellicott City, MD. The paintings will be on display for two months. The opening event will be Monday Sept. 7th.

The top two paintings are the most recent. The bottom three I have posted in the past.

Wednesday sail

As I mentioned in an earlier post we joined a sailing club in downtown Baltimore. We have taken the first crew class and have sailed once or twice a week all summer. Last night was the first time I took my camera (the winds were low and the light was luscious).

We arrived a little late so we had to wait for a skipper to show up. The wind smelled of sweet molten sugar. Some days the wind smells like sugar (the Domino Sugar factory)and others it smells like freshly baked bread (H&S Bread Factory in Fells Point).


If you look at the top of the above picture you will see a little arrow. That arrow points in the direction of the wind. It is your guide when at the tiller.

Baltimore has several great neon signs. The Domino Sugars sign is one of them.

Feels like Fall, for a few minutes

I woke this morning to the delightful feeling of Fall. Warmed with a fresh cup of coffee, I claimed a cushion on the couch and continued my journey with The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

Ken's mom left this book with a high recommendation. I peruse a few pages between paintings. It's a quick, captivating read written as letter correspondence. The lead character is someone I would like to be friends with... if she existed in real life.

A few more...

This is the latest one (above) I substituted wine for coffee. I just couldn't waste the wine and I didn't think it a good idea to drink before work.
It's funny I looked at these yesterday and was satisfied with them. I look at them today and they look so unfinished... I guess they are works in progress...

More Paintings

I worked on these two last week. Unlike the first three these are painted with oil instead of acrylic. I really enjoy the smell of oil paint. It makes me want to walk around in paint smeared thrift store clothing and wear vintage glasses...

Our first date

Eight years ago on August 11th Ken walked into the winery where I was working and asked me to go to Stoggies (a bar in St. Augustine) with him.

Here we are eight year later.... I know it's corny but it feels like yesterday.

Cupcake pin cushion

I found a craft group that has both open craft nights and organized craft projects. Ken's mom, sister, and I went to a bottle cap cupcake pin cushion class. We had a great time! It is a simple project made of felt, embroidery floss, a plastic bottle cap, and stuffing.

For step by step instructions click here.

Wine studies

A few days ago I found a call for wine related art for a wine bar in the greater Baltimore area. So I bought some supplies and I started painting. These are just studies. I limited myself to finish them in one hour.

Finished Mosaic

May 7th was our third anniversary. Before our Ann. I did some research to get ideas. I found a website that suggested traditionally for the third year leather and mirror were given as gifts.

I first purchased a leather messenger bag/briefcase. I didn't like it so I sent it back. I then contacted a local mirror store and they gave me their scrap glass for free. I then printed the design and transfered it to wood about 34" x 34". Then the slow process of cutting the mirror and gluing each piece in place. This process took over two months. I just grouted it on Monday. I am very pleased with the results.

Artscape 2009

Artscape is an extensive art festival that shut down the Northern streets in Downtown Baltimore. We went Friday night about an hour before closing time. We heard the last minutes of a concert by Dionne Warwick and saw her police escort and stretch limo leave the festival. It was very exciting... The police lights were flashing, the sirens blaring, and the crowd was cheering!

There were many booths of local and non-local artists displaying their handmade goods. I always enjoy seeing what other people are making.

We had our first sailing lesson on Saturday. We spent 8 hours on the water. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was cool and the wind was active.

After our sailing lesson we scurried over to Artscape to catch the band Cake. It was so crowded! (see picture below) We couldn't get close enough to see the band but their first song was my favorite, Stick Shifts and Safety Belts. We stuck around for a couple more songs, being bumped and nudged by a flow of people trying to get closer but realizing they couldn't. We worked our way back to our car and headed home.

New York for the 4th

We drove up to NYC to visit Ken's aunt Beth for the Fourth of July weekend. We left Baltimore around 7 p.m. on Friday night and arrived in NYC at 11:30 p.m.. It's so close!

Saturday morning we took the train into downtown. Neither Ken nor I had been to NYC as adults. We were very excited! The city was quiet and interesting. We had authentic Italian coffee at Caffe & Gelateria Dante on 81 Macdougal Street. We went to a couple antique/flea markets. We walked around Central Park, Washington Square, and The Village. We met up with a few of Beth's friends and had a fantastic Thai dinner before we took the train back to Bronxville.

Grand Central Station

Beth recommended that we go to the Met. She didn't have to twist my arm... We started with the Francis Bacon exhibit. I enjoyed seeing how he used photography to inspire paintings. His paint-smeared photos were on display, they were my favorite.

We then wandered over to the Modern art area where we got up close to a Chuck Close. Chuck Close has two very unique styles. This was the first time I've seen one of his photorealistic paintings in person. WoW!!
Chuck Close detail- This is a painting... not a photograph...
We had a great time in New York. We look forward to our next visit!