Title-Less in Virginia

Yes, it's the first warm weekend in forever and I am sitting inside blogging.  I love warm weather.  I do not like humidity and even after five years living on this side of the country, I stubbornly refuse to surrender to it (I miss the desert that is California!).   At the first sign of elevated humidity levels my inner Southern Belle arrives and threatens to wilt if she has to sit outside for long.  She is very high maintenance ... she can occasionally be bribed into sitting outside if an umbrella and a tall glass of something iced (tea, coffee, lemonade, or mint julep) is provided, along with something to keep the bugs away.  Unfortunately there is no one providing these things today, thus I am inside under the ceiling fan.

Today's mail included some Sally Jean bling.  I love these little charms!  Not only are they pretty and shiny (all that glass and silver solder), the little collages are clever and make me laugh. I was originally planning to take a soldering class with Sally Jean at Art & Soul, but didn't feel 100% thrilled about it, and came to the conclusion that while I love these soldered charms, I really don't have any desire to make them myself (and no one can do them the way Sally Jean does).  While I love learning new things, I am happy to say my {authentic} realm is that of paper and paint, occasionally fabric.  This doesn't mean I'm limiting myself, just concentrating on what I truly LOVE.   I do not love mechanical things, tools, tools that BURN, I might add!  A sewing machine is about as mechanical as I get! 

Life is shifting into overdrive next week.  It's funny, the last five months with Mr. P. away have been quiet and low-key but suddenly in May - wham - many things are converging and concentrating at one time. 

Art & Soul begins on Thursday.  This is my third year attending and despite a shake-up in plans, I am tremendously excited about taking classes, seeing dear friends, and making new ones.  It is always to great to go to one of these retreats because conversing is easy ... art and creativity are built-in ice breakers.  I am taking classes in drawing and journaling.  At the last minute I was able to shuffle my classes and I ended up in a Juliana Coles's class, her last at Art & Soul.  What's interesting is, I needed a book to use as my journal for her class.  I found this book on the bargain rack at the book store.  It was the right size and heft (and price) so I bought it.  I came home and looked at the class title which is: Reconstruction Era: Rebuilding the Self Through Shadow.  Reconstruction.  Interesting coincidence, yes?  Anyway, I am really looking forward to spending two days immersed in Juliana's intense and introspective process.  Her classes last year were the most valuable to me, both artwise and personally.

Shortly after Art & Soul, I will be driving to Northern Virginia to see Mr. P. who will be doing some work up that way.  We'll spend a couple of days in D.C.  I've never been to Washington, D.C. and am looking forward to seeing the standard attractions (monuments and museums). I'm hoping we can find a neat place for dinner one night.  After our little trip, we'll drive home and Mr. P. will have a few weeks of leave.  To say I can't wait to see him is an understatement! His trip home comes just slightly short of halfway through our year apart.  Good timing!

This is the longest post I've written in awhile.  If you've made it this far, thank you!

I hope to get some blogging time in between Art & Soul and the trip to D.C.  I have a few Plans for my blog to share in my next post.  In the meantime, if you are dying to know my opinion on important matters of baked goods, please check out Jessie Oleson's Cakespy blog.  I found out Friday that I won one of her awesome cupcake illustrations simply by taking her informal poll about cake, pie, and muffins (oh my).  I can't get over Jessie's "cuppie" illustrations - cupcakes wielding brass knuckles - hee hee - too much fun!

Comments

[denise]

The book looks an interesting find for the workshop. Hope you enjoy working in it. Have a great time, so glad you get some time with Mr P :).

[Heather]

OH, Mr. P is coming home!!!! Whooo-Hooo!
I love the work below this one too...the wrinkles make me ...well they make me want to glue and paint! Have fun and take care!

[Barbara]

I have a dinner recommendation if you like German food...http://www.cafemozartgermandeli.com/zgrid/proc/site/sitep.jsp
It has been quite a while since I've been up that way, but we always ate here and really enjoyed it. Deli and restaurant. Good food and reasonable. DC is one of my alltime favorite places to go! You will have a wonderful time!!!

[violetkey]

Yeah, links to fun places! Very exciting that you'll get to see Mr. P. and in D.C. no less, love being a tourist there. I hope for your sake that the humidity is minimal! Also, check out the Moleskine City Notebook, it has maps, transit maps, blank pages, pockets - it's a cool little book: http://www.moleskines.com/klcn002-dc.html

[tracey]

I'm so happy for you that Mr. P is coming home! YAY!! Enjoy yourselves