What the Hail?

Hail...really???

Last night, around 11:30 thunder struck and hail came crashing down.  Without warning.  It hadn't even been raining before that so it was quite a surprise.  And pretty cool too.  It was SO loud I thought for sure the peanut would wake up, but she didn't.  It was accompanied by a profusion of thunder & lightening and the dogs thought they should probably bark but we kept them quiet somehow.  Of course I had to take photos.  I'm sure some of you think that's ridiculous, but where I come from hail is a rare occurance, hence the urge to run to the computer and eject the memory card, grab the camera and brave the weather.  And I do this all for you.

More hail

The next morning the hail remains...

it wasn't a dream.

Three

Yeah, 3...it's the magic number.  At least when it comes to my blog.  I have been wanting a 3 column blog since I first started blogging and just never had the time or inclination to sit down and figure it out.  But, thanks to Three Column Blogger, I finally did it!  And it was SO easy.  So, now I share the joy of 3 columns with you.  Try it, you'll like it.  They have step by step instructions that are easy to follow and info on how to tweak your column sizes and margins.  I'm still working on mine  As you can see, some of my widget graphics on the right are getting cropped.  

These blogs...always a work in progress!

Be My Valentine...

Valentine's Day packaging

Something special from Something Blue

I know it seems early to be thinking about Valentine's Day already...BUT, I just wanted to share.

I'm offering complimentary Valentine's Day themed wrapping for all purchases in my Etsy shop until February 14th.

Sweet!

Bon Iver

Bon Iver

For Emma, Forever Ago

I rarely watch late night TV, although I do watch TV late at night.  But the other night I caught Bon Iver (pronounced like bon hiver, 'good winter' in French) on David Letterman and I was riveted.  Here was this rugged, rough around the edges...dare I say, unkempt looking fellow who looked as if he walked straight out of a cabin in Montana (he kinda did) playing an acoustic guitar and singing like an angel...actually more like a broken angel if that makes sense.

I immediately looked Bon Iver (Justin Vernon's latest band) up on iTunes and downloaded Skinny Love (listen), the song he performed on Letterman.  It's quite of departure from the type of music I usually listen to, but I can't get enough of it.

LYRICS

You can check out Bon Iver on Letterman here.

You're welcome.

Breakin' the law

Ah, the carpool lane.  There's really nothing like it on a weekday afternoon in L. A. 

So this afternoon while driving home from a lunch date with my daughter sleeping soundly in her carseat I barely noticed I was traveling at 80 miles per hour.  Really, I wasn't going any faster than anyone else so it was easy to overlook.  As I casually cruised along I suddenly noticed something in my peripheral vision.  I glanced over and there was a CHP motorcycle cop keeping pace with me, and looking right at me.  Gulp.  I immediately let my foot off the gas and started to wonder how much this speeding ticket was going to cost me.  The posted limit is 65 mph...this could be pricey.  The officer slowed down a bit, I presumed so he could get behind me and proceed to pull me over.  But then, he sped right past me. I realized then that what he was doing was checking my carpool status....he was looking at my daughter in the back seat (who does qualify as a person) because at first glance I'm sure I looked like a single person taking advantage of the wide open carpool lane.

Apparently speeding is not such a big deal in L. A.

1000 Markets

1000 Markets

A community of marketplaces...

I just opened a shop on the new hand crafted site, 1000 Markets.  It looks like it will be a great venue for selling my work and I'm excited to fill my shop with lots of lovely items.  After all, Valentine's Day is just around the corner!

From their "About Us" page:

"Our merchants are small, independent, artisan businesses built by people who love their craft.  They make & sell unique products based on their own vision, personality and story."

Happy New Year!

Enjoying the warmth of the out door fire pit

Toasty...

OK, I'm a day late in posting this but, better late than never, right?  We had a nice, relaxing and quite civilized New Year's Eve.  We celebrated with some friends who were kind enough to take pity on us by inviting us over to sit by the fire & eat a delicious meal...

A glorious fire

BBQ'd Tri tip with a home made chimichuri sauce

Yum!

Organic field greens

S'mores

the perfect ending...