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...

300

300 hearts

Show me the love...

I had a couple of pretty simple, year end goals for my Etsy shop.  300 hearts and 50 sales and I reached 300 hearts yesterday!  

BUT, I'm still 2 shy of 50 sales...8 hours and 20 minutes to go. Will I make it?

Wile E. Coyote

Coyote

Canis Iatrans

It's 1:30am...Really, I should be in bed right now.  I just came in from a late night out...I drove home, alone on the dark and mostly deserted streets of Pasadena, the night before the busiest, most exciting night that Pasadena is host to, New Year's eve on Colorado Blvd.  

I stopped for a light and glanced to my right. Out of the corner of my eye I glanced a shadow moving in the darkness near the curb.  I thought it could be a stray dog... I'm a sucker for a stray dog, so I made a right turn to further investigate.  There, illuminated by my headlights, standing calmly on the sidewalk of a beautiful tree lined street dotted with quaint little houses, was a gorgeous coyote.  He was so calm and unafraid of my approaching headlights, he looked right at me at one point and when I met his eyes my heart broke just a little bit.  I was reminded of how humanity is encroaching, bit by bit on this stunning creature's habitat...so out of place here amongst the concrete, asphalt, and cars whizzing by....just makes me so very sad.  

Getting organized

photo: marthastewart.com

Organized = Pure Bliss...

As my profile reads, I'm a frustrated minimalist.  What I mean by that is, I like less but have more. I like clean, empty surfaces yet am burdened by piles of papers and the this and that of life which seems to accumulate all around me.  This is something that plagues my daily life and I am sick and tired of it...

Now~ finally~ I'm going to do something about it!  Oh, don't get me wrong. I've made half-hearted (even 3/4-hearted) attempts to diminish the piles around me before.  They were valiant efforts that lasted weeks, sometimes even months...but before I knew it, there they were, the piles.  They sneak up on you until one day BAM!  you're wading through them, gasping for air.

So, part of my New Year's resolution is to GET ORGANIZED, once and for all.  To declutter my last clutter.  To be free to invite the random drop-by, unannounced guest or neighbor into my home any ol' time without cringing because of the mess.  

Now, I don't want to leave you with the wrong impression.  My house is not a pigsty by any stretch.  It's just not the way I want it to be; clean, uncluttered and organized.  One of the reasons I have finally reached my breaking point is that it's just after the holidays, I recently had a big Trunk Show and after that was busy filling holiday orders, then my daughter was sick and stayed home from school, now the school is closed for 3 weeks for the holidays, I had to have a little 'unplanned' but necessary surgery (read: not an emergency appendectomy) which laid me up for a week, etc, etc, etc, and as a result my house has gone straight to hell in a handbasket!

I will post some before, during and after pictures.  I think the first room I'll tackle will be my daughter's....

Ah, I feel better already.

StyleList

Garnet Luster Necklace in Gold fill

Delightful...

Today I was featured on the  StyleList Blog, a style guide website featuring celebrity style along with the latest trends, from hairstyles to fashion to shopping and yes...jewelry!

You can read the article here (I'm just below Hugh Jackman...but, I'll spare you the puns): Something Blue

Thanks to Mallory Whitfeld at MissMalaprop.com who wrote the article/interview giving my work a new opportunity to be seen by so many more people!  Thank you :)