Weeks 33 and 34, I'm so hard core!

Or something like that. The last two weeks have been busy busy at work, and I've been hitting the gym like a madwoman, plus a 30 mile bike ride last week, and tons of art projects that I'm working on. I'm in a manic phase right now. Soon to come crashing down I'm sure.

Thought I'd give a shot at some hand lettering with acrylics. Um, practice makes perfect right? Or can I say my little daughter wrote the weeks out. Except I don't have a daughter.

225: Leftover pie cupcake from the day before, along with some of my mom's apricot jam, and one of grandma's farm eggs. It was like a family affair, without the family though :-(
226: Quesadillas! Avocado! Wine! You can't go wrong here.
227: Making some eggplant and zucchini parmesan. I tend to cook enough for an army. And I usually polish things off in a few days, hence the need for the gym.
228: Leftovers make for food styling practice
229: Drool. Bi-Rite Coffee Toffee ice cream. Wait in line the first time, buy some pints for later.
230: Dinner at the desk, Chapter 623 (ok, maybe only 614). Pho sure!
231: What, there's still some Bi-Rite left over? Well then, let's make some affogato.
232: Sunday already? Off for a 30-mile bike ride, followed by huge plate of pasta, followed by snooze at the pool
233: Leftover sauce, different pasta.
234: Dinner at the desk! With leftover lunch. There are a lot of leftovers in my life.
235: I need some greens. Bok choy. Green beans. Now I feel healthy again. And won tons. Winner won tons!
236: Such a winner those won tons, I made them again.
237: A ton of winner won tons. Wanna ton of winner won tons?
238: Breakfast, the most important meal of the day, so they say. Important when it's a Saturday and you're going to go exploring the whole day. #iseefaces

Phew! Now I'm hungry. What's for lunch?

Weeks 31 and 32, Woo hoo!

This week ended with a 2nd place win at a pie contest! Woo hoo indeed! More on that in a bit...

211: Sunday started with some red velvet cake, the dessert I never got to the day before. It was a mouthful of sugar, and not in a good way. Not going to that bakery again.
212: Another dinner at the desk, with some panini left over from lunch.
213: My favorite go to, noodles and broth, topped with a farm egg from Grandma's ranch
214: More soup, ran out of noodles though.
215: Dinner out, sushi! I could just eat this photo.
216: Happy hour! Oh, glorious happy hour. Pisco punch and apps at Le Mar.
217: Homemade strawberry and blueberry wheat pancakes for breakfast.
218: Had pizza the night before at Jake's, a high school hangout. Tastes good the next day too!
219: A huge plate of pasta with all the fixin's!
220: Made an eggplant zucchini parmesan. Not bad!
221: Enjoyed the tomatoes and basil from my garden. I need to do some homemade mozzarella since it is so much better than store-bought.
222: My favorite (well, my only) roasted chicken recipe from Emma. My dogs love it too.
224a: Missed a day! Thinking too much about pie, here's my entry for Omnivore Books pie contest.
224b: Celebrated my second place win with mango cheesecake. But could only stomach a mouthful after all the pie.

So I entered another food contest yesterday. Third time's a charm, and I tied for second place! Helps when 1/2 a dozen of your friends come by to root you on.

I made a version of Eat the Love's Cherry, Apricot and Plum pie. I had made it a few weeks ago, my first attempt at an old-fashioned pie. Thought I'd try it again, although this time, I had to go to the store for the fruit. No cherries in mine, and unfortunately most of the plums were not ripe. Plus I only had one pie pan, so I ended up making some pie "cupcakes" as well. It all seemed to turn out well in the end since there was barely a crumb left! (I think bringing ice cream helped too!)

So much fun! Thanks Omnivore Books and Eat the Love!

Time for a Clock

I drew a clock. This is what I do when I need a creative release. After all the stress of starting my own business, it was nice to just get absorbed in drawing for a few hours.

I had bought this vintage-inspired clock several months ago from Wuslu.

Source: wuslu.com via DecorSteals {Previously WUSLU} on Pinterest

I love all their vintage-inspired items. But I was extremely disappointed. The face of the clock was a poor quality printout.

This is not a blurry photo. This is what the face looked like. I was so disappointed that I wrote to the company expressing my disapproval. They gave me a refund.

Anyhow, it's been sitting on my desk, taken apart, waiting for a day to have the face replaced. I went online looking for some images to print and cut out. But I really was not finding anything that I liked.

So I took to some hand lettering and drawing. I probably spent a good 3 hours on this, and maybe one of these days, I'll be able to do it faster. But the 3 hours of just getting absorbed and essentially having all the other thoughts quieted in my head was nice.

Exploring Golden Gate Park

Last weekend, I decided to get away from the computer and work and take a much needed exploration of the city.

My destination: Golden Gate Park. I've lived in the Bay Area for so many years, and I have been to bits and pieces of the park, but I don't really know it very well. So my goal: to walk from one end to the other, taking photos along the way.

Ha! It was not to be, especially in flip flops. I guess I figured I used to always do it in Central Park when I lived in NY, but GGP was a whole lot more vast than I expected.

Just made it a little over half way through

I started along the ocean side, walking along JFK Drive under foggy skies. Since I had gone for a run earlier in the day, my legs were already sore, so about 1/4 mile in, I had to take a break at Spreckles Lake. Made some friends with the seagulls.

Continued on, past the Bison Patch (had no idea there were bison in the park), taking another break at Lloyd Lake.

An abundance of seagulls, a few of which took a liking to me, despite the fact that I had no treats. Plus a pair of turkey ducks, which I don't think I've ever seen before.

Along with the bits of wildlife, I was enjoying the bounties of nature.

Then I came across the boat house and Stow Lake. Super cute area, with walking trails that took you up to the top with views of the city. 

A few more random creatures along the way. 

What a crayfish was doing in the grass, I haven't a clue. I picked him up to the glee of some kids, and they passed it around before placing him back in the lake down the road.

I was trying desperately to catch some hummingbirds in action. But alas, this is the only shot that I managed to get.

It was a wonderful little adventure, and I'm looking forward to more visits and more discoveries!

July Mood Board

I don't know, but the last three July's have been awful for me. I thought maybe this one might break the curse, but it ended with such disappointment personally, that I've decided July is just not my month. I've also decided that the letter "J" is my bad luck letter. Must stay away from the J.

Even my July Mood Board is a bit paltry. The tomatoes that I thought were going to come are still green. Just one little guy for July. Not many roses at all. A few dahlias. I had to scrounge around just to get some lavender cuttings. But I did put some work into the garden this past weekend, so hopefully August will bring better results.

So it's goodbye to July and looking forward to better days in August. It helps that August starts with my favorite letter. I have a feeling August will be good.

Yay for A!

(See my inspiration for these mood boards over at Karin A's blog!)