The Last Day of January 2011 The Art of Living Well.

This month has been pretty amazing in that I feel I have gone into the new year putting my best feet forward. We started out the month spending New Years Eve with family in Flagstaff, we played in the snow and enjoyed our adventure. I started college back up with a dedication to finally finish my degree. I have spent countless hours studying, reading and writing. I am taking Sociology, World Religions, Music History the rock era and Introduction to Cinema. It has led me to learn about indigenous people, immigration, statistics, how to critically listen to a song, silent movies and the great Charlie Chaplin. I am enjoying it very much. My relationship is growing and moving into a great direction and I feel we are in a really really good place. The relationships I have with my family and my sons have flourished and we have grown closer. I have read more than anything in my spare time and have cooked some wonderful meals. I am taking care of myself better, I go to the dentist almost weekly in an effort to bring back my smile to what it used to be and with each visit confidence grows. I have found a great homeopathic Dr. which I like very much and am doing the vitamin B12 shots and start a 6 week detoxification Friday. I pay attention to what I am putting in my body. That being said I need to find more time to be outdoors doing something active. I would like to start my yoga classes. I need to find the quiet time to practice spiritual things. I try to keep up on everything but to say I am busy is an understatement. I am living. Many good things have happened this month, I can say that they are due in large part to my sobriety. Thank god for that and that it has allowed me to find myself again. I never want to be back in that place again..that drinking place. It seems like it just sucks the quality of life right out of me. Every day I struggle a bit to undo the damage I have done..mend relationships and mend myself...every day I grow a little more and am challenged a little more and am learning the right steps to get through those difficult times. It hasn't been easy by any means, I am still haunted by the mistakes of my past but I made it another month and I am very proud of myself.
I am excited for February because for me it means there will be lots of love to spread around. The theme for the whole month will be Love related. Think Shakespeare,Valentines, Chocolate and poetry.... Oh how I love February. As I say goodbye to January I can say I have made some pretty good memories. I am glad I have had the opportunity to share them with you and to chronicle my life in this way. I am glad to be paying attention to this blog and caring for it, even if only for me to appreciate I recognize that it is important to just keep writing even if I may not feel like it even if I think what I have to say is somewhat mundane just keep writing it down. It is these words that reflect the days of my life and what a beautiful life it is....
Nothing can cure the soul but the senses, just as nothing can cure the senses but the soul. - Oscar Wilde

Sunday

 The weekend has been all about family, homework and what to do with the blueberries. I spent the better part of the day studying Charlie Chaplin and the beginning of film making for my cinema class. I have concluded Thomas Edison took credit for way more than he deserved, that Chaplin was a comedic genius and that watching silent films is something I find to be relaxing. It made for a long day wherin the New York Times got neglected. Nicholas woke up with a fever and a stuffy nose so we have spent the day inside which should almost be illegal as it is a beautiful 70 degrees out. But we needed the rest and relaxation. Yesterday we got out and did some fun stuff and today I finally did something with those blueberries....

I whipped up a blueberry crumb cake from 3 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 pkg jello instant vanilla pudding, 1 cup of veg. oil, pinch of salt, shake or two of vanilla, nutmeg, a little milk and of course blueberries..I even through in a few blackberries...shhhhh topped with a homemade crumb topping and an hr in the oven....

And a boyfriend who likes to take pictures of me slaving away :)

Topped off with vanilla iced cream...whole bean while warm

Asparagus is in season ..I like mine steamed with a little butter sea salt and fresh parmesan

We spent Saturday at Chip & Ruby's and took the boys to Philadelphia Sandwich Co. for lunch.. it was a gorgeous day. Nicholas won 650 tickets from the arcade games. I couldn't believe it... enough for 2 hotwheels a foldup frisbee and a mini basketball hoop and ball

It is going to be a good week and I am very blessed to have re-charged my batteries this weekend. Happy Sunday and Sweet Dreams.

DON'T STOP THE DANCE - Bryan Ferry

This City Never Sleeps - Eurythmics - 9 1/2 Weeks Soundtrack

5 things On Friday

5  Things I Did This Week

1. Got My Vitamin B Shot
2. Committed to attend our family reunion
3. Colored Luke Skywalker & Yoda
4. Went to the dentist
5. Wrote a short essay for music class on N.W.A


5 Things I Want To Do This Weekend

1. Find time for spirituality
2. Make Blueberry muffins
3. Cuddle with my boyfriend
4. Take my little man on a walk
5. Drink a lot of green tea


5 Things I am Thankful For

1. Having found a great homeopathic Dr. which I like very much
2. Medical Insurance
3. My lovely boys..
4. My classes
5. A job that I love

I Taught Myself To Read.....

By listening to "Blood On The Tracks" & reading the lyrics on the back of the album at the age of 4.It goes without saying so began a lifelong love affair.<3





Courtesy of Graham English, I love his word clouds they are so dreamy!

"I can't believe I gave my panties to a geek!"

I am writing my paper for Sociology class on how,during the formative years of my life, I was influenced and shaped by John Hughes movies and how they helped shape the person I am today. It wasn't the economy or any particular war that was going on... It was The Breakfast Club that changed my life. My love of mid-century modern architecture came from Ferris Buellers Day Off due to this house. My 3rd son is named after Jake Ryan in Sixteen Candles which began a long love affair I have had with Porsche's. Some Kind of Wonderful taught me well before my heart was broken how to identify with being in love and what to expect when it hurts...
I despise Justin Bieber. I am so over all the hype Vanity Fair has been giving him over the last month. I wouldn't have thought he was cute if I were 16. I think it was when he started throwing his political opinions around that I just thought god this kid is too much.
Am I allowed a Motha Fuckin Molment of Silence for this small chronic break? I just had to say that. I don't smoke pot... as a matter of fact I don't drink or smoke anything anymore.But I would totaly dig it if someone can name that song?
I live my life like how I imagine it would be in the movies. My thoughts race constantly.(maybe it's the caffeine;)
I couldn't help but think while I was sitting outside tonight how bone chilling the wind feels and how thank god I am not homeless. If anything I always appreciate what I have whether it's been a lot or a little.
Who has time for television? If I am not cooking I am writing or cleaning or doing schoolwork or working or driving or making appts.or showering or thinking of what I am going to do next.
NASA, spirituality, the dermatologist, Toyota Land Cruisers, Yoga class, Tanning... these are all things I hope to accomplish within the next 24 hrs.. and  I get another tooth pulled tomorrow.
I did learn about indigenous people tonight and will be thinking about Shaman before I go to sleep.
I am getting a Vitamin b12 shot tomorrow
....and that is it for today ...goodnight Wednesday

Artist Spotlight: Dennis Oppenheim

Some artists work with a single idea or concept for the whole of their career.
Dennis Oppenheim, a pioneering conceptual artist, was not one of them.


“No one is particularly prepared for the kind of artist they become,” Oppenheim told art critic Douglas Kelley in a 2009 interview By Mary Louise Schumacher of the Journal Sentinel



“You’re there to be thrown around, not only by rambling, interfering concepts but by life itself.”

Oppenheim, who died Saturday of liver cancer according to a gallery assistant and close friends, had a creative trajectory that was as adventurous as it was singular.



He was an innovator of several major art movements and a key art-world figure at a time when the boundaries that defined what art could be were being redrawn.



He was one of the first conceptual land artists in the 1960s, and made his mark, too, on the Body Art and conceptual art movements. By the 1980s he was making complex constructions he called “machine works.” His art was always eclectic, taking on several manifestations, including installation, performance art and video.



For the last several years, he had become particularly interested in large-scale public works, inventive sculptures that were a synthesis of art and architecture. “Performance Piece,” for instance, is a giant brick chimney, twisted into a knot, like something from a cartoon. The work is in Overland Park, Kansas.



“Here was a man who really craved and carved out a new vocabulary in art,” said Thomas Solomon, owner of he Thomas Solomon Gallery in Los Angeles and a personal friend of the artist. Solomon, who first confirmed the artist's death for the Journal Sentinel after conflicting reports online, hosted Oppenheim's last U.S. show, an exhibit of early works, last year.



Many Milwaukeeans will remember the New York artist for his “Blue Shirt,” a public art project that was commissioned by Milwaukee County but terminated before it was built.



The proposed sculpture of a translucent blue shirt was to adorn the parking garage at Mitchell International Airport. Oppenheim’s shirt-shaped sculpture was thought by some to be a condescending reference to the city's blue-collar past, something the artist insisted he never intended.



In interviews with the Journal Sentinel at the time, he praised the sculpture-like building designed by Santiago Calatrava for the Milwaukee Art Museum, and said his work was a response to such trends. He wanted to elevate the human figure, often considered the domain of painters and sculptors, to architectural scale, he said.



The controversy that ensued over “Blue Shirt” was covered coast-to-coast by mainstream media and the art press. It was one of the most controversial works of the artist’s career.

"Chair Pool" 1996

In the end, the $220,000 contract, which was to be paid for by the airlines, was terminated ostensibly because a deadline was missed.



Oppenheim is likened to some of the most accomplished avant-garde conceptual artists of the last generation or two, including Vito Acconci, Gordon Matta Clarke and Bruce Nauman. He has exhibited work at galleries and museums around the world, including the Tate Gallery, London; the Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

"Device to Root Out Evil"

He was born in 1938 in Electric City, Washington. He got a bachelor’s degree from the California College of the Arts, Oakland, Calif.; and a master’s in fine art from Stanford University. He moved to New York in 1966, where he remained until his death.

Tuesday

A serious writer is not to be confounded with a solemn writer. A serious writer may be a hawk or a buzzard or even a popinjay, but a solemn writer is always a bloody owl.


Ernest Hemingway

Me On Monday

10 Completely Random Things Which Describe My Day

1. I opened 2 new bank accounts today, right across from the Mall

2. Charlie bought me a beautiful wind chime today from Pier One with little birds all around it..I collect birds..It was such a nice surprise and made me feel very warm inside

3. I discussed my ex husbands upcoming marriage and the reasons  for which I am not invited to the wedding

4. My middle son hurt his knee playing a game he called sharks & minnows at recess..

5. I sauteed onion and garlic in some butter, added pork chops for 5 min each side ( and set aside) added Dijon mustard & cream to the same pan, stirred it up added the chops back in to simmer for 15 minutes and served over rice.. they were divine.

6. Talked smack with the guys at work

7. Tried to talk someone into a 5k repair on his Audi.

8. Took my Sociology exam & got 20 out of 25 points

9. Told my little guy I wanted him to dream of Oceans & fish tonight

10. Semi agreed to bring my oldest son to the mall Saturday

The Pink Carnation

I may walk until I’m fainting, I may write until I’m blinded,

I might drink until my back teeth are afloat,

But I can’t forget my ruin and the happy days behind it,

When I wore a pink carnation in my coat.



Oh, I thought that time could conquer, and I thought my heart would harden,

But it sends a sudden lump into my throat,

When I think of what I have been, and the cottage and the garden,

When I wore a pink carnation in my coat.



God forgive you, girl, and bless you! Let no line of mine distress you –

I am sorry for the bitter lines I wrote;

But remember, and think kindly, for we met and married blindly,

When I wore a pink carnation in my coat.

Henry Lawson

Reality leaves a lot to the Imagination - John Lennon

Whats Cooking This Weekend?

Experimenting with mixing the flavors of cinnamon red-hot candies and apples. The first attempt was to bake some Braeburn apples (cored) with the candies inside. After Charlie and I  had this dessert, served up with a little vanilla bean ice cream, I thought of a better concoction. Slicing the apples thin after skinning and sauteing them with butter and a few pinches of love..pulverizing the red hot candies into a homemade cinnamon vanilla ice cream...mmmmmm will make a yummy Valentines Day dessert!

In my house you will pretty much always find my milk glass bowl filled with kisses. Mostly they will be of various Holiday varieties depending on the month...So just as the candy cane & cherry chocolate ones disappeared, Valentines Day brings white chocolate and raspberry swirls with a little dark chocolate "hug" inside...

The Blueberry French Toast from Fridays post...turned out awesome! This I will make again and again..especially since I had no less than 5 pints of Blueberries in the fridge since they were having a wicked sale! Next time I will put a little more maple syrup in the eggs than what the recipe calls for. The blueberry topping was out of this world and just got better & better as it sat. Served this up with Havarti & herbed dusted eggs, sage sausages, thick cut bacon and these......

Yogurt parfaits...I love making this easy, little, fancy additions to brunch. I only have 4 parfait glasses so I like to use a variety of vintage glasses or milk glass cups as well. My vintage champagne glasses looks so pretty when filled with layers of yummy fruit and yogurt. I typically use whatever I have on hand yogurt..fruits..and granola. This am being it's berry season I had some plump and juicy blackberries on hand..sliced up fresh banana...used a combo of cherry and berry mix yogurt with some pumpkin flax seed granola...yum!

Tonight's dinner was thin sliced top sirloins...black beans & corn ...and this fabulous Lemon Pasta with garlic cheese baguettes.

Spring is almost here!

Sheppards Pie using the slow roasted pork from the crock pot topped with garlic mash... gotta make the most of these hearty meals while the weather is still calling for them...they also widdle down my endless supply of frozen veggies;) This dish is actually so easy to layer using whatever leftover meat you may have...with veggies layered on top and a nice layer of homemade mashed potatoes spread over it. I melt cheese on top of mine of course!

So Happy Sunday!! I would love to hear what is cooking in your house this weekend! Homemade brownies are waiting to be topped with vanilla ice cream & choc. syrup...should be illegal. We had a great weekend taking the boys to see The Green Hornet...napping...game playing..reading...and I got those bathrooms clean...but I did not go to church..I worked on my Sociology homework instead and did well on my quizzes. I would like to find more time for spirituality in my life and I will here soon. Hope everyone has a great week!

Namaste

January 23, 1989…Salvador Dali died of heart failure at the age of 84

Enigma of The Rose - Salvador Dali

Saturday

"Wish not so much to live long as to live well."
Benjamin Franklin

Artist Spotlight: Robert Doisneau

"The marvels of daily life are so exciting; no movie director can arrange the unexpected that you find in the street." Robert Doisneau

"I would never have dared to photograph people like that. Lovers kissing in the street, those couples are rarely legitimate." Robert Doisneau


"I don't photograph life as it is, but life as I would like it to be," Robert Doisneau






Robert was France's most popular and prolific photographer. His renowned Kiss by The Hotel De Ville, above, has hung in my bedroom for over 20 yrs.

5 Things On Friday

5 Things on Friday



~~5 things I did this week~~


1. Got a tooth pulled



2.Spent a sick day at home with a little man who had the stomach flu



3. Went to 4 Dr. appts.



4. Entertained the thought of buying a diamond ring then asked myself ...Why?..and didn't



5. Did my yearly overhaul of my closet and got rid of half of my things to a friend that was excited to get some new stuff.

~~5 things I want to do before Monday~~ ( But probably won't)



1. Read the NY Times in it's entirety



2. Go to church



3. Jog



4. Take my vitamins



5. Make out


~~5 things I am Truly grateful for today~~



1. That the "bump" in my son Logan's knee turned out to be nothing to worry about



2. That I have a boyfriend who makes me laugh



3. That I hear I love you multiple times a day from my boys...



4. That I have food to eat a roof over my head and a job to go to



5. Sobriety



~~My 5 Favorite things this week~~



1. The day I spent with my favorite teenager going to the salon and cruising the mall;)



2. Learning about things I previously had no idea about...( Aggregate groups of people, Charlie Chaplin, Hinduism)



3. Coffee Coffee Coffee



4. Finding the most awesome pants known to man at H&M



5. Lingering at the coffee shop with my 4 yr old before school and watching him eat the magic pink doughnut with the sprinkles and drink his chocolate milk.. made a cranky sleepy boy get a good start to his day..

Hello Weekend

What are you doing this weekend? I for one am glad to have a couple days around the house..I never have had the luxury of knowing what it feels like to be a stay at home Mom for any length of time. I love my job however I try to sandwich all of the things I would rather be doing in between weeks like most people. With three boys it is hard to make time for everyone and maintain a relationship as well. I'd like to thing what is key to being able to survive the madness is to slow down. I am one of those people who has a hard time sitting still. I am lucky to make it through a movie without getting up ten times.. so relaxing a little bit is definitely something I have to practice more.I guess at this stage in my life I am just busy. Thank god I don't feel that horrible I dropped the ball and can't seem to pick it up feeling. I am back in College as of a week ago, and it is a wonderful experience so far...and a lot of reading...a lot of studying..and writing. So this weekend although I have some schoolwork to do my plans are:
To make Blueberry French Toast with Bacon
Tickle my children
Scrub all three bathrooms top to bottom
Read the NY Times Sunday...the whole thing..(I got close last Sunday)
Go to church... (It has been a while)
Get outdoors
Buy a new hat
Watch a movie ( all the way through)
I may also bake this cake.... yes I think I need to;)

Nate Williams

And I will take pictures of it all and share later:) Hoping for a wonderful weekend full of inspirations and happiness.

Blueberry French Toast



• 12 slices day-old white bread, crusts removed


• 2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese


• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries


• 12 eggs


• 2 cups milk


• 1/3 cup maple syrup or honey

 • Cut bread into 1-in. cubes; place half in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Cut cream cheese into 1-in. cubes; place over bread. Top with blueberries and remaining bread cubes.


• In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add milk and syrup; mix well. Pour over bread mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.


• Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Cover and bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake 25-30 minutes longer or until golden brown and center is set.






• 1 cup sugar


• 2 tablespoons cornstarch


• 1 cup water


• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries


• 1 tablespoon butter






• In a small saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and water until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 3 minutes. Stir in blueberries; reduce heat. Simmer for 8-10 minutes or until berries have burst. Stir in butter until melted. Serve with French toast. Yield: 6-8 servings (1-3/4 cups sauce).

Tangled Up In Blue

 

   

Fashion Showcase: Halston

Way before a "discount" store like Target carried designer labels such as Issac Mizrahi..Libertine..Tracy Feith & others, bringing high fashion to middle America, Halston did a line in the 80's for JC Penney. It was considered the move that "broke" his label. Taking his high end designs to a low end market and some would say they were never viewed the same way again. Boy have times changed.


The re-launch of the label under creative director Marco Zanini, which was Donatella Versaces longtime first designer, is showing some magnifficent improvement. I love the flowing styles which stay true to Sir Halstons original signature style.

   

Roy Halston is synonymous with classic cuts, ultra suede and timeless designs