all that cold cold wet day...

those days of sun couldn't last forever, right? well, spring break is wrapping up, with alot of rain. on friday we received some serious rain, downpour rain, and even some hail. what do you do on a truly wet and gray miserable day?

go get coffee and cupcakes with some friends!

we hit trophy cupcakes for the unveiling of the new flavor. (the trophy owner had just been on the martha stewart show apparently, and luckily, we beat the crowd.) now, i'm not a huge cupcake fan. i usually can't eat a whole one by myself, but these were probably the best cupcakes i've ever tasted...delicious, warm out of the oven, and not too sweet if you can believe it. the one i split with francis wasn't enough; i got 3 more to take home with us (and i have to say: tasted just as good a day later.) francis and i caught a ride with jen and her kids, and met up with ann-krestene and stephanie and their kids, and together, we all whiled away some of the afternoon rain.









when greg got home from work at 3:30, we took francis to a matinee: nim's island, which was very enjoyable for him, and very tolerable for us. we then gave him the choice of dinner, and he selected chow mein, but we had some time to kill, so we drove down to golden gardens to look at the rain on the sea.



(at least, we did. francis didn't make it. it's nice to know a ten year old still isn't immune to the occasional nap.)





greg and i killed some time in the rain, taking pictures, until we were freezing and wet thru, and then headed to one of our favorite places, chef liao on phinney ridge, to get francis his chow mein and hot tea!



we then had just enough time to hit our friend vic's art show at the phinney ridge center, right down the street from us. vic did a show last year called "sushi is the bomb", (about nuclear arms, some of you may have seen it at the green bean cafe in greenwood), and this year she has new and just as thought-provoking work, titled: "catallactic converters: exploring value, choice and transformtion through salvaged materials". (dealing with the world-wide issues of slavery and human trafficking.) (photo does no justice, and was taken with permission)



come be challenged! see her pieces currently at the phinney center art gallery, thru april 25th, and then they move to the green bean cafe, for the month of may. artist reception on friday, may 9th, 6-8pm, during the annual greenwood phinney art walk.

i had just taken francis and one of his friends to the art museum the day before, and i have to say, i truly love taking him to see the things that people we know have created. it makes the arts that much more tangible and personal. it shows that it's something he could do, too, if he wanted to...

and it certainly gives us things to talk about...

sunshine outside my window...

i love stumbling across something new, something that gets you excited, something you weren't planning. i was in my favorite kids consignment store getting a baby gift, and after i selected it, i perused the used books. i love coming home with books for francis, and i love even more that he loves to get them. i had quite a stack already when i looked at my watch and realized i needed to bolt to get him from school on time. as i was waiting in line, this book caught my eye, "the animal kingdom", so i just grabbed it because it was hardcover and old, and francis loves animals. it wasn't til i got home and looked inside that i realized i had purchased a dollar-fifty treasure. the insides weren't old 60's photos like i thought it would be; they were old 60's illustrations, so unusual and striking. francis and i looked carefully at each page, because each page held a mystery, and i realized: a photograph of an animal is expected, and you know now what they look like. it can be an amazing photograph, and we are continually amazed by these creatures God has created. but to see an illustration, THAT is different. i asked francis: how do you think he got that idea? and we picked out our favorite ones. we've left the book on our coffee-table, and many have picked it up and been delightfully surprised and enamored by the drawings inside. it prompted me to google the artist: charles harper, and what i've discovered is: i probably couldn't afford to have his art hanging on my wall, but i've got his art already, in my library...