Kitty Genius

A Moustache Wearing A Moustache And The Saddest Cake Ever

Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! The day was great. I went to breakfast with my mom, Drew, and my best friend Loren. Later my mom, Loren, and I went shopping. Then Drew and I went to an early dinner. I opened my presents from him and then some family and friends came over for cake and silly snacks.

My son of a moustachio was certainly a Drew gift. And he got me these that I have been coveting for our bedroom windows.

And I have to say he did a really good job on the card.

the inside said "I'm glad you're around."

I am also the proud owner (thanks to Loren) of this new cat food and water bowl. I am having trouble finding an online place in the US to buy it but they had it at one of our neighborhood stores.

And lastly, there was the saddest cake in the world. And by sad, I mean pretty hilarious.

No, this is not an adorable-handmade-with-love-cake. This is what Drew ordered from Ben and Jerry's a week in advance and this is what they gave us and charged us for. They said the cake decorator never showed up so the 15 year old (ok, maybe not actually 15) shift leader took a crack at making it himself. Hmmm... Did I mention the cake was ready over 4 hours late? we will be seeking our refund shortly.

Every year my mom normally provides the cake with a wacky (usually rhyming) birthday message about the year before and this was Drew's version. My big thing was the self employment, hence the "Freeeeee".

So yeah, a pretty good day :)

 

26 On The 26th

See? I wasn't gone for too long (and Isadora missed you) :)

Tomorrow I turn the big 2-6 and I was spending some time reflecting on how my 25th year went. It was certainly a year of changes. July 15th will be my year anniversary of self employment. Drew is also now self employed. We decided it was time to get health insurance. I have never had it and it seemed like a very complex thing to figure out but it turns out it wasn't so bad. I am a phone call maker and question asker. For me a good starting off point was here. I used it not for the quotes but to find out the health insurance terms and definitions so I could ask better questions to the companies I called. It had little tutorials to explain things like "coinsurance" and all those things. I finally found out the difference between a PPO and an HMO Just stuff that might be obvious to people who have had coverage but it was like learning a mini foreign language for me.

We are both now officially covered!! I am very satisfied with the plan (the deductible, the copay, what prescriptions cost) And that there is no lifetime maximum pay out. I had no idea about that one and apparently I was not the only one. I am making the renter's insurance call this week and then we will be pretty set. And getting insurance was really the gift I wanted to give myself. I have a doctor's appointment coming up I will be excited to see how it goes with my fancy pants coverage :)

Now to more fun stuff...My dream was health insurance. Drew's dream (and early birthday gift) also came true. And it came in the form of a Wii.

Here is my Mii I created.

No one is safe!! I love making the Miis of people more than playing the games.

We went out in the middle of night on our Wii search and hit up all the 24 hour places.

Oh, this weekend we were at the Humane Society picking up the world's BEST brush the FURminator (I swear I want to do an infomercial for them. it is that AMAZING)  and there were so many kittens. Piles of them. And our local humane society had cut the price in half for the summer for adoption fees for cats because there are just that many. I was tempted (very tempted) but I don't want another cat right now because I really want to do more foster work for the Humane Society and that just would be too many kitties around here but I wanted to let everyone know that if they are looking for a kitten/cat it's a great time to adopt one :)

So I will be 26 the next time I talk to you guys and I think it is going to be just a very laid back day but I'll be back with some new artwork to show soon!!

A Little Change

Thank you so much for all the wonderful support everyone has given me. I'm finding that right now, and who knows, maybe it's just how I've been feeling this week or this month, but I need a little tiny break. I love everything about this blog. I just need to step back from the computer a little more. So, for a bit I am going to say a big thank you and send a virtual hug your way and just take a breather. And maybe that will mean just a few less posts a month. I certainly would like to continue to post new work as I get ready for this show and I hope you will take a look at my flickr pictures because I will continue to update those :)

And I leave you with some of the new bearded men:

Uh Oh... It's the Sound of My Own Voice

The amazing Susan interviewed me for a podcast that you can listen to here!! Thank you so much, Susan!! And thank you to Grace at Design Sponge for doing a post about it too.

So after the interview was over Susan and I ended up having about a two-and-a-half-hour conversation. I have to say it's the best when you really like someone online through their blog and email, then find out that they are just as fantastic, if not better, in real life. :) Susan truly is as gracious and funny as she appears.

And I am so happy the "man painting" from the last post went over so well, because these mini portrait prints have been in the works:

I want to do a series of "family portraits" and individual portraits. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have some oval, but I foresee that being a challenge. These are in the early stages but just something I wanted to share :)

A Bit of a Summer Break

Over the last two weeks I have been working overtime and just trying to enjoy the last few days before the oppressive heat of St. Louis drives me indoors for a few months. It is soooooo hot and soooooo humid.

To catch up on the last few days… on Saturday we went to a bunch of estate sales and here are some of my little purchases:

A strange Dr. Seuss toy from the 60s.

These four tiny ladies. I have decided to "name" them. One is Debra, my mom. Another is Autumn and Hillary for my two sisters and one is me. It seemed appropriate :)

a tiny pewter viking ship.

This tiny hanging bird. There were three in all.

This gold pine cone and chain that I have worn everyday since purchasing it. I have a little gold- dipped leaf-charm collection, and the pine cone seemed like a nice addition.

and this photo

I love the father in this photo and it inspired me to create some paintings and illustrations of men, which are usually noticeably absent from my work.

We visited with this little guy

This is four-month-old Charlie. Our friends Jay and Jessica had us over and we hadn't seen Charlie since he was about two weeks. He's such a little person now and despite this picture (which is Drew's FAVORITE and makes him laugh and laugh) Charlie is the most smiley baby.

And a big thank you to Jan for this post about my work at Diesel.com

And lastly, in cheap summer clothes news: the heat drove me to purchase this (and I am wearing it as I write this).

It runs big and is a bit more transparent than I'd like — but not something most people would care about, and easily fixed. I think the color is quite sophisticated for Old Navy.

And I think that is officially all I know for today :)

Happy Wednesday!

Friday Friday

3 new "conversation" paintings on wood for the show. I am going to do several more of these.

I am determined to spend part of this day outside because it's really quite mild and a bit windy. So off I go!

Have a great Friday!

Locked Away

"Homecoming" 12 x 16 x 3/4

I apologize for the sporadic posting. I been absent from all things online for a bit. In the last few days I have just been in the working on stuff, feeling frustrated, working on some more stuff cycle. And today we found out the Drew needs a $2000 engine repair on his car. Fun stuff. But no one escapes a few major car expenses (unless of course you don't have one). So you know.

And I just must say that the cheapy snow cone maker is AMAZING. You put two to six regular ice cubes in it and it's not terribly slow. See? Delicious! That was about two cubes worth.

And because it's just one of those nights I think I foresee a little of this

and a little this

The Weekend Cometh and the Weekend Goeth

First, a big hello to all of you that may be stopping by. Today I am the featured blog on TypePad's home page. So, welcome!

This weekend began with completing this painting, which will be heading off to Velocity.

Saturday morning, again, was sort of slim pickings, estate sale- and garage sale-wise. We browsed but didn't buy. But, and this is a big but, my amazing eBay purchase arrived, which was this:

A lot of over 1000 vintage photos from a school in Tijuana that closed down. The best. THE BEST. I am so inspired by vintage photos of children and this feels like the mother lode.

Drew also wanted to clear out his overgrown t-shirt collection, so he decided to order some shirts from American Apparel. He got a few of these and these. Here he is sporting one of his new shirts:

We headed over to Borders for my bi-monthly magazine binge where I picked up these:

And, and, and…

In the June/July issue of ReadyMade there is an interview with the ridiculously talented Alyson Fox, whose work and home I covet. If you squint at where I am pointing you will see "For the Birds"!! But, seriously: her Austin home is breathtaking. It makes sense that she spent two years as a visual manager for Anthropologie.

And lastly…

What's that? Oh, that's just me with my new snow cone maker and snow cone accoutrements! We picked up a super cheapy one from Target that I didn't even see on the website. The ones online actually look sturdier for the same $20. But we shall see. Believe you me… we shall see.

Ok. Happy Sunday!