Owner: French Toast Girl URL:http://www.frenchtoastgirl.com/weblog/blogger.shtml Join Date: Mon, 05 Mar 2007 07:31:05 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: Art, inspiration, and why life is like french toast. Featuring original artwork by illustrator Elena Nazzaro. Site statistics:Click here
Memory Almost Full, basement almost empty 2007-06-22 07:35:00 Getting ready for a garage sale this weekend, which I don't feel in the least bit prepared for. I refuse to hire a sitter to help with the kids during the sale, because there's the profits of the garage sale - I can just hand it over! :) Paul pointed out that the goal is not to make any money, but to get rid of stuff to someone who can use it, so if I look at it that way, it makes perfect sense. We have three of everything baby related (car seats of various sizes, clothing, booster seats, a highchair, toys... ) and we can certainly use the space!
Helping to take the edge off is repeated listenings of Memory
Almost Full - it's in extremely heavy rotation at our house. I had written a review for my friend Craig, but the more I listen, the more songs I like and more things that grab me. The one thing I will say is that "Mr. Bellamy" is far and away the standout track. There are some posts going around online that are saying that it's about a cat in a tree, but the lyrics are clearly
Gifted? 2007-06-25 18:32:00 More reading I've been doing lately, in between going through my collection of old Ellery Queen novels, has been stuff like The Survival Guide for Parents of Gifted
Kids. Paul picked this up from the library with Sophie in mind, but reading through it actually put some things about Angela in a different light for me. Regarding her behavioral issues, some of the points hit home -- for intstance, acting up out of boredom (which she has freely admitted to me) and her stubborn need to do things her own way, and the fact that she tries to negotiate with me about them like a little lawyer. (She's 3.) While I'm not labeling her anything, it's certainly opened our eyes to a wider scope of what we might be dealing with here.
As for Miss S., we've known since before she could talk that we were dealing with a kid that was off the charts. At her one-year checkup, she knew all her colors, body parts, and about 10 shapes. She taught herself to read at two, can write, draws constantly, can f
Simpsons-style 2007-06-30 11:55:00
If I were a resident of Springfield... I may go back and do a little photoshopping; I need the hair to be twice as long, and bigger. :)
♥ Make your own (and post the link here to share!)
♥ See the flickr group and add your own, I was about to add mine when I spotted Ally and Tim!
♥ You can see my bro's, along with his real picture, here.
Read more:Simpsons
pass it on 2007-06-29 08:58:00 I got the loveliest email from Jo and her class about their own adventures in chalking, and she was kind enough to give me permission to share the story here. (Hi class! You guys are fantastic chalkers!) It put a huge grin on my face; I hope it does the same for you.
[Jo says.... ] I asked them what they would write if they were allowed to. Some just wanted to see their name, others wanted instructions (danger road!) but most of the girls wanted to make people smile with cool pictures and nice words.
We had a good chat about graffiti and how this version was not permanent and all the better for that.
Then they got into groups of two or three, chose a word or a phrase and set to. We decided to have a go in our 'secret garden' so that it wasn't so public as it was our first try.
The results are amazing. Some of the children started small and then discovered they had no limitations; it wasn't like using a piece of paper. we were out for a hour and everyone concentrated for the who
Print central 2007-07-03 19:40:00
It's been print central 'round my house. I've been scanning, comparing, and rescanning like mad. Everyone pitched in; Paul manned the printer, and I had the best little assistants you could ever hope to see who walked them over to the post office and placed them on the counter themselves (I had to lift them up, but they insisted on seeing the job through and protested when I suggested handing the packages off to me!) The first batch of orders are in the mail, and can I just say how fun it's been to see what people are choosing! The surprises are my favorites. :)
Read more:Print
Illustration Friday: Twist 2007-07-01 18:26:00
I think she's some sort of druidical acolyte who worships in an oak grove. Amazing what comes out of a little doodle...
♥ Note to i-fri-ers: this and pretty much every other piece of artwork on this site is now available as a print!
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, Friday
by george, I think we've done it! 2007-07-11 07:13:00 Remember this and this?
I'm proud to say... the kids are actually toilet-trained. Those of you who think
this is no big deal have no idea what it's like to train three kids, all at the same time. It's freaking amazing.
No more diapers.
No more training pants, not even at night.
No more potties (they have to use the regular toilet because I refuse to clean them anymore). We tried to sell them off at our garage sale.
My advice for anyone embarking on this adventure...
Be really consistent; they're pretty confused about the whole thing so doing everything the same way, every time, helps get it through their heads.
Don't be afraid to put your foot down. I just said one day, "Oh, we don't wear diapers in the house during the day anymore." And they said, "Oh, okay!" and it wasn't an issue. Same as, "We're not wearing diapers at school now," and the ever-popular, "When this package of training pants* is gone, we will not buy any more. So if you don't want pee in your bed, y
Illustration Friday: Geeky 2007-07-11 05:48:00
While I may not have tape on my specs, I am a geek from way back.
For more geeky goodness, don't miss Minimum Wage. Back in my a cappella days I remember them as being some of the nicest and funniest people we shared a stage with.
And according to this test, I am a Modern, Cool, Nerd. Like we didn't already know that.
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, Friday
, Geeky
at the lake 2007-07-16 18:53:00
The kids went to Pennsylvania this weekend to visit their cousins (2+ hours, we're going to take it in stages next time), SLEPT OVER in Jude's bed (and didn't wet anything!), went on a boat, made s'mores, ate lots of pancakes, played with lots and lots of matchbox cars, had a singalong and got a preview of songs from Uncle Marc's new-CD-in-progress, and saw waterfalls. I have high hopes that this is going to help pave the way for more traveling.
♥ Our photos here
♥ Their cousins' pics here
Illustration Friday: Poem 2007-07-23 07:08:00
When you spit from the twenty-sixth floor
And if floats on the breeze to the ground
Does it fall upon hats
Or on white persian cats
Or on heads, with a pitty-pat sound?
Oh, I used to think life was a bore
But I don't feel that way any more
As count up the hits,
As I smile as I sit,
As I spit from the twenty-sixth floor.
~ Shel Silverstein
Where the Sidewalk Ends
My favorite poem of all time. Hands down.
Listen to the master read it (and others) himself, here (track 26).
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, Friday
Summers at Blue Lake 2007-08-02 07:03:00 I know two fantastic, artistic Mamas - Jill and Michelle - who along with me have formed our own little Divine-Mama-Art-Society. We've made a tight circle who unfortunately don't live close to each other, but we stay in close contact through emails and Skype and the occasional package. We met on SARK's Marvelous Message board many years ago and gravitated towards each other as women who were serious about their art, and serious about being fantastic moms.
Jill's first book, Summers
At Blue Lake, is coming out tomorrow. I have had the pleasure of getting to read it and I think it's just great. If you like Sue Monk Kidd, you should most definitely check this one out. There is so much fluff-lit out there, with the same recycled plot and stupid characters, that it's a relief to read something engaging and entertaining like Jill's story. You can read a book description and more here.
Help a new author out... If you know of any bookclubs, reading groups, or small bookstores you
The week of magical thinking 2007-08-06 14:05:00
Me and Sophie in PJs, in the backyard.
This past week I started an experiment that's been so successful I'm doing it for another week (and another, and another.... ). It's rather simple: whenever I have a choice, I ask myself what the most succulent option is. Every time I can, I try to make something everyday, more magical, more artistic, more creative. I found I was getting into a bit of a rut and this has helped lots.
So, for example....
♥ Flowery sundresses win out every time over jeans shorts and a tank top.
♥ I wore my "good" jewelry even though nobody was going to see it except us.
♥ I spent a few extra minutes to do something with my hair that did not involve me pulling it quickly out of my face into a ponytail. Braids, jewelled barettes, you name it.
♥ Meals, with a little planning, have been more exciting ... penne with broccoli rabe and soy sausage; tortellini with homemade spinach pesto, black olives, and salmon; tofu, grilled Read more:thinking
Ten 2007-08-12 20:08:00
This week, Paul and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary. We had our first big party EVER since the kids were born, because we had more things to celebrate than we could count. My cousin Dean, who's a deacon and officiated at our wedding, gave us a special blessing - with the two of us surrounded by those who love us best. We are so blessed I don't even have words for it.
36 2007-08-15 13:54:00 The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other's welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you
all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,
the photographs, the desparate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.
— Derek Walcott, from Collected Poems 1984-1984
Happy birthday to me.
Snapshots around the studio 2007-08-17 10:08:00
Alice In Wonderland painting for David T. This pic is older, just acrylic and coffee, now there's way more color. I will post more in-progress pics as I take 'em.
Unicorns, natch.
I think a fairy's going in this tree. Note the Henson poster to the side, waiting to get hung on the wall.
The painting for Petey with 25 more birds. I also painted him, by request, a chocolate-chip cookie; so that's up on the wall as well.
Hmmmm... I get the feeling that I like to paint trees, unicorns, and I like the color blue. :)
What are you working on now?
My red crayon 2007-08-21 07:26:00
We went to the Crayola factory this week, and darned if not too much has changed since this awesome Sesame Street clip from the 80s. I have wanted to visit the factory since then.
When they were making the crayons, the demonstrator let all the kids come up and put the wrappers on, and then asked if any parents wanted to do it. Of course I jumped right up! I said, “I thought you’d never ask!”
In my eagerness, I put my wrapper on backwards, so that you can see the stripes, but no name. The guy asked us if anyone did that, and to hold them up – I thought he was going to make us give them back! He said, "Now it’s your crayon! Name it whatever you want!" so the kids were all impressed with me that I beat the system.
♥ Squid squid squid squid squid: Season 38 of Sesame Street started last week; this bit of hilarity is from the season opener. The second I watched this, I knew it was going to be all over the internet. I just love the way Brian Williams relishes the word
Real Food 2007-08-26 22:13:00 Let me tell you some things Real Food is not.
It isn’t to be eaten with one hand while you’re driving and talking handsfree on your cell phone. It’s not something you gulp out of a styrofoam container while you run to catch the train. You don’t absently take bites out of it while watching TV, only to look down and forget where it all went or how it tasted.
Real Food could be practically anything as long as you love it, and you are aware of what you’re eating and you really, really savor it. Real Food must be made with love and eaten in good company. (Especially if that company is yourself; the next time you’re going to eat alone, put on great music, use the nice dishes, sit down and really taste what you’re eating!)
Now let me take it one step further: I think Real Food has ingredients you can understand. Things you’ve maybe eaten before; definitely things you can pronounce. For instance... what goes into french toast? Eggs, milk, bread; if you’re me, there’s
yesh! 2007-08-24 20:54:00
I'm so excited! I got to design the 2008 Mutts calendar! I usually don't share too much about my day job, but this is too cool to keep to myself. :)
I find this reassuring 2007-09-20 06:30:00 When you think about a problem over and over in your mind, that's called worry. When you think about God's Word over and over in your mind, that's called meditation. If you know how to worry, you already know how to meditate! You just need to switch your attention from problems to Bible verses. The more you meditate on God's Word, the less you have to worry about.
~ The Purpose Driven Life
For a girl who spends large quantities of time worrying (and mostly about things I have no control over), it's reassuring to know that I am already almost a pro at meditating once I do a little switch. Whether Bible verses work for me or not I still have to see.
Why God loves little girls 2007-09-18 07:53:00 I was searching online the other day because I wanted to try to find in the Bible where it mentions anything about God, creativity, and loving those who use their talents. That's another post now, because I found this instead: "Why God Loves Little Boys."
Okay, it's innocuous enough, God loves little
boys for their eagerness, pride, wit, and "into their hands he has placed the future of all living things." The illustration shows them fishing, boating, trying to catch something in a net. Fine. But check out the companion piece: "Why God Loves Little Girls." And seriously, I start to get very, very angry.
Because apparently, God wants little girls to sit around and pick flowers all day, and "to dance and sing and giggle and wink." Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! I wish I was making this up. I was expecting maybe something about little girls being mothers and teachers of the future generations, about growing to be strong women. What I wanted to find was basically the same wording as the boys'
Illustration Friday: Wedding 2007-09-14 18:56:00
I did this illustration for our own wedding invitation; I'm all mushy-romantic like that. :) It's framed on our dresser with this cutout from a newspaper that my best friend Kirsten gave us... I think the rest of the headline read "with soccer" and it was from the high school sports section of her local paper. Works for me!
And because I can't leave well enough alone, here's another one: I did this illustration for my sister-in-law's wedding invitation...
My friends Jon and Liz wanted an invitation that showed what a long journey it had been. This was what I painted for the outside:
And here was the inside:
(I love weddings!)
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, Friday
wishes 2007-09-08 15:36:00
It's been a really long time since I've done this, but I have my tiara on and my wand out. I'm granting wishes! Leave me a wish in the comments and I'll write back.
♥ Thanks to all who made wishes... wish time is done for now. REALLY.
Illustration Friday: Alphabet 2007-09-03 20:21:00
The summer before my last semester of college, I had homework for my portfolio class: to create 100 sketches for proposed logos for my personal identity package. I remember being nervous that I had only done 97, but I honestly couldn't think of anything else. (Of course, once I got to class, I found that many others in the class had done about 5 ... I have always been a geek par excellence!) Anyway, once we got to the class, we all had to pin up our sketches and logos and have the rest of the class critique them. I had all these great logos, things I thought were totally sophisticated and designy looking, and instead of the cool ones, the whole class pointed to the one of this little girl with braids, riding exuberantly on an E. "That's the one," said the teacher. No, no, I protested, and tried to point to something more mysterious. "Nope." said another classmate. "The E one, that's you." I think I tried again to sway the class and was resoundingly outvoted! I'd known everyone in Read more:Illustration
, Friday
, Alphabet
All my silly friends 2007-09-27 07:08:00
I will be one of the Silly Friends singing backup for Marc this weekend at the Hoboken Art and Music Festival. If you're in the area, bring the kids and come boogie down!
It could be worse 2007-09-25 11:28:00 There's a story that goes like this: a man's house was so full of people that he had no room to move or do anything. So he went to a wisewoman, who told him, "Take all your goats, and bring them into the house." He went back to her a few days later and she told him, "Take all your chickens, and bring them into the house." He eventually is told to bring ALL his farm animals into the house, so he does.
Now he not only has crying babies and demanding relatives, but also dogs and pigs and ducks underfoot. The noise is horrible, the smell is worse. He can't understand why the advice isn't helping. So he goes back to the wise woman. She tells him, "Now take all your chickens, and bring them OUT of the house." He does. Eventually, all the animals are out of the house, and he's left with his relatives. They're noisy, he has no privacy and no room, but at least his house isn't full of animals. He realizes that what he had to begin with wasn't so bad after all. Because it could always
I paint on bark 2007-09-23 19:38:00
When I go on my morning walks, sometimes some bit of nature calls out to me - a handful of acorns, a smooth rock for my pocket, or the blank canvas of a piece of bark.
I've got too much on my plate 2007-10-03 07:42:00
Brand new video! Maybe showing this to the kiddos will convince them once and for all that he is not saying "pinkeye, pinkeye, doo" which is what they love to scream whenever this song plays at my house.
On the holiday front: I sent out a few emails, made some calls, and did a little hunting on amazon yesterday. All adding to my growing gift list; all I'll have to do then is divide it up into what gets ordered online, and what I go out to the store for. Currently looking up Star Trek YA novels for my nephew, who digs Data and Spock. I love that boy.
Getting crafty: Made a ton of business card designs and sent them to the Inner Circle for feedback. Realized that everyone was choosing them based on which illo they liked better, so have done more research and found another printer that does smaller runs (meaning I could print 2 or 3 pics/designs instead of just one, for actually less money.) I also confirmed the size of my table and started to draw out plans of what needs to go where
Step-by-step 2007-10-02 07:09:00 A few years ago, I documented step-by-step my endeavors to get my Christmas cards, including finishing up a new one, to the printer (start at 10/13 and work your way up if you want to read). I was pregnant with twins and had a 8-month old that needed surgery, but I was determined that if nothing else, these darn things were going to get printed or I would die trying. So I held myself accountable by posting every night what I had done for the day, just to keep myself moving forward.
So now I have two large items on my plate that I want to get done in the month of October:
1. To have all the Christmas shopping done (yes, I know y'all think I am insane, but I like to have it done super-early so that I can spend more time making cookies and watching Rudolph and enjoying my family). November is for cards and wrapping and making stuff.
2, which is way more urgent: I am doing a craft fair in the second week of November. I have never done anything like this before. So, other than knowing
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