found!

that's me trying to remain calm

look what i spotted (finally!) out at barnes & noble the other day! it's the first time that i had seen my book "out in the world", and it was pretty exciting. we walked right in and didn't even touch it, just quickly snapped the picture. i love how it's right there surrounded by books by friends. there's water paper paint, another quarry book, by heather smith jones who is also a contributor to my book. above my book, you'll see mb shaw's book, flavor for mixed media, then, to the right is kari chapin's (who is also a contributor) book the handmade marketplace. painted pages is certainly in good company on the shelf! after i did a little happy dance, i signed the copies they had in stock. to prove i was the author of the book the woman checked the author photo in the back of the book before i signed them. funny. it's certainly all pretty surreal even though i was holding painted pages in my hands!

a great big (virtual) hug and thank you to stephanie levy, a lovely friend, artist and contributor who blogged all about my book today! be sure to check it out! she posted a whole bunch of great sneak peeks and had some really sweet things to say about the book. what a treat it is for me to have her highlighted in my book! check out stephanie's gorgeous collages here.

what a nice way to wrap up this crazy month of may! thanks so much stephanie! i feel so lucky!

hope you had a nice long weekend! i am pretty tuckered out since jesse was away for a few days for work and i was on full time toddler patrol. phew! ada and i had such fun together, lots of swinging and climbing stairs, but we certainly both missed having dada around!

be sure to tune in tomorrow morning... i have some fun news to share! :)

xo *s

book, baby & balloons!

hello hello!

here are the"civilized" pictures i promised of ada and "her" book

so happy to be here and to announce that we are now on the other side of the flu/fevers/colds that went around our house for the past couple of weeks. ugh! first ada, then mama (that's me) then dada. oh, did i mention that the twist fair was in the midst of all of this!? i survived, but barely. fever does not mix well with art show preparation! you know what else happened? my little baby turned ONE! we had a fun-filled weekend of parties full of cupcakes, new dresses, friends (little and big ones), family gatherings, frog catching, and "boons".... that would be balloons! they are her new favorite things, well, next to climbing up the stairs! i think i may officially have a toddler on my hands!

here's the birthday girl *early* on the morning of her birthday. she seriously would not let go of that balloon! :)

so as you may have guessed from my absence, that we've been quite busy these past few weeks! in addition to all of the fun, (and not so fun sickies!) i've been working like a crazy woman on book promo and event plans. LOTS of that exciting news coming up for you next week...

but, truth be told, i think i might have to call it quits for the day today... it's the long weekend to kick of the start of summer! yay! an iced coffee is calling my name...

i wish you all a happy weekend!

i'll be back here every day next week! what the what?! really, seriously!? yes indeed ;) there's so much to share with you and i've missed you!

see you then! xo *s

a first for friday

this is one of my very first paintings that i made as a "real artist". i had just rented my first studio space and was spending all of my free time there, painting long hours, forgetting to eat or sleep and learning so much!

this was also made during my "blue period" when i used to paint with lots of blues. i also started out working really big, this piece is 3ft x 4ft on canvas! (note to self: might just be time to return to the big pieces again... )

this is also the first painting that i ever sold, in my first show, way back in 2000... seems like ages ago!

the quote is from mary ann radmacher (i wrote her name on the painting), and i think i had a journal with this written on the cover at the time, so i decided it was the perfect way to describe my journey into becoming an artist. the words still ring so true to me today.

the man who bought it gave it as a surprise to his wife who had just quit her job to start her own business. i liked that.

so amazing to take a look back at piece today, just as my first book is releasing to the world! wow. a dream indeed!

thanks for all of your sweet comments from yesterday... i'm so lucky to have such wonderful friends and readers!

happy weekend to you xo *s

the panic sets in...

alright, it’s been a while.

i'm going to catch you up on things AND, wait for it, announce the giveaway winners! but, you have to listen to me ramble on first...

time to get back to regularly scheduled programming here on le blog.

truth be told, I’ve actually started this blog post about 11 17 different times, and all those drafts are currently just taking up space in my blogger account. i thought it was high time to follow through, fingers crossed i finish before someone wakes up from her nap. (side note: that it did not happen, this is seriously attempt #17.)

recently I was talking about my new “schedule” and feeling as if everything was finally getting easier. by everything, I mean my balancing act of new mamahood and the workathomeparttimeasacreativeartist/businesswoman thing. oh, yeah, that thing. but then, i was knocked right off of my tight rope when the tooth fairy, monster came to visit us. this, of course, meant that he kicked the sweet little sleep fairy out of our house, which is too bad because she was such a welcome addition to our nutty little household. she was the reason things seemed to be running somewhat smoothly for a while. and by smoothly i mean the laundry was getting done, i was even able to get into the studio and finally finish it... it's been way too long in a state of recently rearranged disarray. that nice fairy was also to thank for my new found clear mind and lack of less noticeable dark circles under my eyes. (another side note: by clear mind, i just mean a less foggy, certainly not as sharp as it used to be, mind)

don't get me wrong, it's not that things aren't good, in the big scheme of things all is well and i have absolutely nothing that i can really complain about at all. but, on this, probably the 37th day not sleeping through the night, things can start to get fuzzy and negative in my tired mama mind.

on a more positive note, silly excuses and complaining aside, spring is finally showing itself around here in new england. finally! the singing birds, yellow daffodils and warm sunlight on our (much less bundled up) walks are brightening our days lately. what a difference!

and yet, there's more goodness. and i've been totally holding out on you...

drumroll please...

i am holding my book in my hands. yes, the real live book. it feels so good! i absolutely love everything about it. really, truly do. i'm still pinching myself! you can get a peek inside over here. but here's the thing -

i go back and forth between feeling so incredibly thrilled that i pick up ada and we swing around the house doing happy dances, which, of course, she loves. it's been like this for the past couple of weeks. (yes, i know! it's true, i've had a copy that long! see, totally holding out on you!) but then, things shift, like yesterday when i unexpectedly had a few emails from people telling me that they, too, had my book in their hands. a cold sweat came over me and i felt like i was going to throw up! what's wrong with me!? i wrote a book for other people to read, now they are reading it, and better yet telling me nice things about it... how do i respond? i panic!? goodness. something is seriously wrong with me.

just this morning, as i was telling thea about my panic/craziness and i exclaimed -

but, this means people are going to know all about our "secret project! "

she, of course, thought that was completely hilarious and encouraged me to chillax and *know* that it is all going to be okay. (just for the record she didn't use the word "chillax", but that is my assignment for myself)

i think it's just the whole "giving birth" to the book thing, it's been such a long process, one in which i put in so much time, energy and love into those words and pages... i just hope it is going to be received with open arms, that it will inspire its readers and be loved right back. here's hoping...

time to set it free, right?

i have no choice! it is on the way...

* * *

ok, back to business.

the giveaway! thanks so much to all of you who participated and told me about your favorite meals! it was such fun to read all of your comments... such delicious ideas!

without further ado, the randomly selected winners are~

the winner of mb's book is: dawn wilson! yay! mb will be sending you the book!

the winner of my print is: sylvia! congrats to you sylvia! i am SO going to try your avocado/garlic spread this summer... yum! :)

*dawn and sylvia- please be in touch with me via email and send you addresses!

now, if you didn't win, don't dismay, just stay tuned as there will be another upcoming giveaway or two here soon!

* * *

see you tomorrow for some friday fun.

xo *s

ps: i'm going to go chillax now... ;) thanks for listening!

a quick hello!

my ode to spring. it's really coming... hooray!

just wanted to pop in and say hello!

it's a crazy week! i've got a teething babe in the house, need i say more?!

in addition to the above, i am working on taxes, a couple of interviews, as well as making plans for book promo stuff. phew! so much to do!

as i type this, there's a nutty baby in the other room screeching in delight while jumping in her bouncer. when she's not bouncing/scooting/crawling, she's pulling herself up on everything. yikes. (don't worry, grammy is on the case!)

i'm trying to focus on work by blasting my ipod and drinking way too much coffee.

i think it might be working. :)

{8 things}

one} i've decided to bring back the {8 things}. it'll be on tuesdays. just like the first one. (be sure to read the list today, i've saved the best for last!)

today. the sun is shining and it's supposed to be 40 degrees. snow is melting, sidewalks are clear. this is big, people. spring is seriously on the way!

today. thinking about how much i love what christine said. such a real post. i also LOVE her new blog design. so pretty!

four} lately, i've been living vicariously through these two sisters who have moved to france. perhaps you know these blogs, but just in case you don't, i thought i'd share. one sister has moved to paris with her two little boys, and the other has moved to normandy with her six (!) enfants. i'm really enjoying their posts. thought you might too.

five} speaking of french things~ my sister, my husband and i went into boston this weekend and saw these two guys. so fun! it was great evening!

six} speaking of foodie related things, on a blizzardy day in early february i preserved some meyer lemons. idea and recipe here. so easy and delicious! the lemons were finally ready to eat last week, and it was worth the wait! so far i've layered them on baguette with olive oil (a good, fancy one) and topped with halloumi cheese and then grilled as an open face sandwich. so so good!

today} we're getting out of the house finally! no rain, no snow, just sunshine! hooray!

eight} my editor wrote to me yesterday to say the advance copies of my book are IN (!!!) and that i should be receiving mine this week! i did a big happy dance and then proceeded to hyperventilate. just thinking about it now is making me get butterflies in my stomach... SO excited to see it and hold it in my hands. (they will be shaking most likely!)

some peeks as promised!

i'm rushing out the door (literally!) to squam by the sea... but i had to share these peeks into the book with you! i went through the entire book (laser copies) with my editor yesterday, page by page, and it was so fun to see it all on paper! she then gave me the go-ahead to share some bits of the pages with you! yay!

see you after we return from the sea... i think it's just what i need after these busy past few months! xo *s