thanks!

tuesday night some of my old co-workers from valley day preschool took me out for an early birthday dinner at island's. it was organized my good friend, mrs. stowell who i LOVE and am so grateful to know. she and her family are my favorite thursday night hang out partners...cutest grandkids EVER.

everyone wasn't able to come to the dinner but the staff sent a card to the dinner signed by everyone. it's been a year since i stopped working there but they were so sweet to remember me. it was such a nice surprise.

i wanted to drop off a special 'thank you' card to the preschool and mrs. stowell so i got to working. of course i used stuff from work. something nice about mrs. stowell's card is that the flower is removable so she can recycle the flower and use it on a gift or whatever. i learned how to make the flower from my boss and you can learn too by checking her blog here.

etsy: an obsession, part two

every morning before i hit the ground running i trawl around various sites and blogs to fill my mind with beauty and loveliness before it gets bombarded with deadlines, shipping forms, emails, and running up and down stairways.

aren't these too cute? i saw them on this blog that i love and they're on this etsy site.

man, i could picture a whole animal kingdom on a future window sill with these little guys. i think it's important to appreciate craftsmanship and beauty in all it's forms whether is in a handmade clay vessel, nature, automobile, hamburger.

i read this quote recently, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit." --Aristotle.

i really stuck with me because a lot of times i can be a perfectionist to a fault. but i don't know that perfection and excellence are necessarily the same thing. one seems contingent on a moment in time whereas one seems more like a process. one seems defined by the omission of flaws and mistakes and the other seems to be defined by how we learn and grow from those flaw and mistakes.

i think i'll take a lesson from bill and ted, be "excellent!"

haunted house

here's another card that is for a co-worker whose birthday is october 31st! birthdays that fall on holidays generally suck but if my birthday had to fall on a holiday i think i'd choose halloween for sure. so fun!

the house was made out of paper from my work and all the co-workers wrote their birthday wishes on strips of fun paper that were attached to the inside of the house that dangle whimsically when the roof of the house is lifted up.

the day after...

i should've known it.

literally the day after our wonderful beach day, up until this very day, and thus forth until "no end in sight" we have been slammed in the face, fall to the floor, slap your mother silly, swamped with work.

so in times like this i like to look at some pictures that help me have a brief but much needed smile.

just another day at the office

today was a hard day. we had to drive to san clemente to have a bbq and find sea glass on the sand. i'm exhausted.

my job rocks, i won't lie. today was so awesome...our managers treated the art department to a day of fun in the sun and amazing food. our dept has been working really hard all summer and it's difficult to force creativity on the fly without times like this to recharge and have a little fun. renée encouraged us to spend time sketching but i couldn't help but walk up and down the shore. the beach was so beautiful....a perfect day.

we went to a beach house right along the shore of san clemente beach. it was crazy how close to the water it was. i found my first piece of sea glass and i also got soaked from the waist down during high tide. it's called that for good reason i discovered! i had to throw my pants in the dryer and walk around with a towel around my waist to cover my chonies (underwear) hahaha it was legendary.

life is a blessing and i'm grateful for days like this. i don't normally feel this way but today i love the beach.

typhoon ketsana (ondoy)

typhoon ondoy has rendered the philippines with water levels worse than hurricane katrina.

familes are displaced and homes ruined. my co-worker was telling me about how her friend and her one-year old baby had to be rescued from a building with a rope system and a plastic bucket for her baby and it's not surprising when you see pictures like above. mark's family has been hit hard as well.

puts life into perspective. donate here.

or if you'd prefer:
this month all proceeds from my etsy store will go to support the Philippine National Red Cross.

aw, damn it

i got to work today. set my stuff down and said hi to rachel. then i asked her, 'is today wednesday?'

she said, 'today is tuesday.'

then i cried.