Movie stars, UCLA, museums and princess skirts,all in one week!!

We had a whirlwind week with Jennifer going in to UCLA for a minor surgical procedure. The night before we went to have dinner and found ourselves in the middle of a Premier for the movie "Seven Psychopaths" with all the movie stars lined up for photos.  We couldn't get close enough to see them but we could hear the screaming for Colin Farrell, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Christopher Walken and others. It was so exciting as we sit outside on the patio of the restaurant directly across the street from all the commotion. It was a true Hollywood moment that, and although I grew up in California, have never seen one before. Lots of police, fans, photographers, security and then us commoners.

The next morning Jenn was checked in for surgery and we stayed with her until all was well and she was sleeping off the sedatives. She did great and we are good to go for another year!! Yeah!!

Every year it seems she has to go through this and we try to make it a bit fun for her and us. This time, as she was sleeping, we slipped over to the Hammer Museum, which we have never seen before. They were having several interesting exhibits and they have an amazing permanent collection of Van Gogh, Monet, Renoir,Toulouse-Lautrec etc.

One of the most unsettling exhibits, but thought provoking, was an exhibit by Sun Yuan and Peng Yu , their first US exhibit. So we walked up to the door and looked inside and there wasn't anything in there, I said to Randy, they must have taken it down already but the person at the door said, No, go in, its inside. We walked into a large white room with nothing on the walls at all. On the far wall was a small hole with dust on the floor but we barely noticed as we felt like the room was empty and whatever had been there was now gone. Off on the right side of the hole was a opening, a doorway that lead to a hall. We proceeded through the doorway and were startled by a large figure, peeking through the hole with an assault rifle slung over his shoulder. Dressed in Middle eastern tribal dress and American style combat boots he was very scary. The piece has many meanings and is a reminder of how one individual can cause chaos and fear. I am still thinking of it, and we found ourselves walking around him, a wax-life like figure for sometime. I thought to myself how safe and unaware of any danger I felt as I first entered the room and how quickly that changed. I had to go around to the empty room and peek through the hole in the wall, a big eye peered back at me, chilling! The exhibit is called "I am here". I would highly recommend a visit to the Hammer Museum if you have never been, well worth your time and students are free.

The following day we took Jennifer home and I began a project I had hoped to have done for the twins birthday on Friday. The problem was it was now Wednesday and I only see them on Thursday so I needed to finish sewing them now! I sewed until I couldn't keep my eyes open and then I had to go to bed. 

Thursday came and I wasn't finished but as they napped I sewed and sewed....

Tulle, tulle everywhere and then the glittered tulle, it covered every surface with sparkle.

Today is Friday, it is the girls birthday today, they are four. It is an age where they want everything they see on TV, the store and in books and magazines. It is so easy to buy them things, knowing they will love it all. But I know that although you can buy them, I need to be the one to sew them some princess skirts. I debated whether or not to sew a complete princess dress but knowing them they need to be able to shed the fluff at a moments notice and getting out of a fluffy dress isn't easy. I decided to make the skirts with lots of ruffles and plain tulle underneath the glittery tulle. I went with Marianne to several fabric stores in OC to pick out the perfect tulle. I found the most glittery tulle at M&L Fabrics, the woman cutting the fabric had to stop to dust herself off and clean the counter before she could proceed. I knew it was going to make a mess but I had to get it. My husband swears we just got the glitter cleaned up from Christmas and now its back. My sewing room, ironing board, floors are all sparkling. I only saw the skirts on the girls for a moment as they ran to moms car to go home Thursday night. Today I received a few pictures of them on their way to show off the skirts to their friends at school! There is nothing better than tulle and glitter for girls and princesses!

Well, its Friday night, that was my week, what did you guys do this week???

A day, A Moment, A Memory

Today is the day I have the twins, its a fun filled day of activities. I have to plan my whole week around it since it requires my full attention and some thought. I happened to have a moment with Megan today, one on one, her and I. She had gotten up early from her nap and had walked into the kitchen, sucking on her two middle fingers, groggy and wanted me to hold her. I sat down at the breakfast bar with her on my lap and she spied my paints and sketchbook. Well now she wanted to paint so I sat her up at the bar, equipped with a water brush, my watercolors and some paper. As she painted I thought I would take this opportunity to try and capture this ball of energy as she was busy in one spot. As I started to sketch her I thought her head always looks two times too big for her body to me! Its all that hair and the fact that she had just woken up and her hair was a mess didn't help. She seems to sport this look well, that style that so many movie stars pay too much money for, Megan has down to a science. Her hair, once long, now sits on her shoulders, grown out from last years late night scissor episode where she decided to cut her hair to the scalp right before Christmas pictures. It is forever recorded in our family history photo books. But now she has embraced the shorter hair style, I think she prefers the fact that she doesn't have to endure the pain required to comb out longer hair!

My quick painting of Megan, I haven't journaled this page yet.

She is a princess with an attitude, as smart as a whip and loves to help me do everything. I asked her to look at me a few times so I could see her face to paint it but she quickly decided she didn't like that since she was busy painting herself. Here she is, my quick painting of her sitting with me during a few precious moments of quiet painting time together.

This is Megan's painting, I draw some things, per her request, then she paints them.

Getting back to business after a week of babies

I find that my biggest challenge in life is splitting up my time both wisely and efficiently. I am pulled between things I want to do and the things I have to do and the things I should do. Often the line is blurred between the different areas and its easy for us to never get to the things we want to do because of the things we have to do. I think sometimes we put the "things" in the wrong category. I only share this because I am struggling right now with trying to be a good mom and caregiver, wife, and Nana all while my business is trying to explode with potential that requires tons of time and commitment. I am in a constant state of juggle, switching hats sometimes hourly, like most of you are. I would appreciate any good tips on how to manage this circus act. I am blessed that my business happens to be my artwork and creative endeavors so its also the thing I want to do. 

This week I was Nana, we had a week with the twins that are 19 months old. They are so sweet and wonderful to be around, it was a blessing but I had to tell myself that I would not try and do anything else. There was no way to work with those busy fingers into everything. LOL We loved the week filled with pink everything, baby dolls, baby lotion, swings, parks, toenail polish and lots of giggling. Thank God for Randy who helped me tag team them at bath and bed time. As I wake up this morning and realize that I need to return to my life its bittersweet as I miss those little voices stirring in the morning but I will love not having to pick up wooden puzzle pieces and misc toys all over the house.

I took advantage of the week and took a million photos, some were with a new apron pattern for my fabric line and book I am working on. I had made the aprons for the girls but realize some changes I need to make now, good thing I tried them on. Back to the drawing board with some great ideas and improvements.  Here are a few pictures of our week.