Paint It/Wrap It...

This year I made little paintings for gifts again...but tried to stick to an old school cartoon theme.  

I made a couple exceptions to my rule - like a Baby Jesus for Crankie..

A Mister Hankie for Greg (although I'm sure he'll be a classic one day!)

And of course a UNC for Harry J!!

The most requested character this year was Grinch.  Go Grinchy!!

  

Although more time consuming then I anticipated, this project saved me from being too sad about working so much during the Holidays and missing my family. 

 I love painting and hope to do more more more!!!  

Now if I can just focus on ONE subject....

Latest Healthy Yums..

Happy Friday Party Peoples!!

It's actually a Poopie Friday for me because I have to work inventory Saturday and Sunday from like 4AM until??  Trying to stay positive about it because there are some good things happening this weekend...  

For one, It's Laura's B-day tomorrow night so I get to see some sweet friends I miss a whole bunch.  I also have Monday off..which it is always awesome to have a Monday off.  On top of that, Ginny and I are driving over to Eno River for a little hiking and picture taking.  Super excited!!

It's also week two of my being a good girl food-wise...and I've lost 3 lbs.  That makes me feel like doing cartwheels for sure!!  Extremely helpful to see results, I am sure you would agree!

On that note, I thought I'd share a couple images/recipes for new healthy discoveries.  I have been eating good and it's been tasting good..I love it!!

 Yummie!!  

Mediterranean Stuffed Chick Breasts w/Zucchini & Kale


Another benefit for meal planning and searching healthy recipes is that I'm cooking dishes I've never cooked which is pretty crazy because I love to cook and I have made TONS of dishes!  I am also loving my Grill Pan!  I've been yearning for a Grill, but my pan from Belk is a nice sub in the meantime.

I cooked Lamb Chops for the first time last night and Jeez O they were good!  Complimented these with Mashed Cauliflower - added a dash of Half & Half, S&P, and about half a t of Rosemary.  And closed this trio with a slimmed down version of one of my favs...Creamed peas and Mushrooms.  There is no cream in these peas but they tasted Awesome!  Harry even ate the leftover container of them in the middle of the night.  Now you KNOW those babies were good if a man ate vegetables as a snack!

Rosemary Grilled Lamb Chops

Peas & Shrooms with Onion & Thyme

{I left out the sugar & only used 1T butter}

Everyone have the bestest weekend and don't get mad at me but...I WISH IT WOULD SNOWWWW!!  If it does, I will take a video of Miss Ember - she gets wacky in snow :)

Love, Health & Happiness to you all!

Cook It!

Last night I made a dish I didn't think I'd love...but I did!

Salmon is the one fish I have always ignored & pushed aside.  To me, it's the red-headed step child of the ocean/stream.  I decided to give it a go since it's supposed to be full of all those Omega 3's, healthy proteins, etc.  

Coupled with my decision to make healthy food options, I am trying to eat as "clean" as possible.  This recipe covered a lot of delicious ground for me: healthy & clean, exotic spices I've never tried, & going outside my lil' comfort zone!

Just take a look...oh baby! I can't wait to try my next recipe tonight.  

Harry and I have a whole week of entrees that will be fabulous & restaurant-worthy!

Who knew eating well could be so fun and scrumptious!  woot! woot!

Arabic Night at Mosaic

Friday was so much fun! It was the second public performance of mine and I really had a great time.


Thank you to Amara Al Amir for organizing an exciting & gorgeous show. Thanks to Samad, the owner of Mosaic for allowing us to perform at your fabulous venue. Thanks to DJ Stephen Feinberg who did a wonderful job handling the music and keeping the crowd shimmying! Thank you to Sharon DiGiulio for helping me make my first costume (another skill you can add to your mind-boggling talents and to Joe DiGiulio for cooking us fab dinner during all those sessions, Harry for supporting me in all I do, and Thanks to the wonderful crowd at Mosaic for cheering us on!

We will have our next Arabic Night on August 20th so don't miss it!

Doggie Painting Fun!

So, work is pretty fun today!

M. Theresa Brown is teaching a workshop on painting the family dog.

There are some super cute little guys emerging from the canvases.



14 artists are having a great time and learning much from Theresa. She is a great instructor with a lot of knowledge and personality.

She loves to share what she knows to anyone who is interested. Theresa and her husband, Stephen have done marketing workshops with us in the past.



This is the first workshop where she's taught painting at Jerry's.

Looks like she is doing a fabulous job!!

Take a look at what's going on so far!

Costume Challenge 2010

WE
DID
IT!

My Belly dance costume is almost complete!

Sharon and I finished up sewing on Wednesday...can't believe we pulled it off (Sharon mostly!) Feels awesome to have tackled this challenge and I will feel extra fab dancing in a costume that I had a hand in designing and making!



Thank you Sharon for helping me and being the most awesome lady EVER!!

If you are free Friday the 18th, come to Mosaic for some shimmy shaking good times and cheer on all the lovely dancers! Arabic Night should start around 8pm and I think this month we have 8 ladies performing!!

The Federal Junior Duck Stamp Competition

Monday, March 29, 2010...

Patty Matteson (she is the Public Affairs Outreach Coordinator with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service) invited myself, Sharon DiGiulio, and Julee Thompson to be part of the judging panel this year.

The submissions were from grades K - 12. The art was wonderful and fun as usual! Some of the ducks were super cute, others were picture perfect, and most were extremely creative.

It was a blast to be a part of the judges and it was really hard to pick the winners! We managed with minimal fighting amongst us! :0) Here is the winning submission... pretty cool, huh?...

Jerry's Artarama is the sponsor of the event again this year and I have the pleasure of picking out the prizes!! I feel like Santa!! The 1st place winner receives a really nice art supply package (designed by moi!) and $100 gift certificate. There are also 12- 2nd & 12- 3rd place winners who also receive some pretty awesome art packages as well! We want to encourage these budding artists to continue making art.