Monday morning update:

I have never seen this much snow in the Pacific Northwest. I guess this is only appropriate for the first day of winter.  I’m holding everyone who dreamt of a white Christmas personally responsible!

Update: I took the first picture this morning. The second one was taken about 5:00 PM. This snow is crazy! When will it end? We need to get back to normal!

Check out this cool post from my friend, Marci.

I had such a wonderful time at Art & Soul. It’s always over too soon. The people who attend are some of the most wonderful women I’ve met. And the classes are always great. I don’t know why, but I was extremely tired the whole five days. I was feeling foggy and slow; not creative at all. I didn’t take my camera so no pictures this time. And even though I tried as hard as I could, I felt disorganized. I did learn some things though and did create some things I’m happy with. But next year, I’m staying at the hotel!

my Gridlocked piece from class with Lisa Kaus

The best things were seeing friends again and meeting online friends in person. Oh, and of course, the shopping!

Anyway, if you want a different perspective of Art & Soul, wander over to these talented artists’ blogs:

Kecia
Laurel
Leslie
Kelli
Dede
Allegra
Michelle

This coming month is going to be jam-packed with art. I cannot wait! On Sunday, the Muse Council (aka Washington County Mixed Media Artists) is getting together. These ladies are most talented and a lot of fun to hang out with. We’re going to be working on soldering.

Art & Soul starts this week. I’m taking the following classes:

Thursday & Friday: Step Into the Story–Jewelry Technique Workshop with Nina Bagley
Sunday: Gridlocked with Lisa Kaus
Sunday PM: Face Cabochons–Tricks & Techniques with Jessica Acosta
Monday: Charm School with Lisa Call

Check out the links. I can’t wait to see my out of town art friends. Laurel, Dede, Leslie, Keli, Kecia, and Zhulia will all be there. And there will be some other locals attending too: Allegra, Melissa, and Michelle. On Saturday after shopping the Vendor event, Melissa, Diane, Dawn, (maybe) Sue, and I are going to get together for a drink. Too bad we didn’t plan ahead, it would have been fun to have a girls sleep over at the hotel that night.

The following week is my birthday. Not sure what’s going on for that but I’ll be 39 (again).

Then the weekend of October 18 & 19, is Deryn’s JouJou Workshop! That is going to be so much fun. There are still spots available so if you’re interested in attending, let me know! A juju is a charm or amulet with “magical” powers. The word “juju” is derived from the French word joujou meaning “toy” or “plaything.” In this class, we’ll spend a fun first day playing with charms. We’ll assemble all sorts of joujou charms and create a beautiful charm keeper pendant designed to hold them.

Deryn is a wonderfully talented artist; originally from Hillsboro, she now lives near Houston. Hurricane Ike devastated parts of Texas but Haiti has been particularly hard hit this season. Take a look at her blog to see the beautiful necklace she’s auctioning. She’ll match and donate the proceeds to charity: Double Harvest’s Benevolent Housing Project to build housing in Haiti. Not only can you own a piece of original art to wear, you can help out people in need so bid, bid, bid!

…or at the least impulsive.

I want to go to The Farm Chicks Antique Show in Spokane this weekend. The crazy part is that I live in Portland and could only drive up for one day. I keep seeing blog posts from vendors about the type of items they’re going to be selling and I’m dying to go. It’s my vision of shopping nervana.

To give you an idea of the attraction, here are just a few many links referencing the event:

Anyone up for a road trip?

I just got back from a quick weekend trip to Seattle for my uncle’s wedding.

While I was in Seattle, I drove by some places I knew growing up (we moved to Oregon when I was 14).

Here is a picture of the Federal Way house. It is really cute from the outside.

Here is a picture of the Bellevue house. It doesn’t look at all like it did when we lived there… kind of sad.

I went to three schools in Washington.

Kindergarten: Nautilus Elementary

First & Second grades: St. Vincent de Paul Parish School

Third through Eighth grades: St. Louise Parish School

Everything has changed so much in the areas I grew up. There is a Barnes & Noble in Federal Way, skyscrapers in Bellevue.

When I was younger, my cousins, my sister and I would go to the summer movie matinées at this theater at Crossroads:

I went to a couple really cool places. Impress Rubber Stamps is a really neat rubber stamp store. They have the greatest displays. I want a desk like this!

Shipwreck Beads is amazing. They have more beads in more colors than any other place on earth, I’m sure!

Even the sidewalk is beautiful.

Look at this cool picture I took. It was totally by accident!

One neighborhood I drove through on my way to Bellevue Square had these neat art-covered gates at each corner:

Here are some other places I visited on my trip. I am recommending all of them.

• Fireworks Gallery – Full of beautiful local artists’ work. Located at Bellevue Square.

• Common Folk Co. – A cool mix of new and vintage items for the home. Located at Crossroads in Bellevue.

• Scrapbook Nook – A huge store full of really cool paper, embellishments, and neat stuff. Located in Kent.

• English Cottage Collection – They really should have a true website because this store is packed with some really beautiful things. They also have a large collection of the paper napkins I love to collect. Also located in Kent.

I need to develop a rating scale for my favorite home furnishing, nursery, gardening, boutiques, antique, and other specialty stores. I’ll have to work on that.

Don’t forget to vote to included in my give away.

Yesterday Steve and I decided to go out and have some bar food, a couple beers, and watch the Portland Trail Blazers game. Unfortunately they couldn’t pull off the win but they are still fun to watch. They never give up and play hard. Go Blazers!

Afterwards we decided to go to Washington Square. The first store we stopped in was Bath & Body Works. I love their aromatherapy line. My favorite fragrances are lavender vanilla and jasmine vanilla. Next we went to Macy’s. I’ve had my eye on this cashmere sweater, hoping it would go on clearance. No such luck. Even at 50% off, it’s over $100. I didn’t get it. Next we headed over to Nordstrom. I wanted to find a dress to wear to an upcoming work party. I was sure I wouldn’t find anything to fit me. I was pleasantly surprised! I found some really pretty dresses to try on… in my size! I found one that was on sale that was perfect. It is really pretty. I have the perfect Brighton shoes to go with it. I also found a really cute sweatshirt that I couldn’t live without, which actually cost more than the dress (shh… don’t tell Steve).

I am so ready for spring. Living here in Oregon, it’s so grey and dreary this time of year. I feel drained both physically and emotionally. This happens to me every winter. One bright spot happened yesterday when I was at lunch. The sun peeked out behind the clouds and the geese at the park across the street from my office decided it was the perfect time to go for a walk. They were so cute; brazen with no regard for their own safety. As if they were any match for the cars they were stopping. They seemed somewhat arrogant which made me smile and brightened my day.

Don’t you just love these animals?! The one in the center had curly feathers – he was unique.

I know what you’re thinking.  It’s true, I am a little off balance today.  But I am so thankful for living in the Pacific Northwest with the rain and all that goes along with it.  The days are short now but soon they start getting longer.  It’s always a nice time of year to throw some stew in the crock pot and snuggle on the couch in front of the fire place with a good book.

I have lived in a couple different places but I always come home eventually.  You just can’t beat the mild marine climate.  It is at times grey bu it never gets too cold in the winter nor too hot in the summer and it stays green year-round.  We’re close to the coast and the mountains.  Even the desert is just a few hours away in the eastern part of the state.

The rain does get tiresome after a while but the promise of spring makes it all worthwhile.