giving thanks.....

as i get ready to celebrate thanksgiving this year with my family,i am giving thanks for all that i have... a beautiful family,wonderful friends, a comfortable home, and today  most of all i am thankful for my grandmothers giant cast iron pot....i make everything in this sunny yellow pot,and i swear to you it all tastes better!
       i inherited all her cast iron ware after she died, and i celebrate her every single day in using one piece or another.... last night i used it to make so many things,it was a great help to me...i miss my grammy more than i could ever put into words, but she lives on in my heart and in my pot, and for this i am oh so thankful!
                                             many blessings from my house to yours....happy thanksgiving!

the start of november

i find that when i am stressed or happy, upset or thrilled, i always find myself celebrating in my kitchen.... it always goes back to nurturing for me, nurturing my family,nurturing my feelings, nurturing my life...i can usually solve any problem by standing in front of my stove,mixing up a batch of cookies, or a delicious meal.if i need inspiration,or to calm myself down, i can always do it with spoon in hand.

                                                     even when i find it hard for me to concentrate,as soon as start chopping garlic, or stirring  risotto, it helps me to focus on the task on hand and instantly soothes me. i think this is why i can relate so closely to ina, paula,alex and nigella....they are so passionate about cooking, it is there essence, their being....and like me it is there passion and joy.

happy halloween....

happy halloween to all my friends in blog land....i just realized i haven't posted anything in a month. i am sorry  but life has been very hectic!....work, doing the college thing with my daughter, 3 kids, a boyfriend, my mom being sick and all life throws at you can be very overwhelming.... i am on the upswing, and count my blessings  every day!.... i hope you all have a spook-tacular halloween...xox

goodbye september.....

things have been busy here, sorry ive been gone for so long...school started, and having a daughter who is in the process of applying to college,working, and being a single mother of three, it's been veryyyy busy!
i have been investigating how too make my own greeting cards,or freelancing for a greeting card company and i have been painting to unwind.
i hope everyone had a good september and look forward to a wonderful october!

the very heart of me.....

ive noticed lately i've been a little out of sorts, not sad or upset exactly but not myself,(myself being very happy and bubbly,and usually quite cheery!)...and it just dawned on me that i have not cooked in a really long time,i made some guacamole
yesterday , (but that hardly counts even though the feel of the knife chopping up tomatoes and onion,garic and jalapenos was very theraputic to me.)
you see i was on vacation so i haven't really cooked anything since,gosh august 13 or so....today is the 24th,so that means its been 11 days since i have made some kitchen magic...sooooo i have some brownies in the oven, and i am making some stuffed rigatoni with broccoli,homemade pizza with some fresh pesto that i made and chicken skewers for dinner...as i was chopping garlic,and cleaning broccoli,hearing the sizzle of the oil,and the feel of the salt on my finger tips has made me so extremely happy and really puts me at ease,the smells so inviting that everyone is intoxicated by the aroma...
i am a homebody by nature,and i love nothing more than cooking for family and friends,having them all gather in the kitchen, i realize i don't need much more in life, a nice glass of shiraz, some good food, great music,and laughter surrounding me as i stand over my butcher block island with my apron on completly content with life....
and that is the very heart of me!

home sweet home....

we are home from our trip down the shore....
now i am no dinosaur,i think of myself as more of a shark, a shark in the sense that they have survived for millions of years and have been able to adapt to anything,living amidst the most beautiful fish, coral,shells etc...and the darkest, murkiest depths of the unknown....
now pt. pleasant isn't the most desirable of destinations i know, but the place we where staying at, sold itself as a "beachfront resort and spa", overlooking the ocean.... ( i pictured waiters in white jackets bringing me drinks poolside,and hot stone massages,me laying with a smile on my face).....to actually what it was.... a motel,overlooking the parking lot.
now all the other motels on the strip (they call a spade a spade) are not putting on heirs, the call themselves what they actually are motels,.... sandpebble motel, windswept motel, not, the white sands oceanfront resort and spa.....(a motel masquerading as a resort and spa)....
now i am a woman of many, many words,(anyone who knows me knows that i always have an opinion!,)and i was rendered speechless for a good hour or so upon my arrival at the white sands oceanfront resort and spa...
butafter awhile it did grow on me,...the room was clean and they did have the only great resturaunt in a five mile radius...
i never did see a white jacket waiter, in fact i never saw anyone checking our lovely paper wrist bands,and we never got a lounge chair on the beach, my poor dad had to go down to the pool at 7:30 every morning to get us lounges, or we would have been sitting "parking lot side" every day...but being the shark that i am, i enjoyed myself, despite the white sands motel, masquerading as a beachfront resort and spa,because i was with the people i love....and love covers bad motel!

hot,hot,hot........

i am home today with the air conditioning guys who are hear finally to put in a new compressor...i haven't had any air for three weeks,and its been tough,its been hot and humid,and everything feels sticky,and all my art is buckling,and its been hard to work on anything without breaking into a sweat!...i've been desperatly trying to count my blessings in this situation,and i have been reminding myself of all the good things in my life, this is just a gentle reminder that i cannot control everything in my life and it has been humbling to say the least....i am looking forward to going away next week with my family for a much needed rest....so at the moment i am enjoying having the day off,and being home,my favorite place to be,despite the heat!
i took this picture a few weeks ago in the city...<3

true to form.....

i am in the middle of an art piece to be submitted to a new gallery showing with a silent auction added to it...we each recieved a paper mache torso and stand to be decorated for breast cancer awareness....i was planning on making my piece a little more shocking and dark, but i decided not too because its a fundraiser...its not finished yet, i am just watching it for awhile until it speaks to me....i wonder what it will say?

a summer day at the met....

we spent saturday at the met,and we had such a wonderful day, i still say its the best bargain in the city...you can spend hours strolling around looking at fabulous art, shop and have a delightful bite to eat in a beautiful setting.... we where so happy to see our favorite little man sitting on his little stool drawing in the sculptor garden, he is so very talented and patient,and he can be found on any given saturday at the met....i photographed what is known to be the first papyrus,paper from the egyptians...they took leaves and cut them into thin strips,and wove them together,and than took a stone and pounded them into the very first sheets of paper...me being a lover of anything paper,this just fascinated me.... more to come...ciao my friends...

dessert table

dessert table
Originally uploaded by hello naomi (away)

this is so very lovely, don't you just want t stroll along this table....beautiful!

"playing with a full deck"

my 9 of diamonds for this years artist trading card exhibit "playing with a full deck" was chosen for the poster...the exhibit will be held in deleware ohio from july 20-august 8....its a wonderful exhibit that i enter annually,the room is made entirely of artist trading cards,wall to wall...if you live in ohio,check it out!

happy saturday from blogland...

i finished my charms and sent them off for my second annuel charm swap....i cant wait to get my package of goodies in the mail...and i made some vintage looking brides and grooms for my two cousins who are both getting married...hope you all have a great weekend,and stay dry!

the day my daughter was born...reprise

memorial day, may 25,1992,1:25 p.m. 8 pounds 13 ounces...my daughter, alexandria marie antonelle came into this world,with not a breath, no heart beat and an apgar score of 0,this was the single most tragic and miraculous day of my life to date...my water broke in the middle of the night but i wasn't dialating at all and after several hours the doctor gave me choice to either have a c-section or pitocin to bring on my labor...i had a previous c-section with my son t.j. and i would have opted for another c-section ,but all the nurses and the doctor advised me to go with the pitocin...(no one told me that there was a high risk of a uteran rupture when given pitocin after a section) they started the pitocin drip and my labor came on fast and furious...all was progressing well and i was given an epidural...i felt like i had to push, thomas went to get the camera,but when the doctor checked my cervix, i was bleeding heavlily and i was going into shock...they rushed me into the delivery room and without me even knowing(i literally had no idea) the doctor in 4 minutes time cut me open (without even washing his hands)and took my little lifeless daughter from me...
"you have a baby girl, what would you like to name her and do you want her baptized" was what the nurse asked me minutes after i was rushed into the delivery room.i looked at her in shock and out of the corner of my eye i saw doctors and nurses working on my little girl...they called a code blue and pushed a screaming thomas out of the room. by this time i was loosing massive amounts of blood, and the doctor operated on me for several hours at the same time my daughter was attached to a respirator fighting for her life...
i wasn't allowed to see her for several days,because i was too critically ill and so was my baby,the nurses would take polaroid pictures of her with tubes down her throat and a teeny tiny iv in her foot...the doctors said she wouldn't make it and they told thomas that he would be a widower,there was not much hope for either of us, but by the grace of God alexandria marie antonelle pulled the respitaor out of her throat, and started to breath on her own... two weeks later we where home and getting stronger everyday!
my daughter is the essence of strength and perserverence, and from her first day on earth was a fighter...and she hasn't stopped yet! she is a fantastic student, always making honor role,and the most wonderful daughter in the world,she will make a great mother someday, she has quite the maternal instinct, and has the most infectious laugh on earth...she has a smile that lights of the world,in fact when she was a baby she would wake up in her crib, rubbing her little nose on the mattres,and than lift her head and smile so bright...to this day it is the single most beautiful memory i have...i cry when i think of her, and even though she was born in may, she truly came in like a lion!!!...allie girl i love and adore you!!!

happy mother's day...

to all the mommy's out there, i want to wish you all a happy mother's day...i made my mom a special book with old stories that my grandmother wrote down for me, i photo copied them and made a little book for her, my mom cried...we miss my grandmother oh so much...and i try to honor her every day! she was the best!

chocolate decadence....

this trader joe's chocolate decadence cereal is delightfully chocolaty and delicious! now i am not a cereal fan, in fact aside from putting some kashi in my yogurt i never eat it, but i bought this cause it had the name chocolate on the box, and it is the most chocolaty of chocolate cereal, and packed with fiber and made from wheat,its good for you too!...so run don't walk to your nearest trader joe's for some today!

museum fun...

my school is having a museum day next week, were we will each transform our classrooms into a room in a museum...i picked "pop art" and we have been busy making different piecese for the exhibit... we are making some of our own pollacks, harings,lichensteins, warhols and more... we are making giant sized tootise rolls, bubble gum, hersheys kisses, and more... here are some pics of us hard at work!

filet mignon,ella and louie....

tonight we decided to cook in, so we went to trader joes and got some filet mignon,topped with crimini mushrooms on a bed on fresh baby spinach with garlic mashed potatoes...we drank absolut with blood orange soda,and listened to some jazz...it was fabulous!

allie's prom

the prom was very stressful, and it took forever for hair and make up and her driver got lost and they didn't get to the prom until 9..and she was at the after party by 10:30....she's tired today!

prom day...........

today is my daughters junior prom.last night we had the manicure,pedicure,eyebrows done, and today its hair and make up, shes been tanning all month and her gown is hanging on her door....she is so excited!... i hope they have a great time, i will post pics later!

thursday....

i have so much to do for my upcoming art show on thursday that i am up at 5 a.m. wondering how i am going to get it all done...i know logically that i will, but i still stress out a bit about it...did i mention its already thursday?
i took this photo in central park this past weekend...i adore this little house!

happy earth day !!

i hope everone has a wonderful earth day...and remember to recycle!!!

some more art...

my little guy is home with strep throat,so that means i will be home from work tomorrow...thats good cause i need to get all my art work ready and priced for the show on saturday...wishing everyone a wonderful tuesday!

sketch book...

one of my favorite things to do at night to relax is listen to some good tunes,and sketch in bed...on any given night i have my sketch book, some good pens, my water color pencils,and various magazines, as well as the book du jour, and water...sometimes my computer is there as well,sometimes not,it depends, but my phone is always there...my b.f. turned me on to pandora.com, which is a great music site that allows you to put in your fav bands or songs, and then they play similar tunes...it is fantastic, check it out!http://www.pandora.com/

spring...

we went on a class trip to the farm yesterday...it was such a fun trip,and my class loved it,all the baby animals where just born! the goat had triplets and this is the little baa baa black sheep

a lovely easter....

we had a lovely easter,i had 26 people with lots of food and fun..it was blessed day !! i hope you all had a wonderful day as well!

new treasures from acorn hill.....

here's whats been going on in my world...some new art for my upcoming art show on april 25, at watchung's 2nd annual art in the park...it should be a lovely show,so come on out!

ta sigh.............

its been quite a trying time in my world... i've been sick since last week,and am still not feeling much better,despite all the meds im taking, and to add insult to injury i stepped on a nail last night in my basement,and had to get a tetnus shot and they added more antibiotics to my repratuare....so i am still home from work,and need to feel better soon!
my grampie (pictured here with cousin george, who we lost in january) is in the hospital with sever back problems,and at almost 95, is not a candidate for surgery, so he's not eating or drinking,and wants to go home.... its a terrible situation and i am feeling so badly for him...
my dearest friend's 23 yrs old niece has been critically ill from a staph and strep infection in her lungs,and is now blind because she coded for so long...she has been in my heart and my prayers for the past few weeks,as she has a long long road to recovery, she has a multitude of problems due to her illness being so life threatening...
life is fragile...so i thank the lord for every day i have!

friends 4ever

my newest lil dollie...so now i wont be so lonely!! isn't she sweet! xox...i am home sick and desperatly trying to feel better,for my conference tomorrow! more tea with honey for me!

The Altered Book: Art Doll Chronicles

sunday i am attending one of lisa kittell's art workshops. i cant wait!! i am so excited to meet lisa, she is amazingly talented!...it is an altered art doll/journal workshop...its going to be so much fun! saturday i have a preschool workshop to go too, which will be long! so i will really enjoy sundays workshop much more i am sure!

cutie..........

is she not the cutest thing in life?...i just made her! and i just love her!!! she is my character in 3d!!! im very excited!