A little list

So, I wanted to give my loyal readers, all two of you, a little update. Now anyone who knows me well, or looks through my purse, knows I am constantly making lists. To do, to buy, to give, to call. It's out of control. So for some insight into what I've been up to in the past few days, here's a sampling of some of the things that have been on my lists.
1. call the electrician to move the outlet for the new tv
2. buy the cables for new tv
3. finish research for paper on 16th century Venetian architect Andrea Palladio
4. finish research for paper on photographer Tina Modotti and her work in Mexico
5. put out Christmas decorations
6. register for Spring
7. check prices on new cars
8. Christmas shopping
9. study anthropology
10. study algebra
11. see doctor about cut finger
12. get guest room/ bathroom ready
13. submit party orders for southern living at home
14. organize office and studio
15. hang print in entry

oh, the list goes on and on. But even though the to-do list is never ending, I am thankful for all these things I want to get done because it means I live in a comfortable home, I am fortunate enough to get a college education, we were able to get D the TV he wanted, and I have health insurance. All huge blessings.

It's the Little Things

Today was a good day because:
I woke up early to a beautiful sunny day.
I installed a new toilet paper holder in our powder room. By myself.
My mom and I were able to have a nice long conversation.
D and I took in some art at Blue Star.

All in all, it was a good day. These two pictures are from a trip to Arizona last fall. Crissy made me pose in the Zen garden. Ommmmmmmm.........

Renovations, Inside and Out

Just a quick post. Times are busy with a full school schedule, light remodeling (paint, light fixtures, etc.), and various social obligations. Is it just me or does it seem like everyone is getting married or having a baby? I suppose these events are to be expected at this stage in life. That place where you have graduated from school, focused on building your career, played around a bit, and now you are ready to move on to the next stage of adulthood. Of course, I feel as if I'm in a bit of a vacuum where time or rather, progress, is standing still. I attribute this to my status as a student mostly. And that's okay. Because if I've learned nothing else, I have learned that my current circumstances- whatever they may be- are a result of my past decisions and I am responsible. It sounds obvious I know; but when we're in the thick of it, we find it very easy to point the finger. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about, so I won't belabor the point. What is the point of this post anyway? That I'm very busy of course! Ha ha! Who isn't?

Actually I just wanted to share a couple updates. First, there is much painting going on and I will be posting before and after pictures and looking for any feedback or suggestions. I think comparing the photos from when we viewed the house the first time (while the previous owners still lived there) with the current photos will be especially interesting. We have very different tastes. We'll just leave it at that. I'm also finally, truly moving into my studio. I was in a sort of holding pattern until I could paint the walls and put up shelves and really organize myself in a more permanent manner. So my studio redux is in the works and I'm super excited! I'll be posting photos of that progress as well.

Second, I have taken several steps towards regaining my health. I've joined Weight Watchers, started working out at the gym and the yoga studio again, and I've also committed to playing on a volleyball team. I had forgotten how good of a workout volleyball is, especially in the sand! If you want to work on your hamstrings and glutes, volleyball is very effective. Promise. During our first team practice I was reminded how beneficial sports can be. I think a little competition is good and being part of a team is always fun.

It is now 4am and I must get some beauty rest. I have a wedding to attend tomorrow!

Hello Stranger!

Wow, I can't believe it's been more than a month already! You know what they say, time flies when you're... well, busy. I finished up summer school, had about a week off and started the fall semester last week. During my short break I became absolutely obsessed with the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I read all four books in about 6 days. And I know that the books are actually written for young adults and the majority of my fellow readers are teenage girls, but I just love it! I wish the series wasn't over, but I am glad I finished them all because now the fall semester is in full swing and I've got a lot on my plate.

I'm taking a couple of art history classes that I think will be very interesting focusing on art from Venice and 19th and 20th century Mexican art, an anthropology course on ancient civilizations in the east and an independent study where I can focus on my work with text and image. I'm very excited about that class in particular. But you know what comes with attendance UTSA? The never-ending quest for a parking space. Ridiculous. That's the only word for it. I'm considering getting a scooter so I can park in the motorcycle lot. It's a lot closer to the building and they're so cute. I could get a matching helmet!

Fruits of my labor

It's a little late, but as promised I am reluctantly posting photos of some of the jewelry I've been working on. I was talking to my friend, Cristalynn (I call her Crissy, cuz we go waaay back and I'm allowed) last night and we spoke of our struggles with our art/design/projects. I was telling her how I had been excited about the jewelry I was working on, but after days of making and photographing, I'm sick of looking at the stuff and I think its all crap. She related to this phenomena, as I think many artists can. After being so close to something and staring at it for so long it just wears on you. So we'll see.

These are made with pink and turquoise glass beads.


I like the simplicity of a single faceted Amazonite that anchors the silver chain.
I really like this necklace with a simple tee or dress.
I also found a couple more photos from the wedding that actually have the bride in them. In case you were wondering, I did make the necklace I'm wearing. I love it!
Ahhh, love. It's a beautiful thing.

Blue eyes, tiny toes, and lots of kisses

So, I'm basically going to show off my boyfriend's sister's new baby.... because she's adorable! She's the reason we skipped town and flew to Charleston, South Carolina in mid July. She has beautiful blue eyes and the sweetest little feet and toes. She's still very young and wasn't ready to offer up any smiles for us, but we still enjoyed giving her lots of hugs and kisses and, of course, taking a ridiculous amount of pictures. Here I think she's trying to size up D.

Look at these toes!



Waking up from a nap. (Still trying to figure out just who this guy is...)


She's just too sweet. Hopefully we'll be able to see her on a regular basis. I can't wait to send her her first set of washable paints! And markers! Because you know I already gave her Baby Da Vinci and Baby Van Gogh. The girl's gotta learn her colors!

Til tomorrow...

Blue dresses, white cake and a whole lotta dancing

Okay, I'm back and I have so much to share! Over the past few weeks we've put in some serious family time and it's been such a gift to be able to reconnect with our loved ones. My cousin married the love of her life on July 12 and I stood in her wedding as a bridesmaid along with another cousin of ours and a couple of her closest friends. I've been going to weddings all my life, but in the last couple of years I've attended weddings of some of my closest friends and the experience is completely different. I've realized what an honor it really is to witness two people you love make a lifelong commitment to one another. As my cousin walked down the aisle with her father, tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at her groom and I thought to myself- I hope they carry the happiness of this day with them always. The day was lovely and we had a blast at the reception, you'll see from the pictures. And the best part: I really will be able to wear the dress again!

My dad and I at the church after the ceremony.




D's trying to make me dance, but I'm laughing too hard.

Oh yeah, we're gettin' down! Love that face!


Good music, good times, and silly faces. Now that's a wedding!


That's my cousin, isn't she beautiful?! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of her that are in focus, so these are mostly pictures of me. I'm really not self-obsessed, I know my mom will like to see them since she was the photographer.

Tomorrow I'll share a little about our trip to Charleston and some of the work I've been up to.

On Vacay

Just wanted to let you all know that you haven't heard from me because we're in South Carolina visiting D's sister, her husband and their new baby. We're having a great time here in the south, but we'll be back in Texas by Wednesday just in time for me to take an exam. Yuck! So I'll be back in a couple days with some pictures and updates.

Moving forward...

Soooo, I've been absent for the past couple of days, but I've gotten some important things done and we're definitely making some progress. You know I believe it's important to do something each day to get closer to where we want to be and although I didn't accomplish everything I had in mind for this holiday weekend, I did accomplish some really important things, like spending time with family. On Friday, the Fourth of July, I got to spend the day with my parents. My dad grilled some tasty food that my mom had prepped at home and I bounced some decorating ideas off my mom, and they even surprised me with a beautiful bunch of light pink gladiolas! Even though it was pretty low key, it was a great Independence Day. I also wrangled my mom into helping me get my studio/office under control on Sunday. It took us almost 6 hours to get everything picked up and sorted! (Although we did take a couple breaks for watermelon and iced tea.) It was mostly paper like mail and bills and receipts that had just taken on a life of their own - on every inhabitable surface. So now my studio is picked up and organized again, what a relief! Yay for moms! This week I'm seriously thinking about painting the walls and putting up some shelves. And the third something I accomplished... I took my Microeconomics final! Yes, I'm done with my Economics course and on to next semester. I learned quite a bit, but it was a tougher course than I had anticipated so I'm glad it's over. So tomorrow, I'll head over to Lowe's for some paint and post some photos of projects.

Can't believe it's already 2am!

Entertaining, organizing thousands of pictures (I wish I were exaggerating), and setting up shop for better product photography have been my main focus for the past two days. There's always work to be done around here, but I'm really looking forward to tomorrow when I'll have a chance to hang out with my parents here at my house. We're going to do some cooking, and play games or watch movies or go for a swim depending on the weather. Good times... And perhaps I'll compose a dish with these lovely radishes I found. Aren't the colors just beautiful?
More tomorrow, I must get some beauty rest now.

Wonderful Wednesday

So I wanted to share this collage created by my extremely talented friend, C. She asked me questions about what I wanted to have or achieve in the coming year and in my life over all. You can see her notes from our phone conversation in the center, written on notebook paper. Then she created this collage. I believe this was one of a few different creativity exercises she was working on at the time, about a year ago. Every time I see this image on my computer screen, I smile, I'm inspired and I am reminded of how lucky I am to have such a great friend who is also immensely talented. She's probably thinking, "Iris that thing took 20 minutes, it was just an exercise!" But I've seen other work she's done and I know her talent runs deep. I just love it... perhaps I should ask her to make another, hmmm...



Also wanted to share a couple quick pics from yesterday because it rained! Yay!! Now, if you live in Seattle or Portland or even Houston, that may not be a big deal. But when your grass is more brown than green and becoming crunchier by the minute despite your watering efforts before 9am and after 8 pm, it's a big deal. We really needed it, and I hope it filled up our aquifer a little.



And one of my favorite things in the whole world is a super fresh tomato mozarella salad. I always thought they were good, but my time in Italy cemented my love for this super simple, but delicious dish. If you've never made it, I'll give you the secret... the best, freshest ingredients you can find. When your food is really clean and simple, the ingredients make all the difference in the world. All you need is bright red tomatoes, mozarella cheese (fresh is best, usually in a ball), fresh basil, some extra virgin olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar and a bit of salt and fresh ground pepper. Deeelish! As you can see, D couldn't even wait for me to take the picture before digging in!

Lots to learn

Okay, this is kind of a test. I'm trying to figure out how to add pictures and such, because that is really one of the main things I love about reading other people's blogs- all the beautiful pictures! This is me modeling a safari style hat in a hat shop (obviously) in Cabo San Lucas earlier this year. Honestly, I can't figure out how my pictures get filed in all the folders in iphoto so this was the first decent, not-too-boring one I could find. I'll get better at all this fancy technology, I swear!

Alright, it's later in the afternoon and my brain's working better. So, now I'll share why I began this blog in the first place. First, I love to write and there are bits of my life, some wishes and inspirations I'd like to share and record so I can look back on them later. And second, I've got one word for you: Accountability. That's right, it's not the most lighthearted or free-spirited of words, but for me it's huge. You see I'm an artist and I have tons of ideas, loads of inspiration, long lists of goals and mountains of hopes and dreams. What I don't have, yet, is discipline. The discipline to set aside time each day to do something that gets me closer to where I want to be. That is what I've been missing and what I so desperately need. I know this.

And as I read other people's blogs, especially those of other artists or crafty sorts, I have read over and over about how once she (let's face it, I don't know any men that blog) started blogging and got to know other like-minded women she became more productive and prolific and started creating even more than before. And that is what I hope will happen. Because if I say I'm going to do something and it's out there, in print, for all to read... well, then I better do it! And I figure if I do at least one thing every day to get me closer to my goals, well, by the end of a month I've done thirty things to get me closer and that might be more than I've done in the past year!

So, the last reason is that maybe, just maybe there will be someone else out there who feels the same way and reading my words will inspire them to set aside some time to do just one thing every day to get closer to where they want to be and live the life they were meant to live. That's my hope.... not to lofty is it?!

So, one more picture that reminds me of good times in Cabo. My boyfriend took this in the morning on the way out to go deep sea fishing.

The Perfect Post

After agonizing over the "perfect" first post for weeks - literally, weeks- I've decided to hell with it! I'm just going to get started so the pressure's off.

So D and I went to the movies this weekend and saw the previews for the new Will Farrell flick, Stepbrothers. In the tradition of wacky Will Farrell movies, it looks hilarious in an Anchorman/ Talladega Nights kind of way. So there's a scene where he's in a job interview and he's wearing a tuxedo. So ridiculous! I love it! The interviewer, after her patience has been tested by these two idiots, points out that he's wearing a tuxedo to an interview for a position to clean bathrooms. Clearly not appropriate, but so flippin' funny!

So I started thinking, What positions could you interview for wearing a tuxedo and not look like an idiot?
This is what I've come up with so far:
1. Secret Agent (think 007)
2. Formal Wear Model
3. Escort at the Miss USA Pageant (you know, those guys that help them down the stairs so they don't trip on their dresses and ridiculously high heels- you've seen them)
4. Chippendales Dancer (of course, he wouldn't be wearing it very long but you get the idea)
5. Groom-to-Be
6. Professional Ballroom Dancer

Any other ideas? Just some food for thought.