Birthdays and Art Saturday

Quote of the Day:  The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate. Oprah Winfrey

Birthdays are great.

Celebrate life!

Millie and Willie Cottonpoly: Happy Birthday, Mary!

Pad Thai

DARK CHOCOLATE CAKE (deserves all caps)

Sisters

Friends

Coffee

Chocolate

Sweet gifts

Dinner and spending time with the Biker Chef

Massage

Hair cut

First week of school

Lunch with writers and lovers of words

and many more blessings

ALL THE INGREDIENTS FOR A WONDERFUL BIRTHDAY!

First birthday party at the Primo Art Spa!

The best lunch you could get anywhere.

Thanks for the spring rolls and movie night!

I've been celebrating for about a week, now, but my friend Krista said, "That's okay. It's the octave of your birthday." Cool. I still have few days (notes) left to complete it! (Do you think I could sneak in the sharps & flats, too, the minor & major chords?)

This week we had our first Art Saturday. Go to our Primo Art Spa blog to see photos and find out what's coming next and how you can get moving on your creativity!

Coming soon: a chance to win tickets to "Charlotte's Web" at the Children's Theatre in Minneapolis! Yippy. He's some pig.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  What are you celebrating?

First Ever Waffle Sunday

Quote of the Day:  You should eat a waffle! You can't be sad if you eat a waffle! Lauren Myracle

Waffles are just awesome bread. John Green
(quotes found on Goodreads)

 

My church closed and I'm feeling a little sad, so I said to my sister, "Let's do something fun on Sunday so I don't feel so sad about not having my church anymore." We chose to have our First Ever Waffle Sunday. We actually have grandiose ideas about Waffle Sundays for our future home of the Primo Art Spa. We'll call it Waffles and Words and people can stop over for these most delicious waffles and have a chance to share their writing - poetry or stories, or have open mic where they could sing or read. I think it would be a hoot.

 

For our First Ever Waffle Sunday, we invited Krista, the publicist extraordinaire, and her four children. Our waffle party had rave reviews. I'll give you a pictoral recap.

 

Here is the recipe for Liege Belgian Waffles with Pearl Sugar from Allrecipes. Joy's friend had been to Europe and raved about the delicious waffles there and vowed to come home and recreate, if not perfect, them.

 

Joy, preparing the dough and the waffle iron.

These waffles have yeast in them, so you need to let them rise a little before frying.

 

You need to form the dough, then put it on the waffle iron.

 

The waiting is the hardest part.

When will the green "ready" light come on?

 

We served them with fresh fruit, home-made granola, an easy egg bake, whipped cream and chocolate sauce (genache).

 

Everything was beautiful and tasty.

 

The company was delightful.

 

 

 

When this expands into serving many guests, we'll make up the waffles ahead of time. They freeze well and can be warmed in an oven.

 

In other news: Tonight, the Minnesota Fringe Fest will be doing their lottery and choosing the lucky 165 (out of over 400 entries) productions for the 2013 Fringe Fest. I'm #116. Does that sound like a lucky number? I don't know. I'll reveal the results on Wednesday during the Insecure Writer's Support Group post. Yay, I'll have lots to write about no matter what the results!!!

 

Now, on to creating, dreaming, and discovering.

 

Go. Create. Inspire!

 

Journaling Prompt:  Have you ever tried out a new recipe on friends or family? Are you in for the Fringe Fest lottery? What's your lucky number?

P.S. I'm a little nervous about the Fringe Fest.

First Ever Holiday Party a Joyous Success!

Quote of the Day:  Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, May your heart be light, from now on our troubles will be out of sight...faithful friends who are dear to us, gather near to us once more. Through the years we all will be together if the fates allow...so have yourself a Merry Little Christmas now. Some of my favorite lyrics from my favorite holiday song. It was one of the sing-a-long songs at our holiday party.

I'll have to admit I was a bit anxious about throwing a holiday party. I've never done one before. I have way too much clutter. I worry about details, then forget about important ones. I had more excuses, but with help from dear friend Krista, sister Joy, and the Biker Chef I couldn't resist opening my home to the merriment. All I made was the fruit pizza and veggie dip. Krista brought peanut butter chocolate kiss cookies, a recipe she has perfected. Joy made the most delicious chocolate cake with layers of chocolate butter cream frosting flavored with hazelnut and strawberry, and made chocolate covered caramels.  She made the pico dip, and the Chef made the guac, an excellent combination of flavors. The Chef went all out with hot and cold apps: shrimp cocktail, roll-ups of ham, cream cheese, and pickle, and tortilla wraps, a reuben dip, beef and pork satays, Swedish meatballs, crackers with cream cheese and pepper jelly, deviled eggs, and more! It was a feast. 

The Chef describing the delicious spread.

 

Mr. Happy stood as the centerpiece for for the feast, and listened intently to the music.

 

Joy and I shared our musical selections and invited others to join us on a few songs.

 

 

My home was filled with great friends, beautiful music, and wonderful food. What a great way to celebrate the holidays!

 

 

 

Thanks for coming! I hope you all had as much fun as we did.

 

 

May your days be Merry and Bright!

 

Go. Create. Inspire!

 

Journaling Prompt:  Do you host parties? Have you ever been encouraged to open your heart or home to something new? How did it go?

 

 

 

Open to Adventure

Quote of the Day:  Go forth seeking adventure. Open your eyes, your ears, your mind, your heart, your spirit and you'll find adventure everywhere. ~ Wilfred A Peterson

Open the window in the center of your chest, and let the spirits fly in and out. ~ Rumi

Favorite Photos Friday:

Adventures happen on the 4th of July when celebrating with friends and family at a lake home.

Adventures happen in the kitchen when you get creative with your oft-requested fruit pizza. I'm calling this

Variation on the American Flag.

Krista, Publicist Extraordinaire

Adventure happens on a friend's screened-in porch.

JeMA, Artist and Writer Extraordinaire

Especially when you add ingredients like wine, chocolate, creative spirits, and an openness to dream and scheme about more adventures.

Mary, fueling up for more adventures

Adventure comes from being open, trusting your intuition, and listening to the voices that say, "It's okay to jump on the bike!"

The Biker Chef

Seriously, with a look like that, who could resist?

The open road, whether physical or creative, awaits you.

Jump on the bike and start your adventure today!

I'll be on a blogging break next week as I go on an adventure with my family.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  Do one adventurous thing today and write about it. Make a list of adventures you'd like to take.

IWSG in July

Quote of the Day:  Long before I wrote stories. I listened for stories. ~ Eudora Welty

Gifted writers have gifted ears. ~ Curtis W. Casewil

Alex J. Cavanaugh, host of the Insecure Writer's Support Group, gave us permission to post our usual Insecure post on the first Wednesday of each month on a Tuesday this month, because we're celebrating Indpendence Day here in the U.S.A. on July 4. Since this is usually a time when family and friends gather, it seems like a good theme for this month's posting.

What inspires you? What do you do when you are feeling isolated, blocked, discouraged, or stuck in your art?

Gather a few friends around your kitchen table and talk about your hopes & dreams, your goals and ambitions.

The creative energy around my kitchen table last Friday night was inspiring. Here are three of my favorite people talking about what they love to do, what inspires them, and what they'd like to do with their gifts and talents.

On Sunday, my friend, the artist JeMA, and her family parked their RV in the park for Art in the Park Day. They have turned their plain ole RV into a public art project. They ask you to put on a dot and tell them three things that inspire you. You can participate remotely by going to their website, Inspire to Inspire.

Share your art and ideas with other people.

Hang out with other creative spirits.

Collaborate, support, and encourage one another.

Go. Create. Inspire!

Journaling Prompt:  What inspires you?  Go to JeMA's website and share it if you like.  Journal it; share it here; whisper it to a trusted friend.