Heyyyyyyy gurl heyyyyyyyyy. Here I am, living vicariously through Josh’s Aunt Alice on her mint-green scooter. I had never been to her house before, but the moment we pulled up I felt the NEED to get on this scooter and have Josh take a picture. “This is my color!” I told her.

“Mine too,” she said, and added: “Nice sunglasses.”

Her backyard garden and all of the mosaic glass artwork she’s completed was dazzling. I was especially impressed with the extra-tall and extra-thin birdhouses. Mosaic art is something I would love to get into someday.

Look at my pretty little girl, being good. She jumps up too much and her puppy claws tear my mother’s sensitive arm skin easily, but overall she’s sweet and smart and the perfect addition to our family. We took her to “puppy socialization” classes for a few weeks and she did great! I’m looking forward to taking her to dog parks.

I finished a few unfinished painting projects this summer, including this rainbow glitter birdhouse. I shellacked it and put it in the art show, and it didn’t sell, so I decided to keep it at home. Unfortunately Rosie got a hold of it and shredded a lot of the paint off with her dog teeth. Another puppy casualty!

I decided this year to “level up” my booth for art shows, and ordered an artist banner and some new artist cards. I thought the font/color of the text blended too well into the glitter background on the artist cards, but I do like the banner. I also ordered a new white canopy, after I read online that it’s the best choice to display art under.

Josh bought me this big heavy art book for Christmas last year and it never “showed up” in the mail. When we packed for the cabin last month, we packed what we thought was a box containing a twin-sized air mattress. When we opened it up at the cabin, guess what was inside? The big heavy art book! Ha! It is really cool.

It feels SO GOOD to be walking a dog again. No matter what kind of crappy day I’m having, there’s something sacred about the dog walk. It’s my favorite form of therapy. And exercise!

Another enjoyable summer activity we discovered this year: taking the boys to a small local lake. The beach is sandy, the water is warm, and the boys are old enough that with life jackets on, I don’t have to HOVER (just keep an eye out).

This dude forgot to wear a hat during our first trip to the lake. He tried piling the boys’ hats on his head to make up for it.

Forced affection with pets: the cycle continues!

One of my Mother’s Day presents: this cute little green and blue (plastic!) chandelier. I’d wanted a colorful chandelier since back in the days of going to “Display & Costume” for Halloween and party inspiration. I miss that store!

We broke out the fire pit ONE night this summer. I don’t remember the circumstances, but I do remember being tired and grumpy and tea and half a donut with Joshy really hit the spot.

Rosie, smartly, steered clear of the fire pit. Good girl!

My mother suggested that I paint “six or seven” love bus paintings for the August show. I compromised by painting two–this purple one and a silver holographic one. They’ve always sold well at shows in the past…but not this show! I can never predict what people will be interested in.

Welcome to my faaaaaaace. This is the tie-dyed tank top I bought at the Everett Makers Market in June, along with a purple maxi-length skirt. Did I pay way too much? Uh huh. Are they super cool? Also yes.

Barbeque at GG’s house and seeing what Josh will look like at age 93. Pretty good!

GG cracked open the extensive genealogy albums. I think it’s great that SOMEONE out there enjoys putting those things together. Not me! But I’d love to look at my own family’s sometime!

I let Goo choose my accessories. He’s not feminine in any way and refuses to wear wigs, tutus etc.. for any length of time BUT he has a flair for choosing the right jewelry for my outfits! It’s that artist brain.

Darla commissioned me to paint her kitties. I think this photo will be perfect.

A lot of memorabilia from my 20’s in this large wooden box that Nico’s mom bought me years ago. All of the remnants of the perfumes I wore–Oceanus, the yellow “dot” perfume, Coco Mademoiselle. All of my “Kandy” beads in a large Ziploc bag, all of the beaded and hemp jewelry I made. The boys had fun rooting through it, and I gave them a few pieces to keep.

Josh’s parents visited, and although they didn’t stay with us, Josh’s father came over for dinner one night and felt increasingly ill that evening. He ended up having some sort of nasty and extremely contagious GI illness, which subsequently infected Josh, then me, and the next day at the family BBQ it infected Josh’s grandfather and aunt. My mother saved the day by watching the boys so Josh and I could be ill at home without constant chatter. It was a lame few days! I was very thankful that the boys didn’t catch it.

Rosie was a sweet little girl during our illness. She understood somehow that we were too sick to walk her, and she gave us a lot of snuggles. Labs are the best!

We celebrated our 15th anniversary on August 3rd! The “big” celebration was the trip to Honolulu we took back in April. My mother watched the boys and we went to a nice seafood dinner on the waterfront, and had ice cream cones afterwards.

I even slapped up a YUM.

Something new! I wanted a skirt pattern for an elastic waist, LOOSE skirt that would be roomy enough to house pockets (if desired). I paid about 5 bucks for a pdf skirt pattern on Etsy, printed it out, taped up the pages, and voila! An EXTREMELY roomy skirt pattern. The first effort was so giant I had to cackle when I put it together. I ended up cutting down the pattern to the smallest size, and my second effort was still huge! Oh well. Some days it’s nice for a gal to have a relaxed skirt.

The flier for the two day show I participated in! For the first time. I think I’d do it again. Maybe. Although I do really love the show in Ballard, in the outdoor garden. That one is still my favorite.

A couple times a year I get the irresistible urge to go thrifting, and I had to take myself to my favorite Goodwill. My mother was supposed to go with me, but couldn’t for some reason (we’ll have another date once school starts). One of the BEST items I thrifted was this adorable knit dress, with a full skirt, sweetheart neckline, fitted waist, and roomy pockets. This silhouette is really the most flattering on my figure, and I need more like it!

No filter, no editing. This was the day before my art show. I felt cute! And because I started preparing for the show months ago, I did NOT go into it with the usual anxiety that I have every other time I’ve done a show! Maybe it’s maturity. Maybe it’s Maybelline (I mean Celexa).

Ta da! This dude really is the best. He helps with all the heavy lifting of the tables, setting up the canopy, and giving me bathroom breaks. My mother watched the boys, so we didn’t have to worry about them, and could just enjoy the day.

I spontaneously dyed my hair pink with the last little bit of pink dye left over from dying it a few months back. I wore a tank top that was freshly thrifted, and the tie-dyed maxi skirt I bought at the Maker’s Market we attended in June.

Did I sell as much art as I did last summer in Ballard? Nope. But I sold some! Almost every vendor I spoke with (except the dude selling BBQ sauce across the street) said that this year sucked for sales. The show was on a different street that previous years, we’re in a recession, blah blah blahhhhh…

…I mean, at least I wasn’t ALONE in my low sales. That’s always the worst. At any rate, it was a beautiful weekend, I got to hang out with my husband without the kids, the other vendors were super cool, and the food truck food was delicious! The first night Josh bought the malasadas assortment, and they were SO good. Cheesecake, Bavarian Cream, and chocolate. MMmmmmMMmmm.

Our friend and co-worker Gina stopped by with her daughter, and bought WERK from me. Yes! I was hoping to sell that one. “MOISTURIZE, SWEETIE” got a lot of attention, but did not sell. We were also visited by our babysitter, and another co-worker of ours.

On Day 2, I was jealous of the booth across from me and all of their rainbow colors and felt like there was way too much WHITE in my booth…so I added swaths of sequin fabric over the boring white tablecloths. It added a little something-something!

Day two I wore one of my favorite dresses–a hot pink and aqua-colored maxi sundress I bought in Kauai during our trip in 2014. I also wore the shell necklace I bought during our first trip to Maui. Our entire family was devastated to hear about the fires in Lahaina. I first found out about them on Instagram–someone posted a picture of themselves hugging the banyan tree. I was so horrified and shocked by the news of the fire I started crying and texting everyone. Hard to believe, the beautiful place that our family has gone for so many years is completely destroyed, ravaged by fire. It was horrifying to watch the footage of families fleeing into the ocean to escape the fire.

Some of the vendors at the show donated some or all of their sales to support Lahaina. I donated to the Maui Strong fund the following week.

Of course I couldn’t help but support local artists and buy a few items at the show! I bought this cute little necklace and earrings for myself, a few toys for the boys, and some dog treats for Rosie.

The second night’s food was amazing–I had seared scallops over rice with mushroom sauce, and Josh bought a bag of little hot donuts freshly fried and coated in sugar, which reminded me of our trip to San Francisco, and the little donuts we ate on the wharf. YUM!

And here we are at the end of August, and it’s almost time for the boys to go back to school! Maybe it’s because school didn’t get out until the end of June, maybe it’s because I’m always busy, maybe it’s because I’m getting older but I can’t believe how quickly this summer went! It’s been so cool and breezy that I’m ready for Fall! No more of this, mourning the change in seasons. I’m ready for Halloween, dammit! Catch yer later, blog.