and the results are in!

So are the poll results -

8 of you were RIGHT!

it's a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When my friend Amy asked me how I felt
My response was

" Of course its a boy! "

I felt it was a boy from the minute I saw the pregnancy stick show me the positive blue lines!

We did check for twins just in case that person who voted for twins was correct - but there is just one cute boy in there!

yay!!!!!!!!!!!

is it a boy? a girl? twins?

I haven't been taking too many photos lately. But I have been making a baby so that counts for something yes????

So here is a photo Jerry took of me last week.

We are suppose to find out the sex of the baby on Tuesday if the baby is facing the right way and his or her legs are open! Hopefully he or she isn't shy that day.

Everyone gets a "feeling" about what it is I'm going to have so I thought I'd put a poll up so you can vote. lets see how many of you are right!

pomegranates and fertility

These photos were taken on Monday out in our backyard! We have the most abundant Pomegranate tree that I've ever seen. The branches are almost touching the ground!

Did you know that the Jewish star - the 6 pointed star - was designed around the points on the top of the pomegranate ? take a look at the close up and you can see the outline of the star. Pretty great.

It is said that the pomegranate is the symbol of fertility. This MUST be true!
I have proof!

I'll show it to you in 5 months!

( oh my god I'm having a baby in 5 months! That is amazing! )

I haven't been taking many photos lately. Jerry's been working on a series of my belly so we have a document of it's growth over the 9 months. It's pretty incredible to see it grow! I've been busy baking and cooking! That's been the new creative outlet.
I found a few gluten free blogs and I'm amazed at how good things taste when I substitute sugar for agave nectar, and wheat for brown rice flour. I'll post some recipes soon!

xoxox

friends from portland

Last weekend some friends of mine came down from Portland Oregon for a visit. I've known KT for some 13 years. We worked together at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Then both of us moved to Portland a few years apart from each other. We then worked with Miguel Ruiz for a few years. Somehow our lives keep matching up at all the right times, and none of it was planned or discussed. Must be fate?

Her husband BP is a dream boat and he and my husband Jerry are great friends now too. So having them over was a real treat. They are the first to stay over in our home.

We power lounged a lot, but when we had the interest - we wondered about town.
We went to El Arco Iris for authentic mexican Food right around the corner on York Boulevard. After that I took them across the street to Galco's soda pop shop.check out this article from the NY TIMES! Aisle after aisle of all the sodas you remember from your past and ones you've never heard of but seem tempting. the photos above are from our galco's outing.
We went to see " Burn after Reading " at the arclight theater
where we had a star sighting at the movie theater of Natalie Portman and I almost flipped out. P.S. She is TINY! We went to Auntie Em's in Eagle Rock for Breakfast and the bacon is well worth it! SO GOOD!
And a visit to La Brea Tar Pits was a blast from my childhood past. I hadn't been there since junior high.
I also got to try out a few new recipes. They got to try out my lasagna and a flourless gluten free, sugar free banana snacking cake. Both of which were most scrumptious. You can make the lasagna too - get the recipe here
and the banana snacking cake recipe here.

It was a glorious weekend. The weather was a bit unusual. Overcast most days and not much sun. But still a bit on the warm side. Of course the day they left the sun popped out in all it's Southern California glory.

Glad they came out to visit. Much too short. I still want to take them over the "suicide bridge" into Old Town Pasadena, take them to the beach, and power lounge some more in the back yard on the hammock and have some of my friends over for a BBQ to meet them.

Maybe next year ?

Yoko Ono - 100 acorns

Check out this blog by Yoko Ono.
http://100acorns.blogspot.com/
She says this on her blog:

"It's been 44 years since my book of conceptual instructions, GRAPEFRUIT was first published in 1964.

On 15 June 1968, John Lennon & I planted two acorns for peace at Coventry Cathedral. It was the first of our many Peace 'Events'.

In the summer of 1996, I picked up from where I left off, and wrote 100 ACORNS.

Starting on the 40th anniversary of the Acorn Peace Event on 15 June 2008, I will publish here an 'Acorn' every day for 100 days.

After each day of sharing the instructions, you should feel free to question, discuss, and/or report what your mind tells you.

I'm just planting the seeds."

Have fun.
Love, yoko
June 2008

SNL Clinton and Palin - Tina Fey rocks it!

Did you see Saturday Night Live this weekend? If not I've posted the best part right here for you. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler doing their version of a Palin / Clinton Press conference. Hilarious.

sorry guys - I had to!

this is the BEST episode of Jon Stewart I've ever seen. I HAD to share this with you......

transformation

my belly - busy at work - growing our baby!

today I went to visit one of my favorite blogs
Superherodesign

her post on September 8th is so perfect for how I'm feeling today. all about wondering what you should be doing with your life -
questioning which road to take.

I commented on her blog and realized that I needed to post it here too. It's what's on my mind lately.

here were my thoughts:

I think: should I become an art therapist and go into treatment centers and teach art because art transformed my life and I want to give that back to others? Or should I teach in high school? Or should I do my travel photography workshops and blend a mix of spirituality with art making and have a loose schedule and have day trips in LA and trip to Mexico? Or should I be an at home part time artist who makes crafty things and sells them on Etsy? Or should I get my MFA in photography and Printmaking and then teach college level art?
I have been on spin cycle for a few YEARS now about all of these topics - and which way to go.
All of which cost money for schooling and so it feels more loaded then just deciding to get a job somewhere and see if I like it. I think the answer is YES! Be myself and take an action! YES YES YES! There isn't a wrong decision!

Andrea said at the end of her post:" If we can be masterful at anything, it's being ourselves. "
That is a perfect point of view. I take it as mine now!

***

After I wrote this out - I realized that when I head in a direction - things just seem to fall into place for me. So when I do decide to follow one of these paths - all of the things that need to happen to support it - will happen!
That is how life is. When you really know and believe in your direction - the universe turns and looks your way and smiles on you. Whose to say that I shouldn't teach art in treatment centers, teach my photography workshops in Mexico, make cute things and sell them on Etsy?!?! That sounds like fun to me!!!! And all about my purpose which is to be of use to the planet. Give back. offer my talents. give others a hand up. create, explore, and have fun. It's all about love baby!

***

Monday there is an open house at UCLA for the drug and alcohol counseling certificate program.
I'm going to go check it out.
I was told by a career counselor that if I wanted to do art therapy or art in treatment centers that this certificate would help. It's a year long program and I could do it part time and take 2 years if I need to with a little baby on the way!
Then if I wanted to I could go on to get my Masters in Art Therapy.
I'm not sure if the certificate program is really necessary but I have nothing to lose by going to an open house.
I took this certificate program when I was up in Portland but didn't finish it. Long story - but it was the right thing at that time in my life to move on. Now it's back in my head and heart and I need to move towards it and see what that feels like.

***

Thank you to Andrea Scher from Super Hero Designs for always saying it out loud and being one of my superheros!

Ideas

I'm starting to feel that tug of inspiration to get my hands dirty with art projects while I'm creating this little bean - I'm about 14 weeks along now and am starting to have a tiny bit more energy.

Printmaking, drawing, painting, and pinhole photography are all buzzing to make an appearance again in my daily activities.

For my birthday I found a box of Polaroid Type 79 and have a pinhole camera project in mind that I plan on starting today. Since Polaroid is no longer making Polaroid - it was a real treat to find this box. Even the guy at the camera store was jealous of me when I bought it. It was the last box they had. Using a product that is no longer made feels like I am using something so sacred. like a lost artifact that was once a prized object in a culture from the past. But it is my past and my photo work that is shifting as a result of the end of this products life......believe me when I say it is hard to use it now because it is so rare and prized. I am actually saving my last sheet of unused Polaroid type 54 and framing it!

anyhow....

I stopped by Keri Smith's website today and found a list of 100 ideas. This just made me giggle. Some of these ideas are so great and out of the ordinary for me. I thought I'd share 40 of them with you. There is a link here to the rest of the list. you should check it out. She just had a baby and is still finding ways to be the creative artist she always has been. She inspires me.
This list makes me feel like taking a bubble bath, put on my favorite clothing, and heading to the park with a bag of creative tools: like a journal, double sided tape, paints, pens, crayons, an orange, some water, my iphone to take photos with, a blanket to lay on, a book to read, and a smile!

Keri Smith's 100 ideas
ideas
1. Go for a walk. Draw or list things you find on the the sidewalk.
2. Write a letter to yourself in the future.
3. Buy something inexpensive as a symbol for your need to create, (new pen, a tea cup, journal). Use it everyday.
4. Draw your dinner.
5. Find a piece of poetry you respond to. Rewrite it and glue it into your journal.
6. Glue an envelope into your journal. For one week collect items you find on the street.
7. Expose yourself to a new artist, (go to a gallery, or in a book.) Write about what moves you about their work.
8. Find a photo of a person you do not know. Write a brief bio about them.
9. Spend a day drawing only red things.
10. Draw your bike.
11. Make a list of everything you buy in the next week.
12. Make a map of everywhere you went in one day.
13. Draw a map of the creases on your hand, (knuckles, palm)
14. Trace your footsteps with chalk.
15. Record an overheard conversation.
16. Trace the path of the moon in relation to where you live.
17. Go to a paint store. Collect 'chips' of all your favorite colors.
18. Draw your favorite tree.
19. Take 15 minutes to eat an orange.
20. Write a haiku.
21. Hang upside down for five minutes.
22. Hang found objects from tree branches.
23. Make a puppet.
24. Create an outdoor room from things you find in nature.
25. Read a book in one day.
26. Illustrate your grocery list.
27. Read a story out loud to a friend.
28. Write a letter to someone you admire.
29. Study the face of someone you do not like.
30. Make a meal based on a color theme. (i.e. all white).
31. Creat a museum of very small things.
32. List the smells in your neighborhood.
33. List 100 uses for a tin can.
34. Fill an entire page in your jounral with small circles. Color them in.
35. Give away something you love.
36. Choose an object, draw the side you can't see.
37. List all of the places you've ever lived.
38. Describe your favourite room in detail.
39. Write about your relationship with your washing machine.
40. Draw all of the things in your purse/bag.

***

Quote for the day:

" Just love yourself and do it! "
- Luis Canalas - My triathlon coach
(yelling this while we learned how to swim in the ocean and then bike and then after all that....run.)