Atlanta Gift Show happiness!

 Another showroom from the Atlanta Gift Show... METcolors. They have a variety of my artwork for wall art, including images from my Seize the Day inspirational art. METcolors offers art as stretched canvas and as printed wipe-off dry erase boards. So for the space below the image and inspiration, you can write your notes, shopping list, messages to the family... all in style!

Woodland Friends Atlanta home

How great to see the new display of my Red Birds and Woodland Friends in the One Hundred 80 degrees showroom! I was really excited to attend the Atlanta Gift Show and see the great new space for my Christmas collection. Wooden trees and fabric panels created the lovely, woodsy environment that my little friends seem so happy in. Many thanks to One Hundred 80 degrees for this great space!

Seize the...new year!

I'm very happy to share my Seize the Day calendars, published by Sellers Publishing, for 2013.
This year there is a new format that I LOVE! It's the weekly planner and I couldn't be happier with how it looks, the quality, and the format. I am a person that thinks and plans for the week on the weekend before so this is a great format for my life. I like seeing the week at a glance and I use it to even note things like what I'm planning for dinner for that week so it makes my shopping easier.

My friend Rebecca said she uses the pocket on the planner calendar all the time. It's got lines for everyone in her family, but the pocket is the thing she uses the most for permission slips, notes, etc.

The daily format has new images for each day with new inspiration. And of course there is still the monthly wall calendar. Enjoy and happy 2013!!

Simple Asian Cabbage Slaw

I've been working at incorporating more raw vegetable dishes into our diet. This was the latest experiment and it is simple and quite tasty! The sesame oil gives the salad a wonderful flavor and it's crunchy, colorful and fresh. The cabbage also lasts well for a number of days in the refrigerator.
Enjoy!

Simple Asian Cabbage Slaw
Green cabbage, about 1/2 a head, sliced into thin strips or grated.
Shaved carrots (I used the precut bagged ones from Trader Joes), about 1/2 to 1 cup
Sugar Snap Peas, 1/2 cup cut diagonally into small slices
Sesame seeds, shake in to desired amount
2 TB Sesame Oil
3 TB Rice Vinegar
Salt and Pepper to taste

Love in the grocery store

I was cruising down the magazine aisle in the grocery store and my eyes immediately caught sight of the it. The masthead I remembered so well.

domino.

Oh, my old friend! Could it be you have been brought back to life? I loved domino magazine with it's fresh perspective and decorating that doesn't take itself too seriously. Creative, open, colorful spaces. It was a sad day when I got notice as a subscriber that the magazine was going to stop publishing. Instead they were replacing my subscription with House and Garden, which also went bye-bye. I was equally as sad when Metropolitan Home ceased to exist.

So this new domino is a Fall/Winter special publication with heavy weight pages and only two or so ads by Target. I figured it would be a lot of recycled images from the earlier magazine and maybe it is, but it's been awhile so they all look fresh and new to me!

I know we have everything at our fingertips with the internet so people feel they don't need to buy magazines anymore. Save a tree and use less paper. But I have to say I felt like I was reaquainted with an old lover and my heart skipped a beat as I lovingly flipped the glossy pages back at home. I hope others buy this on the newstand because I for one want to see another issue out in the spring and continue my newly rekindled affair...

Fab.com Sale on Veggie Kitchen

I love Fab.com! Fun and colorful inspiration and cool living... and now my designs are on there too! Check out the Studio Oh! kitchen collections. They are selling my garden variety recipe keepers and tear off placemats. Who doesn't love a sale?! Sale ends in 2 days, 22 hours... 21 hours... you know...

www.fab.com

Farmer's Market weekends

Part of our journey towards healthier eating is buying and preparing more organic and local produce. We are fortunate to have some wonderful farmer's markets nearby on the both Saturday and Sunday and this weekend the one in Calabasas was full and lively with a "Food Revolution" event (Jamie Oliver linked, check it out here: http://www.jamieoliver.com/us/foundation/jamies-food-revolution/news-content/food-revolution-kid-s-day-at-the-calabas) with lots of activities for kids. I love to go and have a treat for the senses- everything looks, smells, and tastes wonderful. Vibrant. And it's fun to buy and try new things I wouldn't find in my normal market. This weekend's new ingredient to try is a package of flavored Thai ginger salts. The guy said he does a nice dish with udon noodles, sesame oil and some green onions and a little of the thai ginger salt on top. Yum! I'm thinking of adding thinly sliced carrots and mushrooms.

My mouth was also watering at the hummus man's stand. Green olives look so good. That night we had a lovely salad with fresh red lettuce, balsamic vinaigrette, pistachios and sliced juicy peaches.














So inspired by the abundance at the market that I am working today on designs for market bags. I want to order some to take on our next outing! In the meantime, enjoy the sights from a few of the stands. And support your local farmer's markets! http://www.rawinspiration.org/