random bits from the week / weekend

I framed the Hockensmith print – I used a frame from my favorite line, Framatic, but this time purchased the deeper shadowbox frame so I could suspend the print in the frame because I liked the deckled edges. I’m not sure where I’m going to hang it yet but I have a few ideas.

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I mentioned moving out furniture in the living room – one new thing I’m going to add in is this:

“This” being the fiddle leaf fig tree – I’m going to use my birthday money to purchase one. I think it’s going to look great by the front window in the living room – opposite the bookshelves. It will give some height and interest to the corner without being a piece of furniture. I know it’s the cool tree right now, and I like to be cool.

Top Image via Houzz, Bottom image via Manhattan Nest.

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E and I were talking about figure drawing and so I pulled out my old portfolio of drawings from one of my classes. She wants to take a class – we might try to find one together, although maybe they won’t let fourth graders draw nudes (her thought, but she might be right). I told her she should just take her sketchbook over to Bumbershoots and go to town.

I also found this self portrait of myself sitting on the floor of my graduate school apartment drawing myself in the mirror. She loved it, and then sat down to make her own version.

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If you follow me on Instagram then you’ve seen the weekly culinary creations from E’s after school club at school. Best idea ever. Thursday nights rock.

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It might actually be spring now since the dogwood finally bloomed in our front yard, but you’d never know it by the weather. It feels like February.

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I saw this cake in Feast magazine, and so we decided to hunt it down yesterday afternoon. They were out of it, but had plenty of other delicious things to try.

The girls flipped out when we walked in because there was our fireplace:

F squealed to the whole place that they had our fireplace – only a real one. The girls explained to the owner that we had a drawing of one in our house, so pictures were exchanged. He turned the real one on for us with the remote control and we thought about how we would have certainly gotten our money’s worth this spring with all the cold, damp weather. So, if you are in the neighborhood, stop by Russell’s on Macklind, order up something sweet and enjoy the fireplace – “our” fireplace. Can’t wait til the “real” one’s in our house.

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We were supposed to be camping this weekend, but M had a funeral out of state on Saturday, and the weather turned out not to be so great, so the girls and I kind of vegged out. We started some more projects, and have some more in the pipeline so I hope to share those soon.

M got home around lunch and met us at church. We headed over to the zoo for a “two animal visit” – that’s the kind of zoo trip I like. Find some free street parking across the highway, ramble in and check out two animals (plus the ones you see along the way) and then head home for naps. Today’s animals were the sea lions and the giraffes. Good times.