I FOUND IT...

This morning as I was sleepy eyed making my way to the kitchen, I found a treasure chest...

Thank goodness I found it now Nyla can have breakfast...

Have an amazing day, I hope you find your treasure chest and it's filled with everything you can imagine!   xxxxoooo Michelle

Super thanks to Lucky Charms, my funny daughter Nyla, Surfer mag, June 2012 issue and this amazing dreamy wave, Jason Childs,the photographer who snapped it and of course my little treasure chest!  Love ya!

GIRL WITH PRETTY CLOTHES...

Do you ever go to the beach and make beach art?  Here's mine, it's called, GIRL WITH PRETTY CLOTHES

Girl with pretty clothes...

hmm, I wonder what happened to her after I left... I hope she went to an IceCream Shoppe with her funniest friend.

Have fun, making art wherever you are :) xxxxoooo Michelle

Click here to find out what I made on the beach that same day http://mommyspinkielipgloss.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-business-card.html

Treasures where do you keep them...

Yesterday, I talked about little treasures that hold a special place, not only in our hearts but actually have a special little place that we keep them.  I mentioned that I keep little gifts from the sea that my husband gives me in a tiny box tied with a bow.  I also keep little treasures in my kitchen window, in a way, it has become my altar. I look at them often as I'm washing dishes. I am reminded at the love, care and thought that these gifts were given to me and I feel so happy and inspired from them.

My window altar changes at whim, sometimes cluttered and clumsy or polished with flare, now it's sparse and changing.  I'm realizing without intention my window altar reflects springtime and spring cleaning has taken its place here.

As I took this picture I saw my reflection, I guess my altar was telling me that I am a treasure and gift to myself, this is something I rarely think about, and now its time for me to. Hey, I like the way my magic window thinks!  

Also, looking at the gifts in my window from a strangers standpoint I guess its not really anything but to me at this moment the love and sweetness that each item was given and placed means the world to me.

I don't hold exclusive rights to this window its my family's and I get a special happiness when Andy or Nyla place something  in our window of treasures.  

Nyla has allowed me to give you a little peak at her special treasures. She has told me not to enhance the pictures, she just doesn't like that, she thinks its lying :0

Special thanks to Nyla for letting me share one of your treasure boxes!   


Enjoy your special treasures and gifts and cherish the place you keep them.  Remember You are the most important treasure you have! :)
xxxxoooo Michelle

My beautiful treasures/gifts from the sea...

Hi Everyone!

Today as my husband, is sailing off to sea, I'm remembering all the little gifts he brings me when he returns.

Here are some of them...

  Do you have any treasures?

As I'm writing this I'm thinking of the wonderment of little treasures, little gifts... what makes them so special?  Is it who they came from, the feeling that they evoke, the memory, are they found or bought? Or is it all of these that make it into our little treasure chests of keepsakes.  

Where do You keep your little treasures?

The ones I've shown today are special to me because they are from my husband and he finds them when he is at sea- fishing; I keep some of them in a little tiny box that was given to me by my mom. (you can see a tiny bit of it in the seahorse family photo).  I have it wrapped with a bow.

Sometimes I find my daughter gently unwrapping the bow and holding the little gifts from the sea.  That makes me smile because she is so careful and she always asks if she can have some treasures and I say no.  Of course, one day I know they will be hers whether she asks or not :)

Just think all over the world everyone has a little treasure that they keep in a special little spot.  I wonder if the person who gave them their treasure even knows it wound up in that secret special place.  

Hey, I'm sticking with the wonderment of treasures/gifts, you'll see more tommorrow...  xxxxoooo Michelle 

OREO COOKIE ART...

Hi Everyone!
I love Artist! I feel they are the important ones who burst us out of our everyday thoughts and bring us into a world of beauty, inspiration and giggles.  They change our thought process and make us realize the beauty in everyday objects.

That is exactly what artist, Judith G. Klausner did when I saw her work in The O, Oprah Magazine, February 2012 issue, page 123.


Ever since I read about Ms. Klausner's art, I've been craving Oreo's and wanting to give my snack a sophisticated flare.

So when my daughter, Nyla spotted the Berry Burst IceCream Oreo's at the grocery store, I hesitated (only for a second) then grabbed them for the love of art and yumminess!

I had a lot of fun creating my Oreo art.  I call it, Spring Time Munch.  Nyla made a TV in hers.  Unfortunately, it got munched before I could take a picture  :) 


Ms. Klausner also turns an ordinary insect into a sophisticated, whimsy piece of art.  Don't worry Ms. Klausner is a creature lover and never, ever hurts bugs.  Since Spring is here and summer's coming, I think she is the perfect inspiration for any little bug finder and aspiring artist. (Although, I think we'll be sticking to more the Oreo art in our house).  To see more of her art and read more about her click on this link
http://jgklausner.com/work/oreo-cameo#p30 .

Special thanks to Judith G. Klausner and Oreo cookies (love the new flavor) for being my inspiration today!

xxxxoooo Michelle

I'm having fun...

I'll be back soon... xxxxoooo Michelle

Deserted Island food...

Hey Everyone, I haven't posted in awhile because I've been away, I was stuck on a deserted island and this is the meal I was served as I was lazily swinging in my hammock. It had been a long day of relaxing, my body was sunkissed and by this point I completely forgot what a computer was.  

My daughter met a friend and she was happily content and playing in front of me at the shoreline just close enough that I could hear her giggles and see her but far enough away that I felt like I was blissfully alone.

SunShine Salad
pretty, yummy and easy!

My husband was happily surfing.  The staff from my bungalow were the most beautiful people I had ever seen and so attentive as they served me this delicious meal of sunshine salad and striper fish cake.  They even gave me a little towel to wipe my brow.


As I was lying in my hammock I had my one leg draped over and the sand felt so soft and warm on my toes.  As I lazily sipped my passion tea rum drink, my perfectly painted big toe nestled in the sand gently rocked my hammock, and lulled me into the perfect daydream.  

My daydream went like this...

My husband, Andy and I visited our friend,Jay while our daughter was at school.  Jay's finance' Lindsey made striper bass fish cakes for us to try, Jay gave us a striper fish to take home.

I found this amazing sunshine salad recipe here on this beautiful blog,Our Everyday-Art.com
Believe it or not I had the ingredients except for coconut so I substituted Lindt's white coconut chocolate candy bar ( just used a potato peeler and shaved it on the salad, this is my new fab trick) and I had some almonds that I baked in the oven for a tiny bit (got them a little crispier than I wanted so I threw a little sugar on them and it turned out pretty yummy, my other fab new trick).  

Then Nyla came home from school, Andy made these super yummy striper fish cakes (not sure of recipe cause I was helping Nyla with homework or feeding dogs or laundry or something) but basically the recipe is season and cook the fish, let it cool and crumble it up and put it in the refrig. for a little while then saute' red, green peppers and onions, mix it all together with some breadcrumbs and bake, think crabcake).

We had this the first night

Andy called us to dinner and he served us this super yummy meal.  I was grateful, because he cooks so good and he's pretty sweet to look at.  Then we ate.  


We had so much left.  We had it the next night.  While we were waiting for our striper cakes to reheat, Andy was reading a surfer mag, then we started to work on our family to do list.   I said, "Order up!" and we ate, this time without the edamame and peas (Nyla's new favorite veggies).

I've been having glitchy computer problems for a little while, since I'm not techy my approach is to tackle it a little at a time and then take a break to have some fun.  

So, when I finally got to writing this post I was drinking Tazo Passion tea and thought, hmm, what would this taste like shakened up with a ton of ice and rum and swinging in a hammock...


and thats how my silly day dreaming post evolved :) 

Summer's coming!   

xxxxoooo Michelle


special thanks to Jay and Lindsey, Andy, Nyla, Geek Squad,Our Everyday-Art, surfer and surfing mags and Tazo passion tea and my china for my inspiration! 

CAR CRAZY, PLAY THIS GAME...

How many times have you heard "Are we there yet?" and you still have minutes to go and it feels like hours...or hours to go and its only been minutes...
Well, I thought this would come in handy since it's Easter holiday week and there might be some car rides in store; here's a little  game we've been playing.
I'm not saying it will work for the whole car ride but hey its a fun easy try :)

SnapShotUpClose game
Here's what you'll need either a cell phone that takes pictures or a digital camera. 

Here's what you do:
Take a super close up of something in the car and say guess what this is...then giggle and switch players. 

side dish from convenient store

(to put it fancy SnapShotUpClose is a game that helps with observing the obvious and looking at things from a different perspective hmm...who knew?  Children are always getting us to do this so lets make it silly fun and get us down the road :)

bracelet

also, just have to say, don't YOU play this game while driving. 

Super Thanks to my daughter, Nyla for making up AND naming this game.  Love ya my little love bug!

side of sunglasses

bottom of my hot chocolate cup

Dodger's nose

Have a fantastic day, were going to finish decorating our cupcakes for the Easter bunny and us too :)
xxxxoooo Michelle

I'm hanging here, join me!

Pretty little things... xxxxoooo Michelle