Believe it or not, taking a painting class was Basil’s idea – but I was more than happy to sign up! This was not my first attempt at painting, but it is my first finished piece! My first attempt (years and years ago) was a bit ambitious. I bought a huge 4ft x 4ft canvas and envisioned creating a beautiful cityscape masterpiece that I would present to my dad – but I never got around to finishing it. I would carry this huge square canvas and my paints a few long blocks over to Central Park or sometimes paint up on the roof of our apartment building. I remember it would blow over in the wind on the roof (tall building) or bang up against me when I would carry it back from the park.

I was sick over the holidays, suffering from a pretty typical flu complete with cough, sinus issues, green phlegm, the whole nine yards. I mentioned this to my mom in passing and received the following advice:

My Pandora station is still stuck on Mariah Carey Christmas because I want Christmas to stick around just a little bit longer. I’m aiming to leave the lights up, put off the white elephant gift exchange until the new year and soak up the holidays for a bit longer!

Plus, the real meaning of Christmas..

I visited Christina and Rob in Reno last weekend and as usual got the royal treatment – always great fun catching up with them! I joked that they need to host their own reality TV show on child-rearing because I seriously have not seen anything quite like the routine they’ve got going with their son, Ethan (age 3 1/2). Everything (and I mean ev-er-y-thing) is a teaching moment and he is such a smart, observant, well-rounded, well-behaved, and joyful child!

To brighten up the room, we (and by “we” I mean mostly Anna, Stella and Christine) created pom-poms, following the very simple instructions by Martha Stewart. At the risk of breaking one of Brad Pitt’s “New Rules for Highly Evolved Humans” I’m linking to her how-to for party poms. I love these! My infatuation started after seeing 2 bright pink poms in the room of Andy & Olinda’s daughter. Great craft idea to spruce up a room and add a touch of whimsy.

We had our 2nd Annual LWF Oysterfest at Drakes Beach this weekend and as with all our outings, the food was FABULOUS. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to make this another memorable event and for adding to the smorgasbord of goodness that kept us happily eating all day long!

The only player that came out for autographs was baby-faced Tim Lincecum. Did I know who he was? Of course not. So when everyone else was getting autographs, I politely declined. Tim Who? No thanks. You can actually hear me in the video saying: “You got yours, we just want one.”