Back to School

Red Tree

Work in Paint & Thread

Sold

Wednesday we headed off for the (yikes) mall. As you can probably tell by the previous sentence, I'm not that into the "mall" thing but the girls did need a few back to school items so off we went. My saving grace was the fact that my friend Judy came along with her daughters so while they ran around looking for deals, Judy and I were able to sit and have a chai latte. I must admit I've never had a chai latte in my life but I will say it was delicious and I'm sure very calorie laden. Glad I do not live near a Starbucks.

We arrived at the mall around 9:30 and left around 3:00. I have no idea how they can spend that much time walking around looking at clothes. I was awe struck by the amount of teenagers that were carrying in one hand, shopping bags full of clothing from American Eagle, Aeropostal and Gap and in the other hand they were busy texting their friends. When I was a teenager (I swore I would never say "when I was a teenager" and now I'm saying it....how very sad) I got excited when my older cousins passed along their hand me downs. Times sure have changed!

Just A Bunch of Random Stuff

Waterwings.......Work in Progress

Yesterday I spent most of the day in the studio playing around with paint and canvas sheets. I'm finding that I much prefer wood panels than canvas at this point but canvas was what I had on hand. I didn't feel like getting my sewing machine involved even though I should be as the Purple Hills Studio Tour kicks off September 28th. Lately I've been trying out Golden's new Open Paint and am quite liking it. So much so that I placed an order with Island Blue Art Supplies in Victoria for a few tubes (ok way too many tubes) and am anxious for them to arrive. Although they are acrylics they stay "open"(hence the name) for a much longer time then regular acrylics allowing you to blend for an extended period of time which I really like.

Just finished reading James Frey's "Bright Shiny Morning" which Kelly so generously lent to me. If you remember James Frey, he wrote "A Million Little Pieces" which was the book that Oprah chose for her book club. It was discovered his memoir wasn't totally accurate and the guy was lambasted in the media. You can read about it here in an excellent article that Vanity Fair did in May 2008. Regardless of how you feel about him and what he did (I personally don't care) there is no denying he is a great writer.

Next week I have to take the girls "Back To School" shopping. They both have their lists made which at some point today I will have to take a good long look at. Anything that mentions any type of electronics will be getting erased. I have asked them to look at what they already have and go from there. Not buying more jeans when there are a couple of pairs sitting in their closet. I think this whole line the advertising world has fed us is just another way in which to get our wallets opened so we can continue to be good little consumers. How much stuff do our kids really need and why do they have to go out and get it all before school starts? What about picking up a couple things now and then a couple things in October or November. Just my little rant for the day.

Hope your having a good one.............