lucky girls wear boots

Julie in the Sedona sun.

I'm a lucky girl in many little ways and some big ones. I scored big with my sister-in-law, Julie. My husband tortured this girl when they were growing up, and yet she still speaks to us. She is peaceful and fiery all at once. She is artsy and gutsy and tall and incredibly loving.

She is still the first one up on Christmas morning.

When I impulsively suggested that we get in the car and drive three hours to Gallup, New Mexico to check out the Native American jewelry there, she was totally on board. She's cool that way.

Julie also understands my struggles with infertility. She's been there herself. She is always willing to listen or pray or, in dire circumstances, buy me some fun thing to pick me up. Did I say she has great taste?

I love her.

My boots are covered in red dirt. One must always wear her boots in Sedona. I think it's written somewhere in the Bible.

The Boy is in pure dirt heaven. I've taken to calling him my little javelina. I think he only has one pair of clean pants left. He walked through three cactus plants yesterday. His dad carefully dislodged all known needles and he only whimpered a tiny bit. Ben is quite happy with the nature indoctrination program he has set forth for his son. They should be climbing Everest together by the time Thom turns ten.

I think I'll go to Gallup when they undertake their first expedition.

aswirl

The air here in Sedona is so crisp it nearly crackles in your lungs. The red rocks are dusted with powdered sugar snow. The icicles in Flagstaff are as big as a man's arm and go all the way to the ground. And I forgot my photo card for my laptop.

Sooooo. . .

You get an iphone photo taken as I lay in bed last night with my head all aswirl with the beauty of nature, the charisma of the Native people, the sweet and amazing jewelry gifts from my husband and opportunities that may be.

I can't wait to share, but for now I will just say, dear readers, sweet friends from all over the globe, sometime you should come to Sedona. It feeds your soul.

a.k.a. Oola Johansen

I come to you today from Sedona, Arizona, blogging from the center of a vortex. Well, not really. But I am in Sedona and I am feeling some vortexty vibes. Or it may just be the poppy seed bagel I had for dinner.

I didn't mention this little trip earlier simply because I think you people would rather hear about wonderful artists and free giveaways. When it's just little old me, on vacation with the boy, there's not a lot of excitement. We are here and Sugar Daddy stayed behind so he can attend his first "survivorman" camp out.

Why Sedona?Only because it is a mecca of Native American jewelry and there is a big pawn sale starting tomorrow. There will be pieces there from the early 20's and 30's. I'm thinking Sugar Daddy was very, very foolish to let me come alone. With my checkbook.

I decided to chef up some CIA coffee cake, just like my mother used to make whenever our family took a road trip. This recipe was given to my mother in the 70's when my dad was in the CIA. We all love it and we don't even drink coffee. It slides down real easy with a glass of milk or a cup of hot cider.

What? I haven't ever told you that my dad was in the CIA? Well, we don't mention it much, but he was. He was a spy. Not the macho James Bond kind of spy. No, much to the chagrin of his children, he was a computer geeky type of spy. The one exciting event was that we had to travel with aliases when we flew. I asked my parents what my alias name was, because I was too little to remember, and they said they forgot! They forgot the one cool thing about my dad being in the CIA!* So this is why we don't mention it much. It's boring. You'd rather hear about cool art and free stuff.

Back to the cake. I made our family recipe and I thought I would share it here with you. You may be in the mood for a little cake with your coffee, or milk or whatever it is you drink to feel cozy this time of year. It's special, straight from the CIA cookbook. You know those law enforcement types, they like their sweets.

CIA Coffee Cake

Batter:
3/4 c. butter
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. sour cream
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 c. flour
Filling:
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. nuts
2 Tblsp. cinnamon

Cream butter, sugar eggs and vanilla. Stir in sour cream. Sift dry ingredents together and add slowly while stirring. Pour half of batter into greased bundt pan. Layer half of the filling. Add the rest of the batter and top with remaining filling.
Bake 350 degrees for 60 min.

Let me know if you make it and how it turns out. Tomorrow's giveaway is gunna be a goodie! Come on back now, ya hear?

*I like to think that my alias was Oola Johansen. I like that name.

un grandes partido y diseño grandes domingo

Well the wedding came and went. It seemed sooo long and so short all at the same time. I somehow became (who am I kidding? I deemed myself) official snap shot taker. We left at 10:00 pm, after the toasts were made and the cake was cut, only because the boy had fallen fast asleep in our arms. He was covered in dirt from head to foot and plum tuckered out from hours of play. All I can say is, WOW, those Mexicans sure can throw a party.

Today is my 14th wedding anniversary. We really, really wanted to go to the Santa Fe Indian Market. It is a once a year event that brings in thousands of Native American artist. I was so excited to meet some of the artist that I have admired. But it was not to be, not for this year at least. We literally couldn't find a flight into Santa Fe on any airline that weekend. So, we are already planning for next year.

In the meantime, we are both talking about getting a Nora Bill bracelet. Which leads me into my pick for Design Sunday.

Nora Bill and her husband, Emerson, live near Santa Fe. The Bill family is very well known throughout the Southwest. Nora's style is very distinguishable. She uses very heavy gauge silver and a cold press technique to create her amazing bracelets. I am so bummed that we aren't able to go to the market this year. I am positive she would be there. I just want to stand in the corner of her studio for one afternoon and watch her work.

Maybe someday I'll just get in my car, drive to her house and knock on her door. Would that be weird? Oh well, I'm already known as "Señora Blanca Loca" (Crazy White Lady) in Rosa's family. Evidently they aren't accustomed to my paparazzi style of photo taking.

in search of maggie

Navajo child wearing traditional jewelry.


My husband's family has their roots in the West. His ancestors were Native American with names like "Shot in the Eye". I gather they were a motley crew, but had an aesthetic eye for the fine art of silversmithing. The entire family, including myself, like to buy, wear and ogle Indian jewelry. There are a few squash blossom pieces that have been passed down from previous generations. They haven't made it into my jewelry box yet, and may never come my way, being just a daughter-in-law. Over the last ten years I have been adding to my own collection. A trip to Sedona usually sets me back more than I want to mention here, so I started making my own pieces similar to the things I have seen.

Santo Domingo Pueblo Earrings

Turquoise slab earrings are a very traditional native American style. It happens to be my favorite style, and I own three pairs. Because Santo Domingo Pueblo is located near the ancient Cerrillos turquoise mines, the village people have a distinguished history of making fine jewelry and heishi. The Santo Domingo people are highly skilled in the art of shaping turquoise. I would love to learn how to shape and polish turquoise, but until then, I want to support the native people by buying directly from them.

The best slabs to be had (in my opinion) are made by a woman named Maggie Garcia. I have been trying to track Maggie down for some time. She is a fairly allusive character. I like her slabs because the tend to be thicker than others and thus more stable and less likely to break. In the past, I have bought her turquoise beads through a retailer, but I would really like to deal directly with her.

Here is Chief Medicine-Crow sporting some slab earrings. They look to be either shell or spiny oyster.



I had never given much thought to the injustice that the Native Americans suffered until I married into my husband's family. It is however, a common topic when we are together and I find that now, I am just as passionate about it as the rest of them. I love the passive defiance of the woman in this photo. Notice the American flag used as window covering.



The news from the home front is that this Friday is Father's and Son's Camp Out. That means that yours truly will be 1: going out for sushi 2: watching a Doris Day movie 3: shopping for gems on Ebay into the wee hours 4: sleeping-in 5: going for a long run and 6: shopping. What can I say? The boys need to bond, so I'll graciously let them go.

My Boys