beach bummin'

I've always thought that the dead of Winter was a good time to do a beach inspired post. I know you are probably stuck at home with the kids and the stinky wet snow boots and the heater drying out your sinuses. You probably aren't coming to Carlsbad this week, so I thought I'd come to you.

And just for fun, I thought I'd have a little giveaway of a necklace that might bring you just the slightest bit of remembrance of warmer days. Beach days.



Leave a comment to enter to win the above necklace. We will randomly pick a winner on Friday.

OR- don't enter. Just head on over to the shop and check out these "Mermaid" earrings that I'm having a awfully hard time parting with.

AND here's a few of my recent
illustrations that I think would
make great embroidery projects.
Try as he might, my dad just doesn't make a very sexy merman.

sea fairing

The day started as most wonderful days start. We slept in.

A quick trip to Trader Joe's produced a package of havarti, spicy salami, a baguette, soda water and two blue balloons. We made sure to procure a menagerie of the world's best cupcakes from Elizabethan Desserts the night before, so we were ready to roll.

Or row, as it were.

We set sail at half past eleven.

The peanut gallery waved bon voyage.



We nagged the first and second mate to please stay away from the edge over and over, then we gave up. After all, a boy has never died from a little chilly salt water. Live and learn.


Besides, we had cupcakes to eat.



The wind gently coaxed our little vessel through the lapping waves. The sails snapped like sheets on the line. We talked and laughed and licked the frosting from our fingers.

Every once in a long while, a day will come along. The perfect day, spent with just the right people, breathing just the right air, eating just the right things.

A person might only get a handful of these days in their life. Surely they are divvied out sparingly.

Yesterday was one of those days.

I'm thankful for it.

I'll pick a winner for Friday's post tomorrow. Just leave a comment.

kraken n' coffee

Can anyone out there tell me why I am so incredibly fascinated by Jacque Cousteau? I mean really, I have never even been diving. I do, however, narrate to myself with a French accent when I snorkel. It seems more exotic that way. I love to find old publications of Cousteau's books. The colors in them are so bright, so unreal. He fancied himself a serious biologist, but he interpreted things the way he wanted to see them. I guess I'm a little that way as well.

Jump with me now from Cousteu to just plain crazy. What's with sailors and their legends and superstitions? They're worse than baseball players. Did you know that Scottish law once required fishermen to wear a gold earring, which was used to pay for funeral expenses if they were drowned and washed ashore? Sailors gave us mermaids and kraken, that oh so mythical octopus like creature that attacks ships apparently to devour the people aboard. Now that's just silly. But I couldn't leave something like that alone. I had to immortalize it in jewelry as I have a tendency to do.

So there's all that swarthy sea business, and then there's Fin. My mocha cappuccino cutie pie. He's irresistible.