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A Project 12 Years in the making, the other - One Month!

2012-02-28T16:35:00.000-08:00

Twelve Years ago I have moved in with my girlfriend Sheri who now lives in Florida. She had given me the permission to paint the bathroom any color I wanted. I have always been a fan of green and I painted the bathroom a nice shade of yellowish green.

I went looking for a shower curtain and I could not find anything I really liked. I decided to make one myself. I found two really nice plain cotton shower curtains at Pier1. I hung one up and started working on the second one. I decided to use a stencil pattern with leaves.

Life got busy and Sheri moved to the east coast. I moved around the bay area for years and the dear shower curtain kept moving with me from place to place. A few months ago I was looking to get creative again and decided to pull out the curtain. Lo and behold, I finished the curtain and it is hanging in my bathroom. When I got done, I said WOW! I finally got it done.

My second project started earlier in November when it started getting cold here in San Francisco. I have changed my living room décor and needed a new afghan to keep me warm. I went to the neighborhood yarn store and found yarn with colors that match my rug.

My mom taught me how to do all kinds of crafts (hated her at the time). Now I am so grateful. I decided to knit an afghan and a month later this is what I have.

It is amazing how something simple can take so long and something complicated can take a short amount of time. Needless to say, I am proud to have both the projects done this winter. On to my next one…

EBUGclub – Book Club without the Book (Frugal Foodies Event)

2011-10-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have written. Last night I went to an event with EBUGclub – The book club without the book. It was called EBUG Frugal Foodies

Kim Merkin is the founder of the club and she has close to 300 members. Every time I go to an event I meet new people. Last night’s event was organized by Andrea and hosted by Jeannie. Jeannie has a beautiful house in Alameda built in 1897 with great history. She was a gracious host who gave us a tour and told us all about the family that built the house and all the people who lived there ever since.

Frugal Foodies is a concept born of a Canadian nonprofit's tradition of getting together a large group of folks to prepare meals for distribution to home bound (a sort of meals on wheels but organized privately).

The best part about this concept is getting to gather and having a ton of fun cooking, laughing and eating the food that you have cooked. We all had our aprons, our knives and chopping blocks. Andrea planned six recipes and we all got divided into groups based on what we wanted to cook. Heather, Jessica and I decided we wanted to make the Chipotle soup.

We started by gathering our ingredients and started chopping vegetables. We all learned some new tricks from each other. Heather learned how to chop like a chef. I learned a new way to peel an avocado. Once all the chopping was done, we started cooking. It was a great team effort and the soup ended up being absolutely delicious.

My favorite was lemonade with Champaign. Yes, who knew that you can mix the two? As you can see from the pictures, we had a blast. Every event I go to, I have so much fun that I can’t wait for the next one. For those women who live in the east bay, feel free to join the group. Kim will welcome you with her gracious smile and heart.

Top Left – Jeannie our Gracious Host
Top Middle – Kim Merkin on the left
Top Right – Andrea Our great coordinator
Bottom Left – Deepa, Heather and Jessica
Bottom Middle – Couple of fantastic salads
Bottom Right – Yes me loving the Champaign

Solace in my Art

2011-08-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

Click on Images to see Larger View

For the last three months I have been focusing on making a change to my business trying to take it in a different direction. Unfortunately, the change did not go well and it has been absolutely stressful dealing with the lack of success in trying to do what I wanted to do. This lead to phase of self doubt. This is a very normal human emotion and it is so hard to bring yourself out of it.

In the past when I have been in a situation like this, I have taken refuge in my art. This has always brought me peace, happiness and built up my confidence. This is one arena where I can see results and know that I can do anything I set my mind to. My art is my expression. The piece above is my newest work. And there is a story behind it. So here it goes:

Gail Blanke’s book “In my Wildest Dreams” helped me carve out my future as a business owner and an artist. Earlier this year, I realized I needed to revisit the work I had done in the past. I looked her up and found her new book “Throw Out Fifty Things”. In the book she explains how over the years we hold on to things that stop us from moving on and these are not just emotional things, material things as well.

After reading the book, I started working on throwing out fifty things. I got pretty good and was able to clean out my entire house getting rid of anything that reminded me of any sad emotions from any one and every one in my life. I also worked on emotional barriers.

As part of that exercise, I got rid of my old bed spread and got a new one that I absolutely love. Well, the art piece hanging above my bed did not match the colors on the new bed spread. In early June I visited the Legion of Honor to see Pulp Fashion by Isabelle de Borchgrave. Her work was such an inspiration as I was already working with Paper and fabrics for my art pieces. I started working on my theme of making international costumes on miniature manikins and I am now presenting my first piece ever representing India, Spain and China.

I cannot even begin to tell you the sense of accomplishment I feel with this work and I know I can really do anything I set my mind to. I am ready to rock and roll.

"There's a 52% chance that the next Dan Brown will be a woman ... or should we just make that 100% now?" --Kindle Nation

2011-07-11T14:31:00.000-07:00

"Imagine yourself a nineteen year old college student. Your life is normal in every way until a bizarre set of events drags you into a hidden world of danger. You are recruited by an underground society questing for artifacts that reconstruct the lost history of the human race. You are being pursued by a fanatical religious cult intent on acquiring a legendary relic before you do. A relic that, in the wrong hands, has the power to destroy the world.

In a treasure hunt that spans twelve thousand years of human history and covers every continent, the Arkana series digs deep through the layers of fabricated history to reveal a past we never dreamed we had and a future we never dreamed we could have."

My very good friend Nancy Wikarski is a mystery and historical fiction writer. Nancy and I met in 1995 when I worked for PNC Mortgage. She was my boss and she has played a huge roll in my life as a mentor and a friend. She has her PHD in English and belongs to the Mensa group. She is also an astrologer and let me tell you, she is very good. I have been very fortunate to have her as a friend.

Nancy has written the Evangeline LeClair series set in 1890s Chicago. Titles include The Fall Of White City (2002) and Shrouded In Thought (2005). The series has received People's Choice Award nominations for best first novel and best historical. I love the Fall of White City. It is a combination of French and English and even though I don’t understand French, I was able to follow the entire story. I could not put the book down.

"In 1893, the entire world has come to Chicago to marvel at the wonders of the Columbian Exposition World's Fair. When a penniless seamstress is found stabbed to death in Chicago's grandest hotel, wealthy and eccentric Evangeline LeClair sets out to discover who is responsible and why. From the slums and factories of the near south side to the wealthy suburbs of the north shore, Evangeline relentlessly tracks down clues that reveal more questions than answers. Inevitably, her amateur detecting draws the attention of someone who would kill to keep his identity a secret. Soon she is racing against time to unmask a murderer before she becomes his next victim!"

"Evangeline LeClair and Freddie Simpson are back for a second sleuthing adventure. In 1894, as labor strikes threaten to tear the city apart, the corpse of a factory girl is found floating in the Chicago River. The factory owner insists it was an accident. The amateur detectives think it was murder. So does a mysterious figure who believes murder and blackmail go hand in hand and that one good murder always leads to another."

Nancy is a member of Mystery Writers of America and has served as vice president of Sisters In Crime - Twin Cities and on the programming board of the Chicago chapter. She is currently working on the seven book Arkana series. The Granite Key is the first book in this series.

A message to all of you who love a Kindle, here is a great new book for you. I hope you get it.