Great weekend

I'm utterly exhausted but it was a great weekend. I think I spent just as much time driving (9 hours) to classes almost more so then teaching. Traffic in L.A. is always crazy but this time of year it's horrid. All that considered, it was a great weekend-I had lots of fun and I hope my friends and students did too!!!

It was great seeing so many familiar faces at The Stamp Addict...long time no see to some of them so that was very very good indeed!!!! :)

I had lunch with my friend, Adriane, before class at The Art Bar yesterday. We had some time to talk and catch up (though it's never enough time). Yowza! Look what she made for me:
I LOVE the glass acrylic ornament. I am always admiring them in the stores and consider myself lucky that Adriane was kind enough to make one for me. She's extremely talented and I love when she gifts me with her art. Her drawings, paintings and journals are UNBELIEVABLE. You should definitely check her art out.

She also gifted me with some really cool paper from Anthropologie and two books (that I didn't have) that are extremely cool:
LA/SF Sketchbook
and
Ma'Claim: Photo realistic Graffiti
Guess who showed up in my class at The Art Bar? Another good friend, Tammie Moore! Tammie & I had a little Christmas Exchange as well...She's also extremely talented-check it out:
OOH! A new purse!!! I hardly ever buy purses 'cause Tammie makes the coolest purses!!!
The same goes for jewelry. Who needs to buy store bought stuff when you have talented artists friends?? Check out the necklace, ring, watch and plethora of unbelievably cool colored resin charms.
I consider myself extremely blessed to have such wonderful friends. The best gift is their friendship, for sure. That's what I treasure the most. Thanks ladies.

I am a wee bit behind on my emails after this weekend so I will respond asap!! :) David let me sleep in and took Tristan to school this morning. Ah, I love my husband. Thanks honey-*mwah*!

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I finished reading Listening is an Act of Love: A Celebration of American Life from the Storycorps Project edited by Dave Isay. What's the StoryCorps you ask? StoryCorps travel around the U.S. (find out more here) recording ordinary people's stories. Check out the website to find out more. I found out about it on either Democracy Now or This American Life ages ago and fell in love with the idea. I love the idea of two people going into an intimate setting and just talking for 40 minutes. Talking and listening. Recording stories for the future. One copy is given to you. Another copy is stored in the Library of Congress for future generations.

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On Friday, I had to go to the Post office at the Grove to mail out some packages for Christmas. I decided to run into Barnes & Noble, just for the hell of it to see if they had Chris Ware's new book. I have been stalking the local bookstores looking for Acme Novelty Datebook Volume 2 for the last few days. The lady at the desk went into the back storage room and pulled a copy for me. I swear I ran out of the store clutching the book to my chest. I've started going through it already and am absolutely in love with this book. We have the first volume and it is such a great reference (and eye candy) book. I love being able to sneak peeks into artist's sketchbooks and journals and Chris's work is amazing.