With all the lists popping up lately on the 30 day blogging challenge here is one of my favorite sweets. In no particular order...

1. s'mores
2. Lava cake (in the raw makes it best)
3. Salt water taffy (whatever flavor I got from sea world)
4. Frozen yogurt (orange leaf)
5. Orange thin mints...no longer sold, lame
6. No bake cookies (chocolate)
7. Arrow cookies
8. Chocolate covered peanut butter rice crispy balls (my grandmas)
9. 5 cent cinnamon candy canes
10. Mango keylime cheesecake (cheesecake factory)
11. Pecan pie (cosmo cafe's is the best)
12. Baklava

Do you have any favorites?

30 day bloggers...we are officially 1/3rd of the way thru! As a reward to myself, I'm going to print and assemble my next calendar of the month. What? Haven't heard of the Calendar of the Month Club?

Say hello to Curiosity Group. They are the brainchild behind the little foldable calendars of the month that I've had on my desk since January. Based in Portland, OR these guys put out little foldable crafts for everything from Megamind to college mascots. For those curious, they do non-foldable things too :) Check out some of their work here.

This month's calendar is in honor of Jazz Appreciation month. So celebrate your success and have fun making a record player.

Jazz Calendar

P.S. I plan on cheating and using my martha stewart circle cutter on the records, got to get some use out of the toys I bought for graphic design projects back in college ;)

This is my favorite makeup palette. My face is just another canvas on which I play.

Painting to me, is the most rewarding form of art. I may spend my days playing on the computer and putting out educational designs...but given the choice, I'd love to spend my days with a paint brush, some comfy clothes covered in paint, and my current playlist of choice. Admittedly apartments aren't the most accommodating for my favorite type of painting, murals. The last mural I did was actually years ago. Nowadays I do "smaller" pieces...maybe 4 feet across instead of an entire ceiling.

What makes painting more rewarding?
Instant gratification and the knowledge that no one else will ever be able to make what I've created. Painting is an experience. I get lost in the moment as the brush hits the canvas. I love manipulating the colors so that what is in my minds eye can be seen on canvas...and although I never know what the exact ending will be, I'm happy with the end creation. Graphic design is rewarding in that what I work on helps people, but it still doesn't have the same tactile experience as painting. I will admit to wishing I had photoshops "undo" button on numerous occasions painting...graphic design wins in the ease of fixing mistakes :P

Here are some pics of the last large mural I worked on, say hello to the then accurate solar system...since then Pluto has been removed from "planet"...but Pluto will always be a planet to me :)

While I have no idea if this painting is still around, I do know that the most rewarding moment for me was when we sold the house, the little boy who was moving into that room thanked my mom for his new "space room" and his parents said they'd bought him a bunch of space books. Educating thru art...truly more rewarding than the experience of painting for me.

I spent a week straight up on a ladder. I'm fairly certain Michelangelo used scaffolding on the sistine chapel...wimp ;)

painting supplies and a finished ceiling, the walls are Buzz Blaster Blue (best paint name ever?)

my sister's arm makes a cameo

as my brother is very scientific...we researched the exact number of moons for each planet. the sun is in the middle and from there the planets rotate out in order.

just part of the crumbs pile...for a bit I wondered if I'd be making cookie crumble instead of cookies.

kitchenaid knife wins for cutting actual cookies...into the oven they go!

I'll admit that these cookies are a bit harder to tell when they are done than less chocolatey ones...for me I knew they were done because the kitchen really starts to smell like hot chocolate about 8 minutes in...9 minutes and out they came! (The recipe suggests 10...but my oven always runs hot...I can't tell you how many batches of cinnamon rolls I've burned when I forget that early in the morning lol) Ideally cookies are done when they start to brown on the bottom.

done cookies!

Like aztec hot chocolate...in a cookie form, when straight out of the oven you get a real kick of the cayenne pepper. yum! I bet these would taste excellent as mini ice cream sandwiches.

I absolutely love 1950s advertising. The cheesecake factor to me is just hilarious. The artistry involved...fabulous, no photoshop back then kids!

1949 Maidenform ad I found ran across searching for firefighter pics

Not that these ads need help being hilarious...but, bluntcard.com has taken the 50s imagery and given them a new dark humored life. Below is one of my favorites. Happy Thursday!

After seeing Creature Comforts blog create an "imaginary closet" post, I decided to do my own. Mine differs slightly in that instead of being "wishful thinking price is no matter" mine is, "If I had an H&M near by....these things would be in my closet." H&M fans that don't live near a store (like me) you'll be happy to know that according to their twitter online shopping in the USA should be up and running either late 2011 or early 2012 :) You bet I'll have that online shop bookmarked!

I played on their online fashion studio that lets you be the fashion director. I'd be set for the office or a day playing in the park in this comfy outfit.

P.S. In my imaginary closet, shoes are always comfy and fit size seven wide feet.


What is in your imaginary closet?

Caffeine for the Creative Mind

When I need something to get my creative juices flowing, this book is fabulous! Full of tons of little activities to get you going. I find a little doodling can go a long way to jump start my day. So far my favorite was my restaurant design. "Kiss the Lucky Egg Eatery" based on Cool Runnings. I think of it as an breakfast eatery with egg shaped chairs, and a quirky jamaican vibe brought thru in bright accent colors that bounce off the walls. The outside, white like the lucky egg.

The 30 day challenge is here! Lets see if I can break my record of one day last time around :)

Happy Friday! I hope you guys had a great St. Patrick's Day, personally I watched Destination Truth live from Ireland :) Destination Truth is a show on the SyFy channel that goes hunting monsters like the banshee or yetis. I like how the show finds the humor in what they do, while still leading a serious investigation. You also learn great travel trips: like if all else fails you can always find Pringles to eat anywhere in the world. Watch Josh Gates, Ryder and crew starting next Tuesday at 8pm.

This yeti is a bit cuter than the one Josh Gates and crew found evidence of near Nepal.

Have a great weekend, I'll be back Monday with the start of the 30 day blogging challenge.

Ever heard of a 30 day blogging challenge? Well starting on March 21, I, along with some other blogging hooligans are going to blog for 30 days straight. Want to join in the fun? Leave a link to your blog and I'll add it to the list of people to follow. Lets see if I can beat my last attempt in 2009 where I didn't even make it 2 days straight :P

Blogs to follow:
There's Only Ever One Bonnie
The Naked Wife
MattieLynn Media

So lets dust off the old blog and start a new friday feature. Etsy love. Visit every friday and get introduced to an artist on etsy whose work I love. Who knows, maybe you'll be introduced to some new of your new etsy loves :)