contemplativeHello~
I am home from my trip to Art & Soul in Portland. I had a lovely time with my students. They are always so enthusiastic and FULL creativity. Makes me dizzy! I love that!
I got to see my dear friends which is always a treat. I was greeted by a warm long hug from Nina which always does my soul good. And of course, it is always fun to have dinner with Michael early on in the week, before I was teaching. I only get to see him once or twice a year so a savor the time. Best of all- I got to see Tonia which really makes me happy... although it is honestly not enough time... that is just the way these things go...
I managed to take a few more photos from the trip that I will share:First- The weather was wonderful to me- coming from the east coast drought and temperatures in the high 80's! Uuugh! As you can see- the weather was wonderfully complicated!
My favorite weather occurrence! Ahhh rainbows...
I know- it LOOKS like a tornado... but it is sadly- not. You KNOW how excited I would really be if it were... 
Then we had fun Hawthorn and Division streets...Haaa! I SWEAR! We did! Haaa!
This is Pix Patisserie! Amazing food and may I say- AMAZING Mocha's- according to Thomas- he had TWO! A rarity for him! He said he could have had 3! After asking, he learned that they use real Chocolate ganache!YUM! And of course- a heart! (F0llowed by an odd shaped pumpkin- although the nice boy behind the counter said he was still practicing...)
And of course a fun trip to VooDoo Donuts late at night- after all the Magic is in the hole... and the graffiti is on the wall! Thomas noticed that the Decemberists eat there!
AND of course our trip would not be complete without visiting P-Town Scooters!
Hello FUN BLACK Scooter with little caboose! 
With octopus and rider! OH MY!
Yes- I attempted to make friends with the locals!
Then- I fell in love with this little silver machine!
Ahhh... 1980!
Later on in our trip we took a quick side trip into Barns & Nobel and saw THIS!
Needless to say- seeing your very own work in book-form IN a Public Place is beyond words. I actually started to tear up and had a very hard time fighting back my silliness of emotions.
See! I took several photos to remember the moment! haaa!
Then there was vendor night. Which was nice. Especially when Pam and Jack stopped by with sandwiches, brownies, grapes and Hershey Kisses for us for dinner! THAT was SO sweet since we were stuck at the table from 6-10pm! THEY are such dears! I love them so!
I am happy to say that all of my books sold out. Not bad for 60 books! Heee! WHAT a surreal feeling it is to sign books- I am not sure if I can wrap my head around it...
I came home to 4 very emotionally needy cats which is just fine with me. Virgil rolled around on the floor and rubbed against me and allowed me to give him lots of kisses. Perth- howled a good bit before finally coming around and being super Lovie. Poppy- well she gave me an attitude just to let me know that she was not happy at the amount of time we were gone- but then made sure that she kept one paw on my arm every moment she could get near me. Finally there is Vespa- who is just a dear. He sticks to Thomas like glue. Thomas picked him up and carries him around the house...They are inseparable!
It is nice to come home to a calm house. I am grateful that I have two wonderful friends who keep an eye on the house and the furry's for me.
Now onto life again- I don't know if this happens to others, but I sort of come home feeling a little depressed and out of sorts after teaching. I am trying to dig into the "next" thing to work on- but I sort of don't really know what that will be? I guess I will put a bunch of stuff up on ETSY on Thursday.Okay- well... thank you for taking the time to peek. I will be back later today/
anxious