Cutting Our Own Christmas Tree

www.mistletoemeadows.com

I am so excited that we are traveling to Jefferson, NC this weekend to get our Christmas tree from one of the many farms in the area.  Ashe County, NC is known for Christmas trees.  We invited some friends that have a son about Reed's age.  The plan is to stay the night, get a tree, cook a yummy dinner, play games and head back home on Sunday to decorate.  

Many of these farms sell great wreaths and greenery too.

www.mistletoemeadows.com

www.mistletoemeadows.com

We are looking forward to it! 

Jefferson is a cute little town to visit.  Here is a great map and information about all the trees in the area if you are interested in going.

http://www.ashecountychristmastrees.com/choose_n_cut.asp

Plein Air Painting At the Beach

I am hitting the road today with Rudy and Reed to go to Wilmington, NC.  We will be visiting my friend Karen and her husband Mike - yay!!!

While I am there I am going to paint some beach scenes.  I want to paint one at least and then get some good pictures to come home and paint more.  I have never painted beach scenes so I went online to look for some inspiration.

I found Debbie Miller's blog and website...I love them and I want one!

Here is a beach scene...


And here are some people watching (which we all know the beach is awesome for!)...

Look at this one below.  You see how the shadow on the towel is just one quick strong stroke?  And the highlight?  Look at her leg too...I love this...not all detailed and busy with random paint strokes just because.  She painted what was there and left it.  I love the background too. You can tell it is the beach, yes.  Are their waves or each little grain of sand?  No.  That is the beauty of plein air.  You are outside so you have to work fast.  That means you are more intentional with your strokes.  Bolder. 

I love this beach scene with the umbrella.  This is what we are going to be most of the day Saturday!  We have an upright paddle board, we got an umbrella, we got sunscreen, we got painting supplies, we got cards, we got good friends.  It is going to be great!

Looking at these paintings gets me inspired!  I hope I come home with some good ones!

Sentimental Ornament From A Magnet

When we travel, I like to bring home a Christmas ornament as a keepsake from the trip.  While in Zion, they had plenty of ornaments but they were sort of cheesy.  Like a big moose head with Zion written on it's scarf, a snowman, etc.  They did have some with the canyons but they really didn't look representative of the natural beauty if the area.  I probably sound like an ornament snooty snoot...I don't mean to be!  I guess I am just particular.  They did have some pretty ones of a wooden miniature nativity scene but that didn't scream Zion...or at least the Zion we saw.  On top of that these ornaments were $15 - $20...and I wasn't even wild about them!

So when I spied this little guy I was pretty sure I had a winner.

He is handmade (check!), reminds me of our trip (check! because we saw lots of ranches and horses) and was only $5.99 (check, check, check!).

The only thing is that he is a magnet but I figured I could make him into an ornament when I got home.

First I went through my box of old ribbons and came across this knitting yarn I purchased the one time I knitted. Secret...I was invited to a knitting night and made the mistake of drinking wine and couldn't knit very well.   Literally my needles were in a knot. Needless to say, I wasn't invited back. But I have found many uses for this yarn. I especially like to wrap Christmas presents in brown paper with and tie simple bows with this yarn for a natural holiday look.

But anyway I took a bit of the ribbon and wrapped it around his waist a couple of times to look like a saddle. 

I first tied a bow but thought it looked a little too cutsey. 

So I settled for this simpler look.

Can't wait to hang him on the tree and remember our first family vacation!

Review of Zion National Park - Springdale, AZ

Rudy and I just got back from an awesome vacation to Zion National Park and Springdale, AZ.  I thought I would fill you in on the details of our trip in case you would like to visit.  I would highly recommend it!

 

Getting There:  We flew into Vegas and drove to Springdale.  It was a super easy drive and only 2.5 hours.

 

Where to Stay:  We absolutely LOVED Flannigan's Inn.  The staff was very accommodating and it is walking distance to all the restaurants and shopping in town as well as the park.  They also have a mountain top labyrinth on the property (and include spiritual tours) as well as a spa, pool and hot tub.  Each room has a TV and refrigerator.  They also offer Villas that have full kitchens.  Here are some pictures from their website.  I got a massage and it was incredible.  The downstairs of the main building has been converted to their spa.  It is so relaxing and serene.  You feel like you are a million miles away more than you already felt.

Rudy and Reed checking out the onsite tree house at Flannigan's.

 

Where to Eat:  We tried lots of restaurants while we were in town - most were winners, one was just okay...here is a little bit more information about our culinary adventures.

 

Spotted Dog Cafe - This is connected to Flannigan's Inn and was incredible.  The food was sooooo good and the service impeccable.  This was a bit on the pricey side, not outrageous by any means but more than the other options in town.  They have a chef, white linens, candlelight, etc.  It was worth the price and a great place to treat yourself to a special dinner We had these amazing mushrooms as an appetizer, I had the pear risotto dish and Rudy had lamb.  All with a great bottle of wine.

Mushrooms - we had this many in one dish!

 Rudy's Lamb

 Pear Risotto

 

Pizza and Noodle Company - This place had a good vibe and the pizza was okay.  The crust was good but the pizza itself didn't have too much taste.  It needed some garlic or pesto or something.  It could have just been the pizza we selected.  We met several people at the hotel that loved it.  So definitely worth a try.

 

Thai Sapa - This was so, so good and a walking distance from the hotel.  Great food and awesome service.  We noticed too that a steady stream of people came in saying things like "we eat here every time" "great to see you all again", etc.  I got a great tofu dish and Rudy had lamb.

 

Wildcat Willies - Yes, we ate a place call Wildcat Willies.  When we were walking by we noticed people inside eating these amazing looking breakfasts so we stopped in.  I had a veggie three cheese omelet and Rudy had the Baja Sunrise.  My selection was very good, Rudy's was amazing.  I definitely had plate envy!  They have open mic nights and karaoke nights...I wish we could have been there for one of those!

 

 

Oscar's Cafe - This place stays open all year long when most other places close during the off season.  They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and have great service.  I ate breakfast there one morning when Rudy headed out to see Bryce Canyon.  I had their cheddar cheese pancakes.  Sounds weird but it was very good.  The cheese was subtle but definitely gave a good salty/sweet combination with the syrup.  Definitely would check this out!

 

 

 

Whiptail Grill - This one doesn't have a website for you to check out the menu but it was so good.  Two people at Flannigan's recommended it and it was AWESOME.  We got some great Mexican here.  We actually got our food to go so I could watch the Bachelor finale (I know, watching the Bachelor in Zion !?) but also so we could get Reed into bed early.  They have a great patio and a good casual vibe.

 

Cafe Soleil - This was a good little cafe to get coffee and breakfast or lunch.  I had a  breakfast burrito that was pretty good.  I would definitely say that Wildcat Willies and Oscar's was better if you compared my menu selections but I am sure other things are worth trying.  Their website isn't currently working.

 

Things to Do: 

• Hiking and enjoying the park
• Shopping

• Polygamist Spotting - Just kidding - but kind of not really.  I kind of have this weird fascination and two of the largest FLDS (Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints) groups are near this area.  I read the book The 19th wife and got hooked.  So I was oddly excited when we saw a family at a local gas station.  
• Painting
• Drinking Wine - no vineyards but lots of nice patios for sitting and having a glass!
• Beer tasting - several micro breweries in the area.  They even have one called Polygamy Porter with the clever slogan - "better ask your wife before you have one." or something like that.
• Picnics
• Spiritual journeys/yoga - this area is very zen...I am not into that stuff but can see why others travel here to do it.
• Climbing 

It was a great trip...we really went big for Reed's first excursion!  Can't wait to get on the road again...next time we will probably pick something in our time zone. :)

Zion National Park

We are having a wonderful time in Springdale, UT and Zion National Park.  The area is absolutely beautiful!  We hiked all day Friday and these are a few shots that Rudy got.

Traveling With A Baby

Reed Ready to Go to VEGAS!

It is 5:00 AM in Vegas and Rudy and Reed are on the road headed to Red Rocks to take pictures and explore.  My husband is a photographer as a business and side gig.  He takes the best pictures - I can't wait to see how they turn out!

When preparing for this trip I learned that people can be very accommodating for babies.  Here are some things that made this trip easier:

1.      If you have a baby you get to go through the priority and medical liquids line.  Expressed milk is A-Ok.

2.      I was worried we were going to need to bring our pack-n-play but pleasantly surprised that both the casino in Vegas (South Point) and Flanigan’s Inn in Springdale, UT have cribs with sheets for us to use.

3.      The rental car company had a car seat we could rent for $60.  We opted to bring our own to save money.  $60 isn’t bad but since our car seat sits in our stroller it isn’t really a pain to bring and saving that $60 means more yummy food and wine for Mommy and Daddy on the trip!

4.      Take pacifiers and milk for baby to use and drink on the way up and down on the flight.  It will help their ears.  Pediatrician said Tylenol too in case his ears were bothering him.

5.      Kept it simple – we brought his stroller, car seat, clothes and just a few toys for the plane.  Would having the bumbo be nice?  The Johnny jump up fun?  Sure, but we didn’t want to fool with it.  We figured being with Mommy and Daddy 24/7 and all the new lights, sounds and scenery would be entertainment enough.

6.  You can check your carseat or carseat base for free. 

Here is Reed sitting in Rudy's lap on the plane - I got this when I was sitting in one of my sessions.  My heart melted when I saw Reed's hand on Rudy's.  So sweet.

Having these little things made the trip more doable.  It is a great vacation so far – can’t wait to get to Zion!

Packing For Plein Air Painting

Whenever I travel, I try to bring my painting supplies so that I can paint on the road.  The beauty of plein air painting is that it is super quick – you can paint one painting in about 2 hours usually.  You work fast because the light changes but also since you are working on smaller, more portable surfaces it just doesn’t take as long.  I really haven’t painted in so long and I miss it.  I kind of yearn for it actually so I really wanted to go for it this trip.  But knowing that I probably won’t have that much time, I decided to go even more portable and even smaller.

So typically on a driving trip or even a flying trip when I didn’t have a bunch of baby stuff to take with me, I would take my plein air field easel.  But since I was stuffed to the gills with all of our luggage, I opted to go even smaller and lighter. 

So here is my set up.

1. Plastic school supplies case from Michael’s or Wal-mart – maybe $2?
2. Paint – red, yellow, blue and white oil paint.  Very light and the norm when I paint.  I always mix my colors from scratch.  If you don’t, try it.  It is a fun challenge and my favorite thing about painting.
3. 4 brushes
4. palette knife
5. 1 disposable palette paper pad.  I have brought folded up sheets of wax paper before but the pad doesn’t weigh all that much and I can put my finished pieces in between the sheets coming home to protect them.
6. 4 binder clips for my palette pad – sometimes when it is windy the paper blows around – i.e. paint blobs in unwanted places.
7. Surfaces – I took one sheet of heavy water color paper and gessoed 4 small areas.  I cut each one out to make 4 small surfaces.  Each area is probably at least 3 x 3 – maybe 3x4.  Not only is paper light but I will be able to paint quickly which will be key in order to finish one before the next time Reed needs to eat.  Paintings dry quicker on paper too which is helpful when it comes to flying back.
8. 1 small wooden board and painters tape.  So when it comes time to paint, I will tape down my “canvas” on the board.
9. Paper towels.
10. Turpentine and jar – because turpentine is flammable, I did not bring it with me.  Plus it really smells and I didn’t want our clothing to smell like it in the suitcase.  We will just buy a jar of pickles and some turp on the road and leave it there.

Everything fits in the little box except for 3 of my brushes, the board and palette paper.  Because we will be in the desert, I will look for a rock to perch on or perhaps even use the back of the rental car so that I can stand and paint.

The goal is to paint one of the first few days we are on our trip so they will be nice and dry by the time we go home.  Odds are paintings 1 and 2 will not be anything to write home about but 3 and 4 should be better and maybe even good.  Then I can frame these or use them as a guide to paint them larger when I get back home.

Stay tuned for pictures of my painting from the road!

Plane Bathrooms Have Outlets!

I am excited that as you read this I will be in Las Vegas for a work conference.  Even more excited in that Rudy and Reed will be arriving tomorrow.  After my meeting concludes on Thursday, we are headed up to the Zion National Park area to stay in Springdale, Utah.  It is a beautiful area and the perfect place to have our first family vacation!

Not sure if you caught that this means Rudy will be flying with Reed (6 months) solo from Charlotte to Vegas…4.5 hour flight!  Eek!  Hope Reed is a good little boy!

I flew on Sunday with all of our luggage in tow.  I didn’t want Rudy to have to worry about hauling a large suitcase since he was already going to have his hands full with the stroller, car seat and of course little dude.  Bertha (the gigantic roller suitcase my MIL loaned me for the trip) was stuffed to the gills.  When I weighed her at check in I was in a pinch because she weighed 62 pounds!  Ooops, I guess my theory of weighing her on my home scale – you know weigh yourself holding the suitcase, then not holding the suitcase – was not very accurate.  If you continue to read this blog and get to know me better, you will see that these little snafus are just par for the course.  Numbers just ain’t my thang.

That was super fun pulling things out at check-in let me tell you.  The airport was really busy and people were irritated.  I was quickly removing what I could including a bunch of diapers, big bag of fruit and Rudy’s tripod.  Diapers were flying everywhere until I got the weight limit right.  The kind ladies behind the desk put them back in the suitcase after it weighed an approved 51 lbs though which was nice.

I ended up carrying his tripod and stuffing the fruit into my pump bag.  I didn’t mind carrying the tripod.  La Leche would be so proud in that I didn’t miss a beat with the pumping on this long flight.  This was the first time I had to pump on the plane.  I used the lavatory and told the flight attendants what I was up to.  I didn’t want them to think something happened to me in there. J I immediately hooked up my battery pack but realized about 10 minutes in that there was a power outlet.  Awesome!  I learn something new every time I fly.

You know this breast feeding has been a commitment but now that I am 6 months into it and have 4 plane trips under my belt, I feel like I could do it for as long as my body lets me.

Also, my supply was starting to dwindle.  More water, more food, one more pumping session a day and fenugreek and 1 week later I was pumping more than I needed.  Whew!

Can’t wait to fill you all in on all of the fun things we do on this trip!

Tuscan Dinner Party

Have you been to Tuscany?  If you get the opportunity GO.  It's beautiful, relaxing, charming, surreal, inspiring, fragrant, intoxicating, tranquil...oh I could go on and on.  My sister and I went to Tuscany with Jean Cauthen, a local plein air painter and teacher several years ago.  My friends Ruthie and Theresa went back the next year and so from time to time we like to get together and relive those special weeks.  If you are interested in taking an Italian painting trip, the information about Il Chiostro is at the bottom of this post.

I was asked to bring the bread and appetizer.  I made an antipasti platter with roasted garlic over hummus, bruschetta, olives, pecorino cheese and sliced bread.

To roast garlic, you slice off the top and put it in the oven at 350 until it looks like this.  To get the garlic out you squeeze it like a lemon and it comes out soft and spreadable.  If it doesn't come out easily put it back in the oven.

 Jean hung little picnochio's from the chandelier with sprigs of rosemary, tubes of paint and paint brushes.  I think Jean really likes a theme too!

Each table setting was different - all with reds, greens and golds - the traditional colors of Tuscany.

 Of course there were candles everywhere.  On our trip we dined as a group each night and the Il Chiostro staff decorated the rooms with candles, rosemary, flowers, pinecones and anything they found in the hills of tuscany.  It was quite magical after a long day of painting.

Tomorrow I will post more about Jean's art and her AWESOME studio.  Her was all over the house and we had so much fun looking at all of the pieces. 

Here are a few to get us started...

Want more informaiton about Italy Art Trips?  Go to Il Chiostro's website.  They really take giving you the time of your life seriously.  If you aren't in to painting they offer cooking, photography, sculpture, cabaret singing (ha!) and others.

La Leche Would Be Proud - Flying and Pumping Success

Okay so this is a post about pumping and travel.  If you are not pregnant, breastfeeding or interested in my adventures in travel pumping, you may want to come back tomorrow.

I left Tuesday morning for my first trip without Reed.  (sob...)  I travel for my job and am typically gone for 1-4 nights per month.  I completely used up my stash of pumped milk with this trip so I wanted to save what I pumped and bring it back home.  I left armed with

1.  A car charger power source
2.  Battery pack
3.  Bottles
4.  Freezer bags
5.  Plastic grocery bags
6.  Mini cooler (the size that can hold a 6-pack of beer)

The trip started out with a session at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.  They have benches in each restroom for nursing mothers.  I could have also used the family bathroom but I was running late (taxi driver's fault) and I didn't want to have to look for it.  I brought my modesty cover and just went through my work emails.  It was a little awkward being out in the open in a busy woman's restroom but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do and many women could probably relate to what I was doing.  The only drawback was that there wasn't an outlet but I just used my handy Medela battery pack and was just fine.
DC National offered a spot in their restroom too with the bonus of having an outlet.
Albany was even better with cushioned chairs, power source and a more separate area in the bathroom.

The hotel we stayed in for our meeting has refrigerators in each room with a small freezer space.  This was perfect - I was able to keep my freezer pack frozen and begin to freeze my milk in storage bags.
Here is how I packed my milk up to go home:

1.  Bottom layer of ice in grocery bag.
2.  Milk bags in the middle
3.  Top layer of ice in grocery bag.
4.  Wrapped cooler in 4 grocery bags and then the large dry cleaning bag from the hotel.

My goal with all the bags was to prevent leaking from the cooler.  I will bring tape next time to really seal the cooler in addition to the bags.

I checked the bag thinking that it would stay cool enough below the plane.  And thankfully it did!  The proof was the fact that the milk and ice were still frozen.  I was able to save all of my milk!

Success!!

Plein Air Painting in West Jefferson, NC

One of the greatest things about Plein Air Painting is that you can combine it with travel.  We took a trip to West Jefferson, NC and stayed at the River House Inn and Restaurant.   If you are in the area, you should definitely stop by - even if it is just to eat in the restaurant.  The food was incredible!  It is nestled in a valley and has access to scenic views, hiking trails and a nice stream for fly fishing.  Of course that was the draw for Rudy! 

You can learn more about their accommodations, rates and availability at their website at http://www.riverhousenc.com/.

We stayed in an awesome room right off of the main house.  It had a nice big tub that was perfect for relaxing.

Those little cupboards were used by the previous owner during prohibition.  He used the room as a speakeasy and his customers kept their spirits there.  They each had their own individual locker.  I love the stories that so many older homes have.

Our room had a little porch too which was a nice place to relax. 

The Inn is filled with wonderful art.  All of it original and collected by the owner.  This is the dining room which has some wonderful pieces.

Well of course I had to do some painting there.  This is the front porch of the Inn.  It is a little guy but has strong colors.  It was making a happy bright home on my bookshelf but like most of my paintings I gave it away as a present.  Merry Christmas Aunt Fran and Uncle Dick!



I painted this one of the house itself.  I sat in the big grassy lawn out front in the sun and it was just lovely.  I feel happy just thinking about soaking up the sun and creating art.  After I painted it I found my way to a chaise lounge and took a nap!  I am not too wild about the tree on the right...but I like the way the house turned out.

Rudy and I hope to get back there again.  Maybe this summer for their wine festival.  I could definitely relax in one of their chaise lounge chairs with some wine!