Moleskine from Mom

Vladi has a gift from GrandMeow!  Well it may be for me,

but you can see the look in his eyes, best to play along.

Its a watercolor Moleskine, landscape style, my favorite! (Vladi's too)

And seriously, how adorable is that wrapping paper? :)

More Mouk, Please

 I've never actually seen Mouk on the Disney channel,

but I am a bit obsessed with the art.

 Its whacky fun and smack-you-around-a-bit colorful.

Eye candy at its best, a little confusing, but very eye-catching.

Opaque Star Rubies

In case you need an extra hit of rubies (I often do),

on the left and right are clear rose-faceted lab rubies,

and in the center are opaque star lab rubies (8 & 10 mm).

The opaque stars are growing on me, purpley-pink clouds with 

a clear white star that is hard to ignore.

Doughnuts Make the Day

I was feeling awful yesterday evening and this morning, but was

tempted out of bed when I saw Mark had hunted and gathered

a batch of Safeway doughnuts.

The delicate glazing is marvelous.

I'm saving this bad boy for last,

the slightly bittersweet chocolate frosting is amazing.

The End of Harry Potter

I'm finally finishing the Harry Potter series, a few years

behind the rest of the world, and wow, what a treat.

Fabulous from start to finish, Rowling rocks!

Three Rivers Buffet

As an excuse to play on the coast, we traveled to the buffet at

Three Rivers Casino in Florence, Oregon.  Everyone was super-friendly

and the grounds seemed clean and well-maintained...

But the food was ghastly, really bad, like the lowest-quality ingredients

possible. The brownies were the only thing edible, even the coffee tasted

like diluted soap. I've never left a buffet hungry (and a bit queezy) before.

But of course we had a blast, the local Goodwill had 49 cent books...

And it was one of the prettiest days I've ever seen on the coast,

sunny, cool, calm, and breath-taking (or maybe its the burping).

Strawberry Chocolate

These Ritter Sport chocolates are yummy,

a bit like a creamy cocoa-strawberry shake.

And drop-dead gorgeous as well.

I couldn't resist stacking pieces up for a few photos.

The chocolate is starting to melt together under the lights.

So they all needed to be eaten quickly :).

Sorrelli Bracelets

Summer sunshine is made to go with sparkly Sorrelli bracelets.

I like to stack them up for special occasions,

which can be pretty much every day.

There are great sales at the Sorrelli website, but all of my bracelets

 are fabulous finds from eBay.

Only a few things are more eye-catching :).

Cheap Cheese Pizza

Sometimes the best deal is the sale family-size frozen cheese pizza.

Gooey, oozy, impossible to resist.

Kimono Embroidery

For a peaceful and calm Monday, a few images from:

The Fine Art of Kimono Embroidery by S. Kusano

Delicate birds flitting from branch to branch...

Bunnies bounding across a field...

Butterflies eluding gossamer webs...

Dragonflies gliding above the water...

Herbal images amid falling petals.

Cascades of pastel blossoms.

And a powerful pulse of color to get Monday going.

Katwise Magic

 For years I have been wearing, day-in and day-out, upcycled

sweaters made by the most marvelous Kat of Katwise on Etsy.

Honking bright stripes with squares?  No problem, Kat can make it work.

Sometimes I just roll around in these piles of cuddly goodness.

This knit print seemed really familiar, and then it hit me...

Richard Scarry was my favorite author/illustrator growing up,
and here's the cover of his "Best Storybook Ever."  Hmmm.

NutCakes

Another weekend discovery is NutCakes bakery in Philomath Oregon.

So many doughnuts and other goodies...

The perfect moist vanilla cupcake with luscious buttercream frosting

and tasty sprinkles too.

A coconut sprinkled chocolate-frosted treat filled with...

Peanut butter! (almost too good to be true).

These are meant to be shared.

Borage Blossoms

Borage plants have sprung up in patches of disturbed soil

around the boys' kennel.

The perfect crystallized periwinkle-blue with a small spatter of pink.

Top Heavy

If you have every had a Dairy Queen Blizzard ice cream cake,

you know that sometimes the blizzard (top layer) to vanilla

(bottom layer) ice cream ratio can be a bit low.

Well, we finally got a winner...

A monstrously thick layer of ground up peanut butter cups.  Mmmm.

Floral Patterns

The patterns of nature are all around us, I especially like the whimsical

mixes of cotton cloth in the skirts from JaneElizabeths on Etsy.

Stylized florals balanced with varied designs and shapes.

Bits of beauty that swish along with you.