Rockport, Texas

Rockport, Texas, is a quaint little ocean-side town that my dad took Trey and I to one day during our extended visit to Texas a couple of weeks ago. 

The bait shacks along the harbor all had hand-painted signs. I love the look of simple typography and have a secret wish to paint signs like this for a living. However, I fear I'd starve if that was my livelihood, so perhaps I'll settle for making it a hobby.

 Here's a pic of Trey and my dad ducking out of a smelly bait shop. Despite the odor, it still looks delightful.

This photo of Trey was taken just as he was considering life as a shrimp boat captain. We would never go hungry with nets full of shrimp. In that case, I just might try the hand painted sign business. Kidding, folks -- only kidding. Sigh.

Day One: South La. Trip

 The park in front of the cinema at Perkins Rowe

Trey and I drove to Baton Rouge Friday afternoon where we stayed the night before he participated in the three-mile endurance challenge, Warrior Dash, in Norco, La. Norco is just outside of New Orleans, a 50 mile drive from Baton Rouge.

Doesn't the cinema clock remind you of "Back to the Future?"

We stayed at the Drury Inn for the second time. We highly recommend it for anyone who plans to stay in B.R. Anyhow, as we only had one night back in our former home town, we went to eat at my favorite pizza place -- Louisiana Pizza Kitchen. It was heavenly. Really, there are no words. 

Perkins Rowe

After we ate dinner we went in search of the Anthropologie store, which is located at the new Perkins Rowe outdoor shopping, dining, entertainment and living complex.

Another shot of Perkins Rowe. I'm pretty sure the upstairs portions of the buildings are apartments.

We had never been there and were blown away by how nice and expansive it was. There was nothing even remotely close to this place when we lived in Baton Rouge.

A grand chandelier in the entryway to the cinema

We stopped at Anthropologie, of course, Z Gallerie and Urban Outfitters where I got a funky hair piece/lapel pin.

I love the graphic quality of this simple sign.

An Anthropolgie window display

Anthropolgie window display. Looks like fun to make and hang.

 Trey inspects a glass bon bon in Anthropologie.

BCBG window display

 Z Gallerie display

 Z Gallerie display. Wouldn't it be strange and wonderful to have one of these tents indoors?

 Z Gallerie display. I love the idea of a cloth headboard, and these colors are very me.

Trey looks like a mountain man in this photo, but he shaved his beard tonight and now he looks like a boy.

After being slightly drizzled on as we walked from shop to shop, Trey and I stopped at the French food cafe La Madeline for a light dessert. See the roaring fire in the background? So cozy.

When I lived in Baton Rouge I worked in a clothing shop at the Mall of Louisiana. La Madeline had a location a couple shops down, and we were often given free boxes full of these fruit tarts. That night at the cafe I settled for one.

When we returned to the hotel, Trey and I took advantage of their gym, which we had all to ourselves. Yeah! We watched D.C. Cupcakes (one of my faves!) while we walked. I think that was one of the biggest perks of the whole trip, well, other than the food :)

In Part Two of this post I'll include photos from Warrior Dash. Woo hoo!

Happiness is a New Hobby

 Images from Hoop City Ca.

Today I caught up on my DVR watching and saw an Oprah show about happiness. The subject of happiness and what factors create the most long-lasting contentment fascinate me. I found through reading more on the subject today that one of the tricks to happiness is learning something new. Dan Buettner, author of the book "Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way" said that over time, the knowledge of a skill, be it art, another language or hooping (as I'll discuss in a minute) becomes more fulfilling.

Another interesting tidbit about happiness is that where you live contributes a great deal more to your happiness than other things like money might. Hooray for being Austin bound! Buettner says cities with wide sidewalks in a town center or places with sidewalk dining that bring the community together have the happiest populations.

So on the subject of learning new things for increased happiness, yesterday I took up a new hobby -- hooping. It's basically dancing while hula-hooping. I've seen it done before, but it didn't appeal to me to try until now. I found a hooping website where an Austin-based hooper happened to be featured. She's amazing, and I would love to be able to catch one of her fire hooping performances. Check her out in the video below, see what hooping is all about and hold out until the end if you want to see the fire hooping.

Imitating Art and a Project 'How To'

 Image found online.

OMG! I found online a painting of the older version of my car -- same color with the black convertible top and all. I'm dying to have a painting of my car just like it. I guess I'd better get out the paint and brushes then, because at this point I don't have the funds to purchase original artwork.

Image found here.

And speaking of getting taking matters of home decor into my own hands, here's another art piece that I'd love to try to recreate. For the longest I've wanted to paint a room in my house either black or midnight navy. I think art like this would look amazing in a room like that.

Since I have home decor crafting on my mind, I thought I'd share another project I'd like to try my hand at. These pillows by Helkat Design look easy enough to reproduce. While I haven't tried yet, this is how I'd do it.

Materials

♥ Raw canvas fabric

♥ Fabric paint

♥ Off white thread

♥ Sewing machine

♥ Crown, vine template

♥ Scissors

♥ Pillow form in desired size, shape

Directions

Wash the fabric first, then press it. Draw lightly with pencil onto the fabric. 

Printing and cutting out a template from online will help, or draw and cut out your own template for symmetry. Fill in lines with fabric paint. Sew fabric around pillow form. Enjoy.

Inspirations: Cake and Cupcake Paintings

Wayne Thiebaud 

I started two confectionery paintings in the past couple of weeks. One day, while working with my friend Mary Drew in her studio, I painted myself into a corner. I was frustrated and didn't know where to go with my work next. She showed me Wayne Thiebaud's paintings, and now I'm obsessed with his work. While I didn't take my painting in the same direction as his with the rows of cakes, etc., I'm happy to say that I did paint myself out of that corner.

 Photo found online. Source unknown to me.

The above image reminds me of Thiebaud's paintings and is so completely inspiring. I found a blog post about a bride and groom in northern California that had replicas of Thiebaud's cakes baked for their wedding. You have to see this. It's too tasty looking. I think I was drawn to painting confections recently because not only do I gravitate toward bright, bold colors, but I've been refraining from eating sugar lately. So instead I've been viewing, painting and thinking about sweets while I burn a sugary smelling candle. I'm sure it sounds torturous, but it works for me.

I recently discovered Thaneeya McArdle's work. Gorgeous and perfect.

The visible brush strokes and texture in this painting make it all the more appealing. I couldn't find the name of the artist. If you know it, do let me know, and I'll add it.

Photo by Craig Stephens

Again, the texture and visible brush strokes attract me to this painting.