Here You Go

Just what you've all been waiting for...May I introduce you to the latest, and greatest, "Ze-bra" chair?
Isn't it awesome. Bruce's mom gave us this chair, I don't know how many years ago, and it's had multiple incarnations as I've changed decor; this version is certainly the wildest--no pun intended!

This is a big week at the Polasek museum. As I type, there are plein air artists on the grounds, capturing the exquisite gardens, landscape, and sculptures.Paint Out Each morning an artist demonstrates their skills, with a lecture about how to use various paints. Basically, it is the biggest fund raiser of the year for the museum. As such, the volunteers have been doing an amazing job getting the gardens in tip-top shape. Turns out, all that cold weather was good for the plants, producing larger blooms then ever. I'd been telling Lisa how wonderful everything looked, and around 11, she walked through the door. I took this lovely picture of her while we were chatting with our friend Stephen Bach, an amazing landscape painter. Among other things, we discussed the current state of shows. Now, Steve and I have little in common as far as our art work is concerned. He's won awards everywhere, making way more money with his art in one year than I could make in about five. At one time he painted the Olive Garden murals for Bruce--a pretty good gig. Small world, huh? Anyway, he told me that at the Winter Park Art Festival this year's sales were way below his average. I don't feel quite so bad now regarding my sales this year. If his have gone way down, what can I expect??
I couldn't resist buying a small acrylic painting.

What a day! Next stop, Xanadu. My friend Sylvie met me out front of the Bob Carr Auditorium on a most pleasant evening.
It was silly and campy, just enough to make it enjoyable. As I explained to Sylvie, "the best stories happen when things don't go according to plan." After the show, which had no intermission pleasing me greatly, we couldn't decide if we were brave enough to go to the cast party. Because I had to drop Sylvie home, we thought we'd drive by the place on our way. Being the curious types that we are, driving by wasn't good enough. Parking across the street, I began rummaging in my purse for the ticket, to no avail. I got out of the car, removing everything, hoping it was in hiding. No, it wasn't. I mentioned to the nice gay couple who were heading over that I'd lost my ticket. You're not surprised are you? I've never gone anywhere with Sylvie before, and I'm sure she was slightly aghast by my constant talking to strangers. At any rate, he was nice enough to go check at the door, returning with the good news that we could get in without it. Fantastic! Although it was packed at "Sip", I managed to get us some seats with a lovely young couple right by the food no less! Mac & Cheese, asparagus, tasty salad, baby cornbreads with a dollop of butter, sweets galore, and delicious bruschetta. As an aside, I'm thinking cornbread is heading for stardom. The lead actress was about a foot from me, and I swear I'd have never even realized it if not for our table mates pointing her out. Noisy, lively, and fun. Remember I mentioned the intermission part? Well, that was for a good reason--it was over earlier! Thus, after dropping Sylvie off, I returned home to hit the sack. How fun is it to win something?

Ok, so I must confess, I'd written about half of this when the twittering cardinals outside my window forced me to join them on the patio. Let's just say I'd never make a wildlife photographer because I don't have the patience to just sit there waiting...At any rate, I hope you'll enjoy these:

Well, I guess you won't on this post. For some reason the photo uploader has disappeared. Coming up next!

Listening to: Spoon - Me and the Bean
via FoxyTunes