More Flowers

I saw this random tulip growing next to a tree over the weekend and was glad I had my camera! It was a bright and sunny day, and the tulip's deep rich colored petals were such a contrast!

In other news, Avon Breast Cancer 2 Day Walk is this weekend! I'm hoping for no rain, even though the forecast is not very promising.

Georgetta Manning Cox is No Longer My Dentist

Let me count the reasons why Georgetta Manning Cox is No Longer My Dentist:

1) She doesn't have a receptionist
2) She doesn't have assistants
3) Once she emailed me at midnight cancelling the appointment for the following morning
4) There hasn't been a single time when she was actually ready for me at the time she said to come in
5) My permanent crown fell out twice
6) Sometimes her daughter is on phone duty: this means rudeness, completely unprofessional behavior and snarky remarks

After my permanent crown fell out for the 2nd time, I called and talked to Mrs. Manning's daughter. She insinuated that it was somehow my fault that the crown kept on falling out. When I told her that I could not imagine what it was that I did wrong, she replied "I don't know, I'm not in your mouth"

7) Most of communication for making appointments, etc, was done over text messages and email

8) Once, she cut my tongue during a procedure and instead of apologizing claimed that "for someone so quiet, you have quite an active tongue"

9) Ashley found a new and more organized dentist who actually has receptionists and assistants! So I switched!

10) Although Cindy insinuated a few times that I might perhaps be having an affair with my dentist because I was seeing her so many times, that is simply not true

Sunflowers & Gerber Daisies

Often people tell me I'm high maintenance and it takes a lot to please me. That is just not true. First of all, I maintain myself. Second of all, most of the time it's the little things that make me happy. Combine the two and it explains why I buy flowers for myself ;)

Flowers make me happy. They brighten up my environment and cheer me up! Over the weekend I bought a bouquet of sunflowers and a bouquet of Gerber daisies. My original plan of combining the two bouquets in one vase failed miserably: the sunflowers were just too heavy and would not cooperate, so I kept the two kinds of flowers separately.

Training Update

Hi, All.

Just wanted to let you know what's been going on with my training for the Avon Breast Cancer walk which is (OMG) in less than 2 weeks. How does time go by so quickly?

I really haven't done much training last week other than a few 1.5 mile walks and going dancing. Supposedly dancing counts as training, so I'll take it.

Then last Saturday, Christina and I met early for an EIGHTEEN mile walk! Yes, that's right, 18!

In Judaism, 18 is a lucky number. Well, I wasn't feeling entirely lucky during the 6.5 hours: the time it took us to walk 18 miles and have lunch. My feet were killing me, there were all these bikers yelling "on your left" and beeping at us as they were passing us by, and for a while I thought I wasn't going to be able to hold out till the next bathroom.........

...but then there were also great things about this training walk
1) It did not rain, like it did the Saturday before
2) I was doing the walk w/Christina, and not on my own: so there was a fun conversation to be had
3) There were more than just several attractive and fit dudes to look at
4) On the turn around point I found a $20 bill on the ground: LUNCH money!
5) Despite everything, we made it: we walked 18 miles!

Here's to hoping that the actual walk goes well and without any injuries and that we inspire many other people to sign up for 2010 walk and raise money to cure this disease!

New Glasses & Sunglasses

See the photo of my on the right of the screen? Those were my favorite glasses for the last two years. Then they fell off my head and broke in two. I was really sad. And it happened right before my Vegas trip.

Luckily, I had a spare pair of metal silver toned frames at home. But I don't love them, even though many people complimented me on them.

And so it was time to pick out a new pair of glasses and sunglasses!

For the glasses, I chose Calvin Klein! LOVE! For the sunglasses, I chose Essence frame in olive color with dark gray lenses (the lenses actually almost look olive and match the frames really well!).

Say What???

Today when I was leaving the elementary school where I mentor N on Wednesdays, I overhead a conversation between two boys. Actually I guess it was more of a monologue because only one boy was talking.

"Why am I so serious? Why am I so serious? I'm not serious! I'm MAD."

Okay, if you don't think it's really funny, you need to know why I found this hilarious: Often when I go dancing people ask me "Why are you so serious? Are you not having fun?" What if instead of saying "No, I'm fine, that's just how I am" I told them "I'm not serious, I'm just MAD"?

Maybe that will just bring about more questions than I want to answer ;)

Another Earring Project

I made these earrings for Cindy and her youngest daughter. Cindy liked hers (phew!) and put them on (in?) right away!

Seriously, if only I could quit my job and just make jewelry and paint pictures for living :)

(The first photo is Cindy's earrings, the other two are for L)

Knotted Bracelet & Necklace for Cindy

Remember I wrote a while ago about taking a knotting technique class and then receiving a "commission" from Cindy to re-do several of her necklaces?

Well, after making bracelets for Cindy and her girls and earrings for Cindy's older daughter, I was ready to undertake the next project: making a bracelet and a necklace for Cindy using her pink quartz long necklace. The final photos are below.

This project turned out to be a bit more of a challenge because the holes in the "beads" were larger than the ones I've worked with before. That meant that the knots I made inbetween the beads weren't big enough to prevent the beads from sliding around. That meant that I had to take apart the bracelet I made and start over using 2 silk cords instead of one! At the end everything turned out fine, and I was miraculously lucky to have just enough cord to finish the project.



I have to be completely honest: after I finished the necklace I put it on and wore it around my apartment for a bit. It was rather hard to give it back to Cindy :)

Training Update

With just a few weeks left before Avon's Breast Cancer Walk (first weekend of May), Sarah, Christina, Chelsy and I made plans to meet up this past Saturday for an 18 mile training walk. After all, the Saturday before Christina, Sarah and I managed to walk 16 miles, after which I even went dancing!!!

The forecasters, unfortunately, promised rain for at least the first half of the day. When I woke up Saturday morning at 8 and heard the rain outside of my window, I had high hopes that maybe one of the girls texted the rest of us cancelling our training session due to the weather.

No such luck. And so I got myself ready, ate leftover turkey enchilada (the only thing available in my refrigerator), and took the Metro to meet the rest of the girls.

Soon after we started walking, we decided to only do 10 miles instead of 18. It rained the entire time! My almost-brand-new shoes (look on the left) got terribly dirty, our socks and shoes got wet, but at least we had each other :) It would have been really boring to have to do the walk on my own. And of course we attempted to dry off a bit while having lunch at La Madeleine.

Oh, and I picked up a gorgeous daffodil on the way home :)

I'll have to try to do a few shorter training walks during the week and then a longer one over the weekend with the girls. And I need to remember to drink water: did not drink much on Saturday and ended up feeling tired and dehydrated.

A Daffodil

It has been a while since I've submitted photos to Today's Flowers. Yesterday, during my Breast cancer training walk, I picked up this gorgeous wild daffodil and carried it all the way home in my pink water bottle. Don't you think it's absolutely gorgeous? I do!

Baby Shower Project

I've known Cindy and her family for almost 8 years! I used to baby-sit her two daughters, who are now 10 and 12: time flies! When I found out Cindy and her husband were expecting again, I was very excited and wanted to do something a bit more special than just get them a gift from the registry.

I was inspired by the theme of the baby's room and decided to make a watercolor painting (Special Thanks to Paige for teaching me this technique a while ago).

What you'll need for this project is plain paper, watercolor paper, pencil, watercolor pencils, watercolor brushes, water, eraser, time, patience, imagination, ruler, something round (I used a coin), permanent marker, and willingness to have fun :) If you are planning to frame your final project, use a mat and a frame.

1) I outlined my project on a plain piece of paper using a ruler and a coin for round edges. I then taped that piece of paper on my window, and taped the watercolor paper on top of that.


2) Using a soft pencil, trace the design onto the watercolor paper.


3) Using the watercolor pencils color in the shapes.


4) You'll need special watercolor brushes (that's what I was told...but I really think you might be able to use any brushes you have. I used the middle-sized one for this entire project). Using the brushes dipped into water, start "painting" over your colored-in shapes, but stay within the lines and do one color at a time to avoid bleeding. Also, try to be sort of careful and go in the same direction for a neater look.


5) It is very important to let your project dry well before moving to the outlining part. I used a permanent black marker to outline every individual shape.


6) Once you are done, mat and sign your project and put it in the frame!


I'm thrilled with how this turned out and hope Cindy will like it too! Can't wait to see this inside the baby's room.

Anyone looking for a baby shower gift? You can totally commission me :)

(Sorry that the photographs are sort of dark: I was doing the project at night)

Balloons in the Air

Here are a few photos I was encouraged to take by Cindy after her baby shower on Sunday. Cindy's husband released the balloons into the sky: they looked so pretty!



The shower was fun, even though I was the only childless person there. Cindy's gay real estate dude did not count ;)

We ate, played games, and I even won a gift card to a bookstore! I cannot wait to meet the new addition to the Z family!

In Bloom

Spring is in the air, which means a few things: 1) Cherry Blossoms are blossoming 2) there are a zillion tourists in DC 3) time for photos!

Here are some photos I took on the way back from mentoring with Ashley. I played with some of them using Picasa. Please click on the photographs for a bigger image.