Thinking too much

sketching a bit on some down time...

I've been eating chocolate and cookies like crazy this week.  I mean it's kind of scary and pretty sure at some point I'll start having with-drawls and just grab anything that resembles sugar in my cabinets.  So time to toss out the old Splenda packets just to be safe.  But! No harm, since the best way to kill your choco-craving is to gorge yourself until you can't even look at the stuff anymore. [Veronica is NOT A DOCTOR and does NOT recommend you do this]

I've spent lots of time this year thinking about "Things I should be doing".  I should be drawing in this style right now, I should be making X a year right now, I should be pushing my online sales harder.  Putting these stresses on yourself is crazy - and just makes you doubt what you're doing when you're in the moment.

For 2011 I'm going to try harder to be in the moment, be joyful in what I'm doing and where I am right now instead of feeling like I "should" be doing something more important. What would happen if I continued to be dissatisfied with everything for no reason - perpetual worry!  It's not worth it.

If you think too much like me - don't!  We could miss the good things happening right now.

Just a blur

You guys, I tried to take pictures of beautiful Christmas lights for you - but this was all I got.  Sorry.

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 I hope you guys all had a great holiday, I'm officially in a week of detox for the many weeks of holiday eating (I'm talking about you Halloween + Thanksgiving!)  

Got a lovely Mulberry bag from my mother in law, Italian chocolates and Proto-man (I used to play Mega-man all the time!) suede gloves, Japanese gouache and lots of cute vinyl toys from Andy.

 My dad gave me a cookbook by the Barefoot Contessa (I love her and Nigella Lawson like aunts) and made my first pumpkin pie! It was a success, thanks goodness, but also fairly easy for a beginner like me.

 ☃ We had a really nice Christmas Eve party with my in-laws (- hi, Billee! thank you for reading my blog) despite the fact that they moved our party to the break room and a man died in the building while we were eating our bean dip, and they wheeled him past us to the exit.  But hey! that's what happens at a nursing home. 
And it's actually pretty funny when you think about it...

 haha...

 Aaaaanyway - I have lots of projects to tell you about - working on another illustration for Quarto/Quintet Publishing in London, and making some promotional images for Pirates of Mars - more on that stuff soon!

  

Mini-Mini man! a gift from our annual grab

Remember when I blogged about him from our trip to Japan? 

How did he end up here?! Al and Tomoko swear they didn't bring him on their trip home!  MYSTERIOUS....

Speaking of which, Happy Birthday Al! 

My first big brother! well, my only brother!

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Boston at Christmastime

Hey friends,

Went into the city to study at the library while Andy taught a graphic novel class at Emerson.  Couldn't help but take a walk around and take pictures of the city lights.  [And the library ceilings, too!]

I feel smarter just walking up the Boston Public Library stairs.

Had to stop in the Harry + David store ... suddenly I feel like spending $5 on a pear.

 It was really good, but the pastille/chocolate covered dried fruit was ACES

My wonderful Aunt from Texas sent us a Harry & David gift box with pears, sharp cheddar, apples, crackers and chocolate cherries for Christmas!  We tried to savor it, but it was pretty much devoured immediately... ☆Thank you Faith!☆

I used to want Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys (April was cooler than Barbie) and purple vinyl Vans for Christmas, but now all I really want is good food!

and of course 

☆HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDY!☆

your birthday will never be combined with Christmas and 

subsequently forgotten as long as we're together. promise.

 

Merry Christmas!

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Thank you so much for reading this blog, have a great holiday - mele kalikimaka!

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Some lovely window display and the city plaza Christmas tree in New Haven

Yuzu / ゆず/ 柚

painting available right now through Gallery 1988 San Francisco

This is a recent painting I did for the show "Sailing Through Shadows" at G1988SF - you can see it up right now if you are in the area!  I'm always excited when 1988 asks me to participate in a show - can't wait to get out to the West coast some day and see their space!

For my entire Japan trip I had yuzu on the brain - yuzu tea, yuzu bath salts, yuzu throat drops, yuzu sake, yuzu chicken - it was never enough!  So it compelled me to make a piece of a girl picking fruit from a citrus tree.  Here are most of the ゆず things from our Japan trip.

nigori yuzu sake "nigori" is the cloudy variety

Oh! Also - I've labeled all my posts that contain music - [ here ♫ ] in case you'd like to listen to some nice things.

Camel Coloured

I got a new winter coat this month!  The Cherry Blossom Girl has a camel duffle coat, so the coveting began...

I really love it - it's a man's duffel coat and it's the warmest thing on the coat rack.  Makes me feel a bit like a detective and a bit like a sailor-man.

I had been eying it online for a while, and was told it wasn't available in store, but would you know it, stumbled upon the same coat at Macy's for 60% off.  It was fate. 

You could tell it was on my mind from some subconscious drawings -

I think what started the inspiration was doing some prep work with Andy for a Sherlock Holmes graphic novel he's been writing.  Hopefully we'll start production on it soon [excited!]  - {but of course, if JJ decides he wants to start on Pirates of Mars Vol.2, I'll gladly work on both projects at the same time.}

So with Holmes in mind (Holmes for the Holidays - BA DUM CHH) I've been looking at lots and lots of British fashion, which has kind of become an obsession.  Structured details, tweed, wool and lace-up boots, it's really just to sketch them.  And of course, I needed a reason to slip in a superfluous "U" up there...

 brogues: ASOS suitcase: ZARA cape: Miss Selfridge UK boots: ASOS

Wanted to buy a pair of these boots from ASOS, but heard their service and quality is really terrible.  Anyone have anything to report about them?

And to mention more British things - Alex and Lindsay got us English drinking chocolate, holiday poppers, and these lovely mugs!  Thank you!

Oh! and by the way! ☟

Pirates of Mars vol. 1 is 15% off right now

with promo code : RESOLUTION305! ◄

Yale weekender II

Pretty rad optical illusion!

Can you see the design painted on the parking garage down the block?

and how it lines up with these walls?  Amazing!

 

 Frank Pepe's!  Pepe's in New Haven actually invented "apizza" - it's actually pizza with no cheese and no olive oil in the marinara. Why?  Because dear Frank was allergic to both.  

If you are lactose-intolerant or looking for a different kind of pizza, you have to try this stuff - it's amazing!

I have family down the road from New Haven, and this is the only place they wanted to venture away from their local diner.  Naturally it's in the "Little Italy" of New Haven, just a little stretch of Wooster St., but brightly lit with restaurant neon.

After we got mezzo-mezzo canollis and tea. [above]
Mezzo-mezzo is Italian for "half-half"

We found this cool vintage clothing store - they had a PeeWee Herman mannequin in the front, so it was pretty much decided that we loved it.

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Hope you guys are enjoying the holidays!  We've been fortunate to have dinner with friends, either cooking together or running into people on the street and deciding to get food - literally once or even TWICE a week since Thanksgiving!  I love friends!  I love the holidays!  I love eating!