November was a whirlwind this year.  Between the election, two business trips, my mother’s visit, Thanksgiving, and putting up the Christmas tree, I am exhausted.

I wanted to highlight my two trips this month and share some things to do the next time you are in the two cities.

I flew out to San Francisco the day after the election.  When I got to the airport, I purchased every paper they had.  I read every election page in the NY Times on the flight.  And I will be honest I cried at least half the flight.  I was so shocked, overjoyed, elated, and stunned, that our country would actually vote for someone that spoke about Hope, instead of fear and had a plan on how to dig us out of the worst mess since 1929.  I am still amazed.

As I grew up in California, I always feel so good when I get back to Northern Cal.  And to meet up with the team and to share how excited we all were about the results was just awesome.  We checked into the hotel and grabbed lunch.  We then worked until 7:30 pm that night.  It was a really long day starting at 3 am PST.  But, we learned a lot about our customers, which was the whole point of the endeavor. 

We headed off then to dinner at CoCo 500 .  It was a great meal; my best friend recommended the place.  Then off to the hotel and to crash.  

The next evening I spent the evening with my best friend and his partner.  We had the best Thai dinner in the Castro.  I just love San Francisco.

The best part of the week, was just visiting with friends and catching up.  

Tami and Marty met me at my booth.  Special Events, had set up my booth and left two tables for me (and they come and tear it down after the show).  We put out my wonderful linens from Santa Fe, my art, prints and t-shirts.  The booth looked great. 

The show officially opened at 11 am.  Marty and Tami stayed the morning to help me with the booth.  That was awesome, as that was a big lesson learned from Santa Fe.  I need to have more than one person with me during a show.   Rose, her two sisters, Monica, and George all came by and hung out as well.  I had a smile from ear to ear, because it was just great to see everyone. 

I did try to step away around lunch to take a quick break.  And not long after I had, I got a call that James and Eric (of James Judd & Son Vineyard) were in my booth.  I ran back.  They brought me one bottle of each of the wine labels.  They are beautiful!!!  It was wonderful to meet them both for the first time.  It was almost exactly a year ago that James contacted me about designing their wine labels (see my post “Commissions – A Cellar Full of Noise”).  They are going to be doing a wine tasting later this month in San Diego.  And they will have my original art there as part of their booth.  How cool is that?

They left and in the midst of that, I sold two originals, a few prints, and t-shirt.  The show wasn’t as strong as last year, but it was just great to see everyone.  The lady that purchased my first original at my first Castro Street came by again on Sunday.  And she re-introduced herself.  She talked about the art piece “A Good Place” and how much she loves it.  It hangs in her kitchen.  She invited me around to her house, the next time I am out.  She also bought a print as well.  I am truly happy she came by. 

One of the coolest things is that my friends from Seattle and Orange County, flew in and hung out with me in the afternoon.  We ate Sushi from Osaka Sushi, while we sat on the curb and watched amazing people walk by.  They were also there when I sold “What is Life without Honor?”  It is the art piece I highlighted on my e-newsletter, events page of my website, and in this post.  It went home with a very nice couple. 

At the end, we tore down the booth and I shipped everything home right after.  Then Jacci, Jaime, Sara and I all met for dinner at Boulevard (on Mission) in San Francisco.  The goat cheese raviolis are the bomb!!! 

All in all it was a very good day.  I couldn’t have done it without the support of my awesome family and friends!  I am blessed…

This whole post is about amazing friends.  I flew in on Friday to SFO and off I went to my dear friend Lily’s house.  I shipped all my art for the show out to her.  It was wonderful to see her and her family.  They loaded up my art into the car and after that we just kind of hung out.  It was so nice to just be back in the Bay Area and just hang out.  Lily is such a kind soul as well; it just made me happy to see her.

Then off to dinner I went to meet Anastasia, Cheryl, and Hope, all pictured here at the Three Seasons in Palo Alto, CA .  The food was great.  It is Asian Fusion restaurant, in a very hip place off Bryant and University.  Again it was so good to hang out with my friends of more than ten years.  They all look amazing.  And all we talked about was our families, mutual friends, work, and my art.  It was just very cool.

The next morning, I met up with Wendy and her little girl Annika.  Wendy and I go back 22 years!!  Before our husbands and kids, we were friends.  And we remain great friends.  She is my touch stone on what is important.  And I truly look up to her.  She has such amazing courage and I continue to aspire to show the type of gutsy decisive resolve she has shown over the years I have known her.    It was tough to say good bye to them both, not knowing when we will visit again.

Finally, I headed up to San Francisco. I stayed at my best friend’s house.  It was great to have a quiet place to just hang out and rest.  But, of course there was very little rest, because I had the epiphany that I forgot my business cards and I needed to do errands to finish getting ready for the show.  I got my self in such a twist, that when my friend Tami called, I just decided to head out and go meet her and her husband Marty.

We met at the Daily Grill just across from Union Square.  And we laughed and laughed.  I hadn’t seen them since April.  And they both flew up from Southern Cal to help me set up on Sunday for the Castro Street Fair.  Is that cool or what?  Marty would soon leave to go meet his son, who is going to school in the city.  And Tami and I headed down to Rose’s for a Sex in the City Party.

One more shot of seeing friends and meeting amazing and wonderful women.  We had a great time.  Rose made all these amazing organic appetizers (i.e. toasted bread with fig jam, asiago cheese, and a slice of apple) and pasta with a great marinara sauce.  Rose’s friend Janice brought chocolate cookies that Rose teamed with home made whip cream and strawberries.  Then we did a 10 question quiz about Sex in the City.  I only got 3 right!!!  LOL!!!  Janice, who had never seen an episode, got 8 out of 10!!!  Can you believe it?!!  I was robbed!!! LOL!!!

After the party, Tami and I headed back up to the city.  And I dropped her off and went back to DK’s house and laid down!!!  What a fun day…

Friends are one of the greatest gifts we can ever have.

When I arrived, the house was empty.  Everyone was out and about for the day at summer camp, work or the baby sitter’s house.  As I walked in, you could see it looked like a cyclone had been through the interior.  I was too tired to deal with it, so on Wednesday morning I got up at 5 am and started cleaning.

I washed baby bottles & clothes, cleaned out Axel’s cage, and threw out ALL the trash.  Bless my husband’s heart; he just kept saying everyone and everything (save one hermit crab) were still alive.  That became his anthem and he stuck to it all day.  AHHHH!!  This is real life.

As I reflect on Santa Fe, it was an amazing trip.  It has amazing people, art and culture.  It is “a place to clean up your stuff” per a gentleman I met during the show.  But, being there for a show, you see Santa Fe as it truly is in the 21^st century, a place under massive change and construction.  If you remain near the plaza and surrounding hills, you see Santa Fe as the magical place it is as well.  I can’t wait until I can go to Santa Fe again…

Well I have an update on how my gallery visit went.  I arrived at The Blessing today at about lunch time and met with Jenni and her husband Doug.  They opened Blessing for Home & Life last October.  It is inside of Annapurna Restaurant.  They specialize in religious icons, statues, scents, teas and much more.  They also host readings once a month at the restaurant.  It is an amazing place. 

I left two pieces with her.  The Ganesh, I showed in my earlier post, and then my 12×12 Our Lady Guadalupe.  During my visit, I met a nice lady, named Patty who invited me to eat in the restaurant.  So, I ordered their Chapati and their awesome Chai (with soy milk) and sat down to chat. 

As we talked, Doug came out of the shop and said, “The Our Lady had been purchased!!”  Is that great or what?  I got tears in my eye.  It was purchased by a young lady named Caiseal.  Caiseal, joined myself, Patty, Doug, and Jeanni for lunch.  It was a great lunch.  Everyone was so amazing and kind and open.  It was truly magical.  I spent 4 hours there, the time just blew by.

I finally departed after 4 pm, to go pay for entry into next year’s Girls Inc. Show in August 2009.  I then ended the day talking to my mother and visiting one more time with Neena.  We ate at Blue Corn Café & Brewery.  It was wonderful to see her one more time.

I leave tomorrow morning for home.  This has been an awesome trip.

Many of the artists continued to say the show was much slower for them.  And it would be a few hours before I got my first sale of the day.  But, all in all it was an amazing day!!!  In the morning, a gentleman stopped by to show his friend my work.  He was there for vacation and had been in my booth the day before.  We chatted and then they left.  Others would stop in and before I knew it, the gentleman was back with his wife and his friend and his wife.  This time he purchased one of my cowboy pieces!!  Yeah!!  And asked if I were selling back east?  I said no, but the more I think about it, I may see if I can go out there for a show.  What would it hurt?  Just need to work out what show might be a good fit.

Just around lunch time, another gentleman returned to my booth, also with his wife.  He had been in my booth the day before.  It turns out that he and his wife own a small gallery called Blessings.  It is in the Annapurna restaurant on Alameda.  They specialize in religious icons.  And they asked if I would be willing to show in their gallery!!  Can you believe it!!!!  There are three images they want.  I am over the moon!!!  I am going by there at lunch time today.  I will let you know what happens in one of my later posts.

The afternoon was hot and slow for me.  But, other booths seem to be doing well, which was great.  I had an individual that came into my booth and spent quite a bit of time.  She use to sell at the show years ago and decided to critique my booth.  She had some interesting feedback:  Have flowers in your booth (as galleries would), dress like an artist, no junk under the tables, carpet on the floor makes the tent lighter and have a light roof tent.  She then said, “because you don’t have a carpet on the floor, you have a blue roof on your tent, and you are dark, therefore your art is difficult to see”.  Needless to say, I was quite surprised about her comments about my skin tone.  Isn’t it funny what people feel comfortable to say to you?  I did keep my composure and thanked her for her feedback.  Luckily God sent someone into my booth that knew her.  She got distracted and finally left.  ARGGHHH!!!!

The show absolutely ended on a great note.  A wonderful lady stopped in and we started chatting about my work and how much she liked my multicultural images.  Ultimately, she mentioned that she is working on a book and asked if I would be interested in illustrating it for her.  I ABOUT PASSED OUT!!!!  Is that cool or what?!!  So, I suggested she look at more of my website and ping me via e-mail, if she is interested in really moving forward.  I hope she is.  But, I will let you know what transpires.

All in all, this was an awesome show!!!!!

Well at 6:30 am, I was awake.  By 7:13 am, I was running through the neighborhood near my hotel.  And during my run, I predominately thought about set up tonight and the air conditioner at home.  Then I had a small epiphany again, if I focus on a positive outcome, it will turn out well.  And I realized that was critical for my life overall, is that I need to focus on the positive and that will create a better future.  There was quote in the movie last night, “It is not who you are underneath, it is what you do that defines you.” 

So, this morning I fired up my PC to post my blog from last night.  And I found one of the sweetest comments yet on my blog from Jayne Bramley.  She is an amazing clay artist.  She just exhibited last month at the Artist Nook.  If you ever get a chance you need to see her work.  It is vivid and real.  As part of her show, she created inspirational cupcakes that my baby girl thought were real.  I am sure there are pictures on the blog at The Artist Nook, you should check it out. 

Jayne’s comment this morning reminded me that I want to inspire and make people laugh.  That I should give them food for thought and that they always know I love them from the bottom of my heart.  That is what I want to define me. 

I closed a post last month with this and I will do it again:  “I am blessed, I am truly blessed, I’m blessed, I’m blessed, I’m blessed.”  It is already a great day….

Yesterday turned out to be a wonderful day.  It started out bit stressful.  An 8 am with my manager, to talk about the company’s restructuring, writing my blog and other various notes, then off to up load the files via the slowest wireless network in history, and finally off to FedEx/Kinko’s to finish cutting up my postcards.  I have to say the morning was stressful, and just like hard work.  And all of sudden my phone rang and it was Neena. 

She asked if I would like to go to the Traveler’s Market, which focuses on Ethno-Centric art, textiles, and jewelry from all over the world.  It is at the DeVargas Center on Paseo de Peralta.   I said sure!  She picked me up at Kinko’s and we were on our way.  It was a sensory overload of color and textures.  I was at first overwhelmed and then in awe of the amazing collections and works.  The place was designed to give people a place to show and sell their work and collections from Afghanistan, India, Thailand, and many more exotic locations.  Neena introduced me to her dear friend Pam who creates jewelry from exotic woods, old fossilized bones, and abalone antique buttons.  She also creates shrines that are called messengers.  And each shrine has a story to tell.  Her aurora and warmth were soothing, thoughtful, and insightful.  She is not on the web and doesn’t use any technology.  She is amazing.

Neena left me to walk around the market.  I had an epiphany while I stood in the market; I realized that the textiles used in the space were perfect for what I wanted my booth to emanate at the show this weekend.  Neena and Pam helped select the fabrics that I will use.  They are warm gold tones, red, and taupes.   I will take pictures of my booth on Saturday. 

Then I realized that along with Neena, two of her friends were wearing these beautiful flowing clothes from Homefrocks.  It is a lovely shop off Old Santa Fe Trail.  The clothes are eco-friendly, hand dyed linens and silks that are beautiful and comfortable tunics, dresses, jackets, pants, and bags.  Nancy, the owner, allowed me to try on a beautiful skirt from her Spring ’09 collection.  Her clothes are very cool!!

Once we left Nancy’s place we headed out to Neena’s sweet house up above Santa Fe to meet her husband, dogs, and new cat.  The land here is so lush and colorful.  I was expecting much more arid environment like Colorado.  Neena said that allot of the greenery was due to the significant amount of rain they had experienced this summer.  We then drove back into town and had dinner at Jinja Bar & Bistro.  It is an Asian fusion restaurant.  The rice paper wrapped salmon, Pad Thai noodles, and Thai red curry shrimp are great.  And we talked for almost three hours.  I can’t say how kind and peaceful Neena and her friends are.  They are like Goddesses.  I was so blessed to spend the afternoon with her.  If I went home today, I would have had a wonderful trip. 

Neena returned me to the hotel and we said our goodbyes.  I then got a call from my friend Nancy Anderson.  I met her and her friends at The Shed near the Plaza.  I am so excited that they are here.  We are going to hang out today.  No matter what, this has been a good trip…