The Family Cold

We're all under the weather sharing a family cold. Wish I could stay in bed all day, watch TV, and sip Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup from a mug. It's a childhood favorite that still hits the spot on snuffly days. Sadly, it's not an option in the middle of the work week. Hopefully this weekend we can just chill out at home with a giant box of Kleenex on hand.

Image: Andy Warhol, Campbell's Soup I Chicken Noodle, 1968

Photo Booth Fun

Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been?

I've been down to London to visit the Queen.

Pussy cat, pussy cat, what did you there?

I frightened a little mouse, under her chair.

Year of the Dragon

I'm not one to follow Chinese Astrology, maybe I don't get the idea of everyone born in a year sharing the same sign. It could also be that I didn't like what was in my Chinese horoscope for this year. It included overwork, possible death in the family and domestic accidents. Just grim. Give me good old groovy Age of Aquarius stuff.

On the bright, side dragons are very popular around our house, at least they have starring roles in our "plays". They tend to like to steal the baby bunny and take her home for dinner, as in the baby bunny is for dinner. But the mean dragon always thinks better of it and flies baby bunny home to her mommy. The dragon says sorry and it all ends well. Hopefully the year of the dragon thinks twice and is kind to us.

Bonjour Work Week

I'm trying to be cheery this week but wish the snowy weekend had been longer. I really enjoyed how the snow shook up our weekend routine and made for a lazy weekend.

I like this simple poster. It would make a great reminder to greet each day. And if you're going to wake up and declare "hello day" why not say it in French.

Print available here.

A Winter Visitor

This guy stopped by yesterday to steal seed from the bird feeder and grab a handout of horse apples. He is a regular and a member of our core backyard herd. His antlers make me laugh with their single points.

The chipmunk is tucked underground but the squirrels are still bouncing around and being extra squirrely in the snow. Our cat is loving that they and the birds come so close to the screen door to get sunflower seeds from the feeder. It's such a simple thing, but I love this little nature show that is playing out in our backyard.

Sledding and Snow Angels

No Two Alike

These amazing photos were taken by The Snowflake Man, Wilson Bentley. He is credited with taking the world's first photomicrograph of a snow crystal on January 15th, 1885. He captured over 5,000 images of snow flakes during his life time, revealing to all of us that indeed no two are alike.

Read more about Snowflake Bentley here or here.

It's here, the snow is here!

Finally! You can still see some grass peeking through but a least there's snow and it looks and fels like winter..

Where is Winter?

I'm sure a lot of people are happy with the unusually mild weather here in the north east but I could personally use a snow day.

I'm really hoping to get a snowman, some sledding and a few snow angels in this year! Here's hoping winter kicks in for a few weeks. I'm ready to go out and do a snow dance.

Escaping a Few Pages at a Time

Over the holiday I finally started a real book. Actually re-started. I had already read the opening chapters of Kafka on the Shore a while back and was really intrigued, but the hard cover book is too much to lug around.

It's such a nice luxury to lie in bed and read from a nice fat book instead of off a screen. Now that I'm back to work there's less time to slip away into Haruki Murakami's strange tale but I'm trying to get in a couple of pages when I can and clear my mind in this fictional escape.

What are you reading now? Do you have a favorite author or book that transports you from the everyday?

A Fresh New Year

2012 is all shiny and new and full of promise. I'm taking it easy on the resolutions so I don't get frustrated, but I've started a To Do List of things I want to accomplish. I'm including tasks that range from super easy to really difficult, and trying to include stuff that requires no money at all and things that will take some financial handiwork. I'm going to start on the easy and medium stuff so I can gain momentum, cross things off my list and feel like I'm accomplishing things. And not just serious stuff, but fun and inspiring activities. I'm wondering what everyone else is doing for the new year? Are you making resolutions? What's on your list for 2012?

Poster available at Keep Calm Gallery.

Here's to a Spectacular New Year

Happy New Year! Wishing everyone a wonderful year ahead.

Dolomites photo by KevinKunstadt.

Life in Miniature

One of our last adventures of 2011 involved entering a miniature world. My little one donned her Thomas and Friends conductor hat and we headed to Northlandz. This roadside attraction in Flemington, NJ houses the world's largest model railroad. It's a funny contrast, "the world's largest" and the miniature scale of this constructed world.

We've gone by it many times and never stopped. I decided to go when my daughter mentioned ice skating again. I couldn't think of anything else and the thought of getting on the ice again made it seem worth a try.

I'm glad we did. It was amazing to look at and lots of fun to experience with a four year old. The play on scale was a neat experience, it is both tiny and huge at the same time. The seemingly endless tracks and diminutive scenes were imaginative and remarkable in their detail. The displays are worn in a few places which went unnoticed by the little one and added to the feeling of an old style roadside attraction for me. It certainly felt like good old fashioned fun.

Small scale worlds were a bit of a theme this holiday. I also ended up watching Small Mercies, a Midsomer Murders mystery in which deadly intrigue and a model village mix. Tiny worlds are definitely fun with or without a murder plot.