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My birthday this year was all about art and family. The actual day was yesterday, Sunday the 28th, but my friend Christy came down Friday night and my mom came down Saturday morning, so I took Saturday off and we celebrated then instead.

In the morning, Chris and I went to the beach, where we lay about, taunted sand crabs, and were generally sunburned and irresponsible--it was lovely! That evening, we whipped together a funfetti cake, then left it to cool and went to dinner at Barefoot Bernie's, fantastic restaurant recommended by my aunt and uncle, who joined us there. Also--presents!I had asked for a Marc Johns print and suggested a few I liked, but left the actual choosing to my mom. She picked Dessert Fork Incident because, as she put it, it seemed like something which could easily happen in our family. Thinking about it, I'm rather surprised it hasn't! I also received Johns' new book, Serious Drawings, plus Christy brought me this delightfully artistic Swatch watch! After dinner, we frosted the cake (with funfetti frosting, of course!) and dug in.

Sunday, I had to work. Happily, I was able to bring Christy and Summer, my visiting dog, along with me! Sundays are usually pretty lazy at the shop, but the universe was laughing at me, so we were busy all day long. Still, the day ended with a pizza from Cosmo's (honestly the best pizza place down here) and more cake, so it was all good!

Christy went home Sunday, but my mom stayed another day. This morning, we went walking down the beach, then shopping. In honor of my birthday, I told myself I could buy one thing--so of course I fell in love with three, at two galleries. In the end, I decided on a box made by New Hampshire artist Timothy Campbell, which I adore. It came from the Sea Dragon Gallery in Duck, where I was also sorely tempted by a print from local artist E.M. Corsa.

All in all, it was a fantastic weekend (I even won a giveaway!) and a great birthday.

this week in awesome

Clever, clever book jacket + bookmark combos

Check out the blanket tent that Meg made for her lucky daughters!

Jo turns up another adorable ring

This yellow submarine tea infuser is perfect

NPH on Glee?  Oh, boy!

Love this list of classy insults

This table takes me back to elementary school music class in the best way

A local couple stumble across a letter written by Thomas Jefferson (this one's for you, Dad)

Step-by-step for making macarons with Tartelette

illustration by Marc Johns

Things I'm Digging Right Now

Here, in no particular order, are some things I'm digging right now.

 Hammered Chevron Earrings from Need Supply - I picked these up last weekend and have had to resist the urge to wear them every single day every since.  They're light and sassy and not too big, perfect for my freakishly little ears.  I nabbed mine at Need Supply's brick and mortar store, but they're also available online.

Artsy bowls - Rather than use ugly plastic or metal water dishes for her dogs, my aunt has several gorgeous pottery bowls scattered throughout the house.  In addition to being beautiful--it's like finding a piece of art where you least expected it--they're also incredibly functional.  They're heavy--if you've ever had a dog who liked to play "drag the water bowl around," then you know what that's worth--but not so heavy to make picking them up to refill a backbreaking chore.  Here are two pieces I liked. 

Tattly temporary tattoos - After years of maybes, I've come to the conclusion that I am not destined to ever have a tattoo.  Which is maybe why I love Tattly tattoos so much--they're all artist-designed and of super-high, long-lasting quality.  I get to have a tattoo for just long enough to satisfy myself.  I discovered with delight that World of Mirth, a fantastic toy-and-kitsch store here in Richmond, carried Tattly and eagerly picked up a set of Marc Johns' boombox tattoos.  I am so in love with this little guy, I never want to cover up my forearms again.

Collages by cur3es - I went through a college-making phase in high school, but never really studied them as an art form in college, which seems like a gross oversight now that I've fallen for the work of collage artist cur3es.  You can check out his stuff on tumblr, flickr, and even buy prints and other products on society6.

That's all from me!  Have a great weekend, y'all!

stuffed

Have you eaten enough yet today? Boy, I have. I'm in my aunt's beautiful home in North Carolina, hiding in my room upstairs with the dog, both of us recovering from the day so far. There's been food, people, dogs, two loud little girls, and more dogs. Oh, and did I mention food? Man, I'm full.

If you're like me and are taking a break from the fam and looking for distractions, I'm here to offer a few:

- Like the top photo? Check out Lunch Bag Art for more gorgeous drawings done by a dad on his kids' brown paper lunch bags--and color me envious!

- Let's Eat, a podcast from NPR's Hearing Voices all about Thanksgiving, turkeys, and food. Very good, thought-provoking stuff if you don't feel like moving and aren't yet sick to death of the thought of food.

- If you're feeling guilty of gluttony on this Thanksgiving Day, spend some time at FreeRice.com, where you donate rice to the UN World Food Program simply by answering questions about a variety of subjects, from simple word definitions to (my personal favourite) fine art.

- Need some mental stimulation? Try the Post crossword. My parents and I completed yesterday's in the car coming down here!

- Tomorrow is the first annual National Day of Listening. While you're with family, try to sit down and encourage older members to reminisce. You can just listen, or you can choose to take notes or record. Don't know what questions to ask? The website has a great step-by-step guide, complete with Question Generator. I'm wishing I'd done something like this when my grandparents were alive.

- If you lack the energy to do any of the above, at least check out Marc Johns' artwork. Clever and ironic, his humor and simplicity puts him somewhere between Gary Larson and Edward Gorey. Quite a nice place to be, in my opinion!

Well, I'm pretty sure I've been stealing wireless from one of my aunt's neighbors (sorry!). The connectivity is spotty, so I think I'll post this before I lose it! Enjoy the rest of the holiday, y'all.

H is for

I bet you thought I'd all but abandoned this here ol' blog, didn't you?  And then this week I sweep in all "Wham!" "Bam!" "10,000 posts!" and you're reeling!  So while you're down, here's one more.

Illustrator, blog favourite, and all-around clever dude Marc Johns has put some of his drawings on t-shirts and oh, my they are wonderful.  The selection is as follows:

They're printed on American Apparel shirts and look really freaking fantastic.  Perfect for the odd little dude inside us all.