Fame in the Family

My cousin Zoe is an artist. Her work is really wonderful - I always enjoy checking out her website to see what she's been working on, and I love hearing about her shows and successes. (Incidentally, her fiance Adrian is also an artist, and they have even done some work together, painting murals in Mexico. They are awesome people.)

This month, Zoe has a show of some of her pieces in the Winter Park Public Library (titled Reflections in Symmetry), and tonight, we had the honor of attending her artist's reception. It isn't often that we get to see her art in person, and I'm happy to report that it is even more stunning up close.

If you happen to be in the mood for a trip to the library, I recommend a visit to Winter Park. And in case you don't make it there, check out Zoe's website. I'm so glad she's bringing such fame to our family! :)

Oh yeah, and if you're flush with extra funds earmarked for original art, you know what to do. Support Starving Spiliotises.

My Favorite Weather!

I love days like this. These few cold days and nights are what I look forward to all year. I pay my dues as a Floridian, suffering through the long, hot, humid summer months, all the while dreaming of cold, crisp January nights when the wind whips my hair around my face and the stars seem impossibly clear and there is a "hard freeze" warning.

And now that my nose is cold and I can't feel my toes on the frozen tile floor, I will cuddle up in my big family bed and nestle under my wonderful down comforter, in between my sweet baby girl and my big boy, and talk to my darling husband until we fall asleep.

Isn't life bliss?

You Say You Want A Resolution

Here it is, rather late on the first day of 2008. And here I sit, typing my first blog entry of the new year on my husband's laptop. No, I'm not at my own computer. Why? Well... let's just say we're avoiding each other right now. I'm feeling slightly panicky about the over-one-thousand unread emails waiting for me. (The great majority of these are spam, but there are real, meaningful messages from family and friends hidden in there.)

The Christmas and New Year holidays were great, but they meant that my computer and I missed out on some important bonding time - time to be together, just the two of us, and really connect. My little bout of sickness didn't help (wouldn't want to spread a virus to the computer, now would I?) and neither did the fact that I went to bed at the unheard-of hour of NINE for several nights in a row, trying to recover from the before-Christmas-anti-sleep campaign I titled "So That's What Sunrise Looks Like."

At any rate, I'm sure my computer and I will have some quality time soon, especially since I am going to attempt the Blog365 challenge of posting every single day of the year.

(Wait, did you seriously type that? I thought we agreed that we weren't going to commit. We weren't going to tell anyone about the challenge, that way we could say we had a go at it, then back out gracefully without any embarrassment once we realized how incredibly foolish we were to even attempt such a thing. Now look what you've done!)

(Well, I thought we were going to stop taking to ourselves using that stupid "we" and sounding like two pompous asses, so I guess we're even.)

(Fair enough.)

Ahem. So, there you have it, folks. I'm taking the challenge, with every intention of attempting to try to succeed. And that's not even my new year's resolution. The actual resolution, or resolutions, rather, involve better nutrition, less sugar, more patience and a sad separation from my friends Drive-Thru and Convenience. Sigh. It is all for the best, my dear ones. My best, of course.

So here's to your best this year. May you find courage you didn't know you possessed and renew bonds of love and friendship that have been taken for granted. Spread a smile to everyone you meet, and take a deep breath - it is all so much better than we think it is. Welcome to a new year!