A few photos, a few words...

I finally go to use my grandparents menorah...I grew up with it on the mantle at my parents house, and have so many great memories, it was really cool to have it at our house and start our own family tradition!

I did a bit of de-cluttering and re-arranging in the living room...Nothing like a freshly organized vignette to spruce up the living space!

I had a few VERY satisfying and productive days in the studio...My hair is at that "always in my face" stage these days and as I lean over my work on the bench I am in constant need of a bobby pin however they all seem to have disappeared!!  Instead I reached for my favorite cap, courtesy of my talented friend Adam T. who just happens to be one of my favorite partners in NBA appreciation.  Back when I lived in Seattle, we had a great crew of homies that loved to go to Sonics and Storm games together...Sadly the Sonics were stolen from our lovely city and moved to Oklahoma :( .  This hat was made as a tribute to the team we loved and that was "plundered" from us and moved far far away.  I'm sure nobody cares but if you do, and want to know more about the sadness that is a city with no NBA team, here is a link to a documentary on the subject.

In other studio related news I scored this vintage lamp for FREEEEEE, it still works, and I LOVE it!!! The base reminds me of all things Art-Deco and even the shapes and style of buildings like the Empire State Building.  She's in pretty good condition, but does have a little bit of rust damage on the top/shade area.  I need to investigate possible repair options, but I don't really want to have to re-paint the whole thing...Hmmmmm, the base has near perfect finish on it and a great steely grey/silver finish so I'm not ready to commit to painting over it yet.

I have been healing nicely the last week or so, getting out of the house more and pushing myself to do the "everyday" stuff of life...Such as going to the cell phone store with Jo, grocery shopping, lunching, and even a DATE!!!! This may not sound earth shattering to you, but let me tell you how good it feels after being nearly immobile for so long!  I went to the grocery store the other day, with my cane in one hand and a shopping basket in the other...The place was bumpin', packed, busy, craziness and I am slow to say the least.  I took my time and let everyone pass me by, I think having the cane makes people just a bit more patient and courteous.  After a bit of shopping my basket was HEAVY, and my leg was killing me...but I SHALL OVERCOME, and finish my mission!  I've never been so happy to get back to the car, I think I sat there and rested for a good five minutes before I drove off.  Exhausting but totally rewarding, it's the little things of life that we take for granted...who knew buying vegetables could be so AWESOME!

In keeping with the vibe of feeling better and encouraging a return to "normal" life, I piled on the jewels and rocked this necklace party the other day.  The earrings are RAD and hail from this beautiful lady on the other side of the ocean.  The beaded orange and green number is a treasure I got while I was traveling in Israel, well actually in Egypt at a Bedouin village on the banks of the Red Sea...The Sinai peninsula is a vacation destination for many travelers in the middle east, and when one of my friends told stories of staying at thatched roof shacks on the beach for literally pennies a day, well I had to get in on that action! 

About two hours over the border from Israels southernmost city Eilat is a barren land of half constructed beach resorts and various other construction projects that look like the crew took off for luch and never returned.  There are sand dunes and mountains as far as the eye can see, and sprinkled along the shore of the Red Sea are these little "resort", and I use the tern loosely, villages.   There are little thatchted roof sleeping shacks just a few yards from the ocean, compete with mosquito nets over the beds, (PS, you REALLY want to make sure that shit is closed up tight, they are ferocious!).  The basic idea is that you are essentially in the middle of the desert, far, far away from everything, with lilttle to do but read, play backgammon and listen to some guitar music provided by whatever international hippy's happen to be sharing this space with you...I visited two different places like this on my travels, and they all have some sort of large palapa/thatched roof common area, all decked out like an opium den with pillows. rugs, and palm tree trunks layed out on the ground and covered with rugs kind of like a long backrest on the ground.  Your time will likely be spent drinking icy melon juice blended with crushed ice, napping, reading, swimming, snorkeling, and lazeing around in great company.

One of the Arab worlds favorite pastimes is backgammon a.k.a "shesh besh", everyone plays it, so naturally I got a lesson from one of my fellow travelers and before I knew it we had tournaments going with some of the men in the village.  Lounging by the Red Sea, playing backgammon and drinking the requisite sweet mint tea that is part of basic middle eastern hospitality, was so RAD, I really felt like I was having this amazing, so out of my normal world view experience...and that is exctly what I wanted! After we got settled in a few women and children in the village came out to show us some of their crafty goodness, I was immediatley drawn to this necklace and couldn't resist the combo of my two favorite colors!  I have stared at this thing so many times over the years, dreaming of figuring out how to make one of these myself, I really need to get on it...Internet research and a lot of trial and error are on the horizin!

Sorry, that was a really long winded story of a necklace, but my memories are so clear of that day, and I LOVED my time there so much that I kind of feel like I got to relive some of it again by telling the story.  


OK, getting back to that date we talked about before...Jo and I had a lovely late lunch thanks to a gift card she got for Christmas, then me mozied on over to the bar next door for cocktails and a bit of NBA appreciation.
 

Last but certainly not least is the lovely breakfast we had at home yesterday...Banana pancakes with bacon!!!!  And that glowing jar of sunshine is homemade lilikoi (passion fruit) butter!! YUM!

I feel I'm ready for the new year, it can only bring good things after the past few months of struggle...I need to keep on myself to stay positive, focus on healing, and remember how lucky I am for all that I have, and that most definitely includes YOU!