I'm Back!!

Whew!!! It's been a long, strange, exhausting past few months for me. Please excuse my blogging absence!

What's new with me? Well- here's a very abbreviated recap on all three fronts of my blog:

Angelbabies:
Same old thing here. Big. Huge.  Angelbabies. Someone just turned 5!!!!

AND she's now getting ready for Kindergarten!!! (I'm not ready, although I know in my heart she will be a rock star-the thought of her being anywhere besides with me or family for 6+ hours a day /5 days a week makes my heart ache a little).
I am so very grateful for my sweet little loves, and more than anything right now I am SO looking forward to the week+ that we"ll be spending at the beach pretty soon- I don't think I've ever looked forward to a vacation as much as this one!

Paint:
My blog has taken a backseat to school- and so has my art:( Thankfully I am in a Masters of Clinical Art Therapy program which involves creating art, so at least I have had the opportunity to be a little  productive in that sense:)  Here are my two latest pieces:

I am calling the collection my "alter pieces". I had this vision of one years ago (when I was first in my grad program and pregnant with Z ) and I was finally able to make the vision a reality.

I cut the wood myself!!! and they are mixed media (paint, collage, photography, graphite), narrative pieces that are hinged so they have an outside and an inside- my plan is for them to be wall mountable so viewers can open and close them.

The one on the right is based on me and D's journey together...

The inside is our current life- and my experience as a mother... (not quite done with this one yet)

I finished the other one recently for my sweet sister A who is moving far, far away....
this piece has a flower to represent the AMAZING growth she's about to experience on the outside...

and a scene from the top of of the road where we grew up on the inside so she'll always have a piece of home with her...

the scene is based off of this photograph of our street (my parents still live here now- this scene in particular is pretty close to heaven for me:)

Cookies:
I have actually baked the last 3 days in a row- (this is the first time in months!) but I have some AMAZING recipes to share with y'all in the upcoming weeks....PB cup banana bread, and THE BEST raspberry almond creamcheese coffee cake to name a couple....

but today I'd like to share a What's For Dinner post with you because I have been DREAMING about these open faced sandwiches since I laid eyes on the spread in the latest House Beautiful (YES- great design, AND pretty darn good recipes)!

Check these out!!
What you'll need: ricotta cheese 9about 1 cup for 4 slices of bread) , lemon zest (from 1 lemon), olive oil (about 1 tblsp.), salt and pepper- (stir them up good)

Then slice up some good rustic bread (4 slices for the above amount)- spread the ricotta mixture on top- and top with sliced avocado, red onions, heirloom tomatoes, sesame seeds- and drizzle with sesame oil, a squirt of lime/lemon and a little more salt and pepper. TOTALLY DIVINE!!!

I will be back soon- PROMISE;)