Here's my girl, looking thoughtful with her lovely Mimzy doll (made by her Aunt Jenny, by the way).

This super cute velour caterpiller baby and felt leaf pouch were made by Zuzu's Petals, on etsy. Azalea loves its tininess and sweet face.

Today, we went to Jungle Jim's in Fairfield, Oh. It is the most amazing and gigantic foodie store on the planet. I love it completely. There are areas devoted to most countries, an extensive selection of produce, meats and seafood and also fun animatronics that play Elvis songs. What's not to love? We found fingerling potatoes and cooked them in butter and rosemary. We also picked up aged steaks, about three inches thick and served them with caramelized onions and sautead wild mushrooms and a side of brocolli. Yes, we could barely move from our food coma, but were recovered enough for brownies and ice cream a few hours later.

It is so much fun coming back to Ohio! We met up with friends from college and had a great time talking about what we've been up to and future plans. It was nice to catch up. I hadn't realized how how much I'd missed them! My friend Jessica came up to Cincinnatti today to join in with the festivities and it felt like old times, crackin' jokes and telling stories. This weekend was exactly what I needed to alleviate the endless pressure of wrapping up the last tidbits of my book. Like most artists, I have bouts of hating everything I do and want to quit, leaving the work to better artists. Its a frustrating phase to go through and often difficult to express, without sounding like you're fishing for compliments. I'm my own worst critic, constantly scrutinizing my work, often only seeing my mistakes. So it was nice to be in the company of other artists, talking about processes and the importance of never giving up. I'm glad its almost over! Now I can start busting out new work for the big Bead and Button Show! I have a month to make new pieces, so I better get busy!