Vernazza, Italy

In the middle of a national forest on the northern coast of Italy right next to France are five villages ("Cinque Terre" in Italian) perched on the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. We instantly fell in love. It was just our style- lots of water and cliffs to jump from, tiny winding streets, flowers spilling from window boxes, not very many tourists, just a handful of cars, and miles and miles of hiking or biking trails. Truly a picture perfect place. This picture is in the village of Vernazza, the swimming was wonderful.


Walking up through the village the storefront of this artist caught our eye. His name is Antonio Greco and he is a native of Vernazza. I took this picture because I couldn't get enough of his art- especially now that I fancy myself a driftwood/collage devotee, artist in training, so-to-speak. Take at look at his other works of collage art here, he also collaborates with his wife Michele Lilley and artist Maya Von Geldern to make purses and jewelry- you can see their goods here. I really loved all of their art, it gave me all sorts of inspiration to get crazy with the collage. And I so love the internet because although I didn't buy anything that day- Christmas is right around the corner and online shopping is so easy.

coming up in the world

Today I finally made my first pilgrimage to the new Draper IKEA. It was such an emotional experience for me. What a treat to wander the warehouse, kids in school, just me and Crew, looking at every little (and big) thing. No more shopping online. I could actually buy something bigger than a few rolls of wrapping paper, some napkins and a colander if I want to, and- here is the trick- get it all back to my house.
I didn't have to cram my purchases into the car with all my people, all of our luggage and miscellaneous crap that come along on road trips with kids and drive it 12 hours back to Utah.
I actually did buy a smaller Expedit shelf for my fabric in my work room, to go along with the big one I inherited from Steve O (thank you dear), and some bin and drawer inserts that go with it. I could return them or go get more tomorrow if I needed to. Ahhh...what a luxury.
But, I must admit I did feel like an In-n-Out burger when I was done...

driftwooding

In the absence of fabric or a sewing machine on this summers trip I found I myself itching to make something. I wanted to keep a journal of the trip, but make it un-boring unlike so many of my previous journaling attempts.
I have never before been a serious journal keeper, I always try for awhile then stop for no good reason other then time constraints, lack of personal motivation, and perhaps the thought that what I have to say is dumb and no one will ever want to read it. My lovely spouse- on the other hand- is a fabulous journal keeper. He has stacks of journals, all filled up with words, drawings, pictures and "driftwood".
Driftwood goes back to a Saturday Night Live reference from the 80's. Does anyone remember John Malkovich's driftwood artist sketch? Very funny...(I think I'll look for it on youtube later)
Anyway... "driftwood" refers to found objects- put into one's journal. It became the catch phrase of the summer. It always made me chuckle it when one of my kids would nonchalantly rip off a corner of some poster we passed, hand it to me and say, "Here you go Mom, some driftwood."
I decided that this trip of a lifetime needed to be documented for the family. Just words are visually a bit boring, so I took a lesson from the master- Steve O and started adding driftwood, drawings, some watercolors, and glitter. What I discovered was a surprisingly pleasant and interesting way to keep a journal. It satisfied all of my creative urges and documented the trip. I didn't get much reading done this summer, but I wrote everyday, went through about 20 glue sticks, and had lots of fun picking up driftwood (a.k.a. trash) all over Europe.
I think I'm hooked on paper now. I have continued the driftwood tradition since I have been home, not everyday- but close. I think it's a habit that is worth acquiring, so- I am going to try and keep at it for good....you know- for posterity.

home at last

Alright, enough already... I have been on vacation too long, I can't even remember how to clean my house, run my vacuum or that the dishwasher needing to be loaded is perhaps my job.
We have had a long splendid 9 weeks touring Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, and Denmark. The RV we rented for 6 weeks of the trip worked like a charm keeping us cozy, comfortable, with the necessary amenities (especially for kids) traveling along with us. I could always accommodate the child who- literally 5 minutes after a meal has been cooked, served, cleaned up, and put away- tells me, "I'm hungry..." Or the universal childhood request, "I need to pee..."
Our last 3 weeks were spent in Denmark at the home of the fabulous Ream family. Here's a little shout out and a huge THANK YOU to Jason and Pernille for letting us so comfortably dwell among them, giggle and grin, play games, bicycle, swim in the fjord, get the insiders tour of Denmark, stuff ourselves with delicious food, and watch the kids happily play together after a year long separation.
So, can you guess in which European city this picture was taken? The winner gets some Danish chocolate.