...Happy Halloween.

Here's Halloween circa 1936. That's my Dad,the short one in the front with the striped "skirt", who at 9 years old doesn't look too happy with his costume. His mom is second from the left, his Dad, the last one on the right.

1969, with my brother. It's hard to believe I was the same age as Dad his Halloween photo.

HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

...the "UN" common cold.

Adults shouldn't get colds, or acne for that matter, but that's another story.
Colds aren't pretty. They don't wear well on grownups. Our bright red noses aren't cute, no one is there with a tissue when we sneeze, or to make us homemade chicken soup. We usually still have to go to work where no one wants to be around us. We're looked at by our co- workers and friends as one big sneezing, coughing, Petri dish. Our desks and phones are victims of hourly Lysol attacks. Even if we do stay home, the trash still needs to be taken out, dishes done, animals fed...hardly any time to curl up under a blanket and watch the cartoon channel.
I've been sick for the past week. Landed on me like a tons of bricks. In the beginning, I always believe in the holistic approach. So out come the Chinese herbs, tinctures, herbal teas, and balms that help you to breath and build up that overworked, stress laden immune system. I go at it full force, every few hours faithfully taking the magic potions that will eventually make me well. That lasts for about a day and a half at best. And than there I am, standing in the cold/flu isle at the local drug store, where I've driven to in an outfit I would normally never step out of the house in. Of course, looking my loveliest I run into 2 people I know. (Ya kind of knew that had to happen) and after what seems like an eternity of choosing between 75 different options of remedies, all containing the same ingredients, each one promising better results than the next, I pick the one that I have to stand in line and show my drivers license for. Who knew those few extra milligrams of what ever it is that helps you breath can also be made into the newest street drug. Do they really think a 48 year old woman that can hardly breath is going to go home and concoct some dance club drug?! As I get ready to leave, armed with my antihistamine arsenal, I remember the most important last resort remedy. The one sure to fix me right up. "The nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing, aching, stuffy head, fever so you can rest medicine"...NYQUIL! Because by the third night those Chinese herbs have been pushed by the wayside and I want anything that's going to knock me right out. That night I crawl into bed, eyes swollen, nose bright red, hair not washed, and in a t-shirt from 1985. As I fill my NyQuil cup with the ruby elixir that will take me to dream land, a thought comes over me that only someone who lives on a major earthquake fault in California would appreciate... "Please God, don't let the big one happen tonight!"

...thoughts on creativity.

Sometimes being creative comes with very little effort, while at other times it means digging deep inside "that place" and coming up with nothing. Often times I feel that my creativity has to come out in the form of something new, something that no one has done before, a new pure idea that is born from "that place". Not true...being creative can also be an awareness of things that have come before, inspirations that spark a new interpretation, or sometimes, even in the form of imitation. I came across a great book filled with quotes from legendary women and this seemed to jump out at me when I needed it the most:

"You start by copying other people's paintings or music or whatever. You get all of those skills before you branch out. Really creative people have a fantastic ability to copy things and then combine them in new ways. And whether we're talking about genes or memes, recombination is the real heart of creativity."
-SUSAN BLACKMORE (1951-)
ENGLISH FREELANCE WRITER, LECTURER AND BROADCASTER

The photo above is from a mural painted as a ceiling trim in Nirvana Restaurant, San Miguel de Allende. I took this during appetizers at dinner with a friend. Always bring a camera, you never know what you'll find!

...MacArthur Place

We are very lucky here in the Bay Area to be so close to so many wonderful things. One of them is the wine country, and for me, especially the town of Sonoma. It is such a glorious place filled with all things that please the senses. One of those pleasures is MacArthur Place, an Inn and Spa just outside the town square. Come take a walk with me through the grounds. Every corner you turn has whimsical pieces of garden art or just a visual vignette to quiet your mind. I couldn't hope to post all the wonderful photos I took but wanted to share with you some of my favorites.

...lulalina.com

I haven't posted for a few days and wanted to let you all know why. I have been all consumed with designing my web-site. Being the creative control freak that I am, coupled with the fact that I really can't afford to have someone do it for me, here I am...square eyed and brain fried, but with a huge smile on my face because I really AM doing it on my own. Now I can say "hyperlink" and mean it! I will let you all know when we can pop the champagne and celebrate. Oh, and by the way, my desk is never that neat...that's the designer control freak at work!

...my poliwoggs.

Ever since I first saw these quirky little paper mache figures called Poliwoggs, I knew they had to be a part of my Halloween mantle. They gaze into my living room only one month out of the year and spend the rest of their lives wrapped in old tissue high up on a shelf in the Halloween box. But for the short time they have their freedom, they bring a smile to my face each time I pass them by.

...Dad's Birthday invitation.

Yesterday my father celebrated his 81st year on this earth. I can't begin to imagine what that must feel like, and I marvel at the things he has accomplished in his life. I get my sense of humor from my Dad and even though he is in the last stages of Parkinson's, I know that humor still lives somewhere deep within him. Every once in awhile I can still see it behind his eyes.



I thought I would share this invitation I did for his 80th birthday last year. I used a photo from his honeymoon, Miami Beach 1952. I'm sure when my mother looks at him today, she still sees the man she fell in love with all those years ago. Happy Birthday Dad, I love you.

...Panzanella.

The weather here is gorgeous and in the low 80's. I guess you would call it our Indian Summer. The air though, truly smells like fall. Sadly, this morning, I picked almost the last of my heirloom tomatoes. There are just a few still green on the vine, smaller than the rest and slowly taking their time to ripen. I think, like the rest of us, they are hanging on hoping for a bit more summer.

Panzanella

3/4 pound day-old crusty peasant-style whole-grain bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
4-5 large heirloom tomatoes (about 1 pound), cut into 1 inch cubes
3/4 cup sliced peeled cucumber
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
10 fresh basil leaves, shredded
8 0z. fresh mozzarella cut into cubes (optional)
In a serving bowl stir together the bread, the tomatoes, the cucumber, the onion, the oil, the vinegar, the basil, the mozzarella, and salt and pepper to taste until the salad is combined well.

...strawberries in September.

What a treat to find these in my garden at the end of summer. No bigger than my thumbnail, they pack a huge punch and taste like a burst of strawberry candy. Mother Nature is proof that big things really do come in small packages.

..."some pig."

Whenever I see a spider web, I think of Charlotte's Web. I read it over and over again, well into my teen years, until the pages were worn from turning. I remember Fern saving Wilbur from a runt's fate, of her brother Avery and his love of frogs, how Fern's father let her raise Wilbur for that one important summer, the Zukerman's, and of course, Templeton the rat.
A great villain in a young child's eye but who in the end, really did save the day.
But most of all
I remember Charlotte and her unfailing friendship with Wilbur.
How in his hours of need her simple words,"some pig", "terrific", "radiant", and "humble", saved his life.
It reminds me as an adult that it is often when we stop to notice the simple things in life that great things are accomplished.

...Sausage and Grapes.

About this time of year, when grapes are in abundance and fall is starting, I will make "Sausage and Grapes". I have inherited this recipe from my most dearest friend Bob, who sadly passed away far too early in his young life. He was a wonderful man, full of humor, insight, and was blessed with the cooking talents of his Italian grandmother. All of his friends, who have made this dish on many occasion, will always send him, wherever he is, a wink, a nod, or a toast thanking him for passing this "family recipe" on to us. What I have held secret for many a year and never divulged, was that his grandmothers recipe came straight out of the pages of Sunset Magazine, Sept. 1989. I know Bob would forgive me and most probably has a chuckle each time he sees us carefully trying to recreate this most sacred dish. I pass this on to you all now in memory of Bob, and as a opening to the Fall Season.

Sausage with Grapes

8 mild Italian sausages (1 1/2 to 1 1/2 lb.total)

1 cup water

1 quart (about 1 1/2 lb.) green seedless (or red seedless) grapes, rinsed

1 small cluster green seedless grapes

Prick sausages with a fork and place in a 10- to 12-inch frying pan. Add water. Bring to a boil, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Drain water and fat from pan. Add the 1 quart grapes to pan; cover and simmer until grapes are soft, about 10 minutes. Uncover and cook over high heat, turning sausages and stirring grapes occasionally. As liquid reduces, lower heat to medium; stir often until sausages are well browned and grapes are soft and lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer sausages to platter and spoon grapes over them. Can be served with soft polenta. Garnish with cluster of grapes.

Makes 8 servings.

Per serving: 239 cal.; 12 g protein; 15 g fat,- 16 g carbo.; 510 mg sodium; 43 mg chol.

...the last blooms of summer.

I can smell Fall in the air and even though it is my all time, hands down, favorite time of the year, I will miss the flowers in my garden. They still have a few weeks left to show off their magic, but I can tell that some of them are hanging on just to please me. Maybe they knew I had started this blog and wanted to somehow be a part of what is "me". Here are a few of my special favorites.

...what's in a name.

Ok, so here's how the name Lulalina was born. A little over a year ago I became the third and last "person" to my dog Lexie. My Yellow Lab of nine years,Tyler, had past from a tumor in his heart, broke my heart, and I knew I needed a new heart to love. After many trips to the shelter, nights on rescue sights, and countless stacks of adoption papers later,

my dear friend Coleen (trainer,walker, and female "Dog Whisperer") came across "Lucy" on Craig's list. Long and the short of it, one look and I knew she was mine. But what about her name? Her first person called her Sandy, which conjured up a head of red curls and "The sun will come up tomorrow..." Her second people named her Lucy, which was my sister-in-laws name. Now I love my sister-in-law dearly but couldn't see calling her name out on a trail, or telling her to "SIT and LAY DOWN" at Thanksgiving dinner. And so the search began for the perfect name, one that would suit her personality, make her stop dead in her tracks on a trail, and look cute and sassy on her daisy dog tag! Voila! "Lexie" was born. Now for anyone who has a dog (or cat) you know that once you find the perfect name you very rarely use it. So very quickly the nick names began. Lexie Lu, Lulabella, Bellalina, Lulabellalina, Lu, Lulabel, and when Coleen needs her to turn on a dime and pay attention on the trail..ULLAS BELLAS, Latin for "get your canine butt over here and listen to me!"
When I was thinking up names for my business my first choice was Bellalina, which I quickly found out was already taken by a Greek Escort service! Not quite the image I had in mind for Christmas cards and Birthday invitations. Once again...Coleen to the rescue. Move a few letters around and... LULALINA.
In case anyone's wondering, she's four years old, part Yellow Lab, part Viszla, and 100% love!

... the very beginning.

After years of making my own cards and invitations, I've decided to start a new venture. So let's all pour some imaginary champagne and have a toast to the very beginning! Huge "computer- blog-website-learning curve", but tons of creative ambition. I'm thrilled with my self that I even got this far. Here's a sneak preview of the name and I think, logo. Still toying around with all of that, but figure I need to put it out there first, and the rest will come. Curious about the name?...more about that later.