These Boots Were Made for Walkin'

I just love this song by Nancy Sinatra! I'm feeling a little cheeky this week since my birthday is coming up on the weekend.

Where's Rob?

I stumbled on this "Improv Everywhere" mission posted on Color Me Katie's blog and on YouTube. It's about a guy who is purportedly lost in the arena during a professional basketball game. It is very funny ~ Enjoy!

Where's Rob?

Field Trip

I'm fascinated with the life and work of architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). We have a gorgeous luxury hotel in central Phoenix, which is the only existing hotel in the world with a Frank Lloyd Wright-influenced design, The Arizona Biltmore. It has been an Arizona landmark since its opening on February 23, 1929 when it was crowned "The Jewel of the Desert." The resort was designed by Albert Chase McArthur, a Harvard graduate, who had studied under Frank Lloyd Wright from 1907 - 1909 in Chicago. Several presidents and many celebrities have stayed here.

Perhaps the most obvious and dramatic design link to Wright is the use of indigenous materials that led to the creation of the "Biltmore Block." The pre-cast concrete blocks were molded on-site and used in the total construction of the resort. Designed by McArthur and sculpted by Emry Kopta, a prominent southwestern sculptor, the "Biltmore Block" features a geometric pattern that is said to represent a freshly cut palm tree.

A bit of trivia for you: Did you know that the famed song composer Irving Berlin penned many tunes, including "White Christmas" while sitting poolside at the Arizona Biltmore?

I recently read a book about Frank Lloyd Wright and one of the loves of his life. It's called "Loving Frank," by Nancy Horan. Here's the synopsis from amazon.com:
I have been standing on the side of life, watching it float by. I want to swim in the river. I want to feel the current. So writes Mamah Borthwick Cheney in her diary as she struggles to justify her clandestine love affair with Frank Lloyd Wright. Four years earlier, in 1903, Mamah and her husband, Edwin, had commissioned the renowned architect to design a new home for them. During the construction of the house, a powerful attraction developed between Mamah and Frank, and in time the lovers, each married with children, embarked on a course that would shock Chicago society and forever change their lives. In this ambitious debut novel, fact and fiction blend together brilliantly. While scholars have largely relegated Mamah to a footnote in the life of America's greatest architect, author Nancy Horan gives full weight to their dramatic love story and illuminates Cheney's profound influence on Wright. Drawing on years of research, Horan weaves little-known facts into a compelling narrative, vividly portraying the conflicts and struggles of a woman forced to choose between the roles of mother, wife, lover, and intellectual. Horan's Mamah is a woman seeking to find her own place, her own creative calling in the world. Mamah's is an unforgettable journey marked by choices that reshape her notions of love and responsibility, leading inexorably ultimately lead to this novel's stunning conclusion. Elegantly written and remarkably rich in detail, Loving Frank is a fitting tribute to a courageous woman, a national icon, and their timeless love story.

A couple of weeks ago, when my aunt and uncle were visiting from Colorado, we toured to Talesin West, the compound in North Scottsdale that Frank Lloyd Wright built from 1937-59. It features his living quarters and a prestigious design school. It was fascinating to get a peek into this brilliant and eclectic man's life. The sculpture garden included a bronze of an archer, which was interesting to me since I live with a bowhunter. Talesin means "Shining Brow" in Welsh, which is FLW's ancestry (mine too).
This last picture of a spire is Frank Lloyd-Wright inspired and sits at the corner of Scottsdale Road and Frank Lloyd-Wright Blvd in North Scottsdale, at the Promenade Shopping Center. We lunched here to complete our FLW-themed day.

For more pictures of his architecture, go to this page:
http://architecture.about.com/od/franklloydwright/ig/Frank-Lloyd-Wright/

Incoming

I was out of town, working in Las Vegas for a week (a bit of a challenge to do in a party town that never sleeps) and I came home to lots of great mail. Several postcards, handmade 45 record with song from Postcard Jim (a very talented art student in England, http://postcardjim.wordpress.com/), fabulous envie crafted from a record cover (vintage Della Reese) from Bianca in Australia, and two packages from my dear friend in Japan (not pictured but goodies included cheesecake mix, pasta, chili spice and cinnamon).
My Postcrossing (now penpal) friend from Finland also sent a photo (in the top center) of her daughter, who is a member of a hunting club and they're packing their deer out. The postcard with the cloud in the shape of a whale was sent to my niece and I from a Postcrosser in Maine.
I also received a stationery order from an etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/wevegotpaper and I am so pleased!
I tried to get a closeup picture of this Finnish stamp, which has Braille on it:
Today I'm sending out postcards, a sympathy card, a protest letter to my Credit Union because they're closing two branches and working on several letters. Heading to Alabama tomorrow for a quick trip.

Weekend finds and fun!

It's finally cooling down here in the Valley of the Sun ~ we've had the windows and doors wide open, letting in the cool air. There are a ton of tag sales this time of year, so I hit some estate sales, garage sales and a church rummage sale with my mum, sister and niece this weekend. My best find was paying $4 for a bag of stamps (mostly used/cancelled), which I can use for art, but there was also about $10 worth of unused miscellaneous postage stamps in there and some old coins and a bank note from Nicaragua (good stocking stuffers).
Our motorcycle club, Star 393 of Chandler, had a picnic at Falcon Field park and it was a "Fiesta" theme, with Mexican food and decorations. Nesto and I were in charge of the pinata for the kids. It's a popular game in Latin America and the Southwest U.S. A colorful cardboard or paper mache' container holds candy and small toys and is suspended by a rope from a tree. We blindfold the kids one at a time and let them swing a bat to try and break open the pinata. I stuffed a witch's head (Halloween theme). Once the pinata has broke open, the kids scurry to pick up the candy ~ fun!

Miniature food art!

Our friends at "Cupcakes Take the Cake" posted about a talented miniature food artist in Paris. You will not believe the level of detail that Stephanie can do with this wearable and/or collectible art! She's posted pictures on Flicker, has a shop on Etsy, and a blog. Enjoy and bon appetit!

Summertime in Northern Arizona

Many people from the Phoenix area gravitate to Northern Arizona throughout the summer, or as we call it, "Up North." We love the towns of Payson, ShowLow, and Flagstaff, and the White Mountains area. The elevation is higher, so the temperature is typically 20F cooler, and there are pine trees and mountains. Arizona is very arid (dry) with low humidity, as are many Western states, like New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. Many people escape the desert region and the heat by going up for day trips or camping. It's anywhere from two to four hours by car.I am surrounded by sunflowers at an area called Mormon Lake, Arizona.
Mormon Lake, Arizona. The yellow is a sea of sunflowers and lots of elk hang out in this area in the summer.

Nesto and I have gone fishing several times this year, even taking one trip on the motorcycle. We purchased the collapsible fishing rods and packed a small tackle box and lunch on the back of the bike! We had one great fishing day, and caught several rainbow trout, as you can see from my "Fish-in-a-bag."
I like taking short hikes and enjoying the wildflowers and wildlife. Here are some Columbine flowers, which is actually the Colorado State flower.We have seen deer, skunk, elk, bald eagles, lizards, red cardinals, blue jays, duck and chipmunks that will eat from your hands! The bald eagle is the national emblem of the United States and it's always exciting to see them in the wild. We saw some swoop and dive down to the lake at Woods Canyon and catch a fish for lunch. They fly so fast I could never get a picture, so I found one photographed by Bob Paty.

If you love letters...

I found a neat website called:

http://www.allthisismine.com/

Sugene has a unique selection of stationery and also a cool "pen pal pack" that has an assortment of cool stickers and envelopes. I have never read a "zine" before (which is an inexpensively produced, self-published, underground publication) but the issue #12, "The Letter Writing Issue" seemed intriguing, so I received it today and read it cover to cover. It's like it was written just for me! Anecdotes, envelope-decorating, fountain pens, letter folding, and some great vintage information from correspondence from years ago. You should check it out.

Mail Call

Keeping the U.S. postal service, particularly in South Chandler, very busy...
Incoming (over the past couple of weeks):Look at the Mail Art! Octo-Queen Mum on the left, a 3-D envelope from England, and an original art postcard with Queen Elizabeth!My postcrossing account says that I would love to receive purple or lavender postcards. Ask and ye shall receive!Here are stamps from Japan (note that some are purple!) and a Hello Kitty!
Beautiful stamps from Russia:
Always awesome stamps from Finland. The middle stamp is a "Moomin," a very popular cartoon art character.
I took a picture of (and then somehow lost) my outgoing mail pile, which was a book, a small parcel to Japan, thank you card for a work colleague, numerous postcrossing postcards, letter to my Great Aunt and letter to my friends in Colorado. It was quite a huge pile of outgoing. Check your mailbox because something may be coming your way!

Monday Cuteday

During my daily blog reading, I stumbled upon a website of a brilliant artist in New Zealand. I looked at all of her illustrations and they made me smile! I think you will enjoy the ones I am posting here, from:

www.nutandbee.com

Candysaurus and Crustaceanpost are my favorites!

Sweet Fruits of Summer

Ahh, there's nothing like eating ripe summer fruit on a hot Arizona day! I made a delicious fruit salad today and included the following:

Apricots
Gala Apples
Kiwi
Nectarines
Peaches
Plums
Raspberries
Topped with some Rainier and Bing cherries!

I drizzled some agave nectar on it to add a touch of sweetness. Agave nectar is from the blue agave plant in Mexico and is similar to honey, but thinner and sweeter. Here in Arizona, we get so much delicious and seasonal fruit ~ what's not grown locally mostly comes in from Mexico and California. Helps beat the heat since there's no cooking!

Postcrossing

So I've joined this postcard exchange club-of-sorts called POSTCROSSING. The goal of the Postcrossing project is to allow people to receive postcards from all over the world. The main idea is that: if you send a postcard, you will receive at least one back from a random Postcrosser from somewhere in the world. Why? Because there are lots of people (like me) who like to receive real mail. Most people write a profile of what they like and it's fun to try and find a special card that you know they will like, based on their preferences.

http://www.postcrossing.com

My user ID is chandlerguera. Actually I have a second account for my niece, so she can receive postcards, too (ID is Emmalani). Here are a few more of my favorite postcards; some I've sent, some I've received and some I just saw on the website.Here are a couple of postcards that I made! One for someone in Finland who loves frogs and the other for a gal in Brazil that likes jokers.
I've also sent pictures that I've taken, as a postcard. You can put a special sticker on the back so you can write on it, fill out the address and postage, etc. I sent some cemetary postcards to a girl in Puerto Rico who has an interest in that. These pictures were taken in Hawaii.I also sent a picture of Ernesto and I on his motorcycle to a Finnish Postcrosser, since motorcycle postcards are hard to find!
"Gemelas" by artist PeachyCreek:I'm starting to have a lot of postcards on hand to send and it's been great shopping fun to find new and unique postcards, including art cards, Dia de Los Muertos, Black & White, celebrity, and I found vintage motorcycle photo postcards at the Harley Davidson store in San Francisco! This is an interesting and inexpensive hobby and it's nice to get something in the post.

twilight

I can't believe I've jumped on the twilight movie bandwagon! Went to my sister's this evening for girl's movie night and we had a "red" theme going and watched the movie. My niece thinks this is the best book and movie series ever, and I will admit I really liked the movie. Academy awards are doubtful but it was an interesting story.


We incorporated the red theme into our dinner: Ham (OK, I know that's pink), bing cherries, red applesauce, juicy watermelon, cherry-pomegranate drink, red wine for the adults, sugar cookies decorated with blood red icing...and a slice of red velvet cake!

It's interesting for me that the author, Stephenie Meyer, lives in the Phoenix area, and there were a few shots of the city in the movie (i.e., Camelback Mountain). She also made a cameo appearance in the movie, just like one of my favorite directors used to do -- Alfred Hitchcock. So now we eagerly await the next movie, New Moon, which comes out in November.