Hug a tree.....another of my eco-friendly designs that I am working on....this one I did with a pale green background as well...would be great silk-screened on a tee shirt or tote bag....like the clean look of the design and the predominance of the color green...both this one and the "Love Mother Earth" design that I posted yesterday are designed in a shape for a flag............
go green!
more later,
carol
Go Green!!....it's a movement we all need to pay attention to....so as an artist I am working on some images that portray my vision for the greening of America.
We really do need to Love Mother Earth!
more later,
carol<
Los Angeles...LA..."City of Angels"...the second largest city in the United States, the world center for entertainment...Hollywood and the famous Hollywood sign in the hills, the home to Oscar....films..movie stars...dreams are made here...or dashed... bus tours past stars houses...Hollywood and Vine....TV and movie studios, hopefuls and wannabee actors waiting tables here waiting for their big chance...a simply crazy place...
Chinatown, Kodak Theatre, Getty Center, Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Griffith Park, Capitol Records tower, Hollywood Bowl, Watts Tower, Staples Center, Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Union Station, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Sunset Boulevard and Strip, UCLA, Olvera Street, LAX, Mulholland Drive, Santa Ana Mountains, Wilshire Boulevard, Santa Catalina Island, Venice Beach, Pacific Palisades, Hollywood Hills, Topanga Canyon, Benedict Canyon, Westwood , Brentwood , Bel Air, Santa Monica, Hancock Park,
I spent a lot of time in California and LA for over 10 years when my daughter Susan lived there. I had many clients out there as well so would combine a business trip with a nice visit with Susan. She lived in Topanga Canyon, Venice Beach and Santa Monica...all the places were great...I loved her Santa Monica house...it was just so cool. There is something about California....the weather...the movie business...something that draws you there...the dreams....the opportunities...being able to garden in February, no humidity...the California lifestyle...just pretty darn cool if you ask me....
for me, it was the draw of my daughter and her family, 3 trips a year anyhow....I loved the weather, the shopping, seeing all the sights especially the Getty Museum, Montana Street in Santa Monica, Venice Beach shops, 3 visits to Santa Catalina Island and many other places we went to in all our years of traveling out west.
When LA is not shaking, quaking, burning, churning, or having riots....it is a great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.
more later,
carol
San Francisco..."The City by the Bay".... the song "I left my Heart" was written for this city.....the beautiful city along the Pacific Ocean with Alcatraz Island ( great tour ) out in the harbor, the Golden Gate Bridge, the cable cars, Ghirardelli Square and all the wonderful chocolate, Pier 39 with the barking sea lions and seals, the Embarcadero and the Ferry Building, Chinatown, the Golden Gate Park, Coit Tower, Nob Hill, Presidio, The Transamerica Pyramid Building, The Cannery, Union Square, Fisherman's wharf and all the crab places, North Beach, Little Italy, Telegraph Hill, Lombard Street, Russian Hill, Mission Bay, the Tenderloin... Haight-Ashbury...now the Castro...the "Painted Ladies", the Marina, Ocean Park, the San Francisco 49ers, The Giants, the Oakland Athletics, great restaurants and little shopping areas tucked in along the city...
the Captain have been there many times, the first time 20 years ago when we stayed for 4 days, did Sonoma Valley and then did the famous drive down along the California coast to LA, we actually have now done that trip both ways North from LA and South from San Fran 4 times, we loved it so much, once in a bright red convertible that was way cool.... most recently we visited a year and a half ago in early December when the Captain had a finance forum out there and I got to shop and visit with my very talented and cool artist friends, Dorothy Reinhardt, Peggy Jo Ackley and Andrea Tachiera and have lunch and talk about creative things...
I loved the Hayes Valley shops where Dottie took me for the afternoon after lunch, the Captain and I loved the Slanted Door restaurant and the hilarious show " Beach Blanket Babylon" at the Club Fugazi, "Dim Sum" at Yank Sing on Spear Street, lunch at the trendy Boulevard with the girls right along the Embarcadero, Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista down at Fisherman's Wharf, the Cable car rides at night, great dungenous crab for dinner....it was all wonderful..
and my favorite little Japanese clothing store in Hayes Valley where I did some damage on a sweater wrap and the coolest pair of fingerless gloves ever....I must return there some day...Dottie...
I did leave my heart there too...it is just a great city...
built up some good calf muscles along the way..
more later,
carol
Sante Fe, the capital of New Mexico, the highest capital in the United States at 7,000 feet above sea level, the smell of pinon pine, the Southwestern adobe look, Indian pottery, cactus, lots of old white cattle skulls over doorways, geckos and chiles hanging on roping, baying wolfs and other motifs that you see all over the Southwest, the Plaza, the Palace of the Governors where the American Indians sell their gorgeous hand made silver,turquoise and coral jewelry, San Miquel Chapel, The Sangre de Cristo Mountains, the truly amazing sunsets over the mountains, the Don Pedro de Peralta statue, the Spanish pueblo look, the fabulous light that is there in Sante Fe..great to paint by... Georgia O' Keefe Museum, the famous Canyon Road with all the cool galleries and restaurants are located......... home to Geronimo's the popular restaurant where our daughter Amy worked as a sous chef for 2 years after college, the Sante Fe Opera, the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum, just the feeling of such a spiritual place, the combination of the American Indians, the Spanish, the Mexicans all coming together to create a special cultural mixture of all things good, creative,and special....the colors of reds and browns predominate there, the adobe houses and Western art and everyone has a dog and wears jeans and cowboy boots....I just loved it..we spent Christmas there one year when Amy still lived there...the whole family flew out and spent a week...we walked around on Christmas Eve in the snow, smelling the pinon pine burning in the fireplaces and seeing all the little farolitos lit up on the buildings all around the city, lined up on the roads and sidewalks, people singing Christmas Carols and all the shops and galleries hosting wine and cheese for all the visitors..dinner at Geronimos was superb of course Christmas Eve, having an "in" with the sous chef gave us all sorts of special dishes sent out for us to enjoy...I can still smell the chiles rellenos, the tacos and quesadillas, fresh hand made tortillas.....fresh, organic tomatoes, New Mexico's green chiles, roasted tomatoes, corn posille, everything so delicious and different from home...then Christmas day we all packed up and went to an Indian Reservation...celebrated with dancing and a Christmas festival...a cultural combination of the missionary's intro to the Indians of Catholicism and the Indian's own traditions...it was so interesting and something so special...I danced with an Indian wearing a mask that looked like a combination of a horse and a ram...around and around in a big circle with some one banging a drum and playing a lute- type instrument while other Indians were singing as my family stood around the circle watching me, taking turns dancing....and, we were outside....in the fresh air, with snow on the ground...it was wonderful. I came home with enough pinon pine incense to last for ten years...and we are planning a trip back to Sante Fe in late March early April with all of our 3 girls for a special birthday celebration for Amy...so we are looking forward to visiting Sante Fe once again...putting on our cowboy boots, our jeans and Indian jewelry and getting ready to taste all the interesting flavors of that area. It is a unique place that is for sure...make sure to see it someday, it is really special.
more later,
carol
Dallas, Texas...the "Big D"...the 3rd largest city in Texas, oil and cotton........ everyone wearing cowboy boots and hats with horses and everything that is Big...Big...Big....
the Captain spent a lot of time in Dallas doing business there, back and forth from home for several years, so I heard all about the great steak houses, the good old boys, the pick up trucks and the BIG hair on all the gals.
Hot and humid, lots of major thunderstorms with amazing lightening displays, the Dallas Convention Center, the Arboretum and Botanical Gardens, North Park Center, I.M. Pei's Fountain Place, Bank of America Plaza, Renaissance Tower, Reunion Tower, Texas barbecue, State Fair, Cotton Bowl, Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, John F. Kennedy Memorial....the infamous Dallas State School Book Depository...the grassy knoll... The Dallas Cowboys...the Rangers...the Mavericks...the Stars...Deep Ellum avante guard area, farmers market, the bronze horse sculptures, oil derricks...
and lots of very big Cowboys!!
more later,
carol
New Orleans .....the largest city in Louisiana, along the Mississippi River, "Nola"...with the multicultural heritage, The Parishes coming back from the devastation, rebuilding and revitalizing this great American City.....great cuisine, architecture, birthplace of Jazz, Mardi Gras, Lake Pontchartrain, Canal Street, Jazz Festival, Bourbon Street, French Quarter, notorious nightlife, trolley cars, Tulane and Loyola colleges, Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, Cafe du Monde and the famous beignets, Preservation Hall, steamboats, Metairie and St. Louis cemeteries, sometimes home to the Super Bowl, the fabulous creole cuisine, jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish, and of course the mysterious Voodoo religion...have not been here...cannot wait to visit this famous place and I am so glad that it is coming back again and being preserved. I have added this to our "Wish List" of places to visit.
more later,
carol
Miami Beach, Dade county, Florida, on the Atlanta Ocean, home of Miami Vice, Palm Trees, A- list celeb sightings, South Beach, famous Ocean Drive and all the fabulous Art Deco hotels and houses, the New World Symphony Orchestra, Lincoln Road, great art galleries, Cuban food and Latino culture, great clubs and nightlife, hot hotels and hang outs, Flagler Monument Island, Versace Mansion, Botanical gardens, cool shopping, first port-o-call for major cruise ships, tropical and hot hot hot!!
My first trip to Miami was sponsored by Oneida China as I was there promoting my new dinnerware for them at the local department stores. I felt like I was in a foreign country...the first trip to the mall we noticed that everyone was speaking Spanish...I didn't realize the large Cuban and Puerto Rican culture that made up Miami. We had great food, lots of Cuban dishes, visited the great art galleries and had a great time.
The second time I went with the Captain and we stayed on South Beach which was so much fun...something always going on there. Great little restaurants out on the sidewalks all along the beach, those funky life guard houses all along the beach in pastel colors, huge sand castle displays, wonderful art galleries to visit, interesting shops and we stayed at the Blue Moon hotel, one block over from the Versace Mansion, where the world famous designer Gianni Versace was shot on the steps of his mansion back in 1997 by a crazed serial killer....very sad. Great places to walk around and see fantastic architecture, shops and galleries, but be aware as there is a lot of crime there and I read recently that Miami is considered the most dangerous small city in the US and has the busiest emergency room in the country. Not to put a damper on a trip here, but good to be aware of all around you and to be smart when you are traveling.
We actually visited there 3 or 4 more times, staying over in Key Biscayne and then visiting Coconut Grove where a friend of ours daughter and family lives. Then we drove over from Bonita Beach for a few days and stayed at the famous Biltmore Hotel in the elegant Coral Gables section of Miami with my parents to do some sightseeing around that area. Another time we stayed over night for a few nights on South Beach on the way down to the Florida Keys and Key West. We used Miami as a jumping off point, flew in from Boston and then rented a car to drive down to the Keys...lots of fun.
more later,
carol
Chicago..Chicago...the largest city in the Midwest, right on Lake Michigan..."The Windy City"..."The Second City"...a city with over 3 million people...fantastic shopping on the Magnificent Mile, great sports teams, Wrigley Field, the Sears Tower, the Hancock Center, the Aon Center, the Navy Pier and the famous ferris wheel, Lincoln Park Zoo, Field Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, Shedd Aquarium, Museum of Science and Industry, great steak restaurants, O'Hare International Airport........
really great place to visit...on a visit there a few years ago with my daughter Sarah and one of her munchkins, we went to the Shedd Aquarium to see the brand new baby beluga whale that had just been born, swimming around the tank with her Mom...it was really wonderful to see and the aquarium had set up the viewing area underneath the tanks as well as from the top, so you could watch them both ways, top and bottom.
We had a wonderful time and of course left with our very own baby beluga stuffed animal...ah...the joys of marketing!
more later,
carol
New York City on the Hudson River..the most populated of all the cities in the United States... the "Big Apple" "Gotham"...the "City That Never Sleeps"....the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island..the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Wall Street and the US Stock Exchange, Ground Zero, Broadway with all the fabulous shows and plays, the world renown museums, Times Square, The Empire State Building, home of the "Trumpster", all the great colleges including where the Captain went, Columbia University, Central Park, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Opera House, the Bronx Zoo.
...Art...Fashion...Advertising...Shopping...just about anything and everything you could ever want you can find here in New York City...where the Captain and I lived when we were first married, where our first munchkin was born....the city with a heartbeat...
I really do LOVE NEW YORK!!
more later,
carol
![](http://<a href="http://caroleldridge.typepad.com heartnest.jpg (11.8K)</a>)
![](http://<a href="http://caroleldridge.typepad.com/heartnest.jpg">Download heartnest.jpg (11.8K)</a>){kind=link}