What to do with your life

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Hot Red Shoes

I got the red shoes.  They’re not sparkly but I traded that in for red shoes so incredbly hot and sexy I can hardly figure out if I should keep them for bed only or actually take them out on the street!

I love, love, love these shoes.  And the designer, Chie Mihara, is a magnificant inspiration.  All her shoes are handmade in Spain where she has a small factory.  Read up on her here.

I feel so incredibly fortunate to have a shop down the street which exclusively sells her shoes.  I’ve been looking at these for at least a year trying to find reasoning to spend over $300 for a pair of shoes when I have three children at home who need shoes too.  (They’re growing so damn fast!) But you know, as the years pass and I realize how much I’ve denied myself through time on oh so many shoe purchases (among other things), and all I’ve sacraficed in the name of good, committed parenting, I no longer think about my kiddies’ shoes.  They’re old enough at this point to take care of them better.  This is motherhood with an upgrade.  So deserved.

Let me show you the gorgeousness I get to wear on my feet!

Chie Mihara shoes, “Bacardi”

 

Love, love, love…

 

 

Hand crafted…

 

 

Incredible designer: http://www.chiemihara.com/

 
… my next dream pair of shoes would have to be by shoe designer Nina Divito. Her shoes are stunning in a completely different way; yet, that wonderful elegance is similar to Mihara’s shoes. But, I don’t want to get ahead of myself here! I’ve got decide just how (or where) I’m going to wear these first!

*shortlink:http://wp.me/p3f9L-1JA

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Family to Legoland: The wheels on the bus go round and round

After over 7 years of promises, my husband and I took the kids to Legoland. The many intents of driving 3.5* hours to a theme park about legos just never made the cut. Sometimes it was money keeping us away (the trip cost us 500* euros for one family) and other times it was just the driving commitment. To avoid at least this driving issue, I signed us up for the USO sponsored bus trip so we can finally visit Legoland before we leave Europe without the hassle of driving back. I wasn’t going to fail the kids on this promise that we didn’t fulfill on the first abroad tour. No. Way.

Well, when the weather plummeted to the 40s with an even lower wind chill factor (fucking freezing) and rain for good measure after a week of spring coming into bloom, please imagine with me the incredible ass kicks I gave myself because being pre-paid, we couldn’t cancel! We had to go. We had to keep this promise. We had to go to Legoland in February-like weather and I don’t do well in cold, rainy and windy circumstances. It makes me a sourpuss so on top of all this, I had to find a way to just deal with the lemon circumstance in front of me because -argh – I had no control over the matter except cancelling.

Sometimes in my family promises are tough to keep no matter how well intended. With a family of 5, things happen; changes suddenly occur; energy levels on weekend by parents are low. This is where pre-payment and bus tours work well. We’re all in recovery mode now. The best part of any trip for me is looking at the photographs afterwards. In the quiet seclusion of my comfy, warm home, I can look back and see the fun I had and re-experience it in a new way.

Enjoy the photographs!

* plus or minus a few

From Wiesbaden to Legoland and back home, the weather followed.

…and I tried to relax

…See?

But a family trip to a theme park in this weather is like sticking us together in a tank of sharks: I’ll panic, freak or drown in fear and now the whole family can’t have a good time…

Oh noooo!

Once at Legoland, I relax. It’s freezing and I can be miserable or I can find the good stuff here…

Oh look! Berlin’s Rathaus (City Hall) out of Legos! Notice the wedding…

Then we headed over to Venice…

…checked out the detail…

Enjoyed a soccer game! (isn’t that cool?!)

…and we even saw Neuschwanstein Castle, one of my very favorites in its real life version.

And of course, we had to zip by Frankfurt. (the skyscrapers were taller than my husband)

All this excitement required lunch! The food was delicious and the Riesling was perfect.

Then, off to more fun in the freezing weather!

I absolutely LOVE rollercoasters and I had a blast experiencing them with my kids.

Then we got a little dizzy…

Looking at it, I had a great time despite the freezing temperatures, normally a perfect justification to cancel a trip. (Hey, I’m a Florida-raised girl)

Look, even Sandy the Turtle is exhausted with all that excitement!

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Joy

… “There’s no place like home.  There’s no place like home.  There’s no place like home”.

Now I need the red sparkly shoes and try it again.

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Photo:Evening Inspirations…

Hot, I think…
Enjoy your evening.

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Photo: Shakespeare on love

“Cupid Blind”

Love looks not with the eyes,

but with the mind, And therefore

is winged Cupid painted blind. ~ William Shakespeare

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Photo: Mermen as studs (kind of)

When walking through Wiesbaden, one never knows what kind of crazy stuff will be seen!  Take a look at these hot mermen ornaments.  Are they fantastic or what?!  Not sure where they’d be fantastic exactly cuz not at my house, but I’m sure they’d hang quite well in someone’s place… South Beach or San Francisco comes to mind.

Merman stud #1

Merman stud #2

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Books: The Art Cure Diaries

After considerable thought, I’ve decided to make the Ipad ebook format of “The Art Cure Diaries” free for anyone to enjoy.  The same applies to the Kindle/Ebook formats I’m working on completing for you.

You can also choose to purchase a print copy or, if you don’t have an Ipad and want to view it, it is available in its entirety also for free.

Enjoy and pass it on!

~ Tatiana

(*shortlink to post: http://wp.me/p3f9L-1DQ)

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New Painting: “Be Mine.”

Valentine’s Day is coming up. I had to bring out a little nudity.

…yeah, and again, I love the colors. In the case of this painting, the color around her is what makes her pop! Love it!

“Be Mine is painted on a 13×19 canvas sheet with acrylics.

“Be Mine” Acrylic on 13″x19″ canvas sheet

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New Painting: Miami Blues

This new painting was much more constrictive to paint than I like. I love paintings that show a lot of brush control but in terms of my artistry, it’s not in my nature those steady hands. “Miami Blues” is an offshoot of some recent attempts to challenge my rather playful and sometimes neurotic hand, to calm it down into new strokes and create new art from my norm.

I named this piece “Miami Blues” because it reminds me of South Beach, one of the beautiful places I grew up in and in the middle of Wiesbaden’s winter’s gloom I could use a little sun and splash of color, sandals and lemon juice to lighten my hair. Instead I’m fluffed up in my blue smurf robe and furry slippers. So, I’ve got Miami blues I think.  No better way to deal with it than to paint the gloom away (see it through the windows?!)

This artwork is painted in acrylics on a 13″ x 19″ unstretched canvas sheet so it is flat and can be matted and custom framed. Contact me for more info.

“Miami Blues” Acrylic on Canvas sheet

… and a little closer.

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