Mustard & Teal

I've noticed over the last few weeks that I've become drawn to two colors that I have just...DESPISED the rest of my life. Interesting...

It started with the purchase of my "bumblebee" shoes-a FABULOUS pair of mustard yellow leather ballet shoes with ZIPPERS on the heal and three on the toes. I love them, love them, love them! Then I went and got a silk teal Express sweater-and well...between the two, I haven't worn anything else. I've actually run out of ways to wear them-I'm out of combo's. The good news??? I've discovered that mustard and teal are my new HAPPY colors! I LOVE them together, love them on me and LOOOOOVE how I FEEL when I wear them! How fabulous is that??? ;)

So, I went shopping at my FAVORITE shop: ETSY and have put together an inspiring wish list. Anyone looking to make me EXTREMELY happy???

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade jonnajonna.etsy.com

*5/31: By the way, my Lovelies, I fell so hard for the yellow "Keep Calm and Carry On" that I just HAD to have it. It arrived Thursday... The draw for the brooch in grey, green and teal was too strong as well. I just got that one and plan to wear it in my hair. Love it.

All is well...

j

"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Yesterday was the fantastic field trip to Hogle Zoo with my K's, the other two Liberty classes and about 20 other school buses. My buddy David and I were partners and had a BLAST!

First thing first: RUNNING past everything in the attempt to be the ONLY people at the penguins. The good news? SOMEHOW we made it!











David LOVES penguins (so do I) and had a ton of fun watching them waddle around. I SO love the sound their feet make in the puddles. (...slappy wet peaches...) One followed us and posed for the camera. :)

Next we visited the black bears, zebras, gorilla, and the monkey house. Monkeys creep me out...bad...but David seemed to love them!

We were also SUPER lucky to have the bat cave to ourselves. David didn't like the bats or the smell (badbadbadbadbad) but LOVED that they were eating "fruit salad". I tried a couple of different settings on the camera but because they were flying around (like idiots...) most of the pics are blurry...



We also got to visit the reptile house and see the HUGE tortoises (eating with their feet in their bowls...), the BIG cats (the tiger was VERY vocal

and the cheetah's head was turned so far around I thought it just *may* fall off), the giraffes (one had a stubby tail and it made me sad), the elephant "experience" (we got to see

two back ends and no fronts), some

spiders, snakes, birds and...the train station. David LOVES trains! The conductor (a skinny 18 year old (I'm guessing...) boy) was fantastic. He had the whole shpeel down. He was no Kip, though. Anyway, while on the train we got to see some goatsheep thing, turkey vultures-"the cleaners of the desert", and HUGE buffalo. Best part? the track ran right through where they "live". What if we ran into one? What if ONE RAN INTO US?!?! I wasn't sure I liked that arrangement...

My FAVORITE part of the field trip? When I got to RUN with 3 kids from the reptile house UP to the playground and back down to the bus parked in the south lot. I had 10 minutes... My kids were amazing and kept up-even though they were hot, sweaty and DONE! Thanks guys!
You can KIND of see how far that trip was on the map...





;)

j

For the Love of Etsy

The glorious M.U.S.E. By jonnajonna banner!

As a starting point and to get all of my stuff in one spot, I've begun the process of getting ALLLLLLL of my fabulous makes in one spot. THAT means that my BabyCakes Hair Clippies, M.U.S.E. Photographs, the (in process...) M.U.S.E. Silver, M.U.S.E. Jewelry AND whatever else I feel inspired to create will ALL be available through the AMAZING venue of Etsy!

I've played around with a few things, listed some new, added some old and updated the info on my Etsy page! Yay! You can find me at, http://jonnajonna.etsy.com. AND there are a few of my creations over in my Etsy Mini on the side there. Enjoy those...

As always, I am open to creating custom items, turning ANY shot of mine into the best dang greeting card EVER, and adding YOUR own quote to my famous (really!) flour sack towels! Anything! Just jot me a note here OR over at my shop! Just CLICK (and you'll get FREE shipping!) and we'll go from there!

A fabulous friend told me once that I ought to be paid for my creativity. I second that. Do you?

;)

j

KITTENS!!!

Courtney, Love, I haven't laughed this hard in a LONG time. Thank you.

j

Really?!

Working in a Kindergarten room is an absolute BLAST! My kids are doing so, so well (at the beginning of school, each and every student needed LOTS of extra help and support to be on grade level. NOW, ALL of my kids are above bench-mark and MOST of them are reading on a 1st grade level or above!) and are just so much fun to be with.

I love being with the same kids from 8:45 am to 3:10 pm, Monday through Friday. I thought I *may* get burned out coming from the preschool where I had two groups of kids each day (morning and afternoon groups) that came every OTHER day. I was happily surprised! All day Kindergarten is just a DREAM! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Courtney (my teacher, mentor and friend) and I couldn't have hand picked a happier, funnier, more well behaved class. This is the BEST job I've EVER had! (And that's saying something!)

This week I decided to keep track of some of the BEST things I've heard the kids say...get ready...

The Top 15 Things Overheard in Room 14

"A baby fish is called a french fry."

"Miss Dansie...your hair...it's...wow...I wouldn't do it like that again if I were you..."

"My Gramma Cher Cher cut up the cheese."

While doing top to bottom addition: "2+4 'eek-wewls'... No. Not 'eek-wewls'. 2+4...line."

"That's my dog, Spike. And THAT'S his private body part. Let's just cover that up."

"...and then this one guy had a REALLY long tooth right here. It was just...weird!"

"OHMYGOSHAVERYYOU'RETURNINGORANGE!" --"...Huh?"--Ughh..."DUH, Dante! It's. Her. SHIRT!"

"I'm thinkin' about bein' a monster right now..."

"It's a robot with a vacuum."

"ZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzeeeeeeEEEEEEeeezzzEEEEezzzzzzzzzZZZZZZuuuuzzz... Oh."

"GUYS! NO MORE PEEPING!"--"Oh. I'm just excited."

"Wanna hear a joke?! Knock, knock." "Who's there?" "Ninja!" "Ninja who?" "NINJA!" "Ninja WHO?" "Lettuce." "What?" "Say, Lettuce WHO!" "Lettuce who." "Lettuce you glad I didn't say ninja?" "Dude, I'm pretty sure it's supposed to be 'ORANGE'." "Oh. Wait. Watch this! Knock, Knock!"

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! A...." DEEP BREATH "...DOG!!!"

"You wanna have a cracker? They're called 'pepper-jon's! HEY GUYS!! I'VE GOT MORE 'PEPPER-JON'S'!! They're GOOD!"

"Let's get up the glitter. THEN we can play Twilight at recess!

I'M EDWARD! Oooaaahh...I love him..."

Yes, really.

j

4-5-6 come on and get your kicks

Effing Carrots.

About a week ago I decided that for Easter I would be in charge of the veggies (Brussels sprouts with leeks and bacon...yum!!!...and mashed yams with garlic, coconut milk and cilantro...Ahh!) a simple salad and dadadaada! A Carrot Cheesecake made with Splenda and low fat cream cheese.

Simple. Easy. No problem...

This morning I decided to get up and get myself put together early to get Easter errands run BEFORE guitar. I dumped out the change bucket, cashed it in at the Coinstar in Albertson's (cause Sunflower doesn't have one...) and got the cream cheese, because they were 10 for $10. On sale cream cheese! Yay! I made the decision to go to Sunflower-not only because they are my FAVORITE grocery store (it smells WONDERFUL in Sunflower!) but because they have the best prices on the best produce in the valley-but by the time I was done dodging the oldsters in the aisles and the pissies in the parking lot it was time for my lesson. So...I went up the hill.

Lessons today were positive, productive and happy! B's new studio has a window (blessed sunlight!) which gave me something to focus on while thinking through the various strumming patterns I was working on (and still get to...) I'm still working on Love and Some Verses, Look What You've Done and Alloway Grove, and today I threw Loving You by Paolo Nutini into the mix.

Afterwards, I flew to Ikea (for the 5th time in less than two weeks...) to pick up the random bits we forgot the last couple of times, check sizes on poster frames and to pick up a chair for my space in the Starchild Studios. Best part of THIS trip to Ikea??? I spent the entire time singing JET's Are You Gonna Be My Girl and while picking out the chair, it came on the huge speakers in the self serve furniture area! FABULOUS!

After Ikea (and a particularly enjoyable trip to Zuppa's), I ran to Sunflower to get the stuff for tomorrow's dinner. TONS of yams, 3 lbs of Brussels Sprouts (I loved Brussels...), the pecans and graham crackers, an itty bitty piece of fresh ginger, some sushi (for tonight...I was hungry) and was THRILLED to walk out with EVERYTHING I needed plus a magazine for less than $40.

I get home, put everything away, make a phone call or two, sit down and Mom says...did ya get the carrots? I literally sat there and said,

"No...but why would I need carrots???"

Certainly NOT for the Carrot Cheesecake. Nope, not for that. Honestly. So, I got to go BACK to Sunflower (thank Heavens they are just up the street!) to get the effing carrots. Beautiful, baby, organic carrots with the greens still attached...they smell and taste just like Grandpas... Until I drop the freaking bag on the floor and break ALL the tips off.

This trip to sunflower cost me MORE than the first. Somehow...

So HAPPY FREAKING EASTER my loves. I'm going to go brush my teeth.

j

M.U.S.E.

I've FINALLY finished my new business card for Starchild! I've decided to name both the Silver jewelry AND Starchild's "newsletter"*,

M.U.S.E.

M=music

U=unique

S=stars

E=eclectic

I've begun to build upon my ideas for the jewelry and can't wait to get started! We've decided that I'm gonna be the girl in Flashdance running around the backyard with my butane torch... ;)

*..."Newsletter" isn't quite the word or idea that I'm after though. Right now I don't have the resources, time or energy to make a full blown MAGAZINE but I'm so not thinking that I want to create a "church bulletin" style half sheet of paper either.

It's going to take some serious thinking time to put onto paper (and silver)what's forming in Starchild's collective minds...

j