what else makes me happy...

ten things

Miss Mathyld has tagged me to share Ten Things That Make Me Happy, so here I go...

one--my daughter and my husband (and my best friend)

two--the long history I have with him (we've been together since I was eighteen and he was nineteen) :)

three--drawing owls, seeing owls, anything pretty much with owls (but of course, you already knew that)!

four--collecting books, reading stories and getting lost in them

five--small gestures of kindness from friends and from unlikely people

six--the mysteries (and inspirations) of nature

seven--the magic of pretending and making memories

eight--letters and parcels in the mail (who doesn't like this?)

nine--learning to become a wee gardener of sorts

ten--many old, vintage things, including houses I can pretend to live in

eleven--a good cup of tea in quiet solitude

Okay, so I snuck in an extra one. But this one goes to eleven (for you Spinal Tap fans). The truth is there are so many things to make one happy. I think I kind of needed this, especially this week, when things have been a bit rough. We need to be reminded of happy things, right?

Well, I think I will not tag anyone formally this time but please, feel free to make your own little list of happy things :)

oh moccasins!

I just had to come share a new find (for me) on Etsy. I know there are a ton of cool shops (and things!) there and I often post my favorites at Magpies and Apples but this one I had to share here.


Intoducing Darlingtonia Moccasin Company.




I seriously want all of their shoes.

Here is the blog and their facebook fan page too (where I have quickly added myself).

All photos, Katie Kukulka of Darlingtonia Moccasins and Bara Litten

to hogwarts with love...

Valentine's day of last year, Natalie 'received' a letter from Hogwarts by 'owl'. She was so thrilled to get a little note and gift from her 'friends' in the wizarding world. Ever since then she has asked me to find the address from Hogwarts so she can write her friends back. Initially I stalled, saying that it was very difficult to get the address but that I would try. Since then, she has received a halloween card from 'Harry, Ron, Hermoine and Ginny' and I plan to send her more things from 'them'.



A few weeks ago she just couldn't wait anymore so she began writing (or drawing, actually) her letters to her magical friends. I finally worked it out with Rick's mom to have me send Nat's letters to Hogwarts to her address. I figured since she is still learning how to read and that I put the address after she is done, that I can get away with this for a little while (at least). I also told her that this is the American address that we can send it to until an owl picks it up to take it Hogwarts. I want to buy a very nice box that she can store those letters in until Nat is older and we can present to her a piece of her childhood imagination.



I offered to help her with her letters by getting out my wax and seal for them. She liked choosing different colors and different seals for each one of her friends.



I am constantly in love with the way her mind works and how everything is still so exciting and magical to her.



There are some things I have found on etsy that I've been wanting to get for her sent by her friends, of course. Here are some of the items:

• owl soap with gryffindor scarf by eternal sunshine
• another owl soap from eternal sunshine, in purple, one of Natalie's favorite colors
• a hedwig bookbag from atlantis804
• a daily prophet spiral journal and badge, both from celeste frittata (where I got Natalie's first post from Hogwarts)
• I admit, I have my eye on celeste frittata's hardback journals in astronomy and herbology. For Nat though, her herbology notebook and care of magical creatures if she offers it in notebook style as well.
• I also think aromatherapy lavender's healing mother and child owls are very cute
  
• this plush owl print from folksy would hang nicely somewhere in her room
• she would probably love this gryffindor charm bracelet by winemaker's sister

There are a ton of more things she would most likely jump up and down for. Etsy does have a nice selection of things that are geared to the Hogwarts fan indeed. I wanted to find some cool mandrake things for us to collect. I've been thinking about making her a felt doll from one of my illustrations (and perhaps make a few for the littlebighead shop too).

She also has been begging to go the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Actually it was an email 'owl' that I sent her from 'Harry' that got her so excited to write to her letters. At the Wizarding World they will actually have a post office where you can send letters from that will bear an authentic Hogsmeade postmark. I'm a grown up but I can't help but to be completely sucked into this wonderful, imaginative and very magical world. And for now, it would seem, my daughter is exactly the same way.

Our President's Day

Rick had decided for this extra day weekend that we would have a picnic. I was feeling much better today than the past couple of days and I was thankful to be able to go out and enjoy the day. We went to the Irvine Regional Park where the small but still pleasurable Orange County Zoo is.

We first had our picnic, enjoying the weather, the surroundings and the good but simple things we had to eat. Nat had to check out a couple of trees nearby before we headed to the zoo.







After lunch, we walked over to the zoo by following the blue bear paw prints. We were pretty excited because we heard that they had owls here. They didn't disappoint with both a couple of barn owls and a couple of great horned owls as well. Unfortunately, I really didn't get good photos of the owls but this is what I got:





They had just been given lunch but were too shy to eat in front of an audience. The barn owls were breathtaking with their piercing eyes in their heart shaped faces. One of the great horned owls was sitting on the ground, tending to a false egg. The keeper there explained that they will lay eggs and after eggs after eggs. What they do is after the owl lays a real egg, they quickly put the false egg there to hold off on all the egg laying.

This is Nat making her mean little owl face!



They had a little brochure you could take along to do a scavenger hunt. The zoo pretty much comprised of native fauna and flora so it was pretty neat learning a little more of things that are from our area.


The ocelot den where we learned that the ocelot's name comes from ocelotl which means jaguar in Aztec.

The agile and 'handy' raccoon uses its sensitive hands to find food.

A Coastal Live Oak. The acorns from the tree were used by Native Americans to make mush and bake bread.

After we visited the black bears, beaver, turkey vulture, bald eagles, coyote, island gray fox and other predators we headed to the petting zoo section.

The greedy goat that took all the food from Nat.

Once inside the actual petting part, Natalie quickly attached herself to this small and plump goat named Star.

Time to tell Star good bye :)

We explored a few trees and then walked to the car to drive it to where the pony rides where.

After two bumpy laps, we left, happy with our pleasant day and with hopes of making this a favorite haunt of ours.