Day 61, 100 Happy Days: Ethiopian Food

So, there is an Ethiopian restaurant a half a block from my studio - Arada. I go there every few months, and every time I go I wonder why I don't eat there all the freaking time.

The owner (I wish I knew her name) is always there, and always remembers me. Tonight she even remembered what I like to order (the vegetarian platter). (Perhaps this place is becoming my Cheers...)

In any case, it's nice to go to a neighborhood restaurant with amazing food, and feel at home. 

Also, it makes me happy to support another small business.

Day 60, 100 Happy Days: Switcharoonie - New Use for Old Stuff

Operation "Spiff Up Tab's Studio" continues. The past two nights I dragged most of the stuff back into my studio.

It seems silly to me to go through all the effort of clearing the space out and painting every surface, only to put everything back the way it was. This was an opportunity to change things up - no matter how little those thing are.

So, I looked around my studio to see what was and wasn't working, and how I could make the most of what I had laying around. I came up with a switcharoonie so brilliant that I couldn't believe I hadn't thought it up before. I simply swapped shelves - back room (wall) paint shelves with studio bookshelves. I love it! My art books finally look like they deserve some respect. And the paint cans fit perfectly on their new shelves, and it freed up some room in that crowded back room.

Yay switcharoonie!

Also, I loved seeing all my latest Painting Soiree class paintings lined up on the wall. We're only a month into the new year and I have four new paintings to teach!

Day 59, 100 Happy Days: Guinness and Blood On The Tracks

Tonight I discovered that some wonderful person had left me a Guinness in my studio fridge!
So I took a break from putting my studio back together (after the big wall and floor painting project), put my feet up, and had an ice cold can of Guinness.

On the stereo was one of my favorite Bob Dylan albums: Blood on the Tracks.

Happiness.
 
Here is one of my favorite songs from that album...

Day 58, 100 Happy Days: Daily Stuff

Nothing stood out today as THE thing that made me happy (nothing I care to mention, anyway).

It was more of a myriad of things: a hot shower, an amazing cup of coffee, the ability to deposit checks from home, coming up with a new bookkeeping system, feeling somewhat organized. Little things.

Oh, and of course the ridiculously warm weather. It felt like late spring. What's up Mother Nature?? No clue, but I figure I might as well enjoy it.

Day 57, 100 Happy Days: Home, Sweet Home + Sidewalk Universes

Ten nights and eleven days of pet/house sitting. Miles of dog walks.
 
It's good to be home. It's great to sleep in my own bed. It's wonderful to sleep in without having sweet little furry creatures trying to wake me up.

Pet sitting is great, but home is better.

Home is where the happy is.

I don't feel like looking for a picture that represents "home" (nor do I want to post a picture of my messy apartment), so I'm posting pictures that I took last week.

These are pictures of a sidewalk. There was salt (or some snow melt stuff) on the sidewalk, and it looked like stars to me.

It made me think of how connected we all are. The sidewalk looks like the sky, and it's all made of the same stuff. Pretty cool.

So I took some pictures, and played with the colors, and voila. Sidewalk universes.