Friday, August 27, 2010

Eva came back, and new painting, " Lei'd back"



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Today was a fun day at the shop, EVA my cutest customer EVER came back, and she brought the whole family with her....Thanks Eva. I missed you. Your mom is so sweet and generous, buying lots of goodies and you and Luke looked great in the pictures. I hope you will come back much sooner and I will keep my eyes out for Eva-ish things ok...I also had Miriam my part-time employee come in with friends and do a tutu photo shoot, the kids were dying for their M&M's, gotta get some more, the jar is getting low now....and I painted "Lei'd back". The painting is inspired from the recent Hawaii trip, Ben gave us flower Lei's at the airport and Abby my daughter took the picture of the lei with the beach in the background. I liked the combination of the flowers with the water and I am pleased with the painting. It brings me right back to the tropics....ah....
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Tomorrow we have our first Hip Chick Art Class taught by Jan Ely. There is still space and it's only $25.00 so come on down and learn something, I know I will. It's getting back to being busier, summer was so slow and it made me a bit sad. I am happy when I see my favorite customers and it inspires me to keep doing my thing. So come visit me at the shop and put on a tutu and have a good time!!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Tutus in paradise





Hip chick has been on vacation in paradise and that's her favorite place to be.  I took almost 500 pictures and I will share a few, as I'm a sharin and carin' kinda gal. There is so much to talk about I hardly know where to start, I'll try at the beginning and see how we go from there.  We left on Sunday the 8th of August and flew to the big island of Hawaii.  My husband Ben is a pilot but he doesn't get to fly us, no, we schlep it on the airlines while he flies the fancy global express, but at least we get to go to Hawaii right?!  Ben met us at the gate with flower leis and a sign saying "my family" so cute and fun and we all went to our condo to KB (kick-back,  in case you didn't know).  Now I won't bore you with every day details but pretty much everyday we 1.snorkeled 2. layed out at a beach 3. ate yummy food 4. listened to island music and 5. had fun.  One day we tried to find the dolphins we swam with from last year but they weren't at Cap't Cook's cove so we snorkeled and used our rented underwater camera.  We took the turtle shot and the underwater tutu pics and that was really fun.

A particularly fun encounter came with a spontaneous stopping at an antiques shop in Kona.  Being as we were with the boys who hate shopping it was a real treat for Ben to stop and let us look around.  I was happily looking at trinkets when Peter the owner of the shop and I got talking about art and antiques.  I told him about my shop and he told me he did art as well, so I asked where his art was and he said at home.  I said "WHAT?" so he thought maybe he would bring his art into his shop to sell and I wholeheartedly encouraged him.  Well naturally the tutu topic came up and he was such a good sport he said he'd be delighted to put it on and then he asked would I like him with or without his shirt on?  Well of course I said without and he rocked that tutu like a Vegas showgirl.  Thanks Peter for your good energy and I hope you use the pictures to show your customers what a fun place your shop is! 

Another fun time was going to Hapuna beach where my GREAT friend Robin was married, and we finally met her friend Maka, who runs things at the beach.  He was so generous and I finally found Robin's hotel and saw how much she loves it, it is gorgeous. We ate at Bamboo and Jacky Rays which were amazing, I love the fresh fish and all the yummy fruit in the islands.  I feel so healthy in the tropics, it's all swimming and eating light, fresh food.  One day we went to the airport and checked out Ben's plane, Abby and I sat in the cockpit and pretended we were pilots.  The funniest thing is I hate flying, I am a NERVOUS flier and here I am in the cockpit of a 35 million dollar plane.  Ironic I married a pilot, I know!  Of course I brought the tutu, you never know when you will find someone who wants to wear it!  Lori the flight attendant happily put it on and I snapped her picture. The tutu has a way of making everyone smile who puts it on.....

As the pictures show Hawaii is just a magical paradise and a photographers delight.  It was hard to choose which pictures to post, these are only a few of the hundreds.  Janna and Meredith our friends from here in Danville moved to Oahu a few years ago and we got to spend a few days together.  We started at Pearl Harbor, which was very sobering and educational.  I was shocked the tour was free and it was a good experience to see this historic spot and take some time to ponder that time in history.  One of the best days was our last one at Waimea beach. Tuesday was our last full day there and Meredith was given permission to skip school and go beachin with us.  It was a blast, we swam and layed out and the girls all jumped off the rock.  I fantasized about someone wearing the tutu and jumping, as well as wanting a local Hawaiian to don the tutu.  As you can see my dreams came true and I have to thank Lance for this.  I tapped poor Lance on the shoulder and gave him my best pretty please smile and said "Is there any way you would put this tutu skirt on for me?" and he thought I was joking of course until I assured him I was serious and then with the help of his friends and family was wearing the pink tutu.  I was in heaven.  Then it got EVEN better as they said, "brudda you gotta go jump the rock!" I almost fell over with happiness and off he goes to climb the rock wearing my pink tutu.  As you can imagine Lance got a lot of support from everyone on the beach and I just took shot after shot of this special moment.  His leap in mid air is by far my favorite tutu shot to date, and I thank you Lance for your generous and fun spirit.  You made my day and I'm sure many others with your daring tutu dive.  

It was hard to leave paradise I can tell you but also great to come home.  I was excited to share my pictures, report on my shenanigans and get in the studio.  It's only been 4 days and I am still trying to get my bearings, vacations have a way of making you more tired than if you didn't go away sometimes.  But I loved it and I loved bringing my tutu with me on all my adventures, sharing her with new friends and faces and seeing how easily she makes a splash.  Who knew some fabric skirt would end up being my signature calling card???

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