Mother/Daughter Day

There is one day out of every week where my mother (umi) and I spend the day together. Usually, it falls on a Wednesday or Thursday, depending on my schedule for work and/or school. Some days, we do manicures and pedicures (me only because she doesn’t want a pedicure…ever), or we go shopping, see a film, or the like. Today, we went to As You Wish! at the new Tempe Marketplace to paint ceramics. First, however, we had to stop at Starbucks. Oh yeah, lovin’ the green tea. Then, since I was hungry and hadn’t eaten yet, we stopped at Paradise Bakery so I could pick up a chicken and artichoke Panini. It was quite yummy, though I didn’t have a chance to eat it until we got home. So much for being hungry.

Painting ceramics was something my mom used to do a while back and hasn’t done in years, especially since she became ill, so I thought she would enjoy it because she really needs a hobby again. The painting gives us time to talk, relax and just plain have fun. She picked out a small flower piece to start with, and I painted an Italian vase. I can’t wait to see how it will turn out because I used a darker color to dry brush over the base, and then I painted little cracks on it to make it look ancient. I’m still learning, but the last three pieces I have done turned out fairly nice. The cup I painted last weekend during work (yes, I get to do things like this on the job—it’s awesome) was fun to paint, as I covered the entire thing in white polka dots over a black base. The teen girls I work with gave me a hard time and asked when I would get out of my polka dot phase. My toes and fingers are painted in French manicure with black tips and white polka dots, and I have a purse and sunglasses to match. It’s a bit extreme, maybe, but I really don’t care what people think. Besides, I’ve gotten quite a few compliments on my nails.

My mom painted her smiley-face flower a deep blue with yellow and orange. I’m hoping the yellow and orange show up because she painted the blue over the entire piece after I told her lighter colors won’t show up over darker colors once it’s fired. She only did one coat of the blue, so we will see what happens. It’s just a starter piece anyway, but very cute.

After painting, we went to Barnes and Noble, one of my favorite stores, and bought a few books. I bought a teen book called The Black Tattoo. It looks interesting. Something about a guy inadvertently ending up in Hell. I’ll probably donate it to work when I’m done with it so the kids can read it, too… unless it’s really good! My mom bought a couple of romance novels. She’s a sucker for those. I was looking for a series I’d spotted a few weeks ago, but I couldn’t remember the name of the author or the books. It’s about a woman who is a werewolf and a DJ on the radio. If you know what I’m talking about, please drop a comment to let me know because I’ll probably never find the damn things now.

Overall, it was a good day with my mom, aside from me getting paint on my shirt. I’ll have to wear a different shirt or take a smock next time. Next week is manicure/pedicure week. LOVE those days!

UPDATE: AHA! I found the books! The world is stable for at least another week. =)