I've Met Bruno

This past Friday I scored.

I found these four pairs of shoes at a neighborhood estate sale....in my size.  They are all made by Bruno Magli and I would say that they are at least 20 years old.

Do I need any more shoes?  These shoes....well no, of course.  But it's like Cinderella and if the shoe fits then I can't pass them up.

I mean, if you think about it logically, its better to have these shoes on hand than to go buy them at $500 a pair when you find yourself needing them...right?

Acanthus Leaf

This past week at study group we watched Rosemary Buczek's video on how to draw and paint Acanthus leaves.  I went home inspired and created the one above for practice.  I really like the way that it turned out and am looking forward to learning how to incorporate them into my work.

Hope you all have had a lovely weekend and are ready to start this last week of May!

Letter Love

I snapped these photo's a while back and rediscovered them while browsing through my photo files this morning.  They were taken at the beautiful Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala.  D and I visited there last summer and I fell in love with these painted letters.  I think they match the mission style well.

A view of the inner courtyard at the mission.

Isn't this lettering cool?  Hope you've had a splendid week.

Driftwood, Texas

Once again, we had a beautiful weekend here in Texas.  It was warm and sunny and Saturday was the perfect day to go back to the hill country.  This time, we ventured to Driftwood to meet up with the Cornell club of Austin (D's Alma mater) at Mandola Estate, a winery and vineyard.

Even though I started the wine tasting before noon (a bit early for my standards and stomach), the wines were wonderful.  Truly, they blew a lot of the Texas wines out of the water.  They are all Italian style wines so none of them are oaky which is good for me!

On another note, I was so excited to be able to wear my new gingham shirt this weekend.  I love it!  It is loosely based off of a vintage Simplicity pattern, circa 1975 that I had bought years ago while beginning to compile my vintage pattern collection.  The wonderful gingham fabric came from the assistance league thrift shop for a whopping $2.50.  I still have plans for a different belt option, but my trusty Rachel Pally belt will have to do for now.

Then, we headed to Driftwood Vineyards, where we sat with a glass of (not great) viogner, and soaked in this wonderful view.  It was so peaceful up there and I only wish that the wine had been better.  Below us, there was a field of goats that we could hear talking and playing.  Definitely recommend for the view, just not so much for the wine.

After a while though, our tummies started rumbling and we decided that since we were already out in Driftwood, a stop off at the Salt Lick was called for.  Actually, neither of us had been to the original before.

Um.....delicious is an understatement of how good this BBQ was.  Thankfully I had ordered the small portion dinner, because there is no way that I could have finished what D had ordered.  If you go....be sure to get the habanero BBQ sauce!  So good.

Hope everyone had a great week and are excited for May!