I was away on vacation in beautiful Jupiter, Florida. I usually find vacations get in the way of daily creativity, but this was the perfect vacation and I wrote most days. While we were stranded in the airport due to high winds at home, I whipped out my computer and designed a vacation photo album.

I need a butter dish. I love to make large meals and to feed people and to use the good china. I like to make meals feel fancy and special and then someone asks for butter. I bring out a stick of butter in it's wrapper, sometimes on a salad plate. There is nothing wrong with that, but if you knew me, you would know I feel a sense of shame about my lack of a butter dish. Today, I spent a good amount of time at a NYC establishment known as Make Meaning, painting a butter dish. I used two glazes - "smiley face" and "happy go lucky"- to paint a mod inspired butter dish. Of course I forgot to take a photo before it headed off to the kiln. I also tried my hand at making a glass ring. I assembled glass fragments and prepped them to head into the kiln as well. I will post pictures once I pick them up.

For those who need to see what I make, I also made a new recipe for dinner - lamb chops provencal. I love lamb and I love these lamb chops! So did my father and husband. The recipe is from Rozanne Gold's "Healthy Eating 1-2-3."

Valentine's Day is a busy holiday for me because I have a three and a half year old daughter who is obsessed with pink, hearts, love, and candy. Originally, my husband and I were going to treat it like any other Monday, but at the last minute I decided a date was in order. My most amazing cousin was free to babysit and I scored a reservation at Gotham Bar and Grill. (We actually had a gift card to cover most of the meal!)

As for making stuff, I was busy in the realm of the written word. More revising, but revising is important and truth be told, way less scary than writing new stuff. I also wrote a long inscription in the book I gave my husband for Valentine's Day. A long inscription was needed to make "The Atlantic," by Simon Winchester into a romantic gift.

I hope each one of you had the exact kind of Monday you hoped for.

Sorry I did not post last night. The internets was not cooperating. Last night I finished up this thank you "card." I used a 3" x 5" canvas and painted both sides. Then I wrote my message on the back. I used acrylics, wax crayons, paper and ink.

I am petrified of paint but I decided to work really hard to get some depth. I had a bit of success and including some paper made me feel more in my element. I mixed colors and watered some of the paint down. I do not think I am destined to be a painter but I had fun and hopefully the recipient will like the card and the sentiment.

My eyes opened at five this morning and I hung out for twenty minutes unsure if I should get up and write. Five is awfully early. At 5:20, I swung my feet to the floor, grabbed some extra layers, and headed to the kitchen. I heard water rushing through the pipes in the walls reminding me that other people get up at this wee-hour to get ready for their day. Someone else in my building, or several someone elses, was up, showering, grooming, and primping, and preparing to go about their daily business. I fixed a pot of coffee and as the coffee maker went to work, so did I. I worked for over an hour on fixing tenses and "braiding" four pieces to my story. It was hard work and although I now have the form down, I have left behind a cut and paste mess that I will need to clean up later on, perhaps tomorrow.

My daughter has just woken up and she is no mood to be trifled with. I will let my husband deal with that situation today and I will begin my morning chores.

I have been busy making, making, making today but I have no pictures. I made a fancy breakfast of a salmon and asparagus hash which I topped with a runny, fried egg. Then I finished up a knitting/embroidery gift for a particular someone and then took my daughter to paint pottery at a place called Make Meaning on the Upper West Side. I will share pictures after gift recipients have received said gifts!

Today's TAD is a bit different to me and alas, there are no pictures. Since I started participating in TAD in 2008, my creative self has been reawakened. I started "making things" and writing about "making things." I found that when I put a little bit of effort into my writing, each piece turned out pretty well-written. I have always enjoyed writing well, but I rarely take the time to bother writing these days. Then, a few months ago, I allowed myself to embark on a project of personal essay writing. Each essay is related to one of the many activities that would be considered TAD worthy but all are connected by themes such as generations, the human body, and class. Part of my goal for TAD is to figure out how to write more consistently in different environments because my schedule isn't anything if not in constant flux and I would like to write everyday. So there will be days where my TAD is writing and on those days I will tell you about my experience writing that day. I will not be sharing my work as I am not in a workshopping state of mind just yet. Today I worked on restructuring one of my essays - my first essay - into a non-linear form. As a dyslexic woman, I have worked so hard to think and write in a linear fashion. Except for the constant change in my tense within a paragraph in early drafts, I have gotten big picture linear story telling down, so now, to keep me and my readers on my toes, I have decided to leave linear alone and pursue a structure that writer Brenda Miller refers to as "braiding."

Cross your fingers for me as this may result in tears and tremendous frustration.

Superbowl Sunday always lends itself to football oriented TADs. In preparation for this year's game, I made a Dark Beer & Beef Chili and a loaf of beer bread. The chili was the key ingredient to part of today's TAD.

My friends Trisha and Christopher, Texas transplants to NYC came over to watch the game. I taught Trisha how to knit a simple scarf (so I did some knitting as well) and Trisha and Christopher introduced my husband, my father and me to "Frito Pie," a traditional Texas stadium food.

Frito Pie sounds so bad that you know it has to be good. To make it, we each took an individual bag of Fritos, cut the top off, spooned in some chili, top it with cheddar and onions, grab a napkin or two (the bag gets hot), and a plastic fork and voila, Frito Pie. It is eaten directly from the bag. I also did some face painting - a Texas star and beer bottle for Trisha, a Greenbay G (backwards oopsie) and a football for me, and a cupcake and a birthday cake for my daughter. TAD: Superbowl XLV Edition was pretty fun this year.

Today's TAD was brunch + valentine making with my old pal Reine. Reine came over with her daughter Leda and I made brunch for my the whole crew. On the menu was eggs with tomatoes and chives and challah french toast with berries in an orange syrup. The berries in orange syrup was TAD worthy as I had never made anything like that before. I wished the syrup was a bit thicker but the recipe is below.

After we all had full tummies, the girls ran off to play and Reine and I had our own playtime. We made Valentines. A redacted version of mine is included in this post in case the recipient takes a look-see. Berries in Orange Syrup

1/4 cup fresh squeezed o.j.
1/2 cup superfine sugar
2 cups scant mixed fresh berries

Combine juice and sugar in a medium pan and bring to a boil over low heat until sugar has completely dissolved. Stir in berries. Turn off heat. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

This is recipe is from, "Brunch: The Perfect Weekend Treat," by Jennifer Donovan.