I’ve been puttering away at my desk these days.

With my constant companions: coffee and the very big kitten that likes to sleep in my lap. It’s like she knows I get lonely when Bug is away at school.

I’ve been making all sorts of things for you guys to see along my book tour. I’m very excited about it. I think you will be too.

Production has been a little rough going. Making, fixing, making, fixing…the things I do for you! Just kidding, this is sort of like playing. But I really do hope it pays off in the end because all this playing is not paying the bills!

Five cars later, I finally got it right. Stay tuned. This post will show up on Tuesday of next week!

And this one on Wednesday. So fun! I can’t wait to see what my secret agents do with them!

Bug was inspired by the ninja costume.

Hi-Yah-Wah!

Now you see me…

Now you don’t. Wait. What? What’s going on here? I don’t know. I think she was looking for something.

Anyway, just wanted to pop in (after nearly a week of dead, dead silence) and tell you what we’ve been up to.

We also had a tea party at my grandma’s this week. I should make this a post on it’s own but the way I’ve been keeping up with the blogging…we all know that is never going to happen. So here it is squished in with another post. I hope you don’t mind.

We go over to my grandma’s and aunt Keren’s house every Wednesday for dinner and lately they’ve been doing theme dinners. (I come by my love of theme-parties genetically.) Every Wednesday my grandma asks Bug where she’d like to go for the following week’s dinner. We’ve been to Hawaii (yummy teriyaki), Thailand (for me because I love Thai food so much) and I think Italy (for Saltimboca!). Last week Bug said she wanted to go to London so my grandma and my aunt Keren put on a grand tea party spread. It was so fun! Tiny sandwiches, tea, scones with clotted cream and jam…it was fit for the Queen!

So that’s what we’ve been up to!

Mark your calendars! My book tour starts next Monday! I’ll be posting where to go here on this blog so check in.

The time has come! I finally finished SAJ Numbers and now I get to schedule a little virtual book tour. You might have thought I was going to come to your town and set up a little table and hand out cupcakes. I wish I was. Bug has perfected her signature and everything. I might do that locally but I’m not big enough to travel quite yet. But it could happen. I just need your help.

What I need right now are 26-30 bloggers who would be willing to host a little book tour for me. Just one post. There will be prizes, crafts and even a secret clue game. It’s going to be fun and don’t worry, I’ll do all the hard work for you. I will have a press release ready that you can just copy and paste blurbs from or you can interview me OR you can host a little craft that I will set up for you with printables!! It will be fun! You’ll be part of a tour with some other big bloggers (I’m calling in favors from all my old-school blogging buddies from way back) so you’ll get a lot of traffic to your site (at least that’s my evil plan anyway) because everyone will have to find the secret clue in each blog post.

Is this a mission you would like to accept? Email me and we’ll set up a date.

Numbers will drop November 15th just in time for the Kindle Fire (so you can see it in color!) The other books are already out but don’t buy them or pimp them now because I want everyone to make a big fuss on the 20th so it will get a better chance to rise to the top of the book charts and hopefully stay there if it gets good exposure. This is the strategy.

But between you and me, it’s my next book I’m excited about. The one I haven’t written yet: SAJ goes to Paris. I’m giving myself a year to illustrate it and it’s going to be full scenes instead of just illustrations on white. I’ve got a taste for this book-making business and I’m really excited about it. Maybe you’ll join me?

I keep telling myself I need to get in the habit of writing every day about the little things instead of waiting for big things to happen and then documenting them as if I’m writing a book report on my life. But days slip by as they are wont to do and my great ideas on blogging are in vain. As usual.

So here are the big things:

Bug has a two-wheeler! She inherited SuperChic’s old bike. My mom had it sitting around at her house and a neighbor offered to fix it (flat tire, stripped screws where the training wheels needed to go…it just needed a major tune-up) so my mom paid her neighbor and now we have a new bike that is old but totally cool because I didn’t shell out a buncha bucks at Walmart or somewhere even more expensive.

Recycling at it’s best! Bug totally loves it and it has not even crossed her mind that I could have bought her a shiny new Hello Kitty bike for only five hundred some bazingas. Rusty princesses for the win! Actually, it’s not that rusty, so don’t worry about Tetanus or anything. I know somebody out there was worried about that. They don’t call me a seasoned blogger for nothing.

She’s still a little bit wobbly and scared to death of how the whole bike shifts from left to right when she moves her weight from one training wheel to the other but I have no fear that before long she’ll be whizzing around faster than I can yell at her to slow down. Right now I’m thankful for her fear. Even though we live on the American Dream cul-de-sac, I have nightmares about her getting run over by some crazy moron driving down our street too fast. So we are proceeding with the bike-riding with utmost caution. If she takes all year to learn I’ll be a happy momma. But considering how long she took to learn how to scooter I think she’ll be out of training wheels by next week. Sheesh.

I just wish she’d slow down with this growing-up business!

Did you notice her dark blue corduroy jumper? If you read my post about Bug loving hand-me-downs over on my review blog, you’ll have to chuckle at this outfit. It’s Rapunzel’s from ten years ago. I never expected Bug to like it and I almost tossed it in the goodwill box when I was going through old clothes, except she pulled it out and begged to wear it. Shows you what I know.

You know why Bug likes it? Because she thought the red ladybugs at the bottom were red spotted mushrooms from Mario Brothers Mushroom Kingdom. How does my kid know about that? We don’t have Nintendo. It’s not the 80′s. I guess in today’s world all red spotted mushrooms mean super fun musical games or something. Go figure. And yes, she was a bit disappointed when I pointed out that the red mushrooms had black heads and antennae. But she still wore it anyway.

Next big thing:

My Grandma turned 85 on Wednesday. EIGHTY-FIVE!!! How is this possible? It’s really true that when you pass thirty time speeds up to warp speed. I hate the fact that I’m being so clichéd* and moaning about it. But it’s true. My Grandma is so full of vim and vigor, I’m not ready for her to be old and frail. She’s taking it gracefully though. If ever there was someone to emulate, it is my Grandma. I want to be just like her when I grow up—which should be in about five minutes by my calculations.

So we went over to her house for dinner because that is all she really wants. Material presents are not important, just spending time with family is what she really enjoys. Good thing too because I am the worst at remembering to buy thoughtful gifts when I am navigating motherhood at warp speed. Actually, I think I was bad at remembering to buy thoughtful gifts even when I was young and bored but that is neither here nor there. The important thing is that we were all together and it was super sweet.

My Aunt Keren thought Grandma would enjoy some kitten-time so my mom brought over all six kittens that she has right now. She’s babysitting my kittens until they find homes since my carpet is freshly clean and she has wood floors and she has three other kittens from a feral cat who abandoned them in her yard. Isn’t my mom nice? Yes. And I’m really trying hard not to take her for granted. By the way, five of those kittens have good loving homes and now there is only one left! Phew!

Anyway back to Grandma and the kittens. It was so sweet! The little black one curled up on her chest and slept there for a half an hour. It was adorable and I think Grandma enjoyed it but then one of her eyes started turning red and itchy so we removed the kittens and decided Grandma might be allergic to the adorable little fluff-balls. It was fun while it lasted though.

We also had root vegetables, which we all love. Best dinner EVER. It was like old times. We missed you, Aunt Kathy.

Last big thing:

I found a trench coat at Target. You guys thought I already had one didn’t you? Nope, I didn’t. I never have. It doesn’t rain here, what do I need a trench coat for? Streaking? Hah! Like that’s gonna happen. It’s all part of my made-up Secret Agent Josephine character in my head. She doesn’t have a double chin either. Bet you never noticed that. Oh you did? Blarg. Well, she’s my made-up character so I felt inclined to improve her. Them’s the perks of being an illustrator. I can draw myself any way I want to be. Be all that you can be!

Stupidly, I got rid of my knee high black boots a while back because I didn’t like the pointy heel so I will probably be investing in some new boots soon. I’m so glad that pointy-heel-pointy-toe trend is over. But knowing me, by the time I get around to shopping for some again will be back in full force. I hate fashion sometimes.

But who cares about that! How funny is Bug? She’s the best model ever. I hate to exploit her cuteness on this blog but as you can see she steals the show without even trying.

So here we are in our official garb looking so very spyish. It’s almost like we didn’t just throw on some trench coats over our sundresses and pull an impromptu photo shoot in our driveway with the neighbor who actually doesn’t know how to use my camera but did a pretty good job anyway! It’s almost good enough to put in the back of my books as my author shot I think! In fact, I think I will just do that.

Keep calm and spy on, Secret Agents!

* That d is for you, Bethany.

I’ve been doing this secret agent character thing for about ten years now and sometimes I forget how fun it is. At times it’s been a thorn in my side because it didn’t always match up with who I am. I’m a mom, I’m a graphic artist/illustrator, what does spying have to do with that? Why didn’t I pick another name for my blog? But that is what I picked way back then and now I’m known for it. It would be a shame to abandon a brand that I’ve by default worked at for so long.

So when my neighbor stopped by with two pairs of “secret agent” glasses that she picked up at the local dollar store, I saw a glimpse of how fun this secret agent gig is for other people. It dawned on me that I really should just get into it already. In fact, now that I’m getting ready to launch a book tour and I going to visit some kindergarten classrooms and possibly a home for children (all while in costume) I should embrace this character more than ever. So I am. I’m buying a trench coat. I’m stocking up on glasses and I’m digging out my spy boots from the back of the closet.

Keep your eyes peeled. You might just spy me spying on you in the near future.

What I’m really thinking is, why did I have to go and ugly-up that super cute picture of some micro-spies?

They’re so into the spy thing. It kills me.

Which brings me to my next book: Numbers! I’m slower than molasses in January but I am actually starting on it.

I think I’m going to need help on it. Are there any techie geeks (and I say that in admiration, not jest) out there who would like to help me with my research? I will include you in my end notes! Email me.

Over and out.

I haven’t blogged in so long you probably thought I died. I bet you thought that big fat Pop-Tart haunted mansion from my last old moldy post fell on me and killed me dead. I can just see my avocado green and black striped witch tights sticking out from underneath the house like the wicked witch of the West.

Nope. I’m still alive. Some days barely.

I have actually been buried in work, which is a good thing because I’ve finally decided to ramp up my freelance business and become an official working mom. I’m not working in an office or anything but I am rocking and rolling on some big freelance jobs. I hope to have my business website up in a week or so. I’ll share that with you when it happens. It’s pretty exciting. Not a mind-blowing design or anything but at least it will be something so my prospective clients can see what I really do. If you know anyone looking for a graphic illustrator, put the word out for me. I’ll love you forever!

In other news, I am still in Texas! As you would expect, I’m picking up the drawl and people are starting to think I’m a local yokel. I love it here. The food, the people, the great expanses of green space…if I weren’t so attached to California, I’d move here in a heartbeat.

Bug has been having a blast. She thinks she’s the OMSH family’s long-lost fourth kid. They play all sorts of crazy complicated games while I work away on my laptop in the schoolroom. I have to admit it tickles my heart to see her sneaking around with the gang, plotting elaborate spy games while armed with a pink hat, a pink puffy skirt and a Nerf gun. It’s a very refreshing sight since I’m about as sick as one can get of playing kitty and being named “Flower.”

“Stick ‘em up! Give me all your money!”

What? The pink skirt and pink hat aren’t intimidating enough? (They are actually pink, not red. Forgive my poor photography.) How about that red laser beam piercing your forehead? Just kidding around. Isn’t her hat cute? Sonja made it for Bug to match mine because now that I have a new red hat Bug thinks her old blue one is just not girly enough. She loves her new hat and even though it hasn’t been a bit cold here she wears it around the house regularly.

I know these pictures are not the best quality. That’s what I get for backlighting people and shooting in low light but I thought they told a good story. I just wanted to let you know we are still alive and kicking. Or at least Bug is. I’m sitting my butt in OMSH’s funky green office chair and cranking on freelance work.

I hope to have more tales for you soon! In the meantime don’t miss my Bowly Bowl post (yes, I wrote an entire post about bowls) for your chance to win $100 before I close up the comments on Monday!

Since I’m here in DC and I know a lot of bloggers and readers who live around here (Hi Shanee and Christine and Carrie!), we decided to organize a meet-up at a local coffee shop in Alexandria. Thanks to the tip from Kris.

Alexandria is such a cute neighborhood. It sort of reminded me of home, with the houses super close to each other and the coffee shops, parks and little delis all in walking distance of each other. The shop owners even give out dog treats to the patrons who have dogs which is TOTALLY just like home.

We stopped at a little cheese store called The Cheesetique. We do not have cheese stores at home, what a shame. It was such a cute little shop. Troy told me to pick out a bottle of wine to take home to their house for dinner but I was so busy chatting with my new friends and making sure Bug didn’t knock over something breakable that I got distracted and before I knew it everyone was moving on to the ice cream store down the street and I forgot about it. My loss! I could have had a thirty dollar souvenir bottle thanks to Troy. Oh well. It probably wouldn’t have packed very well in my suitcase anyway.

They also sold eight dollar candy bars! That’s almost as expensive as back home. Just kidding. I really liked the paper they used to wrap these candy bars. That paper alone probably cost a buck a sheet.

I love discovering little neighborhoods like this and hanging out with web buddies. I know everyone thinks it’s scary to meet people off the internet but I have found that they make the best kind of friends. We so often have the same interests and same sense of humor no matter how far apart we live from each other. I know… you’re rolling your eyes at my sappiness but it really is true. That’s how I met Bethany after all. And now she’s flying me across the country to unpack her house!

Which by the way is 80% done! It only required about five trips to IKEA to get there. Just kidding…only three trips, I think. We probably need to go at least two more times to return stuff that didn’t work out.

One of those trips was to meet Mamalang who couldn’t make it to our blogger meet-up in Alexandria. Ikea is such a great place to meet friends. You can stroll around and talk while your kids live it up in Småland. Bug LOVES Småland these days. I know Toby is going to kill me when I tell him I dropped Bug off at some random playland in the middle of Washington DC to be watched by complete strangers but actually Småland is super safe and you pretty much have to show your passport and a DNA test just to get your kid back.

The next day (I think, I’ve sort of lost count of the days) we went back to Washington DC to visit the Spy Museum that I’ve been wanting to see ever since Bethany told me about it two years ago.

I was really looking forward to taking some super cool spy photos for my collection but guess what? They don’t allow photography in the museum!!!! I was bummed. But I guess it makes sense. They probably couldn’t charge as much admission if bloggers like me revealed all their secrets and there were some documents, like a real letter from George Washington, that could not survive flash photography. It was a disappointment but we still had a pretty good time. It wasn’t the most kid-friendly museum and I probably would have spent a bit more time if I didn’t have a little person exclaiming they were bored every five minutes but I’m glad I went.

The museum was divided up into several parts. Most of the parts were devoted to different times in history and the different kinds of espionage and intelligence that were used. I really liked the stories about female spies. But what stuck with me is that all the stories both fiction and non-fiction pale in comparison to reality. Because a real spy never tells their secrets. Or at least not all of them anyway.

Bethany and I did sneak one stealth photo from Bethany’s camera in her purse. I know, tsk tsk…but it was a spy museum after all. They were practically daring us.

At least we got some cool spy eyes photos outside.

And of course some stealth ninja moves…

The other day I was looking for a garden shop to visit. Something to inspire me to get started on making Bug’s birthday party invitations. For those not in the loop: Bug’s requested a “seed” party. It’s a bit odd but I like a challenge. I think I’m going to spin it in a garden direction.

I didn’t know where a local garden store was so I asked Twitter. Twitter is so wonderful. Within minutes I had two locations to visit. One of them was City Farmer’s Nursery. While it wasn’t all that helpful with my birthday party inspiration, it was a super fantastic adventure. This place is huge! And it’s right in the middle of the city! Talk about a secret find!

There are twisty paths everywhere and something new to discover at every turn. Everything is delightfully overgrown and decidedly unorthodox. One of their claims is that they carry the plants that big-box garden stores won’t. I believe it. I didn’t get to meet the owner but I hear from the employees that he’s quite a character. If I lived closer I could easily be inspired to buy something new and different to grow.

As you can see Bug had a great time. There were new friends to meet and a playground to play on. We could have stayed all day. Bug wanted to. She turned me into a regular nag trying to get her to go to the store so I could buy a seed packet to base my birthday-invitation design on. If I was more familiar with the place I would have just let her run wild but there were ponds to fall into and mud to be played in so I kept her close by me.

Cats, chickens, turkeys, turtles, fish, worms, twisting turning paths, a playground and a hundred places to hide…it’s a kids’ paradise!

And lots of plants too, of course.

After all that adventuring, I needed a cup of coffee. Guess what?! There’s a cafe next door. How cool is that? It’s a bit of a dive but I love dives! Coffee-shop coffee might not taste gourmet but it packs a nice caffeine punch. And get this: their credit-card machine was down and I didn’t have a lot of cash so I just ordered a cup of coffee for me and some bacon for Bug. Next thing I knew, the cook came over and gave Bug a little bowl of banana slices that he said he found in the kitchen. Five minutes after that he “found” an extra pancake with butter and syrup and gave that to Bug too. It was the sweetest thing. I’m glad I did have enough cash to give him a big tip.

Not bad for a day’s adventure. Thanks for the lead Urban Housewife!

Maisonnette did not disappoint. It was such a cute store! All my local friends should definitely check it out and let them know SAJ sent you. No, this is not a paid plug but the owner is a friend of my family and I would love to send them business.

They hardly need my plug. The whole store is filled with amazingly beautiful fabrics that you can’t find in the big box fabric stores. And the staff… well they’re wonderful of course! Not to mention the beach is just a few blocks away. It is the perfect destination for anyone looking for a fun outing.

As you can see the shop is very kid-friendly. Bug had a blast running around and stressing me out by throwing a fabric ball all over the place. Madeline and her mom assured me that Bug wasn’t bothering them but she sure bugged me. Maybe I just need more patience. Thankfully, the fabric ball didn’t break anything. I guess that’s the upside of everything being made of fabric.

Just look at all those pretty colors! Doesn’t it just make you want to collect it like candy? I think I could dream up a sewing project for almost every single bolt in there. There wasn’t one fabric I didn’t love. But I refrained and only bought one piece of fabric to go with some fabric I already bought at pearlsoho.

By the way, did you guys know that purlsoho has a warehouse in Irvine? It’s a top secret that Caylee shared with me. There’s no sign on the door or anything and it’s tucked away in a business park that isn’t exactly easy to find BUT it is open to the public so if you have a thing for fabric and you live in Orange County, email me and I’ll hook you up. It’s not exactly cheap but you don’t have to pay for shipping!

But before you go there make sure you visit Maisonnette first! Three cheers for fabric!

Today is your lucky day! August and September calendars are available for you to download finally!

I also have a super fun craft up at Alpha+Mom. I know, I always say they are super fun (and they are) but this one is SUPER fun and easy. I’d even venture to say it’s easier than the Snowglobe Soaps. Not much mess and you don’t need any supplies other than last night’s take-out container! Seriously.

If you make one of these, please add it to my Undercover Crafts Club. I would really love to see what other people come up with!

Personally, I’m wearing mine out tonight.

I’m feeling illustratorly tonight so I made you some free valentines to download. If you don’t have any color ink in your printer, there’s a black and white version that your kids can color.

Then when you’re done join my secret club and upload your masterpieces!

If you’ve enjoyed these there are more here! And if you find yourself printing out dozens, donate to the cause and have good karma for seven years!