The fruits of summer.

It's official. Summer is here. It's been years since I've eaten fruit that had smell and taste. This year I've been lucky. There is nothing, really, nothing quite like a sweet dark red plum, (except soft serve ice cream).

There is a lot going on here at the studio. I am thrilled to be teaching three (!) classes at ANG Seminar in 2009. I know, it seems a long time away, but work on pieces for Seminar begins two years ahead of time. I can't tell you much about the classes but I promise some exciting, eye-candy offers. I will be teaching a Cyberworkshop for ANG and although that too is a long way off, we all know about the "time flies" thing. This workshop will be a bit of a departure from my signature work, which makes it particularly exciting to prepare.

I know I've been talking a lot about new designs in the works and you probably don't believe me by now, but REALLY there are some great new ones. So what's keeping them, you ask? All the other parts of my life.

In just 3 weeks husband, child and myself will be departing on a journey into the past. We are going on a week long trip to Poland in search of our roots. It will be an emotional journey to see where my parents were born, where my ancestors lived their lives and where, tragically, some of them perished. We will be 10 family members traveling together. Organizing, planning and executing the details has been overwhelming. From Poland we are taking our yearly trek to Israel to be with my family. Between booking hotels and tours, checking to see which summer cloths my little cutie has grown out of, making arrangements for the bird and making some hand-made gifts for my little nieces, all plans for launching the new designs have been pushed back. Luckily, Alexandra, my trusty assistant, has been taking care of shipping out orders and keeping the studio organized.

Oh, and did I tell you school's out, so keeping Nina busy is yet another chore, albeit a fun one.

So, go out and get some wonderful juicy fruit and enjoy a wonderful summer day!