home sweet home.

10 days away from home, and one can get a little bit disoriented. At least for me, 10 days away from the mountains makes me dizzy. I had an awesome trip, celebrating my book with tons of kids and friends and family, but man, I am exhausted! We drove home last night just before sunset time, the mesa and mountains looking so vibrant and alive thanks to a much needed rain. My favorite part of the drive up from Albuquerque is coming out of the canyon, up the last roller coaster hill, when all you can see out from your windshield is a massive, wide and winding crack in the earth. My stomach drops EVERY time as it appears we are driving into it. The wild and beautiful Rio Grand Gorge. Instantly, I take the biggest, fullest, deepest breath I've had since I left, and I make Patrick pull over so I can 'try' to capture it for you. Just no justice here, but perhaps a taste.

The road continues thru Taos and climbs up another 1000 ft. As we near home, the skies rain more, and smell of pinons and sage just about knock us over--in the best way possible. Oso and Ladoo prance and cry sweet doggie whines of joy, and we run into our garden, squatting next to every little green sprig, and cheer. All is fine on the home front--except for the folded-over fence--yes, hibernation time is over, and our bear is back. (Guess Oso + Ladoo have been sleeping on the job!) 15 minutes later, the rain stops and paints an insanely beautiful rainbow in our backyard. DANG! I love it here! And thanks to the skies for raining ALL night long.

I'll write a post soon about my trip! I had such a fun time at the schools. Also, tomorrow my student and friend from Sunshine School in Nepal, Surya, is coming for a long visit! What a sweet reunion that will be. I hope you are all doing well!

special post for the 2nd & 3rd Graders of Spring Lake Magnet!

Hello 2nd and 3rd grade students!
It's me, Jenny Sue. I heard that my book, My Travelin' Eye, found its way into your classrooms. I hope you enjoyed it! Did you know that story is about me? Remember the little green bird outside the classroom window? That was my bird, Cracker, and I really found him outside the window! He was my pet for many years. He sat on my shoulder and hung on the side of my glasses while he plucked at the Bugs Bunny embossed on the rim.

When I was little, I loved to read books and draw. My sister (you know her as Miss Kostecki) and I set up an office in our closet under our hanging clothes. She sat at one end and wrote long, rhyming poems and said I could be her illustrator. I knew then that I wanted to be an artist for my whole life! Being an artist is a lot of fun, but it's also hard work. Lucky for me, my travelin' eye still loves to roam about and discover new things!

I know you all love to read, too, because I heard your school won the READ AROUND THE WORLD contest! (For anyone reading this post who doesn't know, the students at Spring Lake Magnet read 101,000 books in THREE months!) This is an amazing accomplishment! You are very inspiring to me. What books were your favorite? Here are a few books I read recently and liked. Do you like to write stories and draw pictures, too? If you'd like, I'll show you how I made my book during my visit next week--from start to finish--and then maybe you'll make one that I can read!

Also, I was wondering, do any of YOU have travelin' eyes? If you do, raise your hand. (Can teachers take count?)

Hmmm. Are you sure you don't have one? Didn't you know that EVERYONE is born with a travelin' eye? It's true. It's just that some get tired and fall asleep. As Dr. Dave says, "We must wake it up and set it straight!" So that's just what you are going to do!

In preparation for our project next week, which by the way, is going to be a GIANT 2nd & 3rd Grade creative-collaboration, you are all going to make a travelin' eye. (And for any of you who already have a travelin' eye, then you'll be doing double the travelin'!) Your teachers are going to give you a plain, round circle (much like Jenny Sue's plain, round patch), and you can design a travelin' eye (aka an artist eye). So have FUN! Make them colorful, playful, bold, abstract--however you like! Then, next week, your travelin' eyes will be made into buttons so you can wear them. AND for our big project (and your whole life), they'll help you see UP and down, and ALL AROUND. Think of it as a turbo-charge of creativity!

Btw, leave me a comment below--just select 'anonymous' and sign your name in the comment. I'd love to hear from you!

See you next week! We're going to have a lot of fun!
Jenny Sue

P.S. I heard you like to play trivia. Can any of you guess who is who in this picture?

flip floppers in India.

We dug in our garden for most of today. Felt so alive. Backbreaking and energizing at the same time. Our greenhouse is busting with little baby seedlings! And Oso, as always, holds down the "chill" vibe in the garden. His name means "bear", but he's more like a lion.



I was looking through our India photos and found this hilarious video I thought I'd share for no other reason than to make y'all laugh.

Meet the Plastic Toy Wallah of Rishikesh and his dancing toys! They caught our eyes as we were strolling along the Ganga. How could they not? After he explained the majic of his flip-floppers, we dished out the rupees for a pair of our own. Big aspirations of sidewalk shows back in the U.S. flashed in our minds. Our mistake, though, was not testing our super duo until we got back to our guesthouse. Lesson learned: one can never trust a Plastic Toy Wallah in India. Our dancing flippers turned out to be a flop without its magical opposing magnets. The next morning (over chai and paratha) Patrick fumed and wrote at the top of our daily list of to-dos: Number 1: VISIT TOY WALLAH + EXCHANGE FOR LIVE ONES. Only, this was a traveling salesman who obviously counted his blessings (or suckers) and musta moved down stream in a hurry.




Also, check these out: Doug posted his inspiring seven! And Jim has been posting his, one by one. And the new CA arrived in my mailbox this week, and there is a total treasure in it!--an article on Sterling Hundley...oh, my! YOU MUST GET. And, for any of you in the midwest, I posted some upcoming book events on my sidebar.

Been doing so much "office" work, I'm ready for a clearing of time and a week full of painting...

my travelin' eye book party!

Picture a beautiful day, all sunny and warm with fresh snow frosting the mountain tops. You are surrounded by so many people (both familiar and new) smiling and laughing and coloring--all sharing in a dream of yours come-true. What could possibly be better? You feel so supported and loved and simply, HAPPY. If you can imagine, this was my yesterday.

The My Travelin' Eye party at TWIRL was SO much fun. I'm marking it down as one of the best days ever. My Travelin’ Eye was a few years in the making, but to me, it felt like it really came to life yesterday. I want to thank everyone who came--and everyone who was their in spirit. It meant the world to me and to little Jenny Sue, too! And the kids--they were so sweet and curious and excited and beautiful. Every time I looked up while I read and saw their wide eyes and tall eyebrows (and their groovy, travelin' eye buttons pinned on their shirts), I smiled even bigger. It was the first time I read my book to a room packed with people, and they liked it! (which made it even more fun!) Also, it was the first time ever when I spoke in front of people and knew my eye was flying all over the room, and I wasn't embarrassed or shy about it. (man, that was so nice...) I hope everyone enjoys their new book! Also, a BIG thanks to Patrick and the Wonder-Women of Twirl who made it such a fun event!

7 things.

(click to see better...)

1. When I was little, I would sit in a box and draw pictures.

2. I had a Papa Smurf Doll that I LOVED. I remember giving him hundreds of beard trimmings 'til he had a charming five o’clock shadow and little white beads snowed out.

3. My dad had this awesome, huge swivel chair in his downstairs office, and my friend Tisa and I would take turns spinning each other 'til we had out of body experiences running upside down on the checkerboard ceiling.

4. My stylish green pants with the Polish embroidery and vertical ribbed lines. I'm saving these for if I have a daughter someday!

5. My FAVORITE shirt: The Incredible Hulk.

6. Fighty + Gertrude, the 2 crawfish pets my sister Renee and I rescued from the live-well in my Dad’s bass boat in the garage. We kept them in a sherbert container and let them play on our driveway.

And 7. My thick glasses with the super springy frames sporting Bugs Bunny on the side.

I'm going to keep adding to this list...It's addicting! There are so many memories I want to record! Priya had tagged me to share '7 things'. I'm tagging these: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. No pressure, no hurry. Just, sometime, share 7 things: sketches, inspirations, paintings, photos, music, stories, or...

book fun at TWIRLhouse on Saturday!

If you're in or near Taos, New Mexico this Saturday, April 12th, come join me at Twirl Toystore & Kidspace from 11am - 12pm for a My Travelin' Eye release party. Twirl is the coolest place, imagined up by 5 moms and 8 kids. (Thanks for your support, Twirl!) It'll be one hour of pure FUN! I'll read my book, and you can make your own travelin' eyes!

Hope to see you there! Also, a big thanks to Amy over at Red Fish Circle for her post about my book! If you haven't seen Amy's blog/work, you'll love it!

my travelin' eye is a real book!

Woohoo! My Travelin' Eye is out! It's a real book, hard bound and all. Hee. hee. It's so surreal. I still remember the day my editor left the message on my machine. She called the day she got my dummy to say she wanted to publish it. I kept that message for almost 2 years for times when I thought I was dreaming (yes, I'm a dork). Patrick had her message memorized and could impersonate her New York accent to a t. He'd just blurt it out from time to time to make me laugh.

I remember thinking, "This is a huge responsibility and honor--to make a book for kids." (I also remember praying a lot that I'd do my best.)

The first thing I did was made a Jenny Sue doll...oui...I am a pathetic doll maker. She turned out akward and goofy and wobbly (I had to stitch a small tree branch to her back and head to keep her head upright). AND, she was the oh-so perfect companion for months of painting. (Plus, she was fun to talk to and make talk and pose.) The process of painting the book was SO fun, really. Mostly smooth. I giggled a whole lot. Only had one freak-out moment when I couldn't paint to save my life, but luckily it passed.

I had the BEST experience with my editor, too. She ROCKS. She saw my vision from the beginning and had tons of faith in me, even though I'd never written or illustrated a book before. It really helps to have an editor who believes in you.

And Patrick...he was my NUMERO UNO support. And my parents, my best cheerleaders. So many people were apart of it in some way, inspiring and energizing me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

I've received so many fun emails and calls from friends this week who already have my book. It just makes me SOOO happy! So, so, happy. (I'd LOVE to hear from you, too, when you read it!) Sharing it--finally--is the best part of it all. And, I can tell, the fun is just beginning...

xo, jenny sue