GNO!! An exercise in character development... :)

Happy Sunday to all my fellow bloggers, friends and random readers!!

I'm going to break down my title for you first:

GNO (aka Girl's Night Out) = a MUST for the entire female population!!  If you aren't scheduling these at least once a month with your best gal pals - START NOW!!

Exercise = the writery type, of course.  But, also the literal type.  I think I seriously laughed part of my arse off last night!!  Can't complain about that ~ :)

Character Development = it's all about the games, here.  In particular - Boxers or Briefs.  If you haven't played this one - pick it up.  Seriously.  It's hilarious!!  And insightful.  Find out what your friends REALLY think about you... and link together some quirky character attributes at the same time!

Last night, my sisters and friends and I celebrated our annual Christmas GNO!!  We brought a fun $10 gift to exchange via the "left/right" game (you can google this), an appetizer to share for dinner (shrimp cocktail, bacon-wrapped l'il smokies, queso dip, spinach dip, jalapeno poppers, cheese and crackers, meatballs - num!), and also a homemade treat to exchange:

white choc chex mix, pumpkin choc chip mini loaf, butterscotch haystacks, mint brownies, creative take on cannoli, peanut brittle, and a cookie brownie - *drools*

We also, of course, had to play games and gab the night away (yeah, I got home at 3am...)  I LOVED it!!  Soooo much fun!  Did you know that getting together with your girlfriends is actually good for your health?  Seriously - look it up!  AND of course you've heard that laughter is one of the best ways to lose calories (and with what we ate last night, we needed to laugh A LOT!).

As we played our games - a hilarious round of Boxers or Briefs, in which you roll a die of I's, I want's, I have's, I dont's, etc...and your friends get to pick the best random phrase to describe you - I realized that this is a really fun way to get to know people.  It's also a great way to pick fun.  By the end of the game - I was "a whole lotta woman", who was "too much to handle", and thus became a "master debater".  Yeah - not sure I'll live this one down anytime soon - but, I'm a good sport!

We also ended up with a "Jedi Master" who loves "pink fluffy bunnies", a woman who's apparently an authority of all things "Teletubbies" and "Barney", a gal who's "good with her hands", "gives a great massage" and "wishes to run a marathon...naked", and a *warning!!  bowel movements involved* long-time sufferer of "constipation", who's addiction to laxatives has left her dependent on "Depends".  (yeah, my friends are sweethearts, no?)

Afterwards, we all wrote down a deep dark secret and an embarrassing moment to throw into a bowl.  We passed the bowl around, picked a paper to read and tried to guess who wrote it.  I'll just say I learned some interesting tid-bits about everyone!

But, seriously.  Isn't this kind of a fabulous way to do some character development for your MCs and/or supporting characters in a novel?  People's pasts, their quirks, their secrets, the things that embarrass them, etc., it's all part of what makes them who they are today and motivates the things they do, speak, think, eat, all of it!

So - my suggestion to you....if you're ever stuck wondering what you need to make your character as unique as can be?  Have a night out with good friends...

And TAKE NOTES!!!  :)   DO ANY OF YOU HAVE SOME CHARACTER-DEVELOPING GAMES TO SUGGEST?   Happy writing!

Homage to Other GREAT Artists I know - :)

I read another great blog (Lydia at "The Word is my Oyster") the other day that asked, "Where else has your creativity taken you?"  Sadly, for me...it's limited to writing (at least I hope I have talent for this!) and probably cooking (people eat what I put in front of them, so that's a good sign, right?)  Sure, there's other things I'd LIKE to be good at.  I still want to take that pottery class someday.  But, this question also got me thinking about other people I know that are AMAZINGLY talented and I thought I'd take this Sunday to pay Homage to some other great artists.

I'm starting with my mom.  Sadly, we lost her in 2006 - sooo young, only 52.  I still miss her every single day, especially around the holidays.  She was an amazing cook, an amazing decorator (everyone wanted her to design a room in their homes!) and just awesome at crafting whatever struck her fancy.  Not to mention, she was the best mother four girls could have.  I'd like to share just a handful of the wonderful things she made that I'm lucky to have in my possession:    (pardon the tacky back-drop sheet...)

My lovely mother and just one of her cool birdhouses

I LOVE these (above) birdhouses - she rocked, grouted and painted them - there are barns, churches, log cabins, all sorts - but I loved this round one.  Here's a bird bath she did:



Bird bath from the side

  

From the top

Another cool rock pot she did:



Here's a Christmas pot and topiary she created - both bases are done with tissue paper - so cool! 

She shaped and curled all that ribbon, used tissue paper on pot - awesome...



Check out the detail and wrap around the handle

Here's a reversible picture she soldered silver around:

One side

The other



Some other lovely pots and jugs:

I love the antiquing finish on the middle one!

 She even did jewelry:

My daughter as model for both

Like I said, these are just a tiny, minuscule taste of all the wonderful things she created.  They were my FAVORITE gifts and the best keepsakes ever.  I'll take hand-made over store-bought any day!

My lovely sister, Cait, is following in Mom's footsteps.  Look at this cool picture frame she made for my birthday:

I also have some fabulous friends (on-line and in-person) that have talents I can't help but envy.

Here's a little shout out to one of my best g-friends, Sarah Jebian, who is an absolutely stunning singer.  She's currently in the works of putting out her first album.  I'm soooo excited for her!!!!  She's also a dancer and an actress and just an all-around great talent.  You can check out some of her performances via her FB page here. 

And another very talented blog friend, Kelly Sansom, her blog makes me laugh and her pictures I want to BUY and FRAME and HANG all over my house!!!  She's a gifted photographer - she and her husband have a photography business in Utah called "Gallery Photography".  She also makes jewelry and gourmet cooks!  Seriously, she's awesome.  Check out her blog.

And then, of course - can't forget to give thanks to all of you - more amazing friends, bloggers, writers, and just all around GREAT people!!  You all ROCK!  Seriously!  I'm happy to have met you ALL.

Happy Sunday!!