Thursday, October 9, 2014

"Journey into the Unknown"

Bridging Worlds... Crossing Borders... Fearing Nothing


The ENERI Access Series Presents: "Crossing Borders" at Zhou B Art Center 10/17/14; 10/9 at Vora; 10/22 at Oishii Thai


I am one of several featured artists for this fabulous event that exposes Chicago to many artists of all mediums!  My paintings were selected to be shown, including "Journey into the Unknown", the featured title image for the program:

This original painting by artist Kimbirdlee is a visual portrayal of 
a human being fulfilling his destiny in a creative union of Yin and Yang.  
Symbolism plays a large role in this Chinese Brush Painting, 
honoring an ancient art form. 

The waterfall is a source of endless life and boundless energy,
 the bridge is the connection of one to all and all to one, 
the little fisherman is each of us and the boat is our mode of travel through life.  
Just like each of us, he faces a world of mystery and beauty, and he moves forward.  
The hope is that we can meet the unknown with peace and courage 
in our hearts and minds.

Kimbirdlee painted this piece with traditional Chinese brushes, 
watercolor and Chinese black ink on handmade rice paper.  
She is a visual and performing artist who resides in NYC and WI.
It is a HUGE honor to be a part of this cross-culture, cross-medium, cross-country endeavor!!!

The "Crossing Borders" video, produced by ENERI, will be released for this event, including these amazing artists:

“Crossing Borders: The Video”
An ENERI Group Audio-Visual Show Set to Matt Miller’s Original Music from his CD “Daydreams”
showcasing artwork by

Benjamin “Benz” Abino, Photographer
Ken Carl, Photographer
Susan Cua, Painter
Rieny G. Cualoping, Photographer
Kimbirdlee Fadner, Chinese Brush Painter
Dan Gutierrez, Videographer/Editor
Amie Hana, Photographer
Matt Miller, Chinese Brush, Watercolor Painter and Oil Painter
Michael Nguyen, Photographer – Bright Young Star
Injung Oh, Painter
Martino Tangkar, Photographer
Derek Tokarzewski, Photographer
Lauren Uchima, Photographer/Blogger – Bright Young Star




The ENERI Access Series Presents: "Crossing Borders" at Zhou B Art Center:
Friday, October 17, 2014 - 7:00pm to 10:00pm
  
In Celebration of 2014 Chicago Artists Month
and the 10th Anniversary* of Chicago’s Renowned Zhou B Art Center

The ENERI Access Series Presents:
"Crossing Borders"
at Zhou B Art Center

featuring

LIVE IN CONCERT!

Musician/Singer/Songwriter
RUSSELL KUZUHARA
LOUELLA MANINGAS CABALONA, Singer
BARON CABALONA, Drummer and Bassist

Introducing selected recorded works by Musician/Composer/Singer/Songwriter
MATT MILLER

(ENERI reserves the right to substitute artists in the case of an emergency.)

 and

“Crossing Borders: The Video”
An ENERI Group Audio-Visual Show Set to Matt Miller’s Original Music from his CD “Daydreams”
showcasing artwork by

Benjamin “Benz” Abino, Photographer
Ken Carl, Photographer
Susan Cua, Painter
Rieny G. Cualoping, Photographer
Kimbirdlee Fadner, Chinese Brush Painter
Dan Gutierrez, Videographer/Editor
Amie Hana, Photographer
Matt Miller, Chinese Brush, Watercolor Painter and Oil Painter
Michael Nguyen, Photographer – Bright Young Star
Injung Oh, Painter
Martino Tangkar, Photographer
Derek Tokarzewski, Photographer
Lauren Uchima, Photographer/Blogger – Bright Young Star

With

Excerpts from the photo book, “Everyday Inspirations for Mindful Living” created by Rieny G. Cualoping with 'Isms by Arun Sampanthavivat, AAA Five Diamond Chef, Owner of Arun’s Thai Restaurant, Chicago; Artist, Poet, Writer and Songwriter; and Leader, Development of Chicago’s Thai Town Project

Celebrity Presenters include:
Nesita Kwan, Health Editor/Anchor/Reporter, NBC 5 Chicago TV News (10/17/14)
Lakhi Siap, Managing Partner/Community Relations, AsceneChicago.com (10/9/14 and 10/17/14)

Crossing Borders 

ENERI playfully present the 18th Annual Chicago Artists Month theme, “Crossing Borders,” in several ways – between colorful Chicago neighborhoods, across state and national borders, through several artistic genres that include music, video, photography, painting and prose. This project will showcase Chicago and Wisconsin artists crossing various age groups.

Musician/composer/singer/songwriter Matt Miller of Mukwonago, Wisconsin has composed and written over 300 songs. His original compositions will form the framework of a live musical performance scheduled on Friday, October 17, 2014 at Chicago’s renowned Zhou B Art Center (1029 West 35th Street, Chicago, Illinois 60609, http://www.zhoubartcenter.com) during its regular monthly innovative “Third Fridays ” *series (7 p.m. – 10 p.m.)
Established by the world-famous Zhou Brothers, the Zhou B Art Center has become a creative hub crossing borders between Chicago and the international art community.

The October 17th Third Friday exciting musical performance will feature performing in public for the first time live, Chicago artists Russell Kuzuhara (guitarist/singer/songwriter) with Louella Maningas Cabalona (singer) and Baron Cabalona (drummer and bassist), of the popular SamaSama Project Filipino fusion band fame. (Last year, SamaSama Project appeared in concert at Broadway star Lea Salonga’s Chicagoland concert at the Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University.)

"Crossing Borders: The Video,” will be screened in large projection that evening. Videographer Dan Gutierrez will take us visually through Chicago neighborhoods in his new “1SecondVideo,” created especially for this project, and we celebrate crossing other physical borders in a vibrant audio-visual composite musical video (set to Matt Miller’s original music from his CD album “Daydreams,”) that includes artwork by eight photographers and four painters.

Matt Miller’s Chinese brush, watercolor and oil paintings will be showcased in “Crossing Borders: The Video,” as well as that of his sister Kimbirdlee Fadner, a professional actress/singer/dancer/painter of Wisconsin and New York. Guests will enjoy everyday engagements in the pastel paintings by artist Susan Cua (Greenleaf Art Center, Chicago’s Rogers Park) from her Chicago and European collections; vibrant scenes of Macaw by popular international destination, theater, documentary, and wedding photographer Ken Carl; while Bright Young Stars Michael Nguyen and Lauren Uchima showcase breathtaking panoramic views taken during their respective recent trips to Mexico City and Japan. Lauren Uchima’s story will feature excerpts in prose from her blog story on the trip to her homeland.

Rising star Injung Oh (Zhou B Art Center: 33 Contemporary Gallery; Bluerider ART Taipei) shares some of her paintings, such as those shown in “Volossom,” a solo exhibition that featured her work in a 2013 exhibition in Taipei City, Taiwan.

Bold conceptual borders are crossed in the work of popular celebrity fashion photographer Amie Hana and fashion photographers Derek Tokarzewski and Benjamin “Benz” Abino (“Tiara” Magazine), while Martino Tangkar, 2014-2015 Chair of the Asian American Coalition of Chicago, a systems engineer by profession but an avid photographer and community leader, captures up scenes of Chicago’s communities at work and play.
Rounding it all up will be prose, some selected from Project Creator Rieny G. Cualoping’s photo book, “Everyday Inspirations for Mindful Living,” which features her photography and everyday ‘isms by AAA Five Diamond Chicago Chef Arun Sampanthavivat, who is also an accomplished artist, poet, writer and songwriter; and currently leading the development of Chicago’s Thai Town Project (in the former 17th District Chicago Police Department Station.)

Everyone attending this multi-media extravaganza will be touched with the telling of these personal stories and the artistic talent exhibited by these bright stars.

The October 17th events are free and open to the public.
Food and Drink – Culinary creations, small batch wines and craft beers, will be available for purchase at Kenmare Catering’s EAT ART Pavilions.

NOTE: Matt Miller is based in Wisconsin and Kimbirdlee Fadner is based in Wisconsin and New York. All other project artists listed are Chicago or Chicagoland-based.

SCHEDULE

Thursday, October 9, 2014 at Vora, 1028 North Clark Street, Chicago, 6 p.m.- 8 p.m. (Looped On TV Screens, During regular dinner/bar hours; regular menu available for purchase; Saketina talk by mixologist Paul Ko, featuring Asian Saketinis for special Lucky $8 pricing) http://www.vorachicago.com (Registration at https://enerivora10914.eventbrite.com) hashtags #ENERIChicago #VoraChicago.

Friday, October 17, 2014 at Zhou B Art Center, 1029 West 35th Street, Chicago, 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. (During Third Friday/Zhou B Art Center 10th Anniversary Celebration Series – On the Big Screen with live musical concert!) http://www.zhoubartcenter.com (Registration athttps://enerizhou101714.eventbrite.com) hashtags #ENERIChicago #ZhouBArtCenter

SUBURBAN RELEASE: Wednesday, October 22, 2014 at Oishii Thai, 1113 Weiland Road, Buffalo Grove, Illinois, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m. (Looped On TV Screen, During regular dinner/bar hours; regular menu available for purchase) http://www.oishiithai.com(Registration at https://eneriothai102214.eventbrite.com) hashtags #ENERIChicago #othai

YouTube Release - Friday, October 31, 2014 on The ENERICom Channel (TENTATIVE subject to change as of presstime; please check back at time of article) hashtag #ENERIcomChannel

INFO: ENERI Communications  info@enericom.net   www.enericom.net


Chicago Artist Month is presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) in collaboration with the Chicago Park District.

Opening:

Zhou B Art Center
1029 West 35th Street
Chicago, IL


Chicago-based artists include:

NOTE: Matt Miller is based in Wisconsin and Kimbirdlee Fadner is based in Wisconsin and New York. All other project artists listed are Chicago or Chicagoland-based.

They are: Musician/Singer/Songwriter RUSSELL KUZUHARA LOUELLA MANINGAS CABALONA, Singer BARON CABALONA, Drummer and “Crossing Borders: The Video” An ENERI Group Audio-Visual Show Set to Matt Miller’s Original Music from his CD “Daydreams” showcasing artwork by Benjamin “Benz” Abino, Photographer Ken Carl, Photographer Susan Cua, Painter Rieny G. Cualoping, Photographer Kimbirdlee Fadner, Chinese Brush Painter Dan Gutierrez, Videographer/Editor Amie Hana, Photographer Michael Nguyen, Photographer – Bright Young Star Injung Oh, Painter Martino Tangkar, Photographer Derek Tokarzewski, Photographer Lauren Uchima, Photographer/Blogger – Bright Young Star With Excerpts from the photo book, “Everyday Inspirations for Mindful Living” created by Rieny G. Cualoping with ' Isms by Arun Sampanthavivat, AAA Five Diamond Chef, Owner of Arun’s Thai Restaurant, Chicago; Artist, Poet, Writer and Songwriter; and Leader, Development of Chicago’s Thai Town Project
ENERI Communications is proud to be a part of the City of Chicago's 19th Annual Chicago Artists Month! This will be our first time participating! www.chicagoartistsmonth.orgENERI Communications is proud to be a part of the City of Chicago's 19th Annual Chicago Artists Month! This will be our first time participating! www.chicagoartistsmonth.org

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Start of Something - A New Life






I am lying here with Charlie Rhoades Fadner a blond little bundle of perfection, curled up asleep at my side.  My fortune cookie from last Wed, Aug 27th said to trust my instincts.  I took this advise to heart as my due date drew closer.  Well, it was close, and yet I still supposedly had about a month to go!  I still had my birthday and our anniversary to celebrate (Aug 30 & Sep 1st).  Jonathan had a big week in prep for starting his 2nd year of grad school.  Jack and I - and Charliebelly - were essentially moving back to NYC after a full 3 months away.  And it was HOT - the hottest week of the summer.


You know how other moms just “know” things.  I encountered many women in that last week who looked at me and said it’s gonna be soon.  I heard many words of advise and encouragement.  Most frequent was “Drink lots of water” since it was the hottest week of the entire summer.  My feet were killing me.  My appetite was huge.  Sleep was nonexistent.  I had ongoing contractions for weeks, which was confirmed at the Dr. on Tue, Aug 26th where they hooked me up to a monitor and sure enough saw contractions!  YET, I kept assuring myself to chill, thinking I still had weeks to get through.
chillin'
Let me remind you, my due date was September 22 and it was still the end of August...

As the delivery day drew unexpectedly closer…

On Thur, Aug 28th, we drove to an NYU potluck in Brooklyn.  A stretch of road was so bumpy I was afraid I was going to bounce Charlie out!  Jack kept shouting “Charlie bumpy!  Charlie bumpy!”  I was joking about it at the party … Thankfully we took a different road home.

On Fri, dinner with our dear dear lovely awesome friends, Steven and Bea and Monty!  YAY!


On Sat, we celebrated my birthday by going to see Pippin on Broadway!  It was the show that Jonny and I met working on together.  We almost named Jack Pippin and Charlie’s full first name is Charlemagne (Pippin’s father & king).  Seeing the show brought back so many memories on so many levels - memories of Jonathan and I, acting with the kids and my time at Berkeley Playhouse, aerial dance and performing, my life dreams - I cried through the whole thing!  It was an internal battle to not burst out uncontrollably - pretty ridiculous.



That night we had my favorite - Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake!!!


Sun and Monday were pretty uneventful.  I think I got my eyebrows waxed or something.  And ate leftovers of !!!Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake!!!  

On Tues, we went to an NYU Students with Children gathering which was something that I’d wanted to join up ever since last year.  So, that was super awesome!  We met friendly parents from all over the world and in many different fields of study - not a huge group, which is good, and the kids were close to Jack’s age.  Everyone kept telling me about Charlie, “Oh, it could be anytime now!”  And I was like, “I know!  I know!”
I walked home from the subway that afternoon and was followed by this young man, maybe like 23 yrs old, for blocks and blocks.  I didn’t actually notice him - I was singing songs with Jack and walking along when he cornered me.  He totally hit on me, saying how beautiful my smile was that he had to ask me out and please would I go out with him and I’m like HELLO - I’m walking my 2 yr old and bursting with a baby on the way, Are you insane?!?  And I’m married.  He was like, Oh, so you’re not the babysitter?  I’m like NO, NO, NO, bye bye.  
I’m guessing the pregnancy glow cast a spell on the poor guy.

On Wed, we went to the stupid DMV and J and I were both really crabby.  I was having contractions, lots of them, still.  My night of sleep was awful and crampy…

On Thur, September 4, 2014, I continued to experience highly uncomfortable contractions.  That morning I felt compelled to take my prego picture a day earlier than usual, call it a woman’s instincts.  Had I waited til Fri morning, there woulda been no more prego lady!

Sep 4th - Final prego pik -
Next, I requested that we drive to the hospital so that when labor comes, we know where we are going.  Jonathan drove and was grumpy about traffic.  We got to the hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park, and walked into a magical palace of glory!  The hospital is sparkly new and has a feeling of futuristic utopia!  We couldn’t tour the Labor/Delivery floor, but I was content to walk in and out.

At the glorious hospital
Later, we walked to the park to let Jack play and I was saying, “If these Braxton-Hicks or whatever they are don’t let up, I’m not gonna be able to do anything for the next few weeks!”  And Jonathan replied, “You were like this with Jack too.”  I don’t really remember that so we continued on…

I made dinner, but by the time I sat down to eat I could barely eat.  After dinner I decided to lay down and time my contractions.  I was finally suspecting something more than false labor.  
Jackrabbit, my sweet boy, came and cuddled with me on the air mattress that I’d been sleeping on because it’s right in front of the air conditioner.  He was SO loving and cuddly.  I asked Jonathan to take a picture because it might be the last time Jack cuddles with his Mommy without a little brother around.

Jack's last cuddle as an only child

The contractions were coming every 7 minutes.  It was no fluke, people.  By the time I called my clinic, they had increased to every 3-4 minutes.  The doctor said “Take a shower and go to the hospital in about an hour.”  I asked, “I am in labor, then?”.  She said, “Yep!  Good luck!”  She wasn’t on duty and I was too uncomfortable to care who was on duty.  I couldn’t believe I was actually in labor!


AHHHHHHHH!!!!
I took the suggested shower, while trying to pack my hospital bag and gather essentials for Jackrabbit.  It was approaching 9pm, and Jack’s bedtime had come and gone.  Jonathan, well, he was scrambling around, pretty much caught of guard!  We had no one to watch Jack!  Not part of the plan - Jonathan expected to be the rock and hold my hand through labor and give me all his love and attention, but instead he was on Jack duty!
Immediately after the shower, I lost my delightful mucous plug - gross! yay!  OMG - it was really happening.
Jonathan had to get the car so I slowly made my way downstairs, met a couple acquaintances on the way down who were sweet and supportive but I was pretty much not able to accept any help.  Those contractions are super uncomfortable!  LOL
I literally stood at the street corner, bracing myself on a tree, waiting for the car.  It was the hour of gangster wannabes hanging out on the street and I am not kidding, a couple guys were like, “Hey.”  I laughed deep down inside but the pain masked my amusement and I just held my composure as best I could!

The car ride was free of traffic jams - Halleluia!  Jackrabbit sang Happy Birthday in the car with Daddy which definitely helped ease the discomfort.  Jack sat own at the piano the day Charlie was born and sang him his own special version of Happy Birthday Dear Charlie, which we happily caught on video:



And now, back to the action ...

Eventually we, Jonathan, Jackrabbit, Me and the persistently pushing yet still to be born "Charliebelly" arrived and went up to the 3rd floor to get admitted.  It was 10pm.  Paperwork, paperwork.  The admitting lady called back to the nurses, saying “She (referring to me as I grasped onto her desk for dear life) is very uncomfortable.”  
I went to a receiving room and got checked.  I was 7 1/2 cm dilated already!  The nurse said it would be fast and I thought, “Yeah right.”  36 hours of labor for Jackrabbit - I doubted this would be fast.  My contractions were coming in couples so I had literally no down time.  Yikes!

Next move was to the delivery room.  Since J & J were staying out of the way, I resorted to using the pretty pink bedpan as my trustworthy hand to hold.  I held that bedpan so dearly and desparately to my face that when a nurse trued to pry it out of my hand, I zapped her with laser beams.

Whatever Doctor that was “on duty” hadn’t gotten there yet.  A very kind and youthful resident doctor came to my room.  He told me it would be very fast.  I was like, “Whatever’.
But, to my surprise, when I told them I felt like I needed to push, he said “Push!”
That’s when my shock hit it’s peak.  It finally proved true - this was going to be fast!  I pushed for the first time… The second push my water broke!… The third time and the baby’s head crowned part way.  I had to push again to get his head out all the way.  It was about now that the admitting lady reappeared with papers for me to sign!  LOL!!!  I could not even see where or what I was signing, but she gosh darn it all did her job!  … Fourth push and Charliehorse pummeled out!


I cheered “Yay Charliehorse!”  and everyone laughed .  Charlie was crying nice and loud.  Jonathan and Jack came in right away and saw the umbilical cord being cut.  Jonathan said he wanted to cut it and a guy intern said “Too late.”  Real nice, guy, thanks.





I remember the rushing emotion of complete disbelief and of course joy that Charlie had been born.  It was 3 1/2 hours from when I timed my contractions, and there he was!  A perfectly healthy baby boy at 7 lbs 6 oz, 20” long with BLONDE hair!!!  That part blew me away the most!  Of course, 3 out of 4 of his grandparents are blonde so it was completely possible, but still, that Chinese gene runs strong and I thought it would dominate through everything!  I love being surprised with amazing things like blond babies that come out easily with no drugs or painkillers, ready to greet the world!
He nursed right away.  I felt so good - crazy as that sounds after giving birth - but the euphoria and miracle of having a baby overcomes all pain and exhaustion!





To be real, I did have to tolerate the few stitches after Charlie came out and my body was trembling uncontrollably for an hour or so as well.  But those things were minuscule comparatively!

Jack greeted his little brother with kisses and funny comments like “yummy booboo” and then Jonathan took him off in his stroller to get Jack to fall asleep for the night…


They definitely look like brothers!

Charlie

Jack

Bros!

The next morning was Fri, and like clockwork, I got up and was ready for my regular photo that we'd been taking every Friday morning for over 8 months, but now there was a baby there!  

Fri Morning - a few hours old
Any new mother knows that the next couple days are like living in a bubble with your newborn.  Charlie was so sweet and easy, and still is a week later - he slept and nursed and slept and occasionally let out a very loud, high-pitched banchee scream instead of crying, so that’s fine with me!  Compared to the 36 hours of labor, the pitocin and epideral, the drama of the cord wrapped around his neck, the emergency vacuum I experienced with Jack - I had so much more energy and clarity this time around!  I also had and still have this new sensation of peaceful calm and I feel more grounded that ever.  I believe that Charlie is the missing link bringing harmony to our family!







WAY TO GO CHARLIE!  You ROCK!!!

Ka pow!
My photo journal has now come full circle.  With the help of a wonderful artist and friend, Ken Bernstein, and of course my dear hubby Jonathan who took all the photos, we created this fantastic video that follows my body’s natural growth and progress from beginning to end to the beginning of a new life.  The song is one that inspired the title of my first pregnancy blog “Start of Something”.  It’s a song that Jonathan wrote the music and lyrics to and is sung from the perspective of an unborn baby, though it can also be interpreted as a universal sense of discovery of the unknown.  I just love this song and the meaning!  We recorded it together at the beginning of this journey and now, like I said, it’s all come full circle.  

Here is the final video: “Start of Something”


To stay true to the end, here are my last photos in the Start of Something Series:

Week 35
Week 36
Week 37
Charlie 1
Charlie 2
Charlie 3
Life amazes me.  Thank you for joining me on this journey!  Please share your amazing lives with me.  This journal has allowed me to feel connected to a greater whole and appreciate that we all travel through such similar yet unbelievably unique and magical experiences in this world and beyond!  
Call it nature, god, spirit, universe, Love… life is simply amazing!

We all start somewhere!





With all my love - Kimbirdlee and The Fads

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Kimbirdlee's Nesting in Wisconsin

Hello blog-land!
I’m still pregnant!  It’s been a busy time.  I’m involved in several upcoming events during my Wisconsin Summer and I’m trying to avoid feeling too pregnant - ha ha, good luck with that!  So after this prego blog update, I’ll be switching my focus to the 3 concerts and 3-4 art shows I have coming up.  Once those are done, I’ll only be a month away from BABY TIME!!!

We are in Wisconsin now - thank the lord!!! - curse the mosquitos!!! - 





I swear, my “self” feels completely different one day to the next!  I will go from feeling like a bloated cow to being free and agile; super critical and irritable to super-charged and enthusiastic; just wanna watch movies to work-a-holic.  When I see photos of myself, I swear they reflect the way I feel, too!  One day I look just plain awful and the next day I’m glowing!  So weird!

Celebrations
Jack celebrated his 2nd birthday.  We had such a great time celebrating over 3 days with family, friends, neighbors and dogs.  Then we carried the party over to Father’s Day, which I spent with J-Dad, Jackrabbit, great-Grandpa, Uncle Jim and Matt.  It was a big time “let’s-honor-the-boys” week!  My favorite part was making and decorating Jacks Grover Cake twice.  The first one was so gratifying that I made a second one.  I liked the first one better.  Jack loved them both and is still talking about the Grover Cake.  


Mostly I just love good reasons for getting people together.  Life is for celebrating!!!  Now that we’re back in Wisco, we thankfully have folks to celebrate with - Yahoo!!!







Up and Downs on the Charliehorse roller coaster…
The worst case of jinxing!  I am experiencing extremely painful charliehorses in the middle of the night and early mornings in my calves, sometimes spreading into my thighs.  They leave my legs SOOO sore during the day.  They appear from the simplest little shift - like when I turn from my side to my back, or stretch my legs out straight.  Today I needed to sit and relax cuz they hurt so bad!  Guess that’s what I get for dubbing the little one “Charliehorse”.  

My belly is just getting bigger, along with my butt and thighs.  yay.  Not much more to say about that!

I am in a constant dilemma about what to wear, especially for upcoming concerts.  But, to my joy, I found a solution - petticoats!  Since the Palmyra-Eagle Band concerts are going Country this year, I have the prefect square-dancing skirt get-up to wear.  Just pull that thing over the ole belly and Voila - I’m good to go! LOL!

Swimming is my favorite prego activity.  Jack is obsessed with swimming, too, so it’s working out great.  We have the Mukownago YMCA - brand new, beautiful facility with a children’s adventure pool and the lake, so never a shortage of swimming opportunities.  
Other than swimming, I try to keep moving in nice ways through the day.  Dancing around with Jack, spontaneous stretching sessions, vacuuming… Mostly it's my silly and sentimental time spent with Jack that I love the most right now.



And a couple cherished moments with best friends:




Let’s see, my current menu… Salad, water, birthday cake, turkey and ham (no sulfites) sandwiches, granola and yogurt, and a 1/2 cup of coffee per day.  Nothing exciting or weird at all!  Sorry, no reports of chocolate covered pickle popsicles for this girl.  Our favorite local restaurant is Dos Amigos in East Troy.  Ironic that we get yummy mexican food in small town Wisconsin, but not near our apartment in NY.  Kosher or Halal, yes, but Mexican, nope.

I’m continuing to be blessed with wonderful opportunities to sing and perform both with PECB (Palmyra-Eagle Community Band and my dad) and La Boheme.  I’ll cover these events in a separate blog, but just have to say how excited and grateful I am to have these opportunities to share super fun music with a great community!!!

Here’s a list of upcoming events.

The art shows are still hanging in there this summer.  I’m praying for good weather - not too hot, not too stormy.  My mom is still going strong with her Chinese Brush Paintings and I’m joining her as well as doing a couple on my own around the Midwest.  I’m painting when I can - just finished a giant flying dragon and am almost done with a new water dragon.  


Here is a list of my upcoming art shows.

While I was pregnant with Jackrabbit, I experienced numb hands which made it impossible to paint.  It was truly sad!  I think it had to do with my wrists being SO intensely toned for aerial dance, and when I stopped dancing due to the pregnancy, my poor wrists were in a state of shock.  Plus, the obvious fluid retention that accompanies pregnancy.  So far, I’m free of numbness and thankful every second!  I’m starting a new project that involves Jonathan’s original music with my singing and paintings, which I’m very inspired about!!!  Stay tuned for that - probably in the fall.

That just about covers Kimbird’s nest status for now.  You’ll notice there was no avoiding the change of scenery for my weekly photos, going from the NY apt to the WI lake house, but still staying faithful to the photo journal.  [There's also a missing pik for week 20 - who knows what happened, with moving and all kinds of stuff going on.  Too bad.]  

I feel big now, but I know I have a lot more growing to do!  

Week 21 
Week 22
Week 23
Week 24
Week 25
Lastly, a request to the people of the world: If you’re not telling a pregnant lady how fabulous she looks or how fantastically she is handling being pregnant, you should probably not say anything at all unless you want to see an offended, crying and/or pissed-off female force of nature.


XOXO