This has been the coldest, most blustery summer that I’ve seen yet in my 13 years here in California. These photos ease the death grip on my warm cup of coffee just a tad. Ahhh…summer in warm places.

London and Brighton were so lovely, with a great mix of the warm and sunny and the roiling moody English seas. I couldn’t help but to take a zillion and three photos. My sketchbook got quite a lot of sight seeing in as well.

Now, it’s back to business as usual; only with a head full of inspiration from those most delightful UK days.

Heed this warning though: never, ever miss a Virgin Atlantic ‘aka the airline who must not be named’ flight. Ever. They have no backup plan for their passengers other than flying standby for days and days…and days. At Heathrow, getting on a standby flight is nigh impossible. Thus, you will likely be extorted into buying new tickets on short notice. Truly a dark, dark passage.

It’s been gocco crazy around here this week. What better way to end print-mania than a Friday trip to England? It is the home of our favorite print house Liberty of London, after all. Today, it’s farewell US Shores…hello jolly olde. The tulip princess will be holding down the fort stateside.

alpha”bits tray”, so tasty.

Tulip princess is the biggest flower in the garden…a veritable giant.

Hopefully, this is the beginning of a long and fruitfilled trip. I hope to bound down the path to illustration glory, also known as getting some freelance work on. Supposedly you tell the universe what you want, and then at some point you get a return on that telling, yes? So, uh, hey universe, can you hear me?