A Day At The Museum

I had a really nice time today with family at an art museum. John's sister from Albuquerque, Jolene, and her family, husband Ji and son Devan, arrived Sunday evening from spending Christmas in Snowflake. We get to host them for a few days before they continue south to visit Ji's parents in Tucson. I had a menu planned for food and thought I was ready for their presence until Jolene asked what we were going to do with them all day! I panicked until John grabbed his computer to explore neat things worth visiting in The Valley.

Museums are always nice. I have yet to be in a museum that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed myself, so we all agreed that the Phoenix Art Museum was the place to spend our day. John has what he calls a "real job" and thought it would be more beneficial to go to work to provide a living for our family. He missed out on some pretty neat artwork...much to his joy, no doubt.

Before we headed out for the day, I fed our guests buttermilk pancakes with bananas, pecans, warm syrup, and homemade vanilla whipped cream. It was hard to keep up on the production line, so I am guessing they enjoyed it! Soon we were on our way to downtown Phoenix to enjoy a few hours of culture.

I love visiting these kinds of places. It makes me feel more refined, and I always come away with a desire to learn and be better. Not necessarily a desire to learn how to paint. I don't think I'm patient enough for such a task (several paintings I saw today took over fifteen years to finish!). Rather, I find myself wanting to know more about the artists and the time periods they are portraying in their work. Their art transports me, and I simply want to understand more about where they are taking me! No drugs were involved in this form of transportation, in case I was starting to sound scary.

Afterwards, we grabbed a delicious lunch at The Cheesecake Factory to commemorate our brains being full. It was only lawful that our stomachs should be fed as well. Ji ordered the same thing my husband always gets, the Factory Grande Burrito, but my man can put it away in one sitting! What a champ! John was missed all day, and I was forced to eat my Chopped Salad all alone.

Another fun result of today is a collection of fine art in my computer photo files. Which ones are your favorite?