Big news: We're in the middle of moving to California! More about that soon, plus sketches from my "jobmoon" trip to Italy. The past several weeks have been a whirlwind of prepping, packing, list-making and house-hunting, so on Saturday I took a few hours off to meet up with the South Bay Urban Sketchers. We met at Red Rock Coffee Company in downtown Mountain View and then wandered down Castro Street with our sketchbooks. It was a great way to start the weekend!

For M.'s birthday I surprised him with a three-state roadtrip extravaganza to see family and friends; he was behind the wheel but didn't know where we were headed. Our first destination was Schenectady, NY, to see a performance by the Mop & Bucket Company, an improv group. We reached there as the sun was setting, creating a brilliant-hued backdrop for GE's original headquarters (cool trivia: its zip code is 12345).

As we gear up for yet another wintry mix event here in Connecticut, it's nice to remember that the snow will, eventually, melt. Here are two paintings I did several years ago, inspired by a workshop I took with artist William McCarthy at the Rowayton Arts Center.