If you have had a pet portrait done, you can now get your pet on a mug, or tee shirt or tote, etc. I am using CafePress to make these items avaiable. I am only marking up the cost a buck to pay for the shop. More about advertising than profit. Anyway, even if you have not had a portrait done, there will be lots and lots of cute products to buy! Feel free to contact me to request a breed that is not up yet. I will be adding all the time! Click here: AbeytaCreative at CafePress

So about two months ago I was contacted by the editor of a pet magazine in Chicago to do their Jan/Feb cover art. Mnay other well known artists that I completely admire such as Patrick McDonnel who draws Mutts comics, Stephen Huneck who is an amazing artist, and Berekely Breathed who does Bloom County just to name a few! Good company, no??? YOu can click here to read the whole issue!!! Chicagoland Tails

At the end of the day when all is said and done, it is not about having paid your bills, how much money you have in the bank, what kind of car you drive or all the nice things you might have in your house. It is about friends and family. This post is about friends. Friends who are there for you when you laugh, when you cry, when you have no idea what you are doing in life and when you think you know exactly what you are doing in life, only to discover a day later you really don't. I have so many amazing friends in my life and I really don't know what I would do without them. They were there for me every moment going through the divorce, all the times I was unsure of what to do next, sharing all the exciting moments in my career, listening to my fears about the future. They have all been patient with me while I have been going through "best boyfriend ever" phase and didn't even complain when I did that thing. You know, the one we did when we were 16, but I am not 16, I am 34? the thing where we don't hang out as much with our friends because we want to spend every single second with new boyfriend? Well at 16 it could lose you friends over that, but at 34, luckily my friends have been so happy for me and never said a word about me suddenly so busy, or on yet another weekend trip. I have such amazing friends I could write an entry about each of them and maybe I will, but this one is about G.

G is amazing. She is the sweetest soul you could ever meet. She would do anything for you whether you were a friend of 20 years or someone she just met. Really. She will go out of her way for you all the time. She got me through the first year of my separation just by being there. Over a million cups of coffee sitting at her kitchen table wondering aloud if my life would ever feel safe again, sane again, not so completey f-ed up again. And over and over again she assured me it would. She is an artist too and we have borrowed supplies, borrowed canvas, helped each other, critiqued each other and inspired each other. G has this inner light about her, she seems to really get what life is about. She wants to really LIVE. She frequently will break out into song for no reason, she will laugh out loud all of a sudden and her smiles are infectious. I was there in the room to watch her baby being born a year and a half ago and after the doctor said it was too late for pain meds I watched her smile through the pain. I never saw such strength. I asked her if it hurt, confused at her smiling. "Yeah, it REALLY hurts." she said calmly as she smiled and a tear ran down her face. G is an amazing mother too, more patient and loving than you can imagine. And you can see it when her baby looks at her. He absolutely adores her. And he should. I know I do. A few weeks back we got to go out at night on a rare occassion to a ribs place that had some live music. We went out with Best Boyfriend Ever and had the best time. Maybe had one too many pitchers of beer. We took so many pictures and were almost rolling on the floor from how clever and funny we were. Well, after that many beers, let me tell you, WE WERE FUNNY. To us three anyways. I am sure we were that annoying table that people wished would just shut up, but whatever. We all laughed until we were crying. This girl can make me laugh like no other. At one point she got a waiter to take a picture with her (she like how tall he was), got the waitresss to pose for her, and went up and danced even tho there was no dance floor and she was the only one. (and the girl can dance, and we were all jealous at her courage) So G, I hope 2007 is your year, one filled with accomplishments, love, friends, new beginnings and surrounded by your friends like me who adore you. You rock.