cold weather, hot cocoa

©2010, Monika Roe

Sometimes when the weather gets cold (oh yeah, it does happen in California!) my coffee mania gives way to a craving for hot chocolate. Tonight I'm indulging in a warm and cozy mug of Chocolate Azteca by Tio Pablo of Auckland, New Zealand. It's an "Oaxacan blend of dark cocoa, cinnamon and chili spices". To order yours go to www.tiopablo.co.nz. Mmmmmm......

blue and red...

©2010, Monika Roe

...is one of my favorite holiday color combinations. There's something so retro cool about it!

it's on!

Fall decorations are coming down today and being replaced with Christmas! To kick of the season here's one of the illustrations I did for the Ideal Home December issue.

happy thanksgiving!

©2010, Monika Roe

Still life complete. Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you have a great day with family and friends...

still life part 3

©2010, Monika Roe

Part 3 of my Thanksgiving still life. Still need a few things for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow so I'm off to the store when I get a break! Making Giada deLaurentis' Ciabatta Stuffing with Chestnuts and Pancetta this year. I need to get the ciabatta bread and Italian parsley. Can't wait to start cooking and hang out with my family tomorrow!!!

still life part 2

©2010, Monika Roe

Part 2 of my Thanksgiving still life. I'm gearing up to make the meal on Thursday! Going over to my mom's later after work to pick up the roaster for the turkey. That was a great purchase, it frees up the oven for cooking the sides and makes the days work much easier!

thanksgiving week

©2010, Monika Roe

This is part one in a progressing Thanksgiving still life I'm doing for the blog this week. I'm going to drag out autumn as long as I can! Looking forward to Christmas, but still loving the colors and feeling of fall.

it's raining, it's pouring

©2010, Monika Roe

It's been raining all weekend. This is one of my favorite rainy day illustrations. Of course I had to draw her with fabulous rainboots!

mandarin orange

©2010, Monika Roe

The mandarin oranges on the tree outside my studio window have finally reached a beautiful orange color. Just lovely!

the California Fig Advisory Board rocks!

The California Fig Advisory Board sent me a package today (courtesy of theydrawandcook.com)! WOW! They were so generous, tshirt, totebag, flash drive, recipes and 4 giant bags of figs. I'm a lucky girl!

mother & daughter

©2010, Monika Roe

This is an illo I did of my dear friend Marcia and her daughter Zoe. I wanted to show the love between a mother and daughter and their gorgeous hair!

fig recipe

©2010, Monika Roe

This is the fig recipe I illustrated for theydrawandcook.com. As a result the California Fig Advisory Board is sending me figs! Score! I'm also working on a couple more recipes for their holiday contest...