Exquisite Dinners and New Projects

Nate's family was here last weekend for a visit and we celebrated my brother-in-law's engagement and a slew of birthdays!  To celebrate the occasion I decided to try out a new recipe that I'd been dying to make for a while now, but couldn't make for my family's visit because of their dislike for all things mushroom. :)
Here is the end result:

I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen:  Mushroom Lasagna 
It was delicious!  And mega-filling!
I totally recommend trying this recipe out yourself if you like mushrooms.  I'm not even a huge fan of white-sauce based lasagnas, but the homemade sauce in this one isn't too rich or overpowering.


It was a fun few weekends with family visiting.
This week I've been waiting for the easel I ordered to come in the mail.  I've been using my portable easel in the meantime, but it is a bit rickety and kind of a space hog in my studio.  I am completely impatient.  It is now sitting in Hodgkins IL, two days away from me via UPS. :(
On the plus side, I've still been working on things in the studio:

I've been doing a lot of still life drawings, and am going to start to take some of my ideas into painting as well.