21 years ago, my eldest son was born.  It seems like just yesterday that he was this small:

Well, it’s that time… Up until now, he lived in his college dorm, then onto on-campus apartments.  Now he will be living off campus for his last year.  So, his buddies just helped him move into his new apartment.  Not completely independent, but getting there…

One almost grown, two more to go.  For so many years, I have defined myself as “such and such’s mother”.  I’m seriously going to have to start thinking of what I want to do when “I grow up”…

Ok, it’s a bit too early for back to school shopping, but it’s always good to have an excuse purpose when you do go shopping.  My daughter and I took off for the Cabazon Outlet Mall.  It was a really nice day, a bit windy, but that is usually the case out in the desert.  DD found some really great deals.  We even stopped by Hadleys,  to have a date shake – yummy!  DD prefers Hadley’s date shakes, but I still have a preference for the one from the Shake Shack off Pacific Coast Highway (I have good memories of going there as a child):

On the way home, we managed to hit some antique stores in Beaumont.  It’s like walking into history.  Every item there seems to have a story to tell:

I managed to be good at the mall, but I found some very nice buttons in one of the stores. I even found some MOP horse buttons again!  And of course, I couldn’t resist the happy sunflower salt and pepper shakers smiling at me throught the glass case:

My younger son just came home from college for the summer.  He was sporting a tank top – I thought it was funny, and wanted to share:

 The Alpha Chi Sorority had a “beauty pageant”.  My son was a contestant representing his ice hockey team – the dubious honor was bestowed on him since he missed a party at which they unanimously voted him in as their representative.   Unfortunately, he came up short in the “talent” part and did not make Mr. Alpha Chi :-).

One of my favorite things to do is to get up early on a Saturday morning (when the family sleep in), and hit the farmers market with my dear friend Lisa.  Of course, we follow it up with coffee at our local/quaint coffee shop.  It’s  so nice to sit back for an hour or two, sip coffee and just chat:

  What’s your favorite Saturday morning activity?

DH is forever trying to instill his European “culture” on us.  Thus, we spent last night at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles enjoying the LA Philharmonics Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.  We have gone to many plays and concerts, but had shied away from classical music for a while.  The last time we attempted classical music, our eldest was a teenager, and very indignant that we had purchased tickets without consulting him.  He is now a Junior at University, and seems to have enjoyed himself this time around.  They do mature eventually.  It’s just a matter of surviving until then :-).

We had a busy and fun filled day this Saturday.  In the morning, my daughter and I attended the annual Orange Muffin Festival at our local Seniors community,  Plymouth Village.   Our town is known for our oranges, and the festival has become somewhat of a community event.   There were also booths selling various items.  I happened to find one where vintage costume jewelry was sold.  I picked up a few pieces for a song, for future projects of course :-):

At noon, my dear mother and sister ventured out from the Beach cities to join me at our Glass Museum. I have lived here for over 15 years and never had the occasion to go to our glass museum.  It was a cute little victorian home converted into a museum and filled with the most exquisite glass:

After that, we headed to the annual Horticultural Society flower Show.  And here are just a few of the photos from the show:

And finally, we headed to one of our local antique malls.  I used to collect salt/pepper shakers a very long time ago, and  just couldn’t resist this cute tiny couple:

We returned to my home, where my sister and I picked two bags of oranges for them to take back to their homes.  All in all, a very nice day :-).

Well, here we are – my daughter and I.  We finally ditched our crutches.  DH took this photo of us before our expedition to hit (or in our case, hobble around) the mall.  I played with photoshop elements to “cartoon” ourselves, with less than stellar results.  I recently had a conversation with my friend Lisa about botox – I think I am in dire need of one to fix the “marionette” lines on my face!

Do you have a “Pig Pen” in your home? My boys do not lack in the personal hygiene/grooming department.  But, when they come home from college, they bring weeks of laundry with them. And amidst the activities of snowboarding, skydiving, going to hockey games, and friends descending on our house, they leave in their wake, clutter! Basically, bigger boys, bigger mess! They are still young, but one day, I look forward to passing on the torch to some very nice unsuspecting girls ;-). But as is the case, by that time, I am sure that they will have reformed from their “Pig Pen” habits.