Outings And Adventures

October Garden 2013 & Update

October 31, 2013 4 Comments

A quick post about my October garden, and some other things. Pomegranates are the October standout in my garden. They are delicious! I don’t know why, but a lot of them have split, but nevertheless they are very good. Dear Hubby and I went to the Claremont Faire last week. There was an amazing stained glass artist. I came home with a glass dragonfly :). And the Senior Center where one of my quilting groups meet had a costume competition – so I took a photo with a “Sumo” wrestler (not my husband. Just a random Senior dressed as a Sumo wrestler 🙂 ). Happy Halloween!

Filed Under: Garden 2013, Holidays, Outings And Adventures

Zentangle Challenge #133 “Tipple” & Day Out With My Girl

August 29, 2013 8 Comments

I have had a happy few days sitting around with dear daughter. As most of her friends have already left for College, and adding to that her wisdom teeth extraction, she has been a homebody the last few days. So, as I sat around with her, I got the idea to do a Zentangle Challenge with the Diva. The theme is “Tipple” which are the little round tangles. I started with a Hearts and Loops quilting design, and worked around that:

And today, since most of her pain subsided, and her chipmunk cheeks have receded, we ventured out. I had her take a snap of the truck loaded with oranges on the freeway. I just love the fact that our town has an orange growing history, and that we live in a small grove. We stopped by Hobby Lobby before hitting Victoria Gardens. I get a bit overwhelmed at Hobby Lobby sometimes, they just have so much stuff! We managed to get out of there with just a few items. First stop at the mall was See’s Chocolate, to fortify ourselves for the shopping ahead. After hitting most of DH’s favorite shops, we sat down and had some frozen yoghurt. On the way home, we picked up her new glasses. It was a hot but wonderful day. I am cherishing every moment with her before she heads off to College…

Filed Under: Family and Friends, Outings And Adventures, Zentangle Challenge

Saturday Fun

July 14, 2013 4 Comments

On our early morning walk, DH and I stumbled on a neighborhood garage sale. I saw this cute box, Paw Parazzi. It’s a child’s toy, but I thought the graphics on it were so cute that I went back, and got it. When you open it, it has a balcony, and drawers – I can use it for storage.

Later on, DD and I headed to the beach cities, on errands and to drop in to see my parents. Along the way, we stopped by at Piecemakers Country Store. Now that I am into quilting, fabric just pops out at me. This one reminded me of fabric from when I was young. And I had never seen these sequins before, so I indulged in a few bags. Ideas are churning in my mind…

Filed Under: Family and Friends, Outings And Adventures

Old Town & Renewed Friendship

June 26, 2013 1 Comment

DD had an overnight orientation at UCSD, so I decided to have an overnight as well. After dropping her off, I headed to Old Town San Diego to play tourist. It was nice, but I realized I don’t much like sightseeing on my own. This is my “new normal”. DH has suggested now that all the kids will be out of the house, I accompany him on business trips. I will have to think on that one – my wanderlust hasn’t kicked back in, and I need to learn to appreciate playing tourist on my own… I digress, so Old Town was nice, an infusion of Mexican culture, color, and flavor:

The best part was, on the second day, I met up with my best friend from fourth grade! We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant by the beach. It kind of reminded me of Coogee beach when we lived in Sydney. Linda and I had fun catching up, remembering funny little things, and marveling at the passage of time…

Filed Under: Outings And Adventures

Lavender Festival 2013

June 20, 2013 2 Comments

There is a resort not far from my home which hosts an annual Lavender Festival. My friend Lisa and I decided to attend. We left early to avoid the heat and crowd. It was so beautiful with the fields of lavender in bloom as far as we could see. It almost felt like we were in Tuscany. I bought some doggy lavender soap for Koko and Hiro, though I don’t know why since they go to a groomer… I guess the idea of them smelling like lavender appealed to me. They even had plein air painters doing their thing.

Filed Under: Outings And Adventures

First Estate Sale

June 17, 2013 2 Comments

Hmmm, I’ve been following a few wonderful bloggers that frequent estate sales, find the most interesting things, and create even more interesting things with their finds. Well, of course I’d have to have a go at it, and wouldn’t you know it, I came across an ad for an estate sale, and off I went. The sale started at 8:00am, I arrived at 8:15am, and stood behind five people to enter the house. I felt a bit uneasy, like I was intruding… Images of the scene from A Christmas Carol came to mind, where the old ladies are going through Ebenezer Scrooges material goods… The lady in front of me turned, smiled, and I asked her about estate sales…And she explained a few things… This was an estate of her friends parents. The family had chosen whatever they wanted, and the rest of their estate was being liquidated. Orphans needing new homes… Ok, feeling a bit better… Step into the house, lots to see, but I zero in on the holiday craft supplies. The atmosphere was positive, upbeat, and happy. I left with a bag of things and a feeling of goodwill… My first estate sale.

Filed Under: Outings And Adventures

Art In The Park

June 6, 2013 Leave a Comment

The other weekend, DH and I experienced what “empty nest” would be like. DD took off for an overnight trip to Disneyland with friends. We started the morning with breakfast out – nice! Then we headed to our local event “Art In The Park”.

They had an exhibit as well at the Smiley Library. Here is a photo I took of a drawing done by Leo Politi. He is one of my favorite artists. I am lucky enough to own one of his lithographs, the three little Japanese girls.

Here I am with my very talented friend, Muriel Dolemieux. She is a local artist from France. Muriel paints the most vibrant paintings of citrus and flowers. I am very fortunate to own two of her works; one I purchased, and the other gifted to me by a very dear friend.

And I just had to add this photo. After a full day, DH napping on the couch with Hiro. Hiro actually sleeps with all fours in the air, but I took too long to grab the camera and get a shot – he rolled over and gave me the eye for making such a ruckus.

Filed Under: Family and Friends, Outings And Adventures

Road Trip!

April 3, 2013 Leave a Comment

We finally managed to visit dear older son this last weekend. The drive to Arizona was uneventful – DH drove all the way, very relaxed, and nice. Here are some photos of the terrain – and I thought we lived in the desert:

Here I am! with my two adorable boys – so happy to be together 🙂

And I had to add this photo: 20 years ago – so happy to be together then too…

Ok, back to the trip… Gravel seems to be a big landscape feature around here:

Finally, some color… Downtown Tucson. We had a wonderful brunch at a French cafe. Oh, and I had to take this photo of the street – I found it very interesting that we were required to park backwards. I think it was for the safety of the bikers or something. I’m thinking around where we live, you can get a ticket for parking backwards?

Here is DD, at a stop on the way back – she is giving me the “look” for trying to take her photo:

We stopped at Quartzite on the way home to refuel. Since we were making good time, we decided to check out this bookstore… Word of warning, the proprietor works in the buff! I was a bit thrown off, but pretended like it was all normal :). Funny thing, he is in the buff, but all the books are wrapped in plastic so you can’t peruse them – must be to protect them from the desert dust.

And here is a funny road sign – I had to borrow this photo from the web. DH seemed to think he was back on a German Autobahn or something. Before I could get my camera ready, we had already passed the sign:

Filed Under: Family and Friends, Outings And Adventures

Last Prom Dress Shopping…

March 27, 2013 Leave a Comment

DD and I have had a “tradition” for the last three years. Before any significant dances, Homecoming, Prom, Winter Formal, or a Ball, DD and I have gone shopping with her friend and her mom for dresses. We would drive into Los Angeles, have a nice Dim Sum lunch in China Town, and after we were really full and satisfied, hit the streets of the Garment District. The girls would try on dress after dress, while us moms oooh’d and ahhh’d. Then, they would finally find the perfect dress. After that, we’d grab a Starbucks, before hitting the freeway home. This last shopping expedition was fun, but bittersweet since this will be her last HS dance…

On the plus side, now I can start to explore the rest of downtown. They not only have a garment district, there are flower districts, fabric districts, jewelry districts, and even toy districts. I will just have to find a friend to take along. Oh, DD did not buy that cute little peach dress. She opted for a floor length silver sequined gown – Oh, to be young and slender again…

Filed Under: Outings And Adventures

Thrifting With My Girl!

March 19, 2013 Leave a Comment

Oh, DD and I had so much fun going out to lunch, and then thrifting. We both managed to find some neat things.

Here is an adorable framed cross stitch of a little fawn:

This decorative plaque is pretty large. I think it would look nice in my studio – hopefully, I will have a space of my very own one day…

What a find this pop out book was. I just love the graphics. Ok, it’s only from 1975, not that old to me, but really old to DD 🙂

And this little fellow. When I find a singleton of a salt/pepper shaker, I feel compelled to rescue them, and make them into something nice. I think he would be happy to be featured on top of a spoolie for Easter!

Filed Under: Interesting Finds, Outings And Adventures

A Busy Weekend

March 11, 2013 Leave a Comment

The last few weeks have been a bit stressful to say the least. Youngest child, last college application process… A few more weeks, and we should know where we stand. I say “we” as this application process is a “family activity”. As DD has not a clue what she wants to study, we took an opportunity to attend the Society Of Women Engineers Conference last weekend. She was not too thrilled at the idea initially, but after the first seminar, she was hooked!

We had also signed up for a swimsuit sewing class the next day. I have never sewn lycra before, so it was very interesting for me. We chose patterns, traced, cut, and learned how to sew lycra. Neither DD or I managed to complete our suits during class, so we both have some homework to complete.

I can’t remember the last time I put on a swimsuit… Hmmm, maybe I’m not in such a hurry to finish my suit after all.

Filed Under: Classes, Outings And Adventures, Projects And Interests

An Outing To Palm Springs!

February 25, 2013 Leave a Comment

After finally finishing the digital graphic art barter project, and our tax info prep for our accountant, I thought we deserved a nice day outing to Palm Springs. Had to get DD away for a bit too – she was getting a bit antsy/nervous about college acceptances and such. So, the three of us headed out to Palm Springs. It was a beautiful day filled with antiquing, thrifting, walking around downtown, shopping, and eating!

Here are the windmills on our way to Palm Springs: