Running With Scissors

Happy 24th Birthday Casey!

Thought you were going to sneak by without a photo tribute, didn't you?

Have fun tonight (but not too much fun!) and a wonderful year. We are so proud of you.

 

Free is Always Good

Get a free year of Every Day with Rachael Ray right here!  Enter code JR44YNSE.

You are welcome!

Behind the Curve

How did I manage to miss the memo on maxi dresses? I know they've been around for a while now, but I guess I looked at all those strapless (or strappy) styles and thought "not for me." Hello! Add a jacket, dummy.

Here'a a Polyvore version of my outfit. I tried to figure out how to link it, but then I lost interest. Sorry.

Anyway, viva la maxi! What's not to love about them now that I don't have to expose my upper arms to the world. I've got got my eye on stripey one next.

Reckless

I was feeling a little reckless today (too much caffeine I suspect) so I entered the lottery for a permit to hike up Half Dome this summer. Hopefully the snow will be gone.  It will be all I can do to carry enough Diet Coke water to get me to the top.

The reason for the lottery to climb is that they are now limiting the number of hikers who attempt the climb per day. Why a limit? Because for the last part of the hike you use these cables:

That makes me tired just looking at it. I think I'll make reservations at The Awahnee Hotel too. I'll have earned it!

 

I Have Cool Friends

 

 

I'm always impressed by the wonderful things my friends do for the community. They are, to a one, smart, talented and generous.

My pal Wenda collected over 100 dresses, plus shoes, jewelry and evening bags to donate to Orangewood Children's Foundation's Belle of the Ball program. Many young women in the foster care system are unable to afford a new outfit for their prom, so Belle of the Ball helps them put together an outfit to make them look and feel spectacular.

The program's target was 300 dresses -- Wenda brought in a third of that! Plus accessories and some suits and shirts for the guys. Some of the dresses were brand new with tags, which is especially nice.

I helped Wenda transport the dresses (her cute little Prius trumps mine for gas mileage, but sometimes the SUV comes in handy!) to Orangewood. They were thrilled to recieve her donation, of course, and took us on a tour too. I was very interested in the program they have for kids transitioning out of the foster care system. Basically, when they turn 18, the kids are on their own, so this program helps them with education, jobs, finding a place to live, even food. I was so inspired and I would like to find a way to help. When Casey was in undergrad at Cal Poly, one of his internships was with San Luis Obispo County's similar program. One of his duties was to help the kids apply to college and for scholarships. That may be one way I could help too.

If you're interested in volunteering, check out the Orangewood website -- there are lots of opportunities for you to help.

 

 

To Pin or Not To Pin

I'm a big, huge, ginormous fan of Pinterest, the online bulletin board site. It's a great way to keep all the cool stuff you find on the internet organized and easily accessible -- as opposed to the giant tangle that is my "bookmarks" or the linear frustration of Tumblr.

I have found a lot of interesting things on Pinterest itself, by following other people and/or browsing their boards -- so many that I started a "Done" board so I could keep track of the recipes I've tried (and whether they were delicious or not) and projects I've attempted.

Here's a recent one, a needle book that has a nice tutorial, but I didn't feel like cutting all those little squares. Then I saw this one on Pinterest using the same tutorial and blatantly copied it.

I put one of my quilt labels on the back because it's so darn valuable someone might steal it.

 

Puppy Playdate

Stella had her first "playdate" recently with her new pals Tux and Duke. Although she looks like she's running for her life, she had a fabulous time dashing around like a maniac and working on her (ahem) social skills. It was almost like the good old days when the moms would visit and the kids would play until they were exhausted (hopefully!).

Meanwhile, Ozzie stayed home and hung out.

Sedona Sojourn

I spent the weekend in spectacular Sedona, Arizona celebrating my sister's big birthday.  It is a truly stunning place and combined with the charming company (that means you Sue and Renee'), delicious food, luxurious spa treatments, and free-flowing wine -- made for a memorable weekend.

The hiking was wonderful. We even searched out one of the famed Sedona vortexes (yes, I know it should be vortices, but in the local vernacular it is vortexes -- I'm trying to fit in!). I'm not sure what I think of all the spiritual energy theories, but I do think that Sedona is perhaps the most serene place I've ever been.

Above we are at the Airport Mesa Vortex.  Below, I believe, is an unofficial, yet well labeled, vortex.

Sue and Renee' "hanging out." I'm really glad that juniper held on!

Yes, I do take advantage of every opportunity to take a load off.

Happy Birthday Susie!

Next time, remember to bring two of the same shoes.

 

 

Pupdate

Miss Stella has settled right in here and is very busy keeping us all on our toes. She weighs a whopping nine pounds (up from six when we got her) so she seems to like the chow. She enjoys her puppy training classes, although I'm afraid she's like that annoying kid we've all had in our class -- you know the one that's always raising her hand and shouting "Pick me! Pick me!" The teacher says to sit, lay down, or come and Stella does it -- whether its her turn or not. She does not enjoy taking turns. I'm pretty sure she thinks the other dogs are there just to be her audience.

Stella loves Ozzie the cat, perhaps a little too much. She is constantly gnawing on him, pulling his tail, or laying on him. Oz is a saint. I would have given Stella a good scratch long ago. We've designated that red striped chair the Stella-free zone, so that the poor cat can get some peace. Stella would rather sleep on that pillow than her kennel during the day, so Ozzie decided to try out the kennel. Unfortunately for Oz, Stella decided to join him. Very cozy.

Happy Valentines Day!

Turtle Spotting

One of the highlights of a trip to Hawaii is the chance to see the large green sea turtles (honu), who are on endangered specieslist, that live in the beautiful, warm ocean there.

Although our stretch of the Pacific is beautiful, the water is a whole lot colder than Hawaii. So imagine my surprise to find out that there is a colony of sea turtles living in the San Gabriel River. The dividing line between Long Beach in Los Angeles County and Seal Beach in Orange County, the San Gabriel is an urban river and not particularly scenic.

Apparently the view is not that important to sea turtles. They have staked their claim to a section of the river about two miles from the ocean where an electrical plant flushes warm water that raises the river water temperature way above normal. No one knows how or why this little colony of turtles found this spot so far north of their usual tropical hangouts in Mexico or Hawaii.

As soon as I read about the turtles I had to get a look for myself. My friend Wenda and I headed up Pacific Coast Highway this morning to find them. And we did. Eventually. It's an easy walk up a bike trail from the Alamitos Bay Marina to the power plant where the turtles hang out. The hard part is actually seeing the turtles. They like to hang out in the turbulent outflow from the power plant that is rough and not particularly clear. But we were (relatively) patient and eventually figured out that the turtles were hanging out in the very middle of the river. They popped their heads up and flipped their flippers, but they never came close to the bank. Which is fine. I was happy just to get a look at them.

If you go to see the turtles, try to go at high tide (it was ebb tide when we were there), that sounds like when they come closer to the river bank. And be patient. It's worth it.