this little life of mine

Thirteen Things I Need to Pack for My Vacation to Hawaii:

1. Pack sunscreen. LOTS of sunscreen!
2. All my camera stuff: the camera (obviously!), extra memory cards, extra batteries, battery charger, waterproof camera case, and card reader for my laptop.
3. Laptop (for dumping all the hundreds of thousands of photos I hope to take).
4. britney treo and charger (for "beach blogging"!).
5. Bathing suit.
6. Shampoo, conditioner and finishing spray with sunscreen.
7. Shoes: comfy walking shoes, water mocs, Birkies and cute, strappy sandals.
8. A light jacket for evenings on the beach and, of course, the luau.
9. A floppy hat.
10. A large beach towel.
11. Postcard stamps.
12. A good "beach book" (What a Girl Wants by Kristin Billerbeck).
13. My iPod (mostly to get me through the flights and airports, etc.).

Today was tons of fun! Suzie and DeeDee arrived soon after I posted the previous entry; DeeDee had her foster son with her, so we were an even team of four. We had (non-alcoholic) beverages and Big Mutha Nachos as planned, and spent nearly two hours at Mother's catching up with each other's lives. Afterwards, we wandered around downtown SLO showing DeeDee all the changes that have occured since she moved to Oregon, walked along the creek, took pictures of each other, and sat in the park in front of the Mission, still chatting away, while DeeDee's foster son played on the rock wall, rolled down the grassy knoll and played in the fountian in front of the Mission. Later we stopped had some refreshing frozen yogurt. It was amazingly warm out today - I was in a tank top, capris and Birkies and was still too warm! - so the frozen yogurt tasted really good. Downtown was packed with people, and keeping track of an almost-five-year-old was a bit of a challenge. He's an adorable kid, though; very sweet and amazingly well behaved. It was around 4:30 in the afternoon when we said our good-byes and went our separate ways. It was really nice to see DeeDee again, and I was thrilled to see her doing so well. Suzie and I decided we really should get together for lunch sometime, as we work pretty close to each other, but who knows? We're both so busy, but we promised to try.

I'm sitting in Mother's waiting for two long-lost friends to join me: DeeDee and Suzie! DeeDee is down for a visit from Oregon so naturally The Three Musketeers had to get together for some Big Mutha nachos and margaritas. After lunch, who knows? We'll just go wherever the wind takes us.

I begin this post by assuming y'all know who (or what) Flat Stanley is. If not, here's a quick explanation:

Flat Stanely is a series of kids books about a boy named Stanely who gets flattened when a bulletin board falls on him (he is otherwise unharmed). His parents take advantage of his peculiar condition and mail him off to visit relatives in California where he has adventures. Kinda creepy, if you ask me, but kids seem to really dig it. In fact, many schools have started Flat Stanely Projects where kids make a Flat Stanely doll and mail it off to relative or friends. My original BFF's son is doing such a project, and mailed his "Flat Stanley" doll to me. I'm not sure how adventures his stay will be, but so far I've taken him to some fun places: my work (okay, not so fun, but I have to go, so he might as well come with me!), the SLO Mission, Bubblegum Alley, Atascadero Lake and plan to hit a beach or two this weekend before sending him back home. However, there are many other places I wish I could take Flat Stanley if I had the time, in fact, there's 13:

1. Hearst Castle - One of the most famous landmarks in California.
2. Cambria/Moonstone Beach - Sometimes seals and sea lions lounge on the rocks just offshore.
3. SLO Farmer's Market - Lots of great produce (though maybe not right at the moment) and entertainment.
4. Monterey Bay Aquarium - One of my favourite places ever!
5. 17 Mile Drive - Beautiful scenery, fun, twisty curves, famous people golfing.
6. Gilroy - The Garlic Capitol of the World! Garlic flavoured ice cream, anyone?
7. Santa Barbara/State Street - A major shopping area where the occasional street performer makes balloon animals and sings or dances, and the last time I was there, a representative from the Reptile House at the zoo was showing off some really cool snakes!
8. Santa Barbara Waterfront - A fun pier to walk along, funky shops to explore, seagulls and waves.
9. Santa Barbara Zoo - What kid doesn't like a zoo?
10. Solvang - A touristy Scandinavian-themed town.
11. Avila Beach - Best beach on the Central Coast (imho).  Actually made it there last weekend!
12. Charles Paddock Zoo - Our very own Zoo in Atascadero. I just don't think I have enough time to go through it with FS.
13. Morro Bay Natural History Museum - Gotta have a little education with your adventures, right?

I spent today finishing up my Christmas cards for the year. It wasn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be; actually, it was kinda fun!

I've been wanting try stamping on photographs for some time, but never found the perfect stamp/photo combination. Until now. I chose the photo "Sunset Over SLO", which I'd taken out the window of an airplane when I was flying off to my vacation in Ohio last summer, and the stamp "Sand Angel" by Stamp Clinic. It worked so perfectly, it was obviously meant to be!

The other rubber stamps I used were: Small Photo Frame by Stampa Barbara and "Rejoice" by That's All She Stamped on the front of the card, "For unto us is born this day ..." Bible verse by Printworks for the interior greeting, and Small Snowflake by All Night Media, "Happy New Year" by Magenta, and my custom-made "Hand-Stamped by" stamp on the back. The stamp pads I used were Adirondack's Cabin Fever and Espresso, and Archival Ink's Cobalt.

Here's the final product:

This entry can also be seen over in my journal as an entry for Holidailies. Cheers!

Hand-stamped card made for one of my friends whom I've known since high school. Her birthday was actually on the 20th, so this is a bit late, but I hope she likes it! Happy Birthday, K.F.!

This afternoon I had the opportunity to have lunch with two of my friends: Jewel and Ali. We went out to this cute little cafe, antiquie, gardeny type place that reminded me a lot of Heart's Ease in Cambria. The food was great, the weather was wonderful (although it was a bit hot), and the company was fantastic! I had just seen Jewel not too long ago, but she was passing through town, and took the opportunity to stop for lunch. Ali I haven't seen in ages, despite the fact that we work in the same town, not too far away from each other. So busy - we are all so darn busy! But it was nice to see them again, even for an hour.

Well, I'm home! I had a fantastic (though rather expensive) weekend - the train trip down to San Diego was a bit spotty, but coming back it was great, the shopping was wonderful (but dangerous to the bank account!), the Quality Inn was sub-quality, but good for laughs, the San Diego Zoo totally rocked, and Jewel was, as usual, fabulous to hang out and share it all with.

Detailed updates and, most importantly, PICTURES coming soon, I promise! Right now, however, I'm going to take a quick shower, and go to bed. Cheers!

Well, not quite, but soon. Very, very soon! I'm off to San Diego for the weekend. My bags are all packed and sitting by the door, along with my purse, car keys, and most importantly, my tickets! I'll be getting up at an ungodly hour to make the train in SLO, and will probably wonder what the heck I'm doing! Ha!

But, seriously, I'm excited! I haven't travelled by train in a long time, and since we're going along the coast, the view should be beautiful! It's also been years since I've been to San Diego and the Zoo and stuff, so that should be really fun, too!

See you on the flip side!