Balls (Where’s My Backpack?)
SYW (Cee’s Photography)
Wanting something to quench your thirst, what would you drink?
Lately, all I’ve been wanting to drink is water with either Citrus Fresh or Peppermint essential oils infused. I’ve been trying to cut caffeine and sugary drinks out of my life and so far it’s working. Though on occasion I’ll have a cup of coffee or my other favorite, a Cherry Limeade.
Complete this sentence: Never In My Life Have I…. been to the Louvre in Paris. Ever since I studied Art History in high school, I’ve wanted to go.
If you could be given any gift what would it be? A house with a yard. My husband and I have dreamt of owning our own home, but the house prices here in the Bay Area are insane and leaving is out of the question while there is family here that we help take care of.
What do you do if you can’t sleep at night? Do you count sheep, toss and turn, or get up and try to do something productive? I often have trouble getting to sleep. I have tried all sorts of sleeping pills, herbs, etc. Recently I started diffusing lavender and cedarwood about an hour before bed and it’s helped me a lot. It also helps to read or crochet/knit as I have also recently found.
Optional Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I am grateful for coming out of the fog and getting my energy back. This week I’m looking forward to more walks, finishing the shawl I’ve been crocheting, and making some good memories.
CFFC: View From the Side (Cee’s Photography)
For a few years after his death, the city of Santa Rosa, CA celebrated Charles M. Schulz by having a “Peanuts on Parade” program. Different businesses around town would decorate or paint the chosen character and then display them for a few months before they were auctioned off to create art scholarships. My husband and I happened to go the years Woodstock and Charlie Brown were the chosen characters. They no longer change the characters every year, but there still 70 statues on display around town (you can download a PDF of their locations here) plus there are a few at the Schulz museum, which if you like the Peanuts cartoons, visiting the museum is a must.
Week 30: In the Distance (the girl that dreams awake)
Last year, we decided to do something different for the Fourth of July. My sister got us tickets on one of the ferries that goes out on the San Francisco Bay to see the fireworks. The fog, even in the middle of the summer, can often wreck havoc on seeing the night sky let alone the fireworks. As we set out across the bay, we thought maybe we had made a mistake as the fog rolled in covering the Golden Gate Bridge making it disappear like it no longer existed. It got really, really cold and we started preparing ourselves to look at the pretty colored fog, but thankfully by the time the show actually started the fog had thinned out enough for us to see the show and it ended up being an experience I’ll never forget.
CFFC: Looking Up at Things (Cee’s Photography)
CFFC (Cee’s Photgraphy)
More from our trip to LA. We didn’t go back to the Cookie Con for the second day. Instead we checked some of the tourist spots around town. I’ve always wanted to see the Hollywood Walk of Fame and all the celebrity hand/footprints. The following photos are just a few of my favorites…
CWWPC (Cee’s Photography)
I took the featured picture on our road trip last week right before the storm got really bad. Sorry it’s a little blurry, but I was driving. I wanted to get the pretty rainbow before it disappeared.
Despite the crazy rain and flooding, we had a great time in LA. On Friday, we stayed with some friends and played games all night. I was the Disney Scene It Champion, I faired pretty well in Apples to Apples, and after I warmed up, I kicked butt in the old game Dr. Mario. We got to bed a little later than we wanted to since we had the Cookie Con the next day, but it had been awhile since we’d seen our friends in a long time and I was having too much fun.
We got up early to get ready. I watched the news to check on traffic to the Convention Center and saw the aftermath from the crazy storm. We were lucky that we drove down as early as we did because there was a mudslide shortly after I took the above picture on the Tejon Pass that closed the Interstate down. Luckily, there were no hazards between where we were staying and the Convention Center. It was weird to drive out and see that the flood waters for the most part had receded. We were thankful though because it was cookie time. We got there early to check in and get in line. Unfortunately, the cookie con was not organized well, vendors weren’t told that VIP ticket holder got in an hour early, and so the opening of the Cookie Con was delayed. When we were finally let in almost 45 minutes late, many of the vendors were still setting up. We began our rounds of tasting samples, (Cookie Jam – delicious…look for it on shelves soon, Got Milk and bacon donut holes, and cookie shot cups you could fill with different flavored milks)
checking competition pieces (edible art and superhero theme cake),
trying new products (it’s a cookie printer),
look at the pretty products
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and watching classes/demonstrations.
There was more, but overall the Cookie Con was underwhelming. There were a lot more product vendors, many of them not baking related (i.e. the nail polish design ladies or the at least 3 different electronic massage guys all selling the same kind of product in different wrapping and slightly different pricing). I kind of thought it would be like the scrapbook conventions I’ve been to where each vendor either had something to try or make. More interactive. We got through the whole Cookie Con in a few hours. We stuck around only to see Duff Goldman make cookies and then left. 
We didn’t come back for the second day even though we’d already paid for it. Not sure I would go again unless they got their S**T together, got more baking vendors, and more interactive things to do.
Week 27: Architecture (The Girl that Dreams Awake)
This past weekend my husband and I drove down to LA for the Cookie Convention. Afterwards we decided to do a bit of the tourist thing since we realized we have never really looked around LA before except to go to Universal Studios or Disneyland. Here are a few of the buildings we saw around town.
Grauman’s Chinese Theater – We walked part of the Hollywood Walk of Fame and of course we stopped to see all the celebrity hand and footprints out front. 
We stopped to get some souvenirs at a little shop next to Madame Tussaud’s. I was quick in finding what I wanted and left the mad house of a store and waited for the rest of our party outside and took a picture of the Roosevelt Hotel. One of my friends thought it had been the hotel Whitney Houston had died in, but when I looked it up it was actually the Beverly Hilton. I just liked the building. It reminded me of days long past.
I caught a picture of the Capital Records on our way up to Griffith Observatory. I wanted to get a better picture of it, but the traffic was crazy, so I settled for the drive by shot.
It took us awhile to get up to Griffith Observatory, the sun quickly going down and the temperature dropping as we went. Finding parking was insane, but we did manage to find a spot close to the top. We had hoped to get a picture of the Hollywood sign, but it was too dark by the time we got up there, but I did get a picture of the building.
There were still so many more touristy things to see in LA, but another storm was coming and we didn’t want get stuck because of more road closures due to flooding. Next time!
CYW: Laser Lemon (Jennifer Nichole Wells)
Years ago we visit Universal Studios Orlando and as you all know, walking around all day gets tiring and so you take a break by seeing the shows offered and “Fear Factor Live” was one of them. They chose people from the audience to complete the tasks in the show. There was no way I was volunteering after watching the show, but there were a bunch of crazy people willing to go for it as you can see from this picture. It was entertaining and a great way to get out of the sun and off of our feet.
Onto My Next 40 Years 