gaucho grad

This past weekend, we drove up to Santa Barbara for my nephew, Nic's, graduation from UCSB...but not before hitting a few thrift stores in the surrounding area. I found more vintage flower pins and need to get crackin' on projects to actually use them. I also found a small vase with blue birds on a birdhouse which I'll use as a pen holder on my desk at Chumby where I started a new job last week. The vase is a bit much, but I am working at a place called Chumby now...

We took a stroll along State St. and popped into Off Leash, a pet apparel store we saw on an episode of The Dog Whisperer. Leave it up to Cesar Milan to let the humans know that they need rehabilitation just as much as the dogs. Turns out, the dog was just being a dog. Neither of the whippets were in the shop...maybe they were napping. We couldn't resist buying a potent smelling catnip cigar for Kirby (I'm a sucker for fun packaging!) which he rolled around with in the backyard the following day. He was surprisingly calm post-catnip, unlike the time my nieces' cat, Pikachu, who ran laps throughout the house during his catnip high.

The marine layer burned off just in time for the graduation which allowed us to enjoy the sun on the beautiful campus grounds as the young, hopeful, talented College of Engineering graduates sat patiently through a less than inspiring commencement speech by Wes Bush, CFO of Northrup Grumman. I'm certain this write up on Nic's senior project for ATK Space Systems is a sneak peek of one of many successes to come in his future career. (okay, just a smidgen of Proud Auntie coming out...)

Following the ceremony, we all hopped onboard the Sunset Kidd which cruised along the coast. Our guesses of the long, single-story structure next to the coastal mansion of the Beanie Babies creator (as we were told by the crew) ranged from an extravagant garage to ballroom to greenhouse. Guess we'll have to wait to be invited over to confirm.

The evening ended with dinner at Olio e Limone where the graduation crowd waiting outside for tables were surprised by a Baldwin brother stumbling into them. Sorry, none of us had any idea which Baldwin he was and were more interested in our celebration and menu choices.

my little pony party time

I've been wanting to fly a kite for the past three weeks or so. One afternoon, I was determined to buy a kite at the next dollar store we passed. I saw a Big Lots, doubled my budget to $2 and walked out of there with a My Little Pony kite with a long pink tail and "Party Time" printed on it. (Looks someone else has the same kite.) Today was the day for it's maiden flight.

On our way to Balboa Park, we decided to stop in at the zoo and take a peek at the elephants since we hadn't visited them yet. Zoo membership is nice 'cause you can stroll around, see a few animals and come back another day. We stayed longer than expected and checked out Cat Alley, but left before we got tired. There's still kite-flying to do...

We headed down the dirt path in the canyon between Park Blvd. and Florida Dr. just across the street from the zoo. Surprisingly, this was a great place to fly a kite. Lots of wind and no power lines or tall trees to get tangled in! With little effort, it took off and we quickly let up the 50' string. Our first nose dive landed close to cactus and the string got tangled in the tall, dry grasses, so we moved down the path a little ways. Too much of a good thing would've given us neck aches and called it quits after a short while. The kite will stay in my trunk on the ready for future impromptu kite adventures.

$4.45

Yesterday, I walked to my hair appt. and noticed the price of gas at the station around the corner. $4.45 per gallon.

Here are other items $4.45 can buy you today:

• coveralls
• chain lubricant for your bike
• duck track replica for your cement walk
• Yakima rack wrench - on sale

rock 'n' roll marathon

Of all days to wake up "late" on the weekend, it had to be today. I woke up and took a look at the clock and it was 6:37 a.m. Darn, I missed the start of the Rock 'n' Roll Marathon! I was really looking forward to seeing the running Elvises -- or is Elvi? There was supposed to be a record number of 'em this year.

I heard the T.V. helicopters and screaming just out our window and quickly got dressed. We live just blocks from the start line. When I reached University Ave., the source of the screams were evident...a bunch of, um, cheerleaders in front of Flicks bar. If I was feeling nostaligic for being back home in San Francisco, this would've done the trick to cheer me up. I wasn't feeling nostalgic nor needing to be cheered up and was purely amused by the start of my morning.

Our dragon boat practice was earlier than usual this morning, so I wasn't going to be able to follow the marathon or check out any of the bands. However, my path seemed to follow the course. It was strange to drive down the freeway and have the Southbound lanes of Hwy 163 filled with runners. (ha! caught some Elvises.)

We had quite a workout today. We've never been past the basin in our practices and our substitute coach, Susie, took us twice around the island just off of the Youth Aquatic Center. She mentioned that if we're paddling right, we'll feel it in our muscles tomorrow. great, something to look forward to as reinforcement of doing something right.

One last look at the marathoners at Mile 22 as I turned onto SeaWorld Dr. back onto Hwy. 5 on my way home.

last-minute pincushion

Over the weekend, I decided to shorten the Barcelona skirt I made last week. I'm 5'3" and the extra length from the pattern was making me look shorter. I sheared off about 6", most of the last tier. I think it might be too short now...part of the learning process.

I had lots of scrap fabric from it and felt like being productive, so I pulled out my Last Minute Patchwork and Quilted Gifts book. I'm in need of a pincushion, especially since the plastic magnetic case I've been using has been slowing falling apart. The feet which keep it upright have both fallen off and the case rolls whenever I pull a pin out of it.
During my grocery run, I was pleasantly surprised to find my fave, PEONIES!, greet me in the floral buckets near the store entrance. I do miss buying bunches of these for a buck or less each at the Nicollet Mall Farmers Market in Minneapolis. Since I'd buy them during lunch, my desk looked like a mini floral shop every Thursday afternoon.

Peonies at the market were an indicator that summer is just around the corner. Throughout their blooming season, practically every room in my house would be filled with peonies. The best is seeing them bloom in my yard...I wonder how they're blooming this year. I hope the new owners are enjoying them as much as I did. Almost summer!

skirt of choice

It was a good thing we went to the beach on Friday 'cause this weekend was a scorcher and the beaches were packed. On Friday, we had a large surrounding area all to ourselves...maybe it had something to do with being in the flight path of the military base nearby. We actually thought it was cool to be able to see the underbellies of the jets flying by.

I retreated to the air-conditioned shop at Sowing Sisters for the Skirt of Choice workshop yesterday. Great instructors and service at this shop! Plus, they carry lots of Amy Butler fabrics. I chose the Barcelona layered skirt and used the fabric I picked up last weekend in L.A. I wear A-line skirts all the time and figured it'd be more fun searching for fabrics for a skirt rather than the skirt itself. This skirt is so easy to make especially since the dark printed fabric was so forgiving of not showing any of my stitching flaws.

I don't have a zipper foot (that I know of), so Kerri showed me how to put it on using one of the shop's Janome machines. I want one! They're so smooth and quiet with so many stitch options. I figure I'll learn a bit more on my Brother XL-5600 I picked up at Target a couple of years ago, then upgrade my machine when I can actually put all the bells and whistles to work.

We simply followed the instructions for the zipper from its package and on the pattern and...it worked! My first zipper installed and demistified. Kerri also showed me that my machine has a built in threading system. No more squinting to get the thread through that needle. whoo-hoo!

Making the muslin lining was a cinch! It's the same pattern for the A-line skirt. I don't think I'll have a shortage of skirts this summer.

coronado beach day

While watching the morning news yesterday, we heard that today would be the hottest day of the week and would reach the mid-90s. We decided to have a Beach Day and take our boogie boards out to Coronado Island. It took a while to get acclimated to the 65 degree water sans wetsuits. After a few dunks underwater, we were hanging out past the surfline for any rideable, though smallish, waves. We left when our sand structure was engulfed by the incoming tide. I called it an oceanfront spa since the water pooled behind our sand wall was warmer and relaxing to wade in, but B called it a fort with spires. Imagination at work! It sounds like the heat wave hit up North, in the Bay Area, more than it did here since it was only in the low 80s, but it was perfect beach weather for me.