Montana here I come!

So many of you might know that I will be leaving tomorrow on a trip to Montana. Yeah! This is a part work/part vacation trip that I've been planning since about January. The first 6 days I'll be working an event at the Rock Creek Resort outside of Red Lodge. Then, a co-worker and I will head down to Yellowstone National Park for a little bit 'o camping and adventure. I definitely plan on seeing lots of buffalo, hopefully no bears, and lots of beautiful scenary. I've actually never been to Yellowstone, so I'm really looking forward to seeing this amazing country. Oh yeah, and I also plan on karaoke-ing at a few of the Red Lodge bars. Watch out Montana, here I come!

Wordle

I've found another thing that will keep me busy for HOURS on end...it's a link from one of my favorite blogs, How About Orange, on how to create your own Wordle graphic. Here's what Wordle created with the words I've used in this blog:


(Click on the image to enlarge it)

Another quick project

I'm almost done revamping my craft studio, and should have pics posted by this weekend.

In the meantime, I've made another little owl that is a "quick" craft project. I have made these cuties previously for both Cadence and Malcolm, but I hadn't made one for myself! This one didn't take too long, and I realized (after Paul told me) that he's quite a festive Christmas-y owl. Luckily I have some of the fabric left, and I think it would be great for some handcrafted Christmas ornaments!

Jammin'

Berkeley Bowl was having a sale on strawberries, so I bought a few containers and decided to make jam. I found some cute, small little jars at my favorite Alameda hardware store, Paganos, and used them for the jam. I found a recipe that didn't include pectin (because, well, I didn't have any on hand!), and tried to limit how much sugar went into the recipe. Though the jam did turned out a little runny, it's still delicious! (and easily spreadable on toast or as an ice cream topping). Paul definitely approves.

Drawstring bags

I'm always looking for a fun project that is simple, requires few materials, and can be finished before my crafting ADD kicks in. Lately I've been using my favorite Hello Kitty drawstring pouch to keep my purse essentials in (this makes the transferring of the purses a lot easier)...so I decided to make a few more using some scrap fabric I had lying around.

The first 2 are nothing fancy - just fun fabric I had leftover. The last I tried embellish a little bit, and I embroidered a cute little bird on. I think they turned out pretty great, and I'm looking forward to making lots more of these for my buddies. In fact, these 3 will be given away tonight at our Ladies that Dine dinner!

Crafty ideas

So Paul and I have been in our apartment for about a year now, and I'm itching to get out. Not because it isn't a fabulous apartment, just that I'm really wanting a balcony to put all my plants on, and a 2nd bedroom for guests and my crafts :) Selfish, I know! Well, we won't be moving any time soon, as it's a great location and price...so until then, I'm making do with what I've got and I'm rearranging and decorating like nobody's business.

Last night I began the process of setting up my craft station in our bedroom. There's a little nook next to our closet that I've been eyeing since we moved in. I'm not quite done yet (but will post pics soon!) I'm getting some inspiration from Alicia Paulson's studio:




Now granted, she's a full time crafter, so I could never replicate her cute studio - however, I'm gonna try to make my little corner as cute as possible! Luckily I have a weekend all to myself (the first in months!), and I plan on sprucing up the apartment as much as possible :)

San Simeon

This past weekend Marie, Cadence and I, along with her childhood friend Hunter and his partner Lee, took a little trip down to San Simeon for some camping, beach, and castle time. I had never been to Hearst Castle before, and had imagined it to be this huge castle on the ocean, but I was very surprised to see that it was way on top of a hill overlooking the beautiful pacific. But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself here....

Friday we headed down the 101 and across the 46 to the small town of Cambria, then up hwy 1 to San Simeon State Park. We had reservations in the "primitive camp" (i.e. no showers and clean pit toilets), which was just fine. Our site was on a bluff overlooking the ocean and the hills, and was just gorgeous. Surprisingly, we were allowed to have campfires (even though all of CA is burning), and, not one to pass on campfires, we bought some wood from the camp host and burned one down.

The following morning we went to Hearst Castle. Holy tourist trap! Well, not really a tourist trap, but there were a lot of tourists there. We all loaded on a bus and made the trek up the hill. Did you know the W.R. Hearst had a zoo there too? And that the relatives of his zebras are still roaming around there? Anyway, needless to say the castle lived up to it's extreme, lavish expectations. I LOVED it. The gardens were beautiful, the pool was something out of a movie, the indoor swimming pool took 3 years to tile, and the "small" guest house was, like, 5,000 square feet. I was taking pics non-stop. Our tour lady was very informative, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is nearby.



After the tour, we headed out to the beach for some serious lounge/beer drinking time. I watched Cadence while the boys took a walk, and Marie (almost) took a swim. The weather was just perfect - not too hot, but warm enough to wear shorts and a tank top. We were expecting it to be freezing (come on, it's the Central Coast!) but we were very surprised to have such great weather.



All in all, it was a lovely weekend! I can't wait to go back and bring Paul on the tour. The campground we stayed at was also great, and would recommend to anyone that has kids (if I were a kid, I would LOVE it there!)

4th of July fun

Cadence in her 4th of July finest
Who doesn't love giant goldfish?
Marie and Cadence at the beach

I know it's been almost 2 weeks since the 4th, but I haven't had time to post these pics yet! Anyway I had SUCH a great 4th of July weekend. In case you didn't know, my stepbrother Dylan (who's in the Army) has returned home safely from Iraq - and he doesn't have to go back. Hooray! So it was a special 4th of July celebration. The weekend included fun (white trashy) activities like playing horse shoes, drinking beers, and swimming. We watched the PML fireworks from my dad's deck and they were good, but not as spectacular as I remembered (I was 10, what do you expect?)

Everyone at the Iron Door bought Dylan a welcome home beer
Emily, Aaron, and Dana
Dad and Tish

Summer eats

I'm not sure if I've told ya'll about the other blog I keep:

Ladies that Dine

Some of you may know that I have a weekly dinner with 3 of my bestest friends in the Bay Area (Erin, Jenny, and Marcelle). We decided to keep a blog where we could post our dinner dates, pictures, and recipes. I'm the editor of it, so between this blog and that one, I'm a bloggin' maniac.

Anyway, check it out! We've made a lot of tasty things throughout the past year, and the list keeps growing. And if you're ever in the Bay, come on over!