A HOUSE GUEST!!!

taken 2.11.16 - ALLIE's birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALLIE (ACE)! ummm... as I'm typing this, I realized that ALLIE is no longer ACE. Those WERE the initials of her first-middle-last name. She's married now, so technically, she is ACM, but I think I'll refer to her as ALLIE from this point on.

I drove up to volunteer in Allie's classroom on Weds & Thursday... and take her to buy some work-out shoes for her BIRTHDAY.

JPE + Lola ~ VALENTINE'S DAY 2.14.16

AND... I picked up LOLA to spend a vacation here while Allie & Brian are visiting SLE & MB in Arlington, VA & Washington DC. 

ON THIS DAY.... JANUARY 28th!

Being an "overachiever" and NOW a "procrastinator" I tend to avoid posting pictures on my blog if they aren't new or what I consider "blog-worthy"... I've been spending a chunk of time each day editing my photo library. It's gotten unmanage-able (over 42,500 photos)... and many of them need to be trashed. Of course, that prevents me from wanting to add more photos until I take care of this problem.

So... to SIMPLIFY life... I dug back into my archives for some notable happenings on this day... specifically, 2013 and 2011... Here's what I found. Also, I borrowed photos I hadn't posted to illustrate this post.

January 28, 2013

We took visitors to see the ELEPHANT SEALS on 1/28/13. An easy drive... it's always exciting being outside in the brisk, winter breezes along the coast of California. AND, who wouldn't like seeing the elephant seals... 

Actually, I enjoy seeing the expressions on people's faces while they watch the nuances of ELEPHANT SEAL life. This photo happens to be from February 2014, but I love the look on Matthew's face.

January 28, 2011

Then there was this LIFE CHANGING EXPERIENCE IN 2011. 

I had broken a bone in my left foot. I had written about the emotions that I was feeling as the result of being on crutches. Little did I know that I would use crutches until mid-July. AND, then have physical therapy for several months to regain my balance. 

JPE & I had already booked flights to see SLE & MB in Washington DC. So, off we went... You can see "da boot" that was "oh so glamorous!" We are laughing at MB, who was taking our picture! He's taken some of the best pictures --- and he's blind. Of course, we had all sorts of comments to help him snap this photo. 

Well... hope you enjoyed "On THIS DAY" (in 2013 & 2011)... perhaps I'll have to make this a regular feature here!

See you soon! 

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V.4 (2016)

Not just GOOD, but GREAT...
we had four days of rain
(off & on, but still much appreciated).

A RANDOM act...

JPE made turkey noodle soup with leftovers from last Thanksgiving... YUM!

Adorable decorations @ Lewis & Clark!!

Saturday, JPE & I went to Santa Barbara to "window shop"

(Ummm. I confess, actually, I spent a gift card)...

visited my favorite three stores - all located on State Street

Anthropologie, Paper Source and Lewis & Clark.

three FUN shops!

posting with Tamar at Random-osity

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V50

Sunday, December 13, 2015 - rain beading up on roof of my car

As I mentioned in my blog post yesterday, the Central Coast of California got a bit of rain! Californians get EXCITED about rain due to our multi-year drought. So, anytime we get ANY rain (we had less than 1/2 of an inch yesterday)... that is the "talk about town". A GOOD reason to celebrate!

Monday, December 7, 2015 - Bunco party treats

Last Monday, I hosted our Bunco Holiday celebration. No, we still don't play BUNCO, in fact, we don't even know who has the box (with dice, scorecards & pencils)??? but, we DO love to EAT & TALK about what's happening with our families... All of us are at different stages of our lives. A few are retired, most have grandchildren, a few have grown children who are getting married or defining their career paths, and almost all of us have creative interests (gardening, sewing, painting, decorating, baking or entertaining). 

JPE made dinner for us - lasagna, fresh olive bread and I added a kale salad (prepackaged from Trader Joe's). As everyone arrived, we munched on dried apricots, nuts, crackers & cheese. 

If you haven't tried this cheese, run (yes, run, because it's a seasonal treat) right out to Trader Joe's for a chunk of STICKY TOFFEE Cheddar Cheese. It's not a very pretty cheese (color, bleech!) but it's filled with toffee bits, raisins & dates... a RANDOM tidbit to add to your holiday eating!

Arroyo Grande Village Holiday Party - store window

I'm first to admit I cannot draw... but I do like to try my hand at lettering signs. I created a chalkboard drawing for Allison's and Stephanie's wedding. It was an opportunity to add my personal, FUN touch to their very unique weddings. If you haven't tried chalk lettering, Pinterest is the place to search ideas, or better yet, visit Lily & Val to order a copy of this book... The Complete Book of Chalk Lettering, by Valerie McKeehan. 

Well, must get to my house cleaning! then run a few errands before meeting JPE in San Luis Obispo for dinner with friends. YEAH! 

posting with Tamar at Random-osity!!

give her blog a peek! & tell her I sent you!!

G.R.A.T.I.T.U.D.E.

Skyline Drive, Shenandoah National Park, Virginia ~ 10.24.15

Our Thanksgiving Week has been AMAZING!
It wasn't just the food,
{which is always tasty}
B.U.T.
JPE & I spent quality time with Mom!

Monday - Cambria, Splash Cafe clam chowder, & the Palm Theater to see "SPOTLIGHT" {a thought-provoking movie}.

Tuesday - Massage w/Patricia {mom}, began House of Cards-Season 3 Marathon, & watched a PBS Special about the Mayflower & first settlers.

Wednesday - Another episode of House of Cards, saw "BROOKLYN" {sweet, love story} at Fair Oaks Theater, early dinner at Old Juan's Cantina, Oceano & a few more episodes of House of Cards.

Thursday - Started our morning with House of Cards & oatmeal, Thanksgiving with Lars & Kathryn's family/friends in Solvang {incredible food, company & wine}, & a nightcap of House of Cards.

Friday - JPE put our turkey in the oven, watched an episode of House of Cards w/am coffee, turkey dinner w/Mom, JPE & Lars {sorry, you missed it}, the thirteenth & final episode of House of Cards, followed by evening news w/Gwen Ifil, & Andre Botcelli {both on PBS, our favorite channel}

We chatted on the phone with our girls, texted other family members... and just R.E.L.A.X.E.D.

Unfortunately, Mom insists it's time to board Amtrak to head home tomorrow. Bummer! But, it's only a month until Christmas, so time will pass quickly.

There's SOOO much to be thankful for!

F.O.O.D.

F.I.L.M.S.

F.A.M.I.L.Y.

How was your holiday?

GOOD. RANDOM. FUN. V2.2

Finally... getting back to blogging!

Posting with Tamar @ Random-osity.

Each Monday, bloggers are invited to post any picture(s) that highlight

The GOOD

The RANDOM

The FUN

I'm posting pictures from several weeks ago...

JPE & I went to Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park, CA with my mom, sister & bro-in-law. It was a "blast-from-the-past" as you'll see from the pictures.

At the entrance to the park is a water tower, complete with a square dancing couple. Generally, night photos are difficult for me... this happened to be pretty GOOD.

If you've never been to Knott's Berry Farm, the original section is an old Western town. JPE was goofing off & stepped into this casket... he didn't realize a little boy (about 4 years old) was staring at him, trying to figure out if he was a real person. Pretty RANDOM, huh?

Knott's Berry Farm is close to Disneyland, so the park has added some amusements that keep them competitive with the public. The Supreme Scream drops riders 252 feet straight down! Urgh, sounds frightening to me, but from the screams, this must have been FUN for the thrill-seeking crowd.

Matthew on his 8th birthday - August 2014

TODAY marks my 800th post since I started my blog 5 years ago!

MEMORIES, DREAMS, REFLECTIONS 2014

For the past few years, I've posted my MEMORIES, DREAMS & REFLECTIONS for the previous year. The picture "prompts" are the same every year! Here are my posts for 2013, 2012 & 2011.

Since this is a reflection, this post is L.O.N.G. but I hope you enjoy visiting TURKEY through our experiences.

This year, JPE & I traveled to TURKEY!!! to document this trip, my photos for MDR 2014 were pulled from our photo archives. 

Trip dates: October 22-November 8, 2014 & here's a map of our travels...

map source

We started our trip by arriving in Istanbul four days before our "Best of Turkey in 13 Days" tour. Our tour guide, Mert Taner, was exceptional! in addition to tour guiding for Rick Steve's, Mert has also worked for Smithsonian, Rhodes Scholars, Tauck Tours & conducts private tours. 

ME - checking an item off my "bucket list"... (ride in a hot air balloon). Initially, we were to take a balloon  (near Mustafapasa) in the Cappadocia area. Our ride was canceled due to rain... but, Mert (our tour guide) arranged for a short trip over the Pamukkale travertine terraces, near Hierapolis.

LOVE YOU! My traveling partner, JPE... celebrating our 10th anniversary! YES, we hiked in the R-A-I-N in the Goreme Open-Air Museum (Cappadocia) when our hot air balloon trip was canceled!

Following a busy day at the Mevlana Museum (Konya), JPE & I decided to "venture on our own" for dinner. After checking several restaurants, we ended up eating chicken sandwiches & fries at a Burger King. Don't know if we should be embarrassed? but, we're definitely STILL LAUGHING about how great the fries tasted. BTW, we don't eat at Burger King in the US... which made this even funnier!

Saturday, November 1st - it felt like WINTER had arrived in Turkey... the skies were filled with angry, gray clouds that sputtered a constant "drizzle" BUT that didn't stop us from taking in the sights. The Musalla Mosque (Camii) in Urgup had slick, shiny domes w/two minarets. The "call to prayer" is broadcast from the balcony of the minarets five times a day! We enjoyed seeing two children swinging outside the mosque fence... oblivious to the chilly rain and "call to prayer"...

TOURING = NEW FRIENDS! Our tour began in Istanbul (Monday, October 27th) with two+ days of walking before meeting our bus driver, Rafet. Skilled at maneuvering the bus on narrow streets & hairpin turns, Rafet was exceptional! Although he was quiet, he was learning some English and hoped to visit his son's family in the US. I had a difficult time mastering Turkish words, so I can imagine Rafet felt the same about practicing his English.

October 29th is Republic Day (a national holiday & sort of a BIRTHDAY) in Turkey. The day is celebrated with bands and parades, the flying of Turkish flags, and public speeches in the larger cities. At Taksim Square (New District, Istanbul) Mert handed out small Turkish flags, so we'd feel like a part of the celebration... 

Near Mustafapasa, our guide took us to the Guray Studio to see a demonstration of ceramic plates, bowls, & teapots from start to finish. I was really INSPIRED BY the process used to hand paint the plates! 

SPRING weather? We were near Antalya (along the southern coast of Turkey)... the weather was a pleasant 70 degrees... perfect for a November afternoon. Cell phones are a critical tool for tour guides. Mert spent a fair amount of time confirming tour, meal and hotel arrangements whenever he had a spare moment. 

TRAVEL is good for my soul! ordering a meal without reading or speaking the language! walking through a town where people look different than you (& look at YOU differently)! seeing buildings & artifacts that are hundreds-to-thousands of years old & wondering how they were built!
The Hagia Sophia ("church of the holy wisdom") is over 1,400 years old... it was first built as a church, changed to a mosque & is now a museum. This structure is enormous!!! The NYC Statue of Liberty could do jumping jacks and NOT hit the ceiling of the dome.

Although every travel day included a "new" adventure... a DAY IN MY LIFE included taking photos (Aphrodisias "wall of faces"), drinking tea, walking (lots of walking) and hand-washing a few clothes (plus keeping our fingers crossed they would dry before our bus took us to our next city)!

We enjoyed SUMMER like weather conditions in Antalya... after a boat ride, a swim in the ocean, we watched two men playing backgammon... a photographer capture pics of a new bride... and walked the cobblestone streets.

In each city or town, our tour would visit a farmer's market to check the local HARVEST! Vegetables were H.U.G.E. (check out the cauliflower - it's almost the size of a human head). As in most foreign countries, people shop every few days - generally because refrigeration is limited or non-existent.

ALL SMILES... Mert joking with our Cappadocia hostess. A SMILING (?) pirate ship carving in Antalya. I don't care for having my picture taken, but JPE snapped this pic of me outside Suleyman, the Magnificent Mosque (with the Istanbul horizon in the background).

Enjoying lunch prepared by our Cappadocia hostess (mid-60's), her 93 year old mother, & daughter (mid-30's, wearing the white sweatshirt). The youngest female in this family was at school. Four generations in one house!!! Farming grapes & working their gardens. An incredible FAMILY! Seated on benches around the parameter of the room, we ate a hearty lunch, listened to the rain & thunder, and asked questions about life in rural Urgup. The two older women cover their heads, while the younger two are more Westernized in their appearance. 

We spent an afternoon in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. As I mentioned before, Republic Day is Turkey's National Holiday, so our group stopped by Ataturk's Mausoleum to witness the CELEBRATION. Children stood outside the Mausoleum singing songs & waving flags. Inside, people left flags in celebration of their favorite leader, Mustafa Kemal, better known as Ataturk (Turkey's first President). 

DO IT AGAIN... we spent an hour visiting with an imam (Muslim prayer leader). He is considered a leader for the community, and is responsible for leading Islamic worship services (five times a day). He recited one of the calls to prayer & Mert translated his response. Another highlight was our visit with carpet weaver(s). I actually took a turn at "tying" several threads on a carpet. The yarn is broken, instead of being cut. The weaving process was similar to following a needlepoint pattern.

In modern cities & rural areas, these crystal blue eyes were prominently displayed at the entrances to stores, restaurants, found in vehicles or being worn. It's the custom to give a blue eye to newborn babies, children and to couples getting married. When Mert's son was born, everyone who visited the baby safety-pinned a small blue eye to the front of his "onsie"... given to offer good luck and protect his baby from any evil spirits. JPE & I bought several gifts & found the store owners often wrapped an eye around the packaging. A pleasant MEMORY of our trip to Turkey.

Watching the Whirling Dervishes was a unique experience. It's believed music & dance produced a meditative state for the dervishes to connect with the earth and relieve them from the stresses & anxiety of everyday living. The mosaics were located in Konya (our hotel lobby) & near the Blue Mosque-Istanbul. BEAUTIFUL!

Being clean shaven is part of getting DRESSED UP... we ran short of time, so JPE missed getting a Turkish shave... but we both had a Turkish bath (in an Antalya hamam). Ninety minutes of heavenly pampering!

Visiting Aphrodisias at the end of the day was incredible! Ancient farmers visited this site believing it had magical powers to ensure prosperous crops. I think I took 150 pics in a two hour period... of course, many were trashed, but I was pretty satisfied with these two MACRO shots.

Doesn't this look festive? We didn't dare come home without some "Turkish Delight" (lokum in Turkish) for gifts! MB & SLE requested pistachio and pomegranate flavored delights! At first taste, JPE said, "it's just gummy candy with powdered sugar"... But, when we tasted the high-end delight, we realized why it's a treat people bring as gifts for the HOLIDAYS!

FAVORITES... turquoise-tiled mosque with Arabic writing (Konya); wooden door with a scalloped mailbox trim (Guray); and beautiful writing (Aphrodisias).

JUST BECAUSE... love the rusty discolored look of the marble carvings & how can you not love the sunlight setting on the stone building? the southern part of Turkey was stunning.

JPE... DON'T EVER CHANGE!... you push me when I need an extra boost! you let me research & keep track of travel details! And, you are always ready to make plans for another trip. Thanks for an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. anniversary.

Of course my HOPES & DREAMS are to continue to add stamps in our passports. Next trip? Ireland? Scotland? renting a place in Florence, Italy? Russia? ummmm. Lots to consider!

This post took way longer than I wanted to spend on it. Perhaps I should figure out how to read & write HTML. I had several glitches, adding to my writing time. BUT, it's completed & now I can get back to "regular posting". Yeah!

Please come back for a visit!!

CRUISING THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA...

Tuesday, our tour group had a FREE day

(meaning there were NO planned activities)

Rick Steve's Tours are busy & require a lot of walking,

so, at some point, you need a "vacation from your vacation"...

Fourteen of us (plus Mert, our tour guide) chartered a boat
for a two hour trip around the Antalya Harbor.
What a fabulous idea! 

The boat dock...
as you can see, it was a lovely day... sunshine, with a slight breeze!
Perfect weather after our chilly days in Cappadocia & a rainy drizzle in Istanbul.

sandals & cropped pants... what a treat after wearing walking shoes & socks!

this guy was fishing in his inflatable boat!

other fisherman had climbed down the rock cliff to fish!

our boat driver stopped the boat off a small cove so most of the group could jump in the water!

(l-r: Cathy, JPE, me, Tommy & Jennifer)

searching for a warm current!

actually, the cold currents weren't that cold!

I believe I remember Mert saying the water temperature was about 74 degrees...

a refreshing dip!

worth every penny

($25. each for our 2 hour trip)...