Saturday at the Getty Villa

The Saturday that followed my birthday found me and Ian at the

Getty Villa. 

It was such a lovely day and such a day for lovers.

While we explored some of the ancient arts, most of our time was spent in the gardens.

We  observed the wildlife and gazed at the water lilies.

Scenes, scientific plant names and fallen pink rose petals were collected in our sketchbooks.

There were tall stalks of unusual Hollyhocks...

... and this glowing red specimen called "Lovage." I loved it.

We took turns being the photographer and being the model...

... and both posed for a stranger who offered her photography services.

Then we lunched where pink cows graze in a field of yellow. Perfection.

what's with Today, today?

I was so excited for the afternoon that I forgot almost all my responsibilities (actually, I just forgot to make a couple of phone calls). Ian and I are usually able to spontaneously make an adventure. So, without a plan, we left the house. 

Several hours later, we are back home having only narrowly escaped a wait in the dark parking lot for AAA to give us a jump. That was as adventurous as today got. The rest ranged from slightly interesting to just weird and I'm sad to report that my most vivid memories are of a dirty harbor, a disappointing ice cream cone, and a depressing film.

In two about 2 weeks I'll probably remark to Ian about what a lovely time I had that day that we had no plans and drove around picking all the wrong things.

Welcome home, Atlantis

Did you all feel the landing of space shuttle Atlantis yesterday? It made our house shake and woke me up. 

The video above is of Atlantis returning to Kennedy Space Center from another mission. It was supposed to land there again, but bad weather brought the shuttle to the deserts of California. I love how the video shows the shuttle as slow and elegant, when really, the landing is an event so fast and forceful that we feel the earth shake from 133 miles away. So amazing. Here's a pretty good article about the most recent Atlantis mission.

As Ian and I sat around in our PJs discussing space travel and air force bases, I remembered a mix up I had as a kid. I thought that Nasa and Napa were the same thing. My Uncle Louis and his family lived in Napa Valley and to me that meant that Louis was an astronaut. I can recall asking my parents where the spaceships were we'd go to visit.

signs of summer coming

Here is the first lily to blossom in our garden this year. It seems fitting that it should open up just as the Memorial weekend begins. I always think of this weekend as the kick off to summer, even though the seasons won't officially change for almost another month. At any rate, a holiday weekend is always a great excuse to do something fun. We'll be classic Americana as we go to multiple weekend BBQs.

What will you be doing?

as the dust settles

Now that my grades for CSUN have been posted (there were some really great student sites this semester) I have a little breathing room and can finally tell you about this weekend's activities.

oh, the races!

The bike races were so amazing. I couldn't stop talking about how much fun I had. Sunday was especially fantastic because I got to be a course marshal. I helped to make sure that cars and bikes steered clear of one another on the open course and that the cyclists turned right at the intersection. I wore a reflective vest and a straw sunhat and felt very official.

While Saturday in Ventura was much gloomier than the Sunday event in Ojai, Chris Jensen got some wonderful action shots (including the photos above) and Ian and I had an adventure...

adventure at the corner cafe

After cheering from a curbside at the bottom of a hill for a few races, we decided to find a spot where we could watch the riders climb. The patio at Bernadette's was the perfect spot to spectate and refresh. Ian went inside to order drinks and I found a table with a view. It wasn't Ian that came out to join me though—it was Bernadette. She already knew my first name, even though we'd never been introduced, and she told me she was in a pinch. Her server hadn't shown up and she needed to run her daughter to a play date. With that, she handed over the keys to the cafe and was off. So Ian was behind the counter filling in, and while he tended bar I took photos of us in the mirror.

bike love

Just got back from the downtown bike race... ooh I just love bikes. And today was so wonderfully unpredictable that I will have to show you all the photos and tell you the tales.

If I had not been just a few blocks away from my house and in such  familiar territory, I would've sworn we were in a little Italian beach town, watching the racers while we sipped Perronis from an outdoor cafe. Why don't we do this every Saturday?

Wondering about the lovely lady in the photo? She is one of my favorite people and here she is modeling a shirt of my own design.

coffee, work & inspiration

There is so much to do today that I am just about to brew a pot of French press and get back to work. But while the sun is shining and I am stuck indoors I'll be thinking of days like the one in the photo above when all I had to do was drive around town with a best friend and take polaroid pictures with my old Land Camera.

tired and smiling

I am so tired from what seemed like the longest Tuesday ever created. But as Ian and I drove home from a late night at Moorpark College we started talking about how much we love Will Ferrell and how glad we are he's alive. Really, sometimes I think about Mr. Ferrell and just smile, chuckle to myself a bit.

So instead of sleeping, I'm watching 'Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.' Tee hee.

I especially love it when he sings. The duet with Ferrell and Jack Black from the Academy Awards is so giggle worthy. I wanted to put the clip here for you all to see, but you will have to follow this link to You Tube instead.

here's to you, beautiful lady

I had the pleasure of brunching with some of the most lovely ladies today—Donna, Carol, Shannon, Mish and Dolores. And of course, my Mother...

Oh, thank you Mom. You are truly a wonderful woman, inspiring and admirable. Thank you Grandma for being my Mom's Mom. I miss you. And thank you Gail, my new Mom.

And to Lynn, my God Mother, thank you thank you and thank you. This will be the first year that I won't call you on the telephone with happy Mother's Day wishes. Instead I'll have to look to the stars to tell you how much you mean to me and how my thoughts are always of you.

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mothers in my life.

climbing trees in party dresses

The photos are by me, but the fashion is all Lindsay Miller. I love her party dresses—all one of a kind, reworked vintage pieces. They are Grace Kelly glamour with a Punky Brewster twist. The designer herself is shown here climbing a pepper tree in one of her own designs and holding a Maryink handbag. If I had prom to do all over again I would wear a Lindsay Miller party dress. You can shop for both designers at SassySallys.com.

And with that in mind, I'm off to rummage through my closet in search of the perfect thing to wear to the Getty Villa.

and many more...

SOME FAVORITE MEMORIES OF BIRTHDAYS PAST:

Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens, flip flops, perfect Levi's and a tiny cactus Ian walks through the back door, home made chocolate birthday cake breakfast and a shiney new banjo Juno and Arianne as the sun is setting, surprise sushi dinner with good friends, black petticoat and 'Tropic of Cancer' May 6, 1986, turning 6, loving pink hearts on my golden birthday, the Ventura board walk, a shell necklace from mom, a magic wand from Jabe paper doll art opening, white dress and bare feet, aimless flirting with a crush Afternoon driving on Vinyard Ave. with my big brother and no plans, avocados from a roadside fruit stand, cooking dinner together, just the 4 of us BRUNCH WITH THE MOTHERS ON JOANNAFINA'S PATIO, MARIACHIS AND ROSES ALL AROUND happy hour with new friends, tgif until the wee hours of Saturday, nursing a hangover with strawberries and kettle corn on a sunny beach with you paper crown, my name in glitter, the birthday belle of the preschool playground BLUE HAWAII GOWN, A GIANT SUNFLOWER FROM MISS BRAVERMAN, BLOOD ORANGE TIRAMISU BY TANYA B, A PERFECT SNAPSHOT Las Vegas turning 20, lemonade instead of margaritas, photographing photographers, a cape cod in the casino—Andy's treat 30 minutes until 29 years, coming home from work, Ian asleep in melting ice cream, french vanilla kisses

viva la vida

Happy Cinco de Mayo. Here's to bright light Tuesdays, local swap meets and best friends in sequined sombreros. And, of course, hats off to the small Mexican army who defeated Napoleon's invasive (yet stylish) military in 1862.

For more on Cinco de Mayo...

last of the light

sometimes all it takes for a dark Monday to get bright is a stroll with your lover in the last of the light

I couldn't find the perfect image of Ventura in all it's late afternoon glory. But this photo of Santa Rosalia fits the mood of the evening. This was taken from a hotel on the hill above a little French colonial port town in Baja, California. From here you can board a ship to mainland Mexico and wave goodbye to the little European style square and the tin church designed by Gustave Eiffel. Just after the sun goes down the water off the coast lights up with the lanterns of fisherman, like fireflies floating on the Sea of Cortez.

in the blue

To celebrate a sunshine Sunday... 

...we whistled while we watched the clouds.

What did you do?