birthdays, weddings and weekends

Here are the things I am celebrating...

1. Friday

2. my good friend Chris' birthday

3. the last day of July, a beautiful month

4. sunshine

The cupcake photo ties all these marvelous things together. These were the little red velvet cakes that Sara made for our sunny July wedding reception, where Chris' band Swing Cheese played. And as for Friday fitting in? I think that everyone should have a treat on Fridays and celebrate something, even if it's simply a celebration of the weekend.

{photo by Dustin McLean}

from the car window

As we drove back across the Canadian border to Washington, I took pictures out the car window. The clouds and fields were amazing.

oh, Canada, cont.

Other things we did in Canada included, but were not limited too...

... watching black cats and summer dresses in Gas Town...

... taking an Aqua Bus across the water to see our good friend Carol...

... playing with rare antiques...

... and of course, visiting the bars.

oh, Canada

Did I mention that while up north we made a run for the border and found ourselves in Vancouver, BC.

We were there for 2 nights and 3 days and most of our photos from that time were taken in the Chinese Garden. Such a lovely place.

I loved these ladies in their hats and couldn't help but watch them.

Ian felt the textures of leaves...

... and I did a bit of bird watching.

twinkle, twinkle, little bat

Here's the official teaser... oooh, I'm so excited! I might pull my 3D glasses out for this one.

curiouser and curiouser

I have felt the need for some escapism lately, and whenever that happens I think about Alice.

I love Alices adventures,

whether they be in Wonderland or Through the Looking Glass.

When I was little, I watched the old black and white movie with W.C. Fields as Humpty Dumpty so many times that I wore our Beta tape.

Here are some images from Burton's interpretation, due in theaters next year.

Mia Wasikowska plays Alice. I did a little dance of excitement when I found out Alice would be reincarnated by a girl with my name.

Can anyone imagine Tim Burton's Mad Hatter played by another? It has to be Johnny Depp.

Helena Bonham Carter, who can do no wrong and seems to steal every show, will be the Queen of Hearts.

And the Oh sO lovely Miss Hathaway will be the White Queen.

There are more delightful images at here and they are all courtesy of Disney.

never a dull moment

I am happy to say that my life with you, Mr. Crawford, will never be boring.

vintage weekend

Santa Monica, Venice & Hollywood Forever

Our mission for Saturday was to go to the Cinespia screening of "Bride of Frankenstein" in the Hollywood Forever cemetery. If you haven't been to a summer movie here, you simply must go. It's wonderful. Bring a picnic (maybe a sandwich and cannolis from Bay Cities Italian Deli) and a bottle of wine and enjoy the sultry late night.

We decided to head south early and have a day of LA before the show.

After a long, hot drive down Highway 1, we needed to eat. We stopped at Chez Jay for some food, drink and history, but the kitchen was closed. So we had a pint and moved on.

And then we spotted it... Mao's Kitchen. Our friends, Sara & Kelly, introduced us to this wonderful place, but we never though we'd find it again.





May I suggest the shrimp and spinach dumplings and the orange ginger chicken with a glass of home brewed ginger ale. Yum and yum.

I dared Ian to eat one of these, but he wouldn't do it.





Full and fortunate, we headed out into the heat. We made a few stops on Abbot Kinney, my favorites being Madley & Surfing Cowboys. We were having so much fun that I forgot to take any more photos.

Sunny Sunday in Santa Barbara

On Sundays the Santa Barbara Museum of Art is free. So it was the perfect day to go see the Bret Weston photo exhibit. It's a must see for photography lovers.

Then to my favorite Antique Mall of SB...







... where Ian tried out cowboy hats and violins...

and I admired the costume jewels.

Sunday evening slowin' down

It's the end of an wonderful weekend—action packed and so much fun. And as excited as I am to show you all the pictures and tell you of the places we went, I'm more excited to just be home with my honey and our view of the clouds and trees and telephone poles.

Hope you all had lovely weekends too.

breakfast of champions and tucans

Good morning and happy weekend. I am off to the store for milk to put in our coffee and cereal bowls. And then... a day with no plans! What are you doing this fine sunny Saturday?

taco Thursday

While my belly is rumbling from missing supper, I am thinking fondly of Taco Thursday in Olympia.

The gentleman in the goggles and white rubber gloves was our chef, Wylie. He's fantastic.

nature prevails

I've been spending my days in the garden since I've been home and I've found some interesting things. There are surprises a plenty out there. But one thing that is no surprise, the plants just keep growing. They pay no mind to our vacations and abandonments.

These beautiful cactus were pulled from the ground and then left with bare roots for weeks in buckets and crates. And here they are, blooming. It's more proof that nature will prevail.

happy birthday to you, Lynn

This year, saying happy birthday was much more complicated. So we got creative...

7 Red Balloons

Nicole, Sarah, Annie, Isaac, Noah, Kendal, Nickolas, Ian and I all sent our messages to you on the fog and wind. I would not normally condone the release of balloons, but there are some moments, when you are invited into the closest circle, not to say what or where, just to be there.

2 Trees

Ian and I climbed a small mountain to silently say... everything.