We live an hour from the beach.

We live an hour from the beach, so we met some friends at the Santa Cruz Boardwalk on Saturday. I am glad that we arrived early since it gets crowded as the day goes on. Alex loved the rides and playing in the water. He was born in South Texas, so he is not used to the cold Pacific water yet. We walked out onto the Pier and saw the noisy sea lions. We ended the trip with some ice cream, but Alex mainly wanted my chocolate cone.

Two Books

On Sunday I read Who Moved My Cheese for work (the second job where I teach a class during the fall semester). The book has me thinking about why I have (mostly) embraced change for the past year and a half. We had the Cheese in Texas. A house, a quick commute to our good jobs, family nearby, friends, good neighbors and more. In some ways I was curious to see if there is better Cheese in California. Mainly, I knew that life can really change at any time, and I have accepted a certain level of uncertainty. I did not want to get too comfortable. Moving has helped me examine my priorities. Change has helped me appreciate the good things that we've had in the past and not be afraid to keep searching for the right fit. It seemed to me that the book was written for people who have never been through big changes. For the rest of us, it is old cheese (pun intended), but I am still glad that I read it. It never hurts to reflect and now I can make some cheese jokes.

Next I get to move on to the book that my cousin wrote. You can buy it though the Amazon Kindle store, and it is free for a little while longer. It is a Science Fiction/Fantasy/Young Adult novel.

Coffee Filter Flower

The May/June issue of Paper Crafts magazine showcases cards using supplies from your kitchen. It inspired my to make a flower using coffee filters.



First I punches out some scallop circles and one inch circles. Then I generously misted them with the Color Shine spray. I gave then lots of time to dry before I layered them into a flower with a brad.



I used an OWH sketch to assemble a simple card with some of my favorite paper and ribbon. This is part of my "homework" for my June Stamp Club.

Here is the finished card:


I am adding this card to the Simon Says Stamp "Anything Goes" challenge.

Supplies Used:
Stampin' Up!: Pattern Paper, Scallop Punch, Small Circle Punch, Ribbon, Brad
Papertrey Ink: Card Stock
Martha Stewart: One Inch Circle Punch
Heidi Swapp: Color Shine Spray
Misc: Coffee Filters

Around the Bay (May 2013)

We have been all around the Bay in the month of May. At the beginning of the month we visited Ardenwood Historic Farm in Freemont with our Las Madres group. We enjoyed seeing the farm and taking a horse-drawn train ride.



We went to San Francisco for Mother's Day and finally took our boat ride around the Bay. Alex thought that it was cold out on the deck of the boat, so he and I enjoyed the view from inside the boat. John ended up with "boat hair" at the end of the ride.




We headed to Fisherman's Warf and had lunch at Boudin. We played in the park for a little while before heading to Ghiradelli Square for chocolate. We also rode the trolley around The Embarcadero.


It was a fun day in San Francisco!

Last weekend was Maker Faire on the Peninsula. We headed to San Mateo on Sunday morning to attend the annual DIY Event - "The Greatest Show and Tell on Earth." I think that it was more crowded than last year, but we still had a great time.




We are ending the month with a quiet, long weekend at home.

Wahoo - A Card in Less than 10 Minutes

I took another stab at the 10 Minute Craft Dash and made a card is less than 10 minutes. I also used a Neat & Tangled stamp and some embellishments for the current Little Tangles challenge. Creating a sketch of the card first helped me go faster than usual. I can be a slow crafter!



Here are the supplies that I set up (Spiderman & the truck are optional. Alex was playing in here while I made the card.):


Here is my time:


And the finished card:


Supplies used:
Stampin' Up!: card stock, pattern paper, ribbon & ink
Neat & Tangled: stamp
Other: rhinestones, Copic marker & Bazzill textured card stock

Can I make a card in 10 Minutes?

Spolier Alert: The Answer is "No." (Maybe next time!)

I tried the 10 Minute Craft Dash for the first time. The current color combination challenge is similar the colors in my new washi tape from Stampin' Up.


Here are the supplies that I used:


I got my card inspiration from a card that I found on Pinterest.

Here is my time:


Actually, 10 minutes and 20 seconds is not a bad time for my first try.

This is my finished card:

Trip to San Antonio

We made our first trip back to San Antonio since moving to California. We had a great time catching up with family, friends, past co-workers, and our former neighbors!

We had a fabulous lunch at The Granary 'Cue & Brew at The Pearl. If you live in or visit the San Antonio area, then you need to try this restaurant! You cannot go wrong with barbecue and beer (or root beer in my case), and all of the food and beverages here are very high quality with distinctive flavors. After lunch we had a nice walk on the Museum Reach section of the Riverwalk, including watching the Lock and Dam in action.


One of our former neighbors moved closer to Downtown and is raising 3 chickens in his back yard. Alex enjoyed meeting the chickens and holding Shiloh.


I had planned to make a trip back to San Antonio sooner, but at least I did not forget how to get to my friends' houses. The boys had fun playing and I was so happy to meet sweet Baby B. Alex conquered the smaller pole at the playground:


Overall, our travels went smoothly. The better deal was to fly from San Francisco to Austin. Alex wrote his name with some coaching while we waited to board our plane. In the middle of our trip back to Cali, he got in a good nap.

It was a great vacation and now we are back to our work and school routines.

Around Here (April 2013)

Around here...

Alex and I tried Ethiopian food for the first time. We had a yummy dinner at Cafe Colucci in Oakland. Alex liked the spicy meatballs.


Alex is learning to climb trees and found a great one to climb at a nearby park.


I experimented with some sauce to make a Thai Chicken Pizza for dinner this week. I mixed Trader Joe's Red Curry sauce with some peanut butter and it turned out pretty good.



We have been doing lots of yard work. Even with a low maintenance yard, the work can add up. We made lots of progress this weekend and are getting more settled in our current place.