Out and About

istockphoto I am taking on a few new things lately.  One is that I have been accepted to be a fashion consultant for a Southern California designer’s clothing company!  Loving clothes almost as I love quilting, this is a great opportuinty for me to indulge that passion.  Tomorrow I leave for my corporate training in,…

My family went to San Franciso this weekend to attend the Dickens Christmas Fair.  This event has been a San Francisco holiday tradition for 28 years!  Some people go once and think it is sufficient, but not us.  Nope, we go just about every year.  It really is loads of fun.  It is a theatrical…

Long post today, but stick with me, and look at all the pictures.  You’ll be glad you did! I spent Wednesday doing one of my favorite things.  I went to my sewing group called "Banish the UFO’s", which has been meeting for years at a local quilt shop, under the tutelage of our Leader and…

When I was a little girl, I lived in a small town in southern Michigan.  Our town, Belleville, had a lake where each Fourth of July my parents would take my sisters and I to view the town’s fireworks display.    We would have our 4th of July picnic at home, then drive out to…

On a recent weekend when I was in San Luis Obispo with my two favorite guys, we had a lovely lunch at Novo Restaurant.  The building was originally a cigar factory!  The food was delicious and filling, and the restaurant has won numerous awards.  Among the honors are:  Best San Luis Obispo Restaurant, Best Wait…

The quilt you see in the background of this photograph is soon going to be part of my life.  My son recently travelled to Wisconsin to visit his Aunt Mary, who happens to live in the vicinity of my all-time favorite quilt shop, JJStitches in Sun Prairie.  This shop was featured a year of so…

Sara and I were out and about this weekend in Carmel By the Sea.  Usually we try to avoid the more touristy spots around town, but the notion of having a warming pot of tea by a cozy fire tempted us into the Tuck Box.  A "tuck box" was the little trunk English school boys…

This is another picture of Gamble Gardens in Palo Alto.  Have you ever seen such an inviting bench?  I want to go there on my lunch hour every day and read a great book, write in my journal, or just reflect on the beauty that surrounds us.  This place is a heavenly respite from the…

I have joined the ranks of treasure hunters.  Due to recent inspirational visits to some of my favorite blogs (Romantic Home and Daisy Cottage in particular), I have started to visit antique stores and thrift shops when I come upon them.  At a recent stop at a large antique mall in Salinas, CA, I discovered…

The Arezzo antiques market, "Fiera Antiquaria", which takes place the first Sunday of every month, is arguably the best in Tuscany. In particular, the first Sunday in June, when vendors from all over the country turn up with their treasures, is the be-all-and-end-all antique market in all of Italy.  Vendors take over the upper area…