Silhouette

I had a lot of fun making this project! Idea and instructions were found here.

Good advice

There are so many little tidbits I've wanted to post lately that I never get around to.....

here is one...

I tend to worry a lot about something going wrong..."what if this happens, what if that..." I don't talk about it much. Mostly just to E in vulnerable moments. Miss P has inherited this and can sometimes be quite dramatic. Every time we try to get her out for a bike ride, for instance, she goes ballistic. She is seriously afraid of getting hurt. However, within 10 minutes (or less) of riding, she is at ease, singing and happy. (And she has made great progress!)

Anyway - the other day she was bending my ear with her 'what if's' about an upcoming event. I don't think she was truly worried. If anything, I felt like she was kind of just in the mood to bug me. : ) Anyway, after humoring her for a bit, I told her, "we can't plan for every possible situation. All we can do is trust that we are smart enough to handle what does come up." I realized later what great advice that is for myself!!

Big Night coming

The night after my 'Real Housewives' bash, E and I had a rare, fun night out! E's little sister K's fiancee (pictured next to me), has recently started his own band. We had a blast at a local establishment listening to them play their first (?) gig and dancing away. He is the singer (his dad plays guitar), and they are country and rock. They killed it! Tomorrow we leave for their wedding in half moon bay where miss P will flower girl. Looking forward to some more dancing....

Beezus and Ramona!

Our family saw this movie on Friday, and it was darling! Don't let the so-so reviews hold you back. We loved it! I am currently having a lazy day recovering not only from Thursday night's party, but also from last night which was spent listening to my brother-in-law's band play. It's quite the wild lifestyle over here. : ) More on those events soon. I have to get my hair done today and such.

Stay-cation!

Since home from camping, I have been playing the role of domestic goddess, with mixed results. : )

We have had some really fun days. First off, I discovered this line of products called 'naughty betty,' - like the napkins above. (Not the naughty you may have been thinking of) More like sassy; attitude. Anyway, I found a little shop by my house called Fleurish that carries the line. Fleurish is in downtown Willow Glen. Within minutes the shop owner was chatting me up about her life and I felt like I was living in a small town. On a return visit, I've since found out the store is closing in few weeks - the owner is leaving to care for her mother. I'm very sad I won't be able to browse there anymore, but hoping to take advantage of maybe a few sale items.

Anyway, back to our fun days. Miss P and I spent a whole morning shopping all over downtown, going to hicklebees, etc. Another day we rode our bikes to the rose garden library, checked out books, got lunch at Zanottos, and ate at the park. For the premiere of DC Cupcakes on TLC, we made cupcakes one evening. I have been cleaning and organizing and am finally making some headway! (Laundry no longer piled on floor.) : ) Miss P has had some playdates to keep her busy and we also had a fun visit with my mom.

Next up - my 'Real Housewives' party is tomorrow night. I am excited! I'll share what's going on later today.

Camping!

Last weekend we had our third annual camping trip with friends at New Brighton Beach in Santa Cruz. Camping at the beach is the best!

For the second year in a row, the dads organized a treasure hunt for the kiddos. The first year they found a map in a bottle that led them to a treasure box. This year, the kids each found a piece of the puzzle map above over a 24 hour period. It was very cool to see them discuss, hypothesize and figure it out on their own. A box of treasure, or pirate booty as they sometimes call it, was ultimately found.
In terms of parental effort, it was a very mellow couple of days. All we basically had to do was feed/sunscreen/hydrate.

The first couple of days my camera was out of reach, so these are mostly last day shots. (Miss P did change her clothes throughout the trip).
There was an ultra-cool fort that someone had left. Our friend's brother joined us for one of the days and played the role of 'manny.' He dug out and improved the fort and entertained the kids all day.



I brought books to read, but mostly we chatted, ATE, and played games. I was crazy over a peg game called 'Leave only One.' Paddle ball and a bit of soccer happened as well. Ahhh.....summer!

summer's latest and greatest

I haven't done many chatty posts this summer. Actually, I haven't done many posts at all. I have enjoyed reading blogs, but haven't been in much of a blog writing mood. Totally out of the usual routine. I've altered between being very lazy, and very productive. Here's generally what's been up...

*Bridal shower for SIL

*Phase two of moving in/organizing house. This included unearthing boxes from garage. Office is a MESS! Need to put a show on the computer or play some podcasts and just get to work.

*Tons of reading!! I accidentally borrowed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo from another SIL, and was disturbed for about a day and a half after reading it. Ever since P was born, I can't even watch CSI. Not that I was ever a huge fan. And CSI Special Victims Unit - forget it. Even Law and Order can be too heavy for me. I also read part of Anna Quindlen's Every Last One. Not it! No more! I'm back to my magazines, lifestyle non-fiction, and beach reads. : ) I've also become a bit of a cookbook collector, which, coincidentally is the title of another book I might check out.

*Current obsession 1: The Real Housewives Franchise. I idly watched the Orange County seasons, LOVED New Yew York, didn't watch Atlanta, and am just starting to watch New Jersey. With not much on this summer, I have had fun watching these ladies, and particularly enjoyed the Bethenny Getting Married spin-off. In fact, I've decided to host my own little 'Real Housewives' themed party. We never had a housewarming, and while this won't be exactly that, I thought it would be fun to have a little party this summer. There are so many tie-ins with food, drink, and music on the show, so a party is a natural. I even talked some girlfriends into filming a short movie with me - The Real Housewives of Silicon Valley. I wrote a little script, and while E thinks there might be too many inside jokes and too much subtlety, my friends and I had some good laughs over it.

*Current Obsession #2- Twighlight! I have read two of the books and seen all three movies. Love them! Completely Team Jacob. Again, I get a little 'too into the head/emotion' of characters, so I found myself a bit 'emo' after the high wore off after the third movie. Why can't she just pick Jacob!! He is 'hotter', you know. (Inside joke, again.)

*We just got back from a fun beach camping trip. Will post pics soon!

So that is the summer, thus far! While I was actually sad to see the last school year end, I am now devastated at the idea of summer ending. I am going to try and soak up the last few weeks, and remember, another vacation is also around the corner....

Spinny ride

4th of July

We had a fun 4th of July weekend with friends. Above we are at the Alameda County Fair with our Pleasanton peeps (on Saturday the 3rd.)
On the actual holiday we went to a very fun parade in our new neighborhood - the Rose, White and Blue, named for the Rose Garden in San Jose. We had hoped to get Miss P to ride her bike, but ultimately decided to just watch with friends for this first year. All that was missing was the mimosas!

The next day we headed to Gilroy Gardens for a BBQ, show, some rides (see next post) and water fun. A fun day!

A smattering of Disney snapshots

Getting ready to ride Toy Story Mania!
Character breakfast



Amazing LEGO sculpture
Peter Pan ride
"Glowfest" at California Adventure.
Anyone want to buy these guys?

So many more pictures but for your sake and mine, I will leave it at this. More updates about our busy summer to come!