Personal

  • Personal,  Gardening

    Happy at Home and in the Garden

    While my trip to Ecuador was incredible (and I’m working on a long post on it), I was so happy to see my family and fur babies again, not to mention that there are certain creature comforts that I missed, like my shower, my coffee, and my own bed. But I know that my pets were taken care of very well by my daughter and her friends while I was away, and they even got the cats a fruit stand, which Steven LOVES (and so do I)! This weekend was exceptionally nice to be back, because I got to celebrate Mother’s Day by going to the Oddities & Curiosities Expo…

  • Art,  Personal,  Photos,  Travels

    Museum Day Inspiration and More in OKC

    Last Sunday my daughter, her friend, and I had the best day in Oklahoma City where we went to the art museum, stopped in at Tamashii Ramen for lunch, and paid a visit to Pancakes the hairless cat and all of the other kitties at don’t stress meowt cat cafe. One thing that stood out about the trip is how much we were all struck with inspiration after the museum visit. Between Tulsa and OKC, I prefer Tulsa by far: the vibe is cooler and it’s a prettier city in my opinion, but OKC has the best art museum that I’ve been to in the state, it has our favorite…

  • Personal,  Photos,  Travels

    Sister New Year

    I’m in California for the new year and today my sister and I spent numero uno driving through the Santa Monica Mountains until we reached our destination of Malibu Beach. It had rained on New Year’s Eve and the hills were verdant and a little foggy. At the beach the air was misty with ocean spray and lingering wetness from the rain. We got calamari and fish for lunch at the famed restaurant, Neptune’s Net, where the salty air married with the scents and flavors of fresh seafood, lemon, and vinegar. We talked about the power of intentions and decided that one of our resolutions would be to set more…

  • Personal,  Pools

    Back to the place that I love

    After going over a year without my gym membership, I felt like a bear waking from a long hibernation and rolling out of my cave to remember movement again when my daughter and I went back yesterday. At home, I do have a place for yoga and a walking mat, but it’s not the same as officially venturing out for a public swim or workout. Besides, I’ve always been a waterbaby and love a good swim! I had cancelled my membership because it’s now an hour drive for me, but I didn’t find anything closer to me that compared. My favorite thing about this place is that they have several…

  • Personal,  Travels

    A California Halloween

    Almost every year I go to California to visit family, however I had never been there at Halloween, until this year. During my visit, I got to see my sisters and nieces and enjoy lots of great food, shopping, and fun, including seeing my niece and her fiancé perform in Haunted Hollywood, don our bug costumes at a truck or treat at the school where my sister teaches, and celebrate my other niece’s birthday at Disneyland during Halloween week! I have to admit that I love the original Disney park in all its California glory! It was really cool seeing it decorated for Halloween, and especially experiencing the Nightmare Before…

  • Personal,  Photos,  Travels

    Summer in the Pacific Northwest

    August brought some good times with family in Oregon this summer, from city to mountains to coast. Here are some of the highlights. Fantastic birthday celebration at a haunted themed restaurant in Portland, Oregon called Raven’s Manor Trip to Three Sisters Mountains in Oregon, with stops along Santiam River and Suttle Lake A walk of Saint Helens, Oregon Little Swimming Hole at the Washougal River in Washington State Adventures at Seaside, OR My Curiouser and Curiouser List: Oregon and Washington

  • Crafts,  Personal

    Stained Glass Sunday

    This Sunday my daughter and I took a little road trip to Oklahoma City to take a stained glass class together at Strange Earth Studios. Here we made stained glass tulips in celebration of spring. It was a gray, cool, drizzly day outside, which we both loved, and inside the studio we started our projects by picking our glass pieces. We learned to cut glass, as well as to grind glass and to sauter (which, apparently, is an incorrect spelling of “solder,” but I’ve never seen “solder” used in this way before so I’ll just stick with “sauter” for now). We had a great time learning a new craft together,…