#2857 a whole bunch of stuff in seven days

The last time I wrote, I'd gone to see the Foo Fighters and had a little summer cold. Lots of things have happened since then.

Last weekend, on the 11th, I went to visit Mom and Lizzie in La Mirada. T and his girlfriend J came with me. On Saturday night, T and J went to see Drake in concert in LA. It was our birthday gift to T, some delayed gratification, but he was very happy. I'm pretty sure he was grateful that I got a ticket for J and that she was able to go with him. I was happy about it, too. I mean, I would have gone to the show with him if J hadn't come along, but I'm sure T was much happier seeing the show with J than with his mom. (heehee)

I got exactly what I wanted out of the weekend: time with Mom and Lizzie, time to relax, recover from some of the stress, and enjoy a bit of down time. Lizzie took me out on a nature walk in Coyote Hills and for a nice walk in a pretty park. We had coffee. We went to Seal Beach for a meal and a walk in the town and out on the pier. I was so glad to see the ocean and hear the waves. Everything was wonderful. 

We got back home on Monday evening. The flight was good, and I was glad to be home.

On Tuesday, MT and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. 30 YEARS!!! To celebrate, we had dinner at Mazza, a groovy little restaurant in the 15th and 15th neighborhood. We both enjoyed the meal immensely. It was also fun to try a new place. For dessert, we went around the corner to Sweetaly Gelato. I had salted caramel and coffee gelato. Oof. So good.

On Wednesday, I was in bed by 8:30 pm, and I slept good and hard until my alarm went off at 5:00 am on Thursday morning. 

On Friday, I went to see a dermatologist for the first time ever. I had a spot on my chest that I've had for over 10 years. It wasn't growing or hurting, but it was beginning to weigh on my mind. Mom has had some spots removed, so her action made me want to take some action, too. The dermatologist took one look at my spot and told me it was probably basal cell skin cancer. I thought maybe he'd just take a sample, but no. He removed the spot. The worst part of it was the lidocaine injections, and then the irritation caused by the Band-Aid adhesive on my tender, sensitive skin. I'm not wearing a Band-Aid now because my skin is red and itchy where the adhesive was. You can see the outline of the Band-Aid. I bought some gauze and some medical tape. When I go to bed, I'll use that to protect the wound. 

Yesterday was Saturday, and it was a really cool, fun day. The book club I am in, #EkpesBookClub, had an in-person meeting here in Salt Lake! Ekpe no longer lives here; he lives in Atlanta where he is now an assistant coach for the Atlanta Hawks. He's going to be a great coach, I think. Anyway, he came back to town, and invited us to brunch at a nice Greek restaurant called Manoli's. It was wonderful to see him, and to see my book club friends, plus meet some of the clubbers for the first time. I thought it was so cool that clubbers came from Florida, Texas, and California! As a awesome bonus, the author of the book we read, Erin A. Craig, joined us for brunch. It was fun to sit around and listen to her stories and talk to her a little bit. 

After brunch, we went to The King's English Bookshop for an Author's Talk in which Ekpe asked Erin questions, and she responded. The bookshop is a Salt Lake institution, and independent bookstore on 15th and 15th, just a couple doors up from Mazza. It's freaking charming! They have a groovy little patio where the author conversations happen. Erin then signed books and posed for ussies and our book club took a group photo, which I don't have yet, but I hope that Ekpe will post it soon. We chatted and hung out and basically were delighted with all of it. I also bought a book and a couple of stickers while I was there. Here are some pics:

at brunch

Ekpe and Erin at The King's English

that's Erin Craig and me!

that's me and Ekpe Udoh!

Here are some of my book club friends! 

In the photo above, five of the women came from other states to have book club fun. The woman with black hair right in the front is Staci - she lives here in SLC. Behind her on the right is me, of course, then Kaitlyn, Colleen (mother and daughter from California), Sarah from Florida, Whitney from I don't know where, (I thought she lived here!), and Jan from Texas. That man in the background is Erin's husband. 

Oh yeah, and after all of that fun, I had to have some quiet time to myself, so I went to Sweetaly and got some gelato. This time I got coconut and pineapple. It was good, but the salted caramel and coffee was better. 

Today I spent most of the day at Red Butte Garden. I did the docent thing from 9:30 to 1:00, then I recorded blooms until around 3:00. I usually record blooms on Thursday, but it was raining that day, so I had to postpone. 

It's been a busy week!

This week, MT and I will be going back to Dixon. We'll leave on Thursday afternoon and come home on Sunday. I'm going to finalize setting up the trust with the bank, and MT is going to install a couple of new toilets at the house. Other than that, I will take Mac to the vet on Wednesday, and I will work my face off for The Company. 

I was glad to have this weekend of fun for myself. 

Have a great week. Stay safe!

#2825 travel Tuesday: U.S. beach destinations

Before I get started on tonight's topic, a quick follow-up to the doggo scrum I wrote about on Sunday between Mac and Stella. I'm glad to report that everyone is doing fine and living in peace and harmony. Stella gives Mac a wide berth when it is toy time, other than that, they seem to be okay. 

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Sometime during the summer, I saw an article somewhere, probably either on Facebook or Twitter, listing top U.S. beach vacation spots. Of course there are a jillion places where you can find a list that may or may not include these places. I jotted the list down because you never know when you are going to want to go on vacation and leaving the country might not be feasible. Plus, it's always fun to dream. Here is the list in the order they were listed in the article I read. They seem to be broken down between Gulf Coast, East Coast, West Coast, and Northeast.

Gulf Shores, Alabama - I don't think I ever even thought about Alabama as a beach destination, but it sure looks nice, doesn't it?

St. Petersburg/Clearwater, Florida - Yes please. Looks great!

Galveston, Texas - I gotta admit, these Gulf Coast beaches look pretty fantastic.

Tybee Island, Georgia - Here's a place I have been and would love to go back to! It's proximity to Savannah makes it pretty visit-able in my book. It's a cute island with a great beach.

Virginia Beach, Virginia - this beach looks nice. I like the boardwalk.

Nags Head, North Carolina - I haven't been to Nags Head beach, but I'm pretty sure I've been by there. It is on the Outer Banks, and OBX is awesome.

Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina - This beach is at the southern end of the state near Wilmington. Looks nice!

Cannon Beach, Oregon - Wow! This place looks awesome. I'm sure that water is cold as hell.

Mission Beach, San Diego, CA - You can't go wrong with the beaches in America's Finest City. Mission Beach is fantastic!

San Clemente, CA - I mean, come on! Southern California sunsets are amazing, and this beach looks great.

Lake Michigan - I don't think this one would have crossed my mind. When I think of Lake Michigan, I think of a cabin in the woods on the shores of the lake. Look at the color of that water! I wonder if it is cold?

Cape May, New Jersey - Again, I wouldn't have thought of New Jersey for a beach vacation. I don't know anything about it, except for this photo. Looks cool!

Ocean City, Maryland - I don't really associate beaches with the Northeast, but I think I might have to rethink my position.

I purposely chose pics that didn't shows gobs of people on the beaches. I am kind of past going to a beach to lay on the sand. I really like to walk on the beach, though. I'd love to spend time at a cute little place near a beach so I can walk, get my feet wet, and hear the sound of the water. I had fun imagining while I was posting these photos. Anything look interesting (besides California?)

#2638 Sunday with Sandy

I am still in Southern California, spending the weekend with my sister and my mamacita. Lizzie and I had a big, full day of fun planned, and we got started early with an easy walk on a local trail. One of my favorite things about walking here is that there are lots of trails nearby. Mostly they are a mixture of trails through the hills with and without houses right on the trail. My favorite things are eucalyptus trees. I love the way they smell.

After the walk, which took about an hour, Lizzie and I had some breakfast, then went to Target so we could get the second half of her birthday gift, a coffee maker! We haven't tried it out yet, but I'm looking forward so some freshly brewed coffee in the morning. I hope she likes making her coffee at home as much as I do. Starbucks is great, but there's a lot to be said for having your own pot at home.

This afternoon, Lizzie and I went to see the movie King Richard.  I'm not sure if it is completely accurate or anything, although I have heard that both Venus and Serena Williams signed off on the film. We really enjoyed it. Lizzie and I like tennis and admire the Williams sisters very much. I know we both cried at various times during the movie. Good stuff. Can't really go wrong with a sports-related movie.

After the movie, we came home to pick up Mom and drove out the Seal Beach to watch the sunset. The sky was clear and blue, the tide was out with teeny little waves lapping up on the shore. Totally gorgeous sunset tonight. I felt so glad to be there with my womenfolk.

When will I learn to take off my glasses when I take the photo and control my smile?

I'll keep working on it, but this is a bit better.

When the sun said it's final good-bye for the day, we headed to Huntington Beach for dinner at El Ranchito. Here's another thing I want to learn: when to order just one enchilada. I was so hungry that I ordered two chicken enchiladas and they were big and filling. 

It was a good meal. I like Mexican food a whole bunch. We wandered up the street a little way. There was a block that was closed to vehicle traffic and many restaurants had tables set up in the street. It was fun. We found a dessert place called The Funnel Hut that made fresh churros, so even though we were  full from dinner, we went ahead and had a churro. It was delicious and totally pushed me into the uncomfortable zone. Note to self and sister: next time we will share a dessert. 

When we got home, we shared photos via Air Drop and chatted about the day. I get to stay until tomorrow afternoon. Lizzie has to work in the morning, and that's okay. I will have a leisurely morning writing and reading and enjoying my day off. Hopefully it will be nice weather and I'll be able to sit outside for a little while.

#2580 beaches and selfies

Back to real life after a nice week of being looked after, entertained, and fed by Mamacita and Lizzie! It was wonderful to see them and hang out together. The vacation was a nice combination of lounging and getting out to do things. Lizzie set the plan and the timing and everything was great!

I had one main request: to see the ocean. We went to three beaches and had varying degrees of actual beach interaction at each one. I will explain.

One day we went to San Diego. We had lunch at a groovy Mexican restaurant right on the Coast Hwy in Cardiff called Las Olas. After lunch, we crossed the highway to look at the beach and take a few photos.

 

I’m pretty sure Lizzie took this photo because my arms are down.

Our next beach encounter was a couple of days later. We went to Laguna Beach for lunch at a swanky place called Las Brisas. The restaurant is on a cliff above the sand and the ocean. 

A kind woman offered to take our photo, so even though we did have selfies, I kinda like this photo.

Our third beach encounter happened at Sunset Beach. We wanted to have dinner and see a pretty sunset. We ate a a dive called J. King’s Neptune Restaurant. I say it was a dive, and I mean that in the best possible way. It’s a family-owned business that serves really good food and it’s only a couple of blocks from the beach. (It is also on the Pacific Coast Highway.)  It is definitely locals-oriented.  The sunset that night was not really a thing, since there was a very heavy marine layer. We still walked down to the water to get our toes wet and, of course, take a bunch of photos. 

The city in silhouette in the top photo is Long Beach. That was the extent of the cool sunset. Lizzie took the selfie of the three of us. She’s good at making sure we all get in the frame. 

When I go on vacation, it gives me time to ponder. On Thursday, I’ll share three things that I thought about during my week away from home. How’s that for a teaser?

Talk to you Thursday!