Tonight I’m thankful for our camping friends who invited us to come join them for the day. This is glamping, staycation style and I loved it and brought the smell of the campfire home with me. How did I get so lucky?
Thank you friends!! We had a great, windy, cold, fun time with you.
xo
Are you enjoying the Olympics?
I am enjoying catching bits and pieces here and there. My favorite sports to watch are gymnastics and beach volleyball and swimming.
What are your favorite events?
I felt so bad for the Dutch woman who crashed on her bike today and felt so proud of her Dutch colleague who won first place. It must have been bittersweet! And the poor American woman who was so close to gold and lost in the fina moments. There was the yin and yang between the agony of defeat and the triumph of victory.
I am amazed by the dedication and determination and focus of the athletes and am enjoying watching them perform, especially the Americans!! Go USA!!!
It’s been another great day to be on Staycation and enjoying the Olympics from my living room.
Life is good.
here I am, happily taking the back seat.
With her dad in the front seat by her side, I was definitely the back seat driver and had a hard time keeping my mouth shut.
Today was another new moment and I could see my baby girl growing up and doing things her way.
While we were out teaching her to drive, Charie cooked dinner for us after I started the rice in the rice cooker. We came home and all enjoyed a delicious dinner out on the patio togetherZ
When I forget whether I enjoyed this summer Staycation at the end of summer, remind me of this moment, and the time and space we shared slowing down and enjoying whatever came our way.
Life is good.
xo
Today was much better than yesterday. And it’s day 50 of my summer staycation. I still woke up very early, and Charlie was up early too, so I just snuggled with him on the couch while the morning was still and everyone else was still asleep. It was nice to do “nothing” together.
After having coffee and reading the paper, I prepped the ingredients to make fresh spring rolls for this evening, which took more than 2 hours. After straightening up the house and decluttering, including washing all the dishes, I squeezed in a quick workout before showering and preparing for my lunch date.
Juliana invited her friend and her mom over for a double date with us. We served fresh fruit and baby carrots, and made grilled paninis, while they brought cookies and chips to share. Afterwards, we went to get luxurious pedicures together that felt so good! I loved the girl time together.
We got home in time to relax for a bit. Actually, Charlie asked Juliana to bake him a strawberry cake and she was busy making the frosting while I relaxed. There is a perk to having big kids! I loved that she did this for him.
Soon after we progressed on to the first stop of our progressive dinner. We enjoyed potstickers and sushi, shrimp chips, fruit and rice balls.
It felt really strange to show up empty handed. Everything was amazing!
After an hour we progressed to the next house, where we enjoyed an Hawaiian theme, with pulled pork sandwiches, mango coleslaw, and pineapple. Everything was so good and I was having such a great time, that I forgot to take a picture before we progressed to our house for the 3rd stop.
We made fresh spring rolls with dipping sauces. By the time we got to our house, we were all so full and we still had to save room for homemade strawberry birthday cake.
I was happy being organized and prepared early this morning, getting all my work done, to be able to enjoy the entire rest of the day and night. I guess that’s a bonus to waking up early. It was another fun day to be on a staycation.
I hope you’re enjoying your end of the week.
hugs
Today was a long day and I was not comfortable. Some days are like that and I try to keep things in perspective, but today was a challenge.
I think it’s partially because I don’t sleep well and am over tired. And partially it’s because it’s the end of a long week and my schedule was off with two days down in So Cal and everyone is home and in and out all day.
By the evening and after work, I took the time to make gazpacho, which I planned to make earlier in the week yet ran out of time. Jeff decided to try making us new cocktails, because we are having friends coming over and we wanted to be sure we know what we’re doing. We’re givers like that! The Dark and Stormy drink was delicious and refreshing.
By the time I was done prepping dinner and making the gazpacho, I was full and had no more room to eat anything that was prepared.
Tomorrow is another day. I am off to bed “early.”
Hope you had a good week. namaste.
Tonight I am thankful for my BFF who always has good ideas and inspires me and picks me up and makes life great.
I am happy even when we are just in the same room, sitting on the beach or shopping on Santana Row. It doesn’t matter what we do, I just love her energy.
Everyone needs a good friend like her! I am thankful for my sunshine!
Be well, my friends. And be a good friend!!
nAMaste
Today we celebrated Charlie’s birthday at Hurricane Harbor in Valencia with his cousins. We were worried about the air quality as the Santa Clarita fires are burning out of control and were only 10% contained this morning.
We were lucky that the park and freeways were open and we were able to arrive before the park opened for the day.
As soon as we entered the park, we went to find lounge chairs in the shaded area first. Once we were settled, everyone began exploring and cooling off, as it was already so hot first thing in the morning.
We all had a good time, floating down the lazy river, splashing in the kid areas, bobbing up and down in the wave pool and riding a handful of rides.
Happy birthday, Charlie! Today it was fun to play in the water and in the sun with our family.
Life is good.
What was your favorite part of the day?
My favorite part of the day was when all 10 of us were in the pool at the same time. All the cousins and aunties and uncle were together in the water and this made me happy.
I didn’t take a single picture today and that is rare for me, especially with so many fun moments.
By not taking pictures and not being on my phone, I felt more fully present.
At dinner tonight, we all agreed to leave our phones down and it made a big difference to the experience. I know this should be obvious, but it’s not in my family, and I enjoyed us all being in the moment together with limited interruptions.
Life is good. Keep on loving each other and lifting each other up. I hope you had a good day.
Namaste
I am happy that we got to celebrate Charlie’s birthday today with family, doing what he loves and feeling his joy of being an almost teenager.
We enjoyed donuts for breakfast, bowled in the afternoon, made pizzas for dinner and ate red velvet cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes for dessert.
Life is sweet! Today was good. Sending blessings of peace to you and your family, and especially to those in Munich today.
Happy Birthday, Charlie. You are loved! xo
I didn’t take any pictures today, although there were some beautiful sites along our journey.
Today I am thankful for my sisters who welcomed us home and made us a wonderful dinner with literally an hour’s notice of our arrival. Jeff just returned from Europe and is jet lagged and I’ve been a a working, solo parent for the past week plus. We were both too exhausted to think and they did the thinking, planning, shopping, prepping and cooking dinner for us and this gift was priceless and much enjoyed.
It’s great to be loved! Thanks, sisters!!
How was your day? Did anyone spoil you? Did you spoil anyone?
Life is good.
xo
here i am 