Christmas Time on Cannery Row

Sunday was my birthday and it was delightful! For one thing, both of my daughters came down for the day. We went to Cannery Row in Monterey and had lunch at Bubba Gump's, then walked around enjoying the scenery.

John Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors and he wrote a novel based on life in Cannery Row's early days. His bust is immortalized in "Steinbeck Plaza" there.

Now there is another statue there. Dedicated in Feburary 2014, this large work (too large, according to critics) has Steinbeck sitting on the top of the rock and his friend marine biologist Ed Ricketts on the bottom (a prominent figure in his book). Other figures are reminiscent of the area's busy sardine canning days. Someone decided to dress them for the holidays with red Santa hats.

Clouds were rolling in by the time we left, and we've had rain for the last two days -- much needed here in California. We saw "Star Wars" at Del Monte Center's theater, then went home for chocolate fudge cake. My girls know how to make my birthday special!

Birthday Flowers

I'm celebrating my birthday this week!  A group of coworkers took me out to lunch last Thursday at a darling historic restaurant, Milias, which was graced by Will Rogers and Clark Gable back in the day.  Here's a little video...
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdzDJ8rHKxc

 It has a beautiful horseshoe bar with a western themed mural above it.

 

Lunch was superb, complete with a birthday dessert, and my friends gave me cards and flowers! 

 

Now my daughters are coming home for a few days for Christmas and the celebration continues!

Georgia O'Keeffe Exhibit

Lys's birthday was earlier this month so I spent the weekend in San Francisco to celebrate.  We had a wonderful time!  We started with lunch Saturday at a Burmese Restaurant.  It was nothing special on the outside, but the 30 minute wait was an indication of how tasty the food would be inside. From there we went to Golden Gate Park to the de Young Museum to see the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibit.  

O'Keeffe is one of Lys's favorite artists and we all embraced her work, from large blooms to haunting trees...

Throughout the exhibit there were quotes painted on the walls and in small displays, many by her husband, photographer Alfred Stieglitz.  One of my favorite quotes of his is:

"The great geniuses are those who have kept their childlike spirit 

and have added to it breadth of vision and experience.” – Alfred Stieglitz 

Learning about Stieglitz' work piqued my interest in learning more about his work as well.  

It had rained off and on that week, providing a tremendous relief for the California drought, though the warm, dry weather since proved it to only be a drop in the bucket.  The skies were already clearing when we emerged from the museum.  

We made our way across town toward Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square for hot fudge sundaes.

The greatest part of the day was reveling in the growth and beauty of my daughters.  Celebrating a birthday makes a parent naturally reflect on all the years since the child came into the world, all the smiles and fun times, all the tough times and disappointments, the trial and error times, the jump for joy successes, the disagreements and the embraces, and most of all the love.  It's all about love!  I'm so proud of the woman my daughter Lys has become.  Happy Birthday, my dear!

Birthday Lunch

After a very long, difficult week, my friends put together a lovely birthday lunch for me today! Anita invited us to her warm, comfortable home, decorated in bright red and gold for the holidays.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal of homemade tamales (her mom made them from scratch), Spanish rice, and a cranberry sprinkled green salad. Everything was delicious! To top it off was a fabulous strawberry laden birthday cake. What wonderful friends!

Now we are off for our two week Christmas vacation. I plan to enjoy every moment of it.

Ash's Birthday!

We celebrated my daughter Ash's birthday earlier this month, quietly but enjoyably, with lunch and a movie.  She seemed delighted with the gifts her sister and I bestowed upon her.  Don't you love this pretty green and purple paper?  I just happened to have a chartreuse ribbon that matched the background!  After stumbling upon a blog with some terrific gift wrapping ideas -- A Gift Wrapped Life -- I've been inspired to ramp up my wrapping skills.  It's fun to give gifts that are so lovely the recipient can barely bring herself to unwrap them!  I love all things PAPER, do you?  Once Ash managed to tug the ribbon and paper off this present, she discovered a hard cover copy of her favorite book of all time -- a book I just happened to find (or did it find me?) on the local library's sale rack just a few days before her birthday:  Dostoyevsky's "The Brother's Karamazov."

One of our thrills was discovering a game on a shelf at Game Stop with the copy material Ash provided for the packaging.  As a writer she has written manuals and marketing materials for gaming companies, among many other specialty niches.  So proud of her!  So glad she had a happy birthday!

A Birthday, A Birthday....

...oh who has had a birthday?  Why that would be me!

Nothing like having my daughters home to bake me a chocolate cake and help me celebrate.  Here I am trying to light all those candles with Lys.  She and Ash gave up on trying to represent my years by candles and just went for spelling out Happy Birthday.  Another year older and hopefully another year wiser!

Celebrating Lys's Birthday

Ash and Lys came home for the weekend last week.  Lys's 21st birthday was this week so we celebrated a few days early.

First stop was Baja Cantina -- a favorite old haunt of our's in Carmel Valley that features outstanding Mexican food.  When the weather is warm, we love eating alfresco on their patio, but it was slightly cool that day so we opted for indoor dining.

 

Across from Baja Cantina are several specialty shops with antiques and a bird house builder.  This sweetie was waiting patiently for his owner to return...

 It was a glorious day in Carmel Valley.  Blooming flowers promised spring is on the way.

Our next stop was Let It Bead.  This is a make-your-own jewelry shop on Cannery Row in Monterey. It's a funky shop with peace symbols, dragonflies, and colorful ornaments hanging from the ceiling everywhere you looked.

Ash and Lys carefully selected their beads from the 100's to choose from, and then went to work creating!

After a full day our last stop was home for birthday cake and a relaxing movie before they hit the road to go back to the city.  Hard to believe my "baby" is 21 now!

A Birthday Tea

My friend Lynn celebrated her Forever 49 birthday last weekend by inviting a few friends to join her for high tea at a quaint tea house in Santa Cruz. We were tucked into a corner table in the restaurant, with a comfy window seat full of red and gold pillows on one side, and a view of the courtyard garden for those sitting on the other side. The sun was shining, the food was delicious, the conversation bubbled over, and we all had a great time!

Party favors included M and M's with childhood pictures of Lynn on them!

There was a two page menu of just the various teas available. We were each brought our individual teapots. I enjoyed Mother's Boquet, a wonderful citrus blend.