Up To The Rehearsal Dinner and Beyond…

Praise God from whom all blessings flow everything came together beautifully for the Rehearsal Dinner. We served Brisket, Barbecued Chicken, Pasta Salad, Potato Salad, Barbecue Beans, Fruit Skewers and Rolls. For dessert we had assorted goodies, Nazook, Bite size Brownies, Madelines, Scones, and Bite size blueberry muffins. The picture above is Dear loading the Barbecue to take to the Bride’s house where we were having the rehearsal dinner.

 

It was so much fun to have everyone chipping in to help make this a night to remember.

 

Don’t ask, we don’t know what my nephew Levi had in mind when he put Jackson on Josh’s shoulders here but Jackson sure is intent on reaching up to the sky. Jackson is my Grandnephew and He was the Ring bearer at the wedding. And while we are on the subject of our Prince Jackson, here is a collage of our Princess, my new niece Hope!

 

She is 5 months old now and really got loved on during all our family gatherings surrounding the wedding. She lives in Dallas with her mom and dad so this was the first time most of her cousins and Aunts and Uncles got to meet her.

We know how to cram fun into a weekend people. On Saturday morning at 7:00 a.m. we met our dear friends from Seattle, Dave and Jody, for a walk at Emma Wood State Beach in Ventura. We met Dave and Jody 23 years ago in Ventura at Bible Fellowship Church and we’ve been great friends ever since. They live in the Seattle area now, too, and were down in Ventura for a medical function at Ventura County Hospital. Even though the wedding was later in the day we were thrilled to be able to have an hour to walk and talk with them.

 

On Saturday after our walk with Dave and Jody we met part of the family and wedding party at Brent’s deli for brunch/lunch. There were 20 of us enjoying good Jewish Deli food. Pastrami on Rye, Matzo Ball soup, kosher pickles, lox and bagels…

 

 

Look at the size of that Matzo ball in that soup! We really had a good time here and it was great to see the groom, our nephew Tim, before the wedding.

On the way home from brunch we fit in a little shopping trip to the Camarillo Outlet Mall. We hit Banana Republic, Puma, and Betsy Johnson where Katie tried on this fun coat.

 

We made it home in plenty of time to get all dressed up for the Main Event. Tomorrow or Wednesday I hope to post the Wedding photos.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

ABC Wednesday ~ W is for…

W is for Weather-vanes

 

 

When we are both in town and available Willow, from Willow’s Cottage, and I try to walk each day for an hour. We trade off walking in my neighborhood and hers. All of these weather-vane photos are from our walks in her neighborhood, except for this last one.

 

For more ABC Wednesday click on over to Mrs. Nesbitt’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Blue Skies Smiling at Me ~ Sky Watch

 

Blue skies
Smiling at me
Nothing but blue skies
Do I see

Bluebirds
Singing a song
Nothing but bluebirds
All day long

 

Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When you’re in love, my how they fly

Blue days
All of them gone
Nothing but blue skies
From now on

 

For more Sky Watch head over to Wiggers World.

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

The Butterfly

 

I was so happy that a butterfly stayed still long enough on my walk yesterday with Willow so that I could get a photograph. This is my first butterfly shot. I’d love to be able to get closer to one to get a clearer shot sometime. I had to zoom in fearing it would flutter away if I got too close. Dear tells me this is a Swallowtail butterfly, smarty pants!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

Pampering Myself ~ How to Eat Out Alone

 

I have learned over the years to pamper myself when the time is right. I also can rationalize a dinner out any day of the week. So…because Dear has been in Seattle at a Pharmacy conference since Friday and I’ve been home alone I decided to have a treat and go out to dinner on my last night alone. I started the eating out alone experience when I was out of town at sports tournaments, etc. I learned that it’s OK to eat out alone. The first couple times it was awkward but I’m “way over it”. I like to eat early so Happy Hours are ideal for me. You can eat at a nice restaurant instead of a Fast Food Joint!

Tonight I hopped into my car and drove a short distance to the Safire American Bistro in Camarillo. The bar has great tables for two for a single person to feel comfortable at. These tables were out of the main hub bub and not real conspicuous. They have what they think are deals on their happy hour menu. I’ve had better deals elsewhere but this was nice never-the-less. (Is that one word?) I ordered their Safire Salad which was wonderful $5.00. I love that it had garbanzo beans (chickpeas) in the salad and Parmesan shavings. The tomatoes were grape tomatoes and not the scary salmonella tomatoes that are causing havoc across the US right now. Sheesh the $7.00 gourmet pizza was a medium size not a personal size so I brought 3/4 of it home. I suppose $7.00 for a medium gourmet pizza at a nice restaurant is a good Happy Hour price…

Ummm, I wasn’t going to mention it but since it’s in the photo collage the gin martini was $6.00.  And since you are eating out alone, only have one drink please. 🙂 Now how do I rationalize this meal that cost me $23.00 with tip you ask, yes I generally tip 20%. I figure since Dear’s company is paying for all his meals the last 5 days we’re way ahead even though I splurged. Do you see my reasoning?

The pampering didn’t stop with dinner. When I got home I brewed myself a cup of tea and had a slice of Amish Friendship Bread that Willow sent home with me yesterday. Very yummy, Willow!

 

This is a new brand of tea I’m trying from St. Petersbourg, actually made in France. A Russian blend of China, Ceylon and India teas with natural scents of bergamot, lemon, lime, orange, mandarin, and flowers. (Earl Grey, citrus fruits and flowers). I love the little muslin tea bags.

Dear comes home tomorrow, yippee!

Photobucket is holding all my photos I stored with them from 2007-2015 hostage. They have blacked out all those photos on my blog posts. OH BOTHER! I’m slowly cleaning up my posts.

ABC Wednesday ~ S is for…

S is for Santa Barbara, California.

Some people call Santa Barbara “The American Riviera”. This beautiful city on the Pacific Ocean has so much style and charm.  Along State St. you have many eating and shopping options. You get a very international feel when you catch several different languages being spoken. Santa Barbara is about 300 miles South of San Francisco and 90 miles North of Los Angeles. Just 40 miles North from my home.

State Street and the whole downtown area is very pedestrian friendly. There are many wonderful open air arcades for shopping and people watching.

 

Here are just a few of the Arcades.

 

Some of the Arcades have Sculptures to enjoy.

 

The Santa Barbara Art Museum is also located on State Street and of course you can view some great old relics and Statues or a Monet.

 

 

You’ll also find the Mission Santa Barbara up against the mountains. Some call this mission the “Queen” of the California historic Missions.

If you ever travel to California make sure and put Santa Barbara on your “must see” list but be aware that it can be very pricey to stay here.

S is also for

 

Seagulls at the Seashore

 

Sand at the Seashore

Shells from this same Seashore.

Now back to my hometown. Horses and ranches have great histiorical significance in Camarillo. Camarillo is named after Adolfo Camarillo. He was a rancher and is known for his famous White Horse which now is called the Camarillo White Horse. You’ll see these famous horses ridden in the Rose Parade. These are some of the Silver saddles from the Camarillo Ranch House Estate…

S is for a Silver Saddles

 

And S is for Spinning Wheel.

The Silver Saddles and the Spinning wheel are in the Historic Camarillo Ranch House.

For more ABC Wednesday posts please visit Mrs. Nesbitt’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!

Project Green Photo~ My First…

 

I couldn’t resist entering this green beauty in Anna’s Project Green Photos.

The post explaining where I saw this funky old green still is just above this entry or you can click here to see it. This still is at the Camarillo Historical Museum and Botanical Garden.

For more Project Green click over to Anna’s.

Photobucket is holding all my photos from 2007-2015 hostage and they have blacked them all out. I’m slowly working at restoring my posts without their help. Such a tiresome bother!