Peppy's Dream Moving Adventure Blog

I purchased the entertainment center on Wednesday, 11/28.  The folks at The Salvation Army had given me a phone number of a guy named John who is not associated with The Salvation Army, but who delivers furniture for people who have no other way to get it home.  I called him immediately on Wednesday and we made plans to do it that afternoon.  He called me later and said he couldn’t do it that day and would do it on Thursday.  Then, he called me on Thursday to say he couldn’t do it that day, but would do it Friday.  I already told the story of how he called Friday to cancel, because it was raining.  So, I called him this morning to see when he could do it today.  He never called back.

Eric had the genius idea that we could get it into the RV.  I knew it wouldn’t fit, but there’s no use arguing with him, so we drove the RV down to Pacific Beach.  First, we stopped at BRUEGGER’S BAGELS to get a bite of lunch.  While we were standing on line, our friends – Susan and Andrew – called to let us know they were at one of our favorite restaurants – HOUSTON’S – having one of our favorite meals – their veggie burger.  It was so good to hear from them and it made me so nostalgic for New York!

We ate our bagels which, while not nearly as delicious as a veggie burger at Houston’s, was really, really good. I like to get a muenster cheese bagel (toasted) with bacon scallion cream cheese.  There's really no bacon in there, but more like a bacon flavoring, which is a smoked flavor.  Eric likes the jalapeno cheddar bagels with plain cream cheese (he's a purist!).  Then we headed over to THE SALVATION ARMY THRIFT STORE to pick up the entertainment center.  There was a young man who got it onto a hand cart and tried to help Eric load it into the back of the RV.  Another guy, who was actually picking up a piece of furniture himself, came to assist us.  It only took about 2 minutes to see it wasn’t going to work – no way, no how.

So, I went inside and told them that we couldn’t fit it in our RV and the guy who they had recommended to us was not returning our calls.  They gave me another number of a father/son team (Chuck and Quinn).  I called and spoke to Chuck, and he was at the store 20 minutes later with his power-lifting son, Quinn.  He was a very muscular guy (the kind of guy you know works out at the gym 2 hours each day).  He was also wearing a t-shirt that said something about "Power Lifting" on the back, so I knew that he and his father would be able to do it with little or no assistance from Eric (which made me happy, since I didn’t want him to hurt his back).

They got that thing on their tiny pick-up truck in no time and followed us in the RV back to our apartment.  They got it out of the truck on their hand truck and got it upstairs in no time at all.  As soon as it was in the apartment, I left to run some errands and Eric got busy.  By the time I got back, about a half hour later, he had transferred the TV, DVD player and cable box onto the wall unit, moved it into place and took away the boxes that previously held the TV.  I was impressed!  It really looks good and it has a shelf for the DVD player, the cable box and then three shelves on the side with a glass door, for stereo equipment.

We didn’t have much time after that, so we both took a quick shower and got dressed to go to dinner with our new friends, Bonnie, Michael and their 9-year-old daughter, Nicole.  Bonnie is our realtor, and helped us out a lot in finding an apartment.  She is also one of my cousin Audrey’s best friends, which is how we made the connection.

Bonnie and I have been emailing and talking on the phone since May or June, but we finally met tonight.  We met them at 5:30pm at THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY in the FASHION VALLEY MALL. 

The place was packed when we got there.  Eric dropped me off and went to get a spot, while I went inside to look for them and to put our names in.  They gave me one of those things that lights up and flickers when your table is ready and I went outside to wait for Eric.  When Eric arrived, we went to stand inside.

We were looking at everyone who came in, and I was wondering if I would recognize Bonnie from her picture, which is in her emails, since she is a realtor.  We saw a man, woman and young girl come in and Eric said, “I think that’s them.”  They went right up to the hostess and put their names in.  We went right up behind them and looked right at them and then I said to Eric that I didn’t think they were looking for anyone.  The woman took her cell phone out of her pocketbook and Eric said, “Let’s see if your phone rings!”  Then, the man turned to Eric and said, “Are you Eric?”  Eric was right!  I don’t know how he knew, but he said he recognized Bonnie from meeting her Mom (at the NYPD (New York Pizza Department) restaurant).  There’s definitely a resemblance!

We soon sat down and we ordered a sampling of appetizers to start, which was four huge plates filled with eight different things.  These are the eight appetizers we had a sampling of:
1. CHICKEN POT STICKERS -- Oriental Dumplings Pan-Fried in the Classic Tradition.  Served with Our Soy Dipping Sauce;
2. BUFFALO BLASTS® -- Chicken Breast, Cheese and Our Spicy Buffalo Sauce all Stuffed in a Spiced Wrapper and Fried until Crisp. Served with Celery Sticks and Blue Cheese Dressing;
3. AVOCADO EGGROLLS  -- Chunks of Fresh Avocado, Sun-Dried Tomato, Red Onion and Cilantro Deep Fried in a Crisp Chinese Wrapper.  Served with a Tamarind-Cashew Dipping Sauce.
4. FRIED CALAMARI -- Served with Garlic Dip and Cocktail Sauce;
5. TEX MEX EGGROLLS  -- Spicy Chicken, Corn, Black Beans, Peppers, Onions and Melted Cheese. Served with Avocado Cream and Salsa;
6. HOT SPINACH AND CHEESE DIP -- Spinach, Artichoke Hearts, Shallots, Garlic and a Mixture of Cheeses Served Bubbly Hot with Tortilla Chips and Salsa;
7. VIETNAMESE SHRIMP SUMMER ROLLS -- Delicate Rice Paper Rolled Around Asparagus, Shiitake Mushrooms, Carrots, Rice Noodles, Green Onion, Cilantro and Shrimp.  Served Chilled and not Fried; and
8. QUESADILLA -- Grilled Flour Tortilla Filled with Melted Cheese, Green Onions and Chiles.  Garnished with Guacamole, Salsa and Sour Cream.

Eric and Michael have a lot in common, since they were both Steamfitters in New York.  They both also have a great love of classic rock.  There was no lull in the conversation as we they discussed music, work, and the fact that we both moved from New York to San Diego!

Bonnie and Michael told us the story of how they came from New York to San Diego, ten years ago.  They traveled across the country, too, but went in a car and camped out a lot.  They traveled for seven weeks and also saw a lot of the United States, including white water rafting on the Colorado River!  It’s really the only way to go from one coast to another.  You get to see the country while accomplishing a move!  We highly recommend it!

After all those appetizers, you can imagine that we were hardly hungry for our entrees, but we had ordered them, so we ate what we could and all took home leftovers!  I had the HERB CRUSTED FILET OF SALMON (Fresh Salmon with a Delicious Lemon Sauce, Asparagus and Mashed Potatoes).  Eric had the SPICY CASHEW CHICKEN (A Very Spicy Mandarin-Style Dish with Green Onions and Roasted Cashews, served over Rice).

Bonnie had SEARED TUNA TATAKI SALAD (Pacific Albacore Tuna Lightly Seared and Served Rare with Avocado, Tomato and Mixed Greens Tossed with Wasabi Vinaigrette).  Michael had PASTA BOLOGNESE (A Rich Meat Sauce Slowly Simmered with Porcini Mushrooms, Wine, Garlic and Herbs) and Nicole had a hamburger with French fries.

Everything was really good.  I loved my salmon, it was cooked perfectly and the asparagus and mashed potatoes were perfect, but I wanted to leave room for dessert!  We decided to share two pieces of their fabulous cheesecake -- ADAM'S PEANUT BUTTER CUP FUDGE RIPPLE (Creamy Cheesecake Swirled with Caramel, Peanut Butter, Butterfingers® and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups®) and DUTCH APPLE CARAMEL STREUSEL (Our Original Cheesecake, Baked Apples, Caramel and Brown Sugar Cinnamon Walnut Streusel).  WOW!  They were both unbelievably rich and delicious.  We left stuffed, but happy!

We will be seeing Bonnie, Michael and Nicole again soon, because Audrey is visiting from Vegas during the holidays and they are going to bring her over to the apartment, so they can all see our new place!  We’re really looking forward to seeing them all again.  It was a fun night.

When we got home we just relaxed and watched TV – in our new entertainment center.  It really fits the wall perfectly and we’re very happy with how it looks.  I will take pictures as soon as we get it all set up!

Because it took us so long to get the entertainment center home, I never had a chance to go to PIER 1 IMPORTS, so I may go tomorrow or Monday.  There’s not much more we need, except a TV for the master bedroom (I already have the TV stand) and a dinette set for the dining room.  I would like to find another chair for the living room, so I can’t wait to check out Pier 1 IMPORTS!

Eric felt like hanging out today and watching football, so I left the house before noon to go shopping by myself.  My main goal was to buy a cheap TV, because the cable guy is coming tomorrow morning to run the wire and hook up the cable in the bedroom and I wanted to have a TV for him to hook up!  We looked at TVs at The Salvation Army, but Eric said it wasn’t a good idea to buy an old TV, because they might not work well, and they’re all final sale, so it just wasn’t worth it, even though they were cheap.

We brought a 27” regular tube TV from NY when we moved and we were planning to use that in the bedroom and buy a nice flat-screen TV in San Diego for the living room.  Now that we’re not sure if we’re staying in San Diego, we don’t want to invest in an expensive TV and then have to ship it across the country.  So, we’re keeping the 27” in the living room (in our new entertainment center) and I went online and found the cheapest regular tube TV that was larger than 20”.  It was at BEST BUY and I found a store located in the MISSION VALLEY MALL.

That was my first stop.  I already knew exactly which TV I wanted, so it took all of 5 minutes to get someone to put it on a cart, roll it to the cashier, pay for it and go get my car. 

A young man put it in the back of the PT and I was on my way!  I purchased a DYNEX 24” TV, which Eric and I thought would be big enough to be able to enjoy watching, but not big enough to take up the whole bedroom.  We already have the rolling TV cart to put it on, so we should be all set tomorrow!

 

My next stop was PIER 1 IMPORTS, which was in the same shopping center, to see if I could find a chair or a dinette set.  We really need someplace to eat, so finding a table and chairs was next on my list.  They had some gorgeous pieces, but they were more than I wanted to spend, even with the very generous gift certificate I have from our friends, Brian and Elaine.  I looked at everything they had and made some mental notes, but left there without buying anything.

The shopping center also had a STAPLES and I needed to buy an ink cartridge for my printer, so that was my next stop.  The funny thing is, this “outdoor mall” is HUGE and has a parking lot for every major store, so even though I never left the mall area, I had to keep moving my car.  I parked by BEST BUYS to get the TV, then moved the car to PIER 1 IMPORTS, in case I bought furniture, then moved it again for STAPLES, and then again to go to a few more furniture stores.  Each time I parked I use “the club” since I’m paranoid about having my new baby, Opal, stolen --especially with a TV in the back!

I hit THOMASVILLE -- too expensive; MACY’S (the regular store, and their HOME STORE) – also too expensive; SAKS OFF 5th (their outlet store).  I thought it should be called "WAY off Fifth", since we’re on the other side of the country!  Meanwhile, they don’t even sell furniture!

At one point, I had to walk through an “outdoor” section of the mall, with stores on either side and kiosks in the middle selling cell phones, massages, jewelry, and other items.  I was so tempted to go clothes shopping, but I just kept walking.  I was on a mission!

I did go to STARBUCKS and then I finally left the shopping center and went back to PACIFIC BEACH, because there was a furniture store I hadn’t yet visited.  GARNET FURNITURE has some really great, modern pieces.  The gentleman there was very nice and showed me a small wood rectangular table with four chairs that could be purchased for $260.  It really was a great deal, but it wasn’t something that thrilled me, and it seemed like too much, since we didn’t want to keep and ship whatever we bought.

I was actually hoping to find something used, in a shop like I used to have, but there don’t seem to be any of those around here, and I just don’t have the time or energy to drive miles and miles to find a great vintage shop.  I really would have loved to find a cute 50s kitchen set, or a nice, clean dining room set.  The only places I found so far are the two SALVATION ARMY THRIFT SHOPS and they both didn’t have anything I liked at a good price.  I think they’re prices are a little outrageous.  I was lucky to find the entertainment center for only $50!

One thing I saw at GARNET FURNITURE that took me by surprise was the giant shoe chair, just like the one I had in the shop.  I had seen one in a vintage boutique in Santa Barbara, but here they were for sale.  They weren’t leopard, like the one I had, but he had two different ones in nice animal print patterns.  They brought back memories!

After I left PACIFIC BEACH, I headed back towards home, but decided to go down Balboa Avenue to see if I could find more furniture stores.  I saw a TARGET and decided to look at their furniture again.  They had some very nice pieces, but they were also at least $250, and were really nothing special.  I was just hoping to find something to use on a temporary basis – something that would serve our purpose but wouldn’t cost a lot or be big and bulky to ship, if we did decide to keep it.

All of a sudden, I saw a square folding card table in black metal with a black vinyl top.  They also had nice black metal folding chairs with a brown and black upholstered back and seat.  The table was only $19.99 and the chairs were also only $19.99 each, so the whole set cost $100 plus tax.  I was thrilled.  It was enough to seat four comfortably, was just the right size for the dinette, and it didn’t cost too much.  Yureka!  Success at last!

I got home and Eric helped me carry the four chairs and table upstairs and then he carried the TV upstairs.  I felt so bad, because it was really heavy and, of course, the box is so much bigger, because of all the packing materials.  He wouldn’t let me help, so I just let him do it himself.

He set up the table and chairs for me and I immediately reheated my leftovers from THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY last night.  It was super comfy and I was so happy I found it!  My leftovers were delicious and I enjoyed them even more on my new “dinette set!”

Now that we’ve ordered the sleeper sofa, I don’t really need another chair in the living room, because that will seat 2 or 3, and we have Eric’s massage chair.  I also have my desk set up in the living room (the one Eric made of 6 boxes with a board on top) and I purchased my desk chair at STAPLES, so I can sit and work and watch TV.

We’re really all set now and I don’t think we need to buy any more furniture.  We already have enough lamps, art work and accessories, so now it’s just a matter of getting everything set up nicely.  Eric is going to be hanging shelves, so we can add storage space to the apartment.  He feels it will be great if I can unpack a lot of my collectibles and have them in the dining room and living room, so we can enjoy them.  It will also help to get rid of a lot of boxes, and then – when and if we move again – we’ll just repack them.

It’s hard to furnish an apartment when you’re not sure how long you’re going to be staying, but I think we’re doing okay.  We wanted to decorate on a shoestring, and we’ve managed to buy (or make) a “dinette set,” a desk and chair, two end tables, a coffee table, an entertainment center, a TV and a TV cart for less than $500!

Soon, we’ll start hanging some artwork, putting out decorative items and really dressing up the place!  That’s my favorite part.  I can’t wait!

Yes, it’s true.  After 115 days of blogging, I forgot.  It’s not like I thought of it and put it off, or pushed it out of my mind.  It just never entered my mind!  I can’t believe it myself.  I think part of the problem was that yesterday was pretty boring (except for the cable saga) and I usually will think about the blog if I have something important to write about.  I think that’s what happened.  So, here’s the entry for yesterday – I say better late than never!

The cable guy was supposed to come between 7:30am and 11:30am, and the last guy who came (and just hooked up the DVR box in the living room) told us he would probably be there at 7:30am.  So, we had to set the alarm REALLY early (6:30am), take showers and get dressed to be presentable.  Now you know, because we were ready at 7:30am, that the guy didn’t show up until 11:50am!  It was actually AFTER the four-hour window.  Eric and I just hung around for a while.  Then Eric went back to bed (fully dressed) and I soon joined him.  When the bell rang at 11:50am we were both sleeping!

We let the guy in, told him what we needed, and he proceeded to tell us he was going to have to rip up the rug in the living room, put the cable wire underneath and run it into the bedroom.  Whoa!  I told him that the reason the box wasn’t installed in the bedroom last time was that we wanted the line run from the OUTSIDE.  He said he wasn’t allowed to do that, unless I had a letter.  I showed him the letter, which said that lines could be run anywhere needed and he said that he STILL couldn’t run it, because the letter didn’t specifically say that lines could be run anywhere OUTSIDE.

By now, I was furious (and most of you know about the Wrath of Peppy).  I was yelling at the guy, telling him that we specifically had this appointment made so a line could be run from the outside.  He kept saying he couldn’t do it without the letter. I called my landlord (who – I’ve mentioned – luckily lives about 100 feet away).  I told him the situation and he printed out another letter with the correct wording.  If Brett wasn't home for some reason, the guy wouldn't have done it and we wouldn't have gotten the cable in the bedroom.

I really believe this guy knew EXACTLY what he had to do, but he didn’t want to get the big ladder, climb up on the roof and do all the extra work, including drilling a hole through the wall.  He thought it would be a lot easier to just run the line from the living room, so that’s what he wanted to do.

Now that he had the correct letter, and the building manager was standing right there, he had no choice but to do it.  He drilled a hole through the wall and hit something.  He went outside to check it out and told us he had drilled a hole through the drain pipe.  Nice!  Now, he had to drill a SECOND hole – about 2 inches from the first one – to run the wire.

He finally finished it, but then told Eric that he didn’t have a box to hook up.  I hit the roof again.  He told us that he was sent ONLY to run the wire and that he could hook us up with cable, but the digital box would have to be installed another time.  So, I called the cable company and they’re coming tomorrow (Wednesday) between 12:30pm and 2:30pm.  Now, Eric and I are not working and are home most of the time, so it’s really no inconvenience.  But what if we were both working (like most normal people)?  I think it’s insane that it’s taking three appointments to get us connected properly.

He finally finished, and he apologized for the misunderstanding.  I apologized for yelling at him.  He said he understood our frustration and that he was just doing his job.  I guess it's not his fault, but the cable company here certainly leaves something to be desired!  I know I requested TWO digital boxes -- one with DVR and one without -- so why is it taking three appointments to get it?  Now we DO have cable in the bedroom, but not the extra channels and guide that you get with the digital box.  I really don’t care about the extra channels, but I need the DVR (so I can tape my shows).  Eric doesn’t need the DVR, but he needs the extra channels (for his basketball and other sports).  So, we are hopeful we will be set up completely and everything will be right on Wednesday.

When he left it was after 1:00pm and I wanted to go food shopping.  Eric said he’d join me, although he was in a lot of pain with a headache, neckache and backache.  He’s a mess.  It’s definitely the depression.  Everything hurts.  It’s getting harder and harder to motivate him.  He’d sleep all day if he could.  I thought getting into the apartment would be good, because it would keep him busy – and it did – for a week.  Now, he’s losing interest and I have to keep asking him for help with stuff.

We went food shopping, came back and I worked on the computer while he watched TV.  Eric and I had worked on putting together a resume for him, so he would be ready for the job hunt, and I was working on editing mine, too.  I was also job-searching online and submitting resumes through email.  I’ll see if I hear back from anyone.  My resume is a little weird, because the last five years I was a business owner, so I’ve kind of been out of the corporate world for a while.  Don’t know if that will work in my favor, or against me.

I wanted to set up my vanity.  I had put out all the accessories and the lamps were plugged in, but the three mirrors that hang in the back weren’t screwed onto the back yet.  Eric did that for me, and it looks really great.  That vanity is one of my favorite pieces, which is why I brought it from New York.  I have had it for almost 20 years and I really love it.  Now, with the mirrors hanging and the crystals on my grandmother’s lamps sparking in the light, it makes this more like home and makes me happy.  I will take a picture, as soon as the room is set up.

I made us another big salad for dinner, with all the fresh veggies I bought at KEILS.  Eric and I love the big salad.  I put some leftover chicken in his.  My favorite thing to put in a salad is cilantro.  I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned how much I love cilantro.  It is my favorite herb.  I also love dill, but nothing beats cilantro!  Eric loves it, too.  I buy a bunch of fresh cilantro and put a lot of leaves in the salad with the baby spinach (which is healthier than just plain greens).  It’s SO delicious!  I also put some shredded cheddar cheese, and nuts – whatever’s around – or sunflower seeds.  Eric also likes croutons.  I bought “hot house” cherry tomatoes and they were delicious.  I also put in cucumber, green pepper, and avocado.

We love all vegetables, so it just depends on what looks good at the grocery.  I sometimes use fresh, sliced mushrooms, broccoli, or snap peas.  I got my salad-making technique from my mother.  She always started every meal (and still does) with a salad.  We just make the salad the whole meal!

After dinner we just watched TV and I worked on the computer.  It’s weird, because I did work on the computer a couple of times yesterday, but I never thought of the blog.  It boggles my mind.

I asked Eric to take me for a ride on the bicycle (today) and he didn’t really want to, so we’ll see what happens.  I am not dying to go riding (obviously), but I figure if that’s the only way to get him on a bicycle, I’ll do it.  I DO need the exercise (believe me), so it will be good for both of us.

By the way, I haven’t yet purchased a scale, but I have now had a chance to examine my naked body in a full-length mirror.  My body has changed a LOT.  I can’t believe what I look like.  I still have no idea how many pounds I’ve gained, but I kind of thought it was all around my middle (which is where I usually gain weight).  Now that I’ve had a chance to look at myself, I see I have gained weight EVERYWHERE – in all the wrong places.  Not a pretty picture, I can assure you.  I know I’ve been eating better since we moved in, but I still need to get going.  I have to drive over to a yoga place right nearby and get their schedule.

Eric has promised me that he will take a yoga class, but I figure I’d better go first and check it out.  If it’s all girls, it’s going to be hard to get him in there.  It’s going to be hard anyway!  I really think yoga would be fantastic for him.  It will make him feel better, get him stretching (which he never does) and I think the spiritual aspect will be good for him, too.  It was always good for me!

I woke up early today, at least earlier than usual – 8:00am.  The first thing I thought of was the fact that I forgot to blog yesterday!  It was so strange.  So, I got up, and I wrote my blog for yesterday.

Then Eric got up and we did things around the apartment.  He made his favorite breakfast – grits!  He’s always loved grits, and enjoyed a lot of the REAL stuff when we were on the road.  There’s lots of great grits to be had in the south!  He makes real grits (they’re not instant), but they’re still not as good as the stuff they serve with biscuits and gravy!  I’m not much into grits myself.  I had SPECIAL K Chocolately Delight Cereal!

Eric and I have made plans to go to South Carolina for the week between the holidays.  We’re leaving very early on Christmas Eve day and coming back very early on New Year’s Eve day.  We don’t have any family here to spend the holidays with, so why not go away?  This time, we're flying!

Eric wants to check out the mountain biking in South Carolina, so I printed out a lot of information about bike shops, trails, organizations and clubs.  He made a few phone calls and found out about a place to rent a bike while we’re there, so he can go riding.  I’m anxious to see what the weather is like in South Carolina at the end of December.  It’s supposed to be pretty mild there, so I should be okay.  I think it will be good for us go, because Eric isn’t having much fun here, and a week of riding should lift his spirits.

We’re going to COLUMBIA, which is the capitol of South Carolina.  It’s right in the middle, so it’s not close to the beaches (or the hurricanes).  It’s also milder in the middle than it is on the coasts.  It’s a pretty big city, with lots of theater, so I’m hoping to catch a show or two while Eric’s out riding!

This afternoon we went out for a bicycle ride.  Eric wasn’t too enthusiastic, but it was a gorgeous day, and we had nothing better to do!  We rode down Clairemont Drive a couple of miles and then turned around and came back.  It was pretty easy riding – no big hills – and Eric was showing me how to “spin” which means peddling really fast in an easy gear, which he says burns more calories than peddling slower in a harder gear (which makes you work harder, but can actually hurt your knees!).  All during the ride he trains me, helping me to be a better rider, and keeping me safe!  He’s the best.

When we arrived back there was a package in our door -- a big box of fruit and other treats from HARRY AND DAVID, sent by our friends, Julie and Ken.  It was such a great surprise and Eric and I immediately opened it and had a great “snack lunch.”  There were pears and apples, cheese, sausage, nuts, chocolates and "Moose Munch" popcorn.  I called Julie, to thank her, and we had a great talk.  I really miss all my girlfriends.

Then my niece, April, called.  I really miss my girls, too (all my nieces).  I am very close with them and enjoyed being with them when we lived in NY.  We’d go out to eat and they’d fill me in on what was going on in their lives.  They’re all beautiful, sweet girls.  April said she’s going to try to come for a visit in January, maybe with her sister, Jessica.  It would be so great to see them!

After my phone calls, I relaxed for a while and then did a little more unpacking.  Then, I made dinner – KRAFT Macaroni & Cheese.  I also made a turkey/Swiss wrap for Eric, to go with the macaroni.  I wasn’t that hungry, since we had snacked just 3 hours before.  We had a little light ice cream for dessert and I was ready to blog!

I typed for a while, watched some TV and then my sister, Audrey, called.  She fractured a bone in her foot and has to wear one of those boots for a few weeks.  My poor darling.  She’s very active, so this is really hard on her.  I hope she’s MUCH better REAL soon.  She’s got a trip planned to the Galapagos Islands in February, so she’s got to get that foot healed and in perfect condition, so she can hike!

After I hung up with Audrey, my friend, Geri, called.  She and her husband, Larry, were away on their “Amazonian Adventure” and just got back a few days ago.  I didn’t really have a chance to talk to her in weeks.  We were on the phone for almost an hour, talking about all that’s going on here with us, and with her and Larry in NY.  Today was definitely a day for telephone talking – Julie, April, Audrey and Geri!  Wow!

Tomorrow Cable Guy #3 is coming, and we are hoping that everything will be hooked up and ready for viewing!  It’s been great having the TV in the bedroom, but I need my DVR!!

We slept late, but started working right after showers and breakfast.  Eric decided today was the day we were going to put up shelves in the dinette area.  We figure it will look nice, and we’ll be able to unpack a couple of boxes of collectibles and decorative items.  I guess he figures as long as we’re here, we should enjoy our stuff.  I agree!

He actually wants to put shelves around the perimeter of the master bedroom, too, but just one foot off the ceiling.  Then, I can put a lot of my vintage purses and other decorative items on display there, too!  He’s all about storage and display!

I did three loads of laundry.  The laundry room here is really nice.  It’s just a short walk from the apartment down to the laundry room.  I can put the laundry in, come back, do some stuff around the apartment, then go throw it in the dryer and come back again.  Then, I just go pick it up and fold it here.  Very convenient!

We were busy working when the cable guy arrived.  This was the least-stressful and most productive “installment session” yet.  The guy moved the DVR box into the bedroom and put the new digital cable box in the living room.  He checked everything to make sure it was working perfectly and he was gone within a half hour!

After he left, we went to HOME DEPOT to buy pre-cut pine shelves (4 feet long x 10” wide), stain, brackets, screws and everything else we need for this project.  When we got back, I started unpacking boxes (I got through about 4 before I made us a big salad).  Eric started sanding the shelves and will stain them tomorrow.

After we ate, Eric kept working on the shelves and then started cutting up all the boxes I had emptied.  I had emptied 2 or 3 more.  This is quite an accomplishment, but we still have about 50 left!  Some will stay packed for a while, since there’s just no room for everything, but whatever we can unpack, we will.

The best thing I ever did was keep a very detailed list of what was in each box.  It’s a WORD document I typed as I was packing boxes, and then continued as the men were packing us.  So, any time Eric might ask “Where are my spackle knives?,”  I just go to the WORD document, do a search for the word “spackle” and there it is – box #56.  I can see what needs to be unpacked and what we can leave boxed.  Most boxes have a description on the outside, like “Eric’s Tools” or “Craft Supplies” but I have about 10 boxes of Eric’s tools and about 20 boxes of craft supplies, so it helps to have a very thorough listing, so we can find anything quickly.

The best thing about today was that Eric was in a really good mood.  It seems the busier he is, the better he feels.  I guess it takes his mind off the things that are bothering him.  That’s why I think it would be great if he got a job, because keeping busy and working every day would definitely keep his spirits up.

Our friend Jimmy called this afternoon, because he was worried about Eric.  He’s such a good friend.  He sent me emails with links to bicycle clubs, mountain bike trails and even a guy he found on CRAIGSLIST looking for someone to mountain bike with!

Then our friend Jerry called.  He’s going to be staying in Los Angeles for about a month, so we’ll get to see him again for sure.  We visited him in Chicago over Labor Day Weekend, right before he moved south to Urbana, Illinois.  He and I commiserated about the frustration of moving to a smaller space and having no place for your stuff.

Tonight Eric and I watched KITCHEN NIGHTMARES with Chef Gordon Ramsay.  It’s such a great show with plenty of drama.  The Chef goes to a troubled restaurant and whips them into shape.  He’s so volatile that he really pushes people’s buttons, but he knows what he’s doing and he’s always right!  Tonight, he was in a restaurant in Babylon, NY!  You should check it out, if you haven’t already!

Tomorrow we will continue the unpacking and the shelf-building.  We’re on a roll!

I woke up at about 9:30am, but Eric was still sleeping, so I went into the living room and sat at the computer for a while.  Then, my phone rang.  It was my sister-in-law, Susan, calling to see how we were doing.  After I spoke to her, Eric and I had breakfast and he started working on the shelves again.  He finished sanding them all (outside), then started staining them.

While he was doing that, I used something called RESTOR-A-FINISH to clean and polish the frames on four beautiful watercolors of fruit that I brought from NY.  They were in my shop on consignment for a long time and no one bought them.  I always loved them, and didn’t understand why no one wanted them.  When the woman came to pick them up, I offered her a small amount and told her I would buy them, if she didn’t want them back.  I told her I was going to bring them to San Diego and hang them in my kitchen.  She happily sold them to me.  They’re really interesting, because they have fabric mats and are framed in old dark pine wood.  They depict pears, plums, apples and peaches.  We’re going to hang two in the kitchen and two in the dinette (which is right next to the kitchen) on the wall with the four shelves.  It should look really beautiful!  The artist, Kupur, is a watercolorist from the 1940s-50s.

Each frame had nicks, scratches and was marred by dirt and age.  The RESTOR-A-FINISH really did the trick!  It cleaned the wood, polished the frames and hid all the nicks, scratches and other flaws.  They almost look like new, but better because they’re vintage!  I considered painting them, but Eric said it would be much better to just polish them up, so they were kept in their original state.  He was right.  They look fabulous!  I can’t wait for him to hang them.

When I was done, I decided to take a ride to Pacific Beach.  I had been in a store called BUFFALO EXCHANGE, where they buy and sell used and vintage clothing.  I thought I’d bring a bunch of clothes and shoes I’m no longer wearing and see what I could get.  The clothes were mostly newer items, with some from the 1980s.  There were also designer items – Betsy Johnson, Adrienne Vittadini and Cynthia Rowley.  I brought two big bags into the store.  Another woman right in front of me had three shopping bags.  One girl took her stuff and another girl took my stuff.  They were both under 25, heavily tattooed and not very friendly.  The one girl looked through ALL my stuff, was only interested in 3 or 4 things and, after hearing what she was offering, I ended up selling ONE blouse (which I bought last year).  She said she would sell it for $9.50 and I get one-third, so I got a little over $3.00.  WOW!  My big haul!

I had brought in some fabulous vintage shoes – 1940s and 1950s, and I couldn’t believe they didn’t want them!  There was a sign that said they were looking for “unique vintage items.”  I mentioned this to the girl and she said I should try WEAR IT AGAIN SAM, which is in Hillcrest.  I told her I had been there before, and it was a fabulous shop.  I left there feeling like an idiot, mostly because of the way they treated me.  I would NEVER do that to any of my consignors.  If I didn’t like something, I would explain that it just wouldn’t sell in my shop, because it wasn’t the right era, or the condition wasn’t good enough, but I never made them feel bad.  They made me feel rejected, and I didn’t like it one bit!

I headed right to WEAR IT AGAIN SAM in HILLCREST.  I first visited them the day Eric and I arrived in San Diego in October (before we headed to Las Vegas).  It was the most gorgeous shop, filled with the most amazing vintage clothing, accessories, jewelry, purses, and shoes.  I was drooling!

I got a spot right in front of the shop, and went inside with my shoes.  A beautifully-dressed woman came out of the back.  She was wearing a white top with a black cardigan, a black skirt and had a leopard belt and matching leopard shoes.  She looked SO stylish.  She had black hair and red lipstick.  She was fabulous!

I asked her if she bought vintage items, and she said they were only looking for pre-1950s.  I showed her three pairs of shoes I had and she loved them all.  She asked if I wanted a credit or cash.  Unlike at BUFFALO EXCHANGE, I knew there would be HUNDREDS of things I’d like to buy, so I told her I would take the credit.  She said she’d give me $25 – EACH!  I got a $75 credit.  I proceeded to try on some great dresses, but I’m SO fat that nothing fit.  If this isn’t motivation to lose weight, I just don’t know what is.  They had at least 5 or 6 dresses I would DIE to have, but I can’t fit into ANY of them!  I decided to leave with my $75 credit, since she said it was good forever!

I struck up a conversation with the woman, who introduced herself as Barbara.  There was also a handsome young man working there named Travis.  We talked for a while.  I told them I had a shop in NY, but didn’t sell clothing.  I told them how much I loved their shop, how fabulous everything was, and how beautifully it was all displayed.  They definitely know how to show things so they look their best.  They also have everything organized so well – all the sterling jewelry in one case; the rhinestones in another; the colored stones in another.  The velvet coats were all on one rack; the leopard and other fake-fur coats on another.  It was a pleasure to browse.

The shop is just about as large as mine was, but they don’t sell furniture.  They DO have some things displayed in the most fabulous art deco curios.  I know a lot of my girls would just love this place and I’m glad it wasn’t in Long Island while I was there!  It would have given me stiff competition.  The only difference is – the prices!  This place is expensive, but it’s not like the stuff is over-priced; it’s just that my stuff was SO CHEAP!  I really sold things at such a reasonable price.  My prices couldn’t be beat!  All my customers knew that and that’s why I had such a loyal following!

Anyway, they were so nice and friendly and I promised to come back and bring some more stuff.  In the meantime, I’m on a strict diet, as I really want to buy some of those dresses, before they disappear!

After I left Hillcrest, I drove to Pacific Beach again, because I wanted to pick up some stain brushes at ACE HARDWARE for Eric.  I got the brushes, and headed to our apartment, but first stopped at RITE AID to get tissues.  I’m so used to buying a six or eight-pack at BJs, and I told Eric we have to join one of the clubs here, because I can’t stand buying tissues one box at a time!  I actually picked up six boxes, but it’s probably twice as much as it would be at BJs!

When I got home, all 8 shelves were outside drying.  They looked SO great.  Eric stained them with a Pecan finish and they look wonderful.  He was still working hard, cleaning and organizing his tools.

I made dinner for us.  Chicken for Eric; scallops for me.  We both had stuffed mushrooms and a side of four-cheese rice.  The mushrooms were purchased ready-made (believe me, I’m not up to stuffed mushrooms) and the rice is UNCLE BEN’S READY RICE.  I swear by this stuff.  It comes in a bag.  All you have to do is squeeze the bag, to break up the rice so it’s not lumpy, tear the top and put it in the microwave on high for 90 seconds.  It comes out steamy hot and delicious.  I’m asking you, why do more?  Eric and I agreed that the mushrooms were good, but not fantastic.  I figured I’d try them, to see how they were.

I seasoned the chicken cutlets and scallops with garlic, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese and what Eric and I call “fake butter.”  It’s really that SMART BALANCE butter substitute that comes in a tub, but Eric and I love it and use it in place of real butter all the time.  We haven’t purchased real butter in at least a year.

I had bought a big wedge of watermelon and that’s what we were going to have for dessert.  Unfortunately, it was mealy and tasteless and we ended up throwing the whole thing out.  What a rip!  Eric made a comment about them sending all the good fruit to NY (can you tell he hates San Diego?).  I guess maybe watermelon is out of season, so I should have known better than to buy it.  Anyway, I tried!

After dinner, we kept working.  The shelves were dry enough to put on the brackets and Eric screwed them down.  They look so great!  We continued working – unpacking boxes, Eric cutting up boxes, me organizing stuff I’d unpacked.  Busy, busy, busy!  We both didn’t stop until 10:00pm.  That’s quiet time in the complex, so it’s not good to make any noise after then.  We do have neighbors below us (2 single guys) and to our left (a woman), so we don’t want to be rude.  We’re lucky, because we have a corner unit, and we’re on the second floor, so there’s no one above us, and no one on three sides of us.  We just have a neighbor to the left.

Tomorrow, I will start unpacking collectibles to put on the four shelves, and Eric will hang the fruit watercolors.  That should be fun!

We are on a roll!  I cannot believe how much we accomplished today!  First of all, Eric had finished putting up the four shelves in the dinette area, but I had to wait overnight for them to be dry enough to put things on them.  First thing this morning, we hung up the four fruit prints.  We were going to put two on that wall, and two on the wall in the kitchen, but I had another idea after the shelves were hung, as you can see from the pictures!  I LOVE it!

Sorry the pictures are so blurry.  I'm using my cell phone, and it's just not as good as a real camera!  Eric's going to buy me a new one for my birthday!

We then hung these two candle sconces I had from the shop.  They’re made from two art nouveau door escutcheons, an item of door furniture. It is an architectural item that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder. Escutcheons are mainly decorative: they draw the eye to the keyhole.   These are very decorative in that swirly, art nouveau way.  They’re mounted on a slender wooden board and the key to the escutcheon is mounted on top of the board.  In the center of the escutcheon is a candleholder.  They’re really fabulous, because some clever person put them together.  Why they never sold I’ll never know, but I got them at a very good price (just like the four fruit watercolors) when the shop was closing.

After everything was hung, I spent the next four or five hours watching a MONK MARATHON (one of my favorite TV shows) and unpacking box after box of collectibles.  I sorted through tons of stuff and put out a bunch of Betty Boop, some kitchen collectibles, and a few pairs of candlesticks.  I’m very happy with the results.  I emptied a few boxes, got organized, and decorated the apartment – all at the same time!

Eric was keeping busy, too.  He put up four more shelves in the bedroom, and I put a bunch of my purses, pocketbooks and handbags on display.  Don't ask me what the difference is between a purse, a pocketbook and a handbag, but I've got 'em all! 

They look great, I can see them all easily, and it cleared out my closet a lot.  I was so happy today.  I feel like we accomplished SO much and the place is really shaping up!

Neither one of us had left the house all day, so we decided to go out for sushi.  We went to “our place” – HAIKU RESTAURANT.  Their sushi is first rate!  I keep asking Eric if he’d like to try another place, since there are at least 4 or 5 sushi restaurants in Pacific Beach, but he’s extremely loyal.  When he likes something, he sticks with it.  I guess that’s a good quality for a husband!

We had a delicious dinner of edamame, shumai, a volcano roll (which comes with a tiny bowl with a flambé on top (I guess the volcano is erupting!).  We also had a Spicy, Crunchy Shrimp Roll, which is our favorite.  It’s got so much stuff in it, I can’t even tell you what it is, except it’s SO good!

After we got back in the car, I saw that I had missed a call from our friends, Geri and Larry.  I called back and spoke to Geri.  They have a box of stuff that got left behind when our stuff was shipped.  The remote to our CD player, a vintage garbage pail (I was using it until the end and forgot to give it to them to pack!) and a few other things.  They’re going to ship it to us.  They’re such good friends.  They offered to store a lot of our stuff when we were moving, because we weren’t sure whether to take it or not.  We ended up taking most of it, selling some and giving away some.  I just didn’t want to bother them with that!

When we got home, we immediately went back to work.  We both unpacked a few more boxes, and I organized my closet while I watched a FABULOUS show on TV called MOVIES ROCK.  They played all the best songs from famous movies and contemporary artists like Beyoncé, Carrie Underwood, Elton John, Tony Bennett, Usher, and Fergie performed.  I really enjoyed it.  Usher recreated SINGING IN THE RAIN, which was filmed on a set, instead of performed live at the show.  It was really fantastic.  It was an exact recreation of the original.  Of course, he’s no Gene Kelly, but he still did a great job!

Jennifer Hudson sang THERE’S A PLACE FOR US from WEST SIDE STORY and really brought down the house.  That was a highlight for me.  That girl can sing!

We finally stopped around midnight.  Tomorrow we are heading to HOME DEPOT again.  Eric is going to hang three more shelves in the master bedroom (all one foot off the ceiling).  I want to put the rest of my purses and pocketbooks, and some of my favorite tins on them. 

He’s going to hang a bunch of shelves in the second bedroom, too.  That room is becoming his “work room.”  He made a work table out of boxes with cardboard on top to create a smooth surface.  Now, he has a place to work, and wants to unpack all his tools and lay them out on the shelves.  He’s a shelving maniac!

Tomorrow is the 29th Annual Holiday Parade in Pacific Beach.  There will be a tribute to California firefighters from 12-4 on Garnet Avenue.  There will also be Arts and Crafts vendors at “Santa’s Village” on Cass Street.  I’m trying to convince Eric to go.  He wants to work on the shelves, but I think it will be fun.  He says I should just go by myself, which isn’t a bad idea, because then I can hit all the vendors without dragging him around.  The only problem is – it’s supposed to rain all weekend.  We’ll see what happens.  If it’s raining, we’ll just get a lot more accomplished in the apartment!

I woke up at 9:00am and Eric was up right after me.  He jumped in the shower, and I thought I’d go in right after him, so I could accompany him to HOME DEPOT.  He had other ideas.  He said I should stay home and relax while he went, and then when he got back I could go to the Holiday Parade.  I insisted that I go with him, but he got his way.  I watched some TV, did a little cleaning and organizing and then jumped in the shower, so I would be ready when he got back.

I am already having a problem with my DVR in the bedroom.  I programmed it to tape a new episode of MONK last night, but it didn’t tape.  It had the show listed, but said “unable to record show.”  I had NO idea what that meant, so I called this morning to try to find out.  The guy who answered had no idea why it happened, but tried to explain that it might have been the company that provides the computer service, or something like that.  He said, “maybe their server was down.”

I asked him if anyone else had called, complaining that they programmed something and it didn’t record.  He said they had not.  I asked him if it was a server problem how I could be the only one of the thousands of people in San Diego who are using Time Warner Cable who had this problem.  I now assumed there was a problem with my box.  He started to ask me questions about how I programmed it, if I was trying to record more programs than the box is able to record (two at a time) and I told him, “Listen, I had DVR in New York for over a year.  I am VERY familiar with the system and know every aspect of it’s use.  I am also one of the biggest couch potatoes in America, and watch more TV than most people, so BELIEVE ME, I know how to program the DVR!"  At this point he suggested that they send someone to look at it, so someone from TWC is coming (for the fourth time) on Monday between 12:30pm and 2:30pm.  We’ll see where THAT goes.

Eric returned a little after noon.  He had purchased 16 shelves and 32 brackets, plus all the hardware to go with it.  He was ready to start sanding, and I was ready to go to the parade!  I drove down to Pacific Beach (which is a 5 minute drive).  Garnet Street was closed after a certain point, so I went down to Grand, which runs parallel.  I was really looking for Cass Street, because that’s where the vendors were going to be and I was a lot more interested in the vendors than in the marchers.

Here come the Cub Scouts!

I got a great spot (and it wasn’t easy – there were SO many people driving around trying to find a spot).  The parade started at noon and by now it was 12:30pm, so I didn’t miss much.  I got to Cass and Garnet and there was a pretty nice crowd.  I actually was standing right where the action was, because there was a guy on a platform with a microphone and he was announcing the groups as they marched by.  There were cub scouts, girl scouts, dance troups, marching bands, firemen in fire trucks (who were being honored) and lots of people advertising their businesses, which kind of annoyed me.  The guy would actually go up to the people and ask them to say something, and then he’d tell you to visit this or that business.

A classic car advertising some business or other!

The best part was the four people on horseback who represented some ranch or something.  I am not much of a parade person, so I only stood there for about 10 minutes and then crossed to the other side of Garnet to visit the vendors.  I was disappointed by how few vendors there were, and even more disappointed by what they were selling.

My favorite parade moment.  Wish I had a carrot!

There were less than 20 vendors in all: two different businesses selling replacement windows, one selling subscriptions to the Union Tribune, one selling aromatherapy products, trying to get you to have a party at your house to sell the stuff.  I told them I wouldn’t be very good for a party, since I just moved here and I told them, “You’re the only friends I have here!”  They laughed and then tried to get me to buy a crème to make my skin look more youthful.  I know I’m going to be 50 next week, but I was insulted!  Obviously, I didn’t buy anything!

There was one booth selling jewelry carved out of coconut shell and mother of pearl.  They were really beautiful, but the entire earring was the mother of pearl or coconut shell, and the part that goes through your ear was pretty thick – too thick for my ear holes.  I took a look at the people selling and they were young people with lots of piercings who like the big hole look.  Not for me.
There was another young woman selling jewelry she made herself.  She would take pieces of colored glass, melt it down in a kiln into a kind of lump that looked like a stone, and then drill a hole and attach it to a finding and hang it on a black silk rope.  They were quite beautiful, but much too modern for me.

I saw a booth selling framed photos, another that had t-shirts that said, “Pacific Beach 92109” and other variations on that theme.  I guess it’s close to 90210, so they thought it was clever.  Maybe it was.

There was a woman selling pocketbooks made from different fabulous fabrics.  I purchased one exactly like it in New Orleans.  It has a roses and skull designs (very goth).  I love that purse and always get compliments on it.  We talked for a long while.  I told her that I had a purse from the same manufacturer and that I purchased it in New Orleans.  I started talking about our trip, and then she told me how she and her husband (who was also there) traveled across Europe for six months living mostly in the back of a van!  They said they were invited to stay in a chateau in the South of France, a cabin in the woods of Germany, and had more adventures than most people have in a lifetime.

They live in Ocean Beach and said it was the best neighborhood in San Diego.  Eric and I haven’t been there yet, but it is the place where all the antique shops are in San Diego, so I know I’d like it.  They also said it’s where the older hippies live, which we'd like, too.  I think we need to check it out.

There was a young woman selling wrap-around skirts that had two layers of fabric and could be worn in a multitude of ways, including as a blouse or dress, depending on whether you bought the short, medium or long version.  The patterns were nice and the fabrics were flowy, but it wasn’t for me.

There was one vendor selling dog clothes and accessories; another selling some kind of rubber sandals and sun visors, and another advertising some kind of bar and grill.

I finally found something that really interested me.  It is called AROMA JEMS™.  It’s an all natural, biodegradable, non-toxic, environmentally friendly product – the only green alternative car freshener, air freshener and bath salt!  There is no smoke, no toxic fumes, no fires.  They explain that people spend a fortune on candles, which contain paraffin, which is a heavy hydrocarbon which comes from crude oil (yuck!).

Eric and I very rarely burn candles, because I have “fire paranoia” so it seemed like a great alternative.  They had every scent you can imagine, from bayberry to ocean breeze.  They all smelled great, but I settled on a fruit mixture that had several fruity scents together – like pineapple, coconut and mango.  There are a lot of ways you can use them – you can put them on top of a potpourri burner, if you like, or just place in an open bowl.  You can put them in your drawers, gym locker, or use them in the bathtub as a bath salt.

The reason I like it is that it’s not very strong – you really have to get close.  I don’t like strong scents, because it bothers my asthma.  As I always say, “It gives me the asthma!”  So, this works for me, because it’s very subtle.  A bag of about 20 pieces (which look like colored rock candy) was $7.00 and they last from 3-12 months.  You can buy colors to go with your décor, or buy the scents you enjoy.  It’s great stuff!

After my one $7.00 purchase, I walked around the corner to watch the parade a bit more, and then went into a boutique I had driven past and wanted to check out.  It’s called WISH.

They had some really cute clothes and their prices were so reasonable.  I tried on two dresses and two blouses and ended up buying an adorable dress that cost only $27, including tax!  They have a card like I had in PEPPY’S DREAM, where you get a hole punch every time you spend more than $20 and after 10 purchases you get a $20 gift certificate.  That’s exactly the same system I had!  It encourages repeat business!

They had a guest book, which asked for your name, date of birth and email address.  While I was filling it out (and putting in 12/16/57), I noticed that the name above me was born in 1981.  I’m old.  Very, very old and I really shouldn’t be allowed in stores like that anymore, except to buy gifts for my nieces and nephews.  Where do you go to shop when you get old?  Someone please tell me!

After I left the boutique, I walked back to my car and drove to the SALVATION ARMY where Eric and I had purchased the entertainment center.  I wanted to check out a headboard/footboard I had seen.  It’s a natural rattan/wicker style.  It only came in on November 25th, so they weren’t willing to come down much in price and it was a little more than I wanted to spend, so I’m going to keep my eyes on it.

The main reason I want it is that our bed is up against the window and those gosh-darn verticals are a pain in the you-know-what.  The verticals are about four feet long and, when I’m laying in bed, with my head on the pillows, they hit my head all the time.  It’s very annoying.  Did I ever mention that I hate vertical blinds?  I think they should be banned, but that’s just my opinion.  It’s just my luck that the four big windows in this apartment all have the verticals with the cornice above.  Hate ‘em.

I left the Salvation Army and headed back to Clairemont.  I went to KEILS to do some food shopping.  I bought everything I need to make a “big salad” for dinner tonight.  I also got Eric more turkey and swiss, and more chicken cutlets.  I don’t know if I mentioned before that they don’t sell chicken cutlets at KEILS, just big boneless chicken breasts.

The butcher was putting meat out, so I asked him why they don’t have cutlets and he said they don’t sell that, but that he would take the breasts in the back and slice them thin for me.  Such service!  I was so happy, because I usually ask Eric to do it and it’s a messy job.  Eric says that’s probably why they don’t sell them, because it’s a big job to cut them all up.  They always had it at Waldbaum’s!

When I got back, there was Eric on the balcony sanding the shelves.  He worked all afternoon sanding each side and all the edges on SIXTEEN shelves.  What a job.  They are so smooth and beautiful.  He uses an electric sander and wears goggles and a mask.  It’s a dirty job and I felt so bad.  When he saw me coming with all the grocery bags, he smiled down at me.  Even though he had the mask on, I could tell he was smiling, because it went all the way to his eyes.  Know what I mean?  It made me so happy.  It was the smile I used to see so much more of and I was so glad to see it again.  He's definitely been feeling better lately.  I'm so grateful.

After putting all the groceries away and making Eric a little snack, I decided to do an organizing job in the bedroom, while he was still busy working outside.  I watched a marathon of PROJECT RUNWAY (do you notice I like marathons?) and went through all my costume jewelry.  I actually was afraid to pack and ship my collection, so I put every single piece in a giant tin that’s the size of a picnic basket, with two handles, and had it with us the entire trip.  I needed to put everything away, so I went through it and organized everything.  Earrings together, bracelets together, necklaces together, pins together.  It was really fun to go through all the pieces I have, looking at it all again.  I only brought a few simple pieces with me to wear on our RV adventure, because I didn’t dress up at all, so there really was no need.  I can’t wait to start wearing all my pieces again!

After I finished, Eric came in from outside.  He was covered in dust from all the sanding.  He changed his clothes and went into the bedroom to watch basketball and put some more brackets up (for more shelves).  I came into the living room to continue my marathon and make the “big salad.”  When it was ready, we both stopped to eat.  Then, he continued working and I cleaned up.

Now, he’s watching ULTIMATE FIGHTING (oy!) and I’m blogging.  He actually talked about going mountain biking tomorrow, which filled me with joy, but it’s supposed to rain, so I don’t think he’ll get the chance.  I told him if he expects to ride in South Carolina, he should ride while he’s here, so he’s in good shape, and I guess it sunk in.  The fact that he’s even considering riding makes me so happy.  I just hope he will follow through.  Keep your fingers crossed!

The most remarkable thing happened this morning, but let me start at the beginning.

We were both up by 10:30am and I told Eric I wanted to take him out to breakfast.  I was about to jump in the shower when his sister, Ellen, called from Florida.  Eric went in the shower and Ellen and I talked for a while.  She’s really good about keeping in touch, as is another sister, Susan, and we really appreciate it!  She was happy to hear we’ll be visiting South Carolina, and would love it if we moved there, as we will be much closer to her and her family in Ft. Lauderdale!

We went to breakfast at DENNY'S, which is just down Clairemont Drive a bit.  The place was pretty busy, so we stood waiting for a table near one of those machines with the claw where you try to catch a stuffed character or animal.  A young man (maybe 14) and his mother and grandmother came by, after eating their breakfast, and he asked his mother for money for the machine.  I looked in there, saw STEWIE from FAMILY GUY (one of Eric’s favorite cartoons) and said, “Go for Stewie!  That’s what I’d pick!”

He and his mother proceeded to try a few times, but those machines are set up for failure!  Eric and I always say that the claw never really grips anything, and they’re designed so that if you DO manage to get something it will fall back before you can get it out of there!  Anyway, we’ve NEVER been successful.  Once Eric and I were at the movies and we tried a few times.  The guy right after us managed to get TWO stuffed characters, and he gave me one!  It was SO nice!

Well, I cannot believe it – but the same thing happened again today!  Eric and I were watching them try, commiserating on how hard and frustrating it was, and then we got called to our table, so we left, wishing them luck.  We were sitting in another part of the restaurant, so we couldn't see what happened next, but after we were sitting for a few minutes, the young man came over and handed me Stewie.  I told him I couldn’t take it, and I was just so happy that he managed to get it!  He told me I HAD to take it, and his mother showed me that he got another stuffed animal, too!  Some kind of dog.

Here's my little Stewie, dressed as a Christmas elf:

Anyway, I eventually accepted his gift, thanked him and his mother, too, and almost started to cry.  I thought it was the sweetest thing and know he must be such a fine young man to think of a total stranger and be so generous and thoughtful.  The people at the next table were curious as to why someone handed me a stuffed doll, so I explained it to them.  They agreed that it was very unusual and that it was a lovely gesture.  It really started our day off right!

The truth is, I love character dolls.  I brought ALF and GOSSAMER (from a Warner Brother's Bugs Bunny cartoon) with us from NY and also have POPEYE, KOKO THE CLOWN, and -- of course -- BETTY BOOP!  I used to have a LOT more, but I either sold them or gave them away.  Eric and I used to love the cartoon REN AND STIMPY and I had a lot of those dolls, along with all the SIMPSONS characters, and even BABE, the pig.

Since Alf was a puppet to begin with, the doll really looks exactly like him.  Gossamer, on the other hand, was a cartoon character!

So, back to breakfast.  We both got MOONS OVER MY HAMMY®, but I took the ham off my sandwich and gave it to Eric.  It was delicious.  Two kinds of cheese and scrambled egg on sourdough bread.  YUMMY!

After breakfast we came back to the apartment and Eric proceeded to do his second round of sanding.  I’m telling you, they were perfect, but he says he has to do one sanding with medium sandpaper, and then another with fine.  He uses an electric sander, but it’s still a hard, messy job.  He’s such a perfectionist.  It’s something I really respect, because I’m kind of lazy that way.  I’d say one sanding was just fine and start staining!

We must be driving the neighbors CRAZY, because he was sanding ALL day yesterday – with the radio on outside – and now he’s doing it again today.  And it IS the weekend.  I know they’re going to hate us, but he’s determined and he doesn’t have a backyard or garage, so there’s no place else to do it all.

I did four (yes, four) loads of laundry.  There were enough rags and drop cloths to make a load, because we’ve been doing so much work, and I’m also getting ready for company this weekend (Jimmy’s coming!), so I was washing linens and blankets, to be sure everything is perfect for our first guest.  So far, the only people who have stepped foot in here are the cable guys and our building manager.  We can’t wait for Jimmy!

I wanted to open up some boxes with artwork inside, because there’s an empty frame I packed that goes around a padded, black velvet board.  I had all my clear rhinestone pins on that board, with the silver frame around it, and it hung in the bedroom.  Eric and I made it about 20 years ago and I love it, because I got to look at all my pins all the time.  I never had a chance to find it today, but maybe tomorrow!

If you were ever in my shop, you know that I displayed my pins there the same way.  I had three frames filled with pins at one point!  It’s perfect for display, because, after all, jewelry IS artwork, and when you want to wear a pin it’s so much easier to look at all of them when they’re in front of you, instead of rummaging through a drawer.  I’d love to get a big jewelry box, or an armoire, for necklaces, bracelets and rings, but it’s just something else to pack and ship!

There was another MONK marathon on TV, so I watched a bunch of them while I did things around the apartment.  I’ve seen a lot of them, so I can just watch with one eye and one ear, while I work.  Eric worked outside for about 6 hours, first sanding and then staining all 16 shelves.  It was dark for an hour before he was finished.

When he came inside I made him dinner – leftover chicken and more of that Uncle Ben’s READY RICE. This time I tried Garden Vegetable – delicious!  I had a salad.  I’ve really been trying to watch what I eat, and since I had bread at breakfast, I had low-fat yogurt with an apple for lunch and just a salad for dinner.  I love salad, so it’s not like I’m suffering!

Eric spent the night watching football and cartoons (KING OF THE HILL and THE SIMPSONS).  He worked SO hard today I kept thinking I’d come out to the living room and find him fast asleep, but he’s still watching at 11:00pm.  I don’t know how he does it.  I’ll be glad when this project is done.  The hardest part is finished.  Now, all he has to do is hang the rest of the brackets and shelves, which is more about measuring and leveling.  It’s not very strenuous and it’s not dirty or messy.

This isn’t the last big project, because Eric wants to build legs on my desk, so I can take away the six boxes now holding the board up.  It will look the same (fully upholstered, so you can’t see what’s underneath), but I’ll be able to unpack and get rid of the boxes!

I’ll tell you one thing about Eric – there’s not a lazy bone in his body.  He is so hard-working and so diligent about doing a beautiful job.  He never cuts corners.  The only thing that drives me crazy is that sometimes he’ll do 95% of a job, and then just never finish it completely.  It has nothing to do with laziness, but is more about just losing interest.  I have to bug him to get him to finish, which is no fun at all.  Thank goodness it hasn’t happened lately!

I continued to work around the apartment and watch the MONK marathon until 8:00pm and then I watched EXTREME MAKEOVER: HOME EDITION, and then a movie that Oprah produced called FOR ONE MORE DAY.  It is based on the book by Mitch Albom, which I already have, although I have not yet read it (it’s packed in one of the many boxes of books I shipped).  He wrote TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE and THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN.  The latter is one of my favorite books (and TV movies) of all time.  I knew this, too, would be a wonderful movie and I was not disappointed.  Now, I must find the book and read it (although I would have preferred to do it the other way around).

I was frustrated tonight, because I couldn’t record a new episode of MONK, which I haven’t seen yet, while I watched FOR ONE MORE DAY, because my DVR isn’t working.  I have an appointment for tomorrow, but I even tried calling tonight and having a technician walk me through rebooting, etc., but we couldn’t get it to work, so it may be the box.  I hope the guy who comes tomorrow can fix it, because I love to record my shows and watch them when I want, or watch one show while I record another (or two).  Once you’ve gone DVR (or TIVO) you can’t go back!

This morning the bell rang and, when I answered it, there were two packages waiting outside the door.  I looked down over the balcony and saw the mailman walking away.  I called to him, and told him that I had ordered tickets to a show and was told by the box office that they had been returned, and the envelope marked that the apartment was “vacant.”

I explained to the mailman that I had gotten a lot of mail in the last week, but there were two important things I was waiting for, which I had not yet received. One was the tickets; the other was our insurance paperwork – for the RV and the PT.

He told me that our names weren’t inside the mailbox, and we hadn’t notified the post office that we had moved in, so our move wasn’t “official.”  I’m so oblivious, because every time I opened the mail box I failed to notice that the names of the two previous occupants were still there.  I told him I couldn’t understand why I was getting ANY mail, since I hadn’t notified the post office.  I just thought if people started mailing stuff to you, they would deliver it!  I quickly typed up a label with our names on it and put it into the mailbox while he was still there.

Part of the problem is that there are a lot of different mail delivery people on the route, and not just one person, so it’s very confusing.  At least he knows we’re here,  It would have been nice if the building manager had put our names inside the mailbox, or at least told us to do it.

I’m happy to report that my insurance information was in the mail today.  It had been returned to the post office, but then they must have seen that I was getting other mail, so they redelivered it.

The mailman told me that I had to go online and change our address at the USPS website, and now that I did it, we shouldn’t have any problems anymore.  I did that when we moved from the house, but we changed our address to our friends, Geri and Larry’s, because we knew we were going to be traveling for a few months and didn’t know what to do with our mail.  They’ve been collecting and shipping it to us ever since (great friends that they are!).

I was hoping we could leave the address as theirs, since we’re not sure if we’re staying here or not, and – even if we do stay – we would eventually be buying something and moving again anyway.  It just seemed SO complicated to start changing our address again, but I went online and made it “official.”

The complicated thing is, some things still have our address in Whitestone, some have Geri and Larry’s, and some now have our San Diego address.  I don’t know how much of a problem having three addresses can cause, but I can just imagine!  I have to start working on that.  I’m sure by the time everyone starts getting it right, we’ll be moving again.  Sounds like fun, right?

The good news is I got packages today, and a bunch of cards, so at least they’re delivering the mail!  Our friends, Andrea and Mark, sent us a gift card to PIER 1 IMPORTS.  I’m glad I didn’t get to use the one from Brian and Elaine yet, because now I can REALLY go crazy!!!!  I really appreciate their generosity.  We got a lot of holiday cards and some “good luck in your new home” cards, which really made us happy.  It’s so nice to know people are thinking of us, we are eternally grateful for our lovely friends and family!

So, the cable guy came for the fourth time today.  (It’s been four different guys – no repeats).  This guy was really nice, but – believe it or not – the machine started working!  I spent about 20 minutes on the phone last night with a technician, trying to fix it, and it didn’t seem to work, but I guess it did, because today it was recording everything!  He couldn’t figure it out either (and I was able to show him the error messages I was receiving), so he just told me if it acted up again to call again.  I’m not looking forward to that, but I’m hoping it’s all fixed now (and I did it myself!).

Neither Eric nor I left the house at all today.  Eric installed all the shelves – the rest of the ones in the master bedroom (there are now 8 – three on each side of the bed and 2 above the mirrored closet) and the ones in the 2nd bedroom, which will be for his tools and stuff.  They look GREAT! 

He worked on that all day long.  We were both in the apartment, but I hardly saw him!  I was working in the master bedroom and living room, and he was pretty much in the 2nd bedroom all day!

I was putting stuff up on the new shelves and opening lots of boxes of artwork.  I was SO thrilled that absolutely none of my collectibles were broken when I unpacked box after box last week, but when I opened the first box of artwork, the frame was broken and the glass was cracked on the largest piece of art I shipped.  I’m grateful that the artwork wasn’t damaged at all, but the framing was $300 about 10 years ago, so I know it’s an expensive frame to replace.

I called the moving company and they said they’d send me a claim form.  I don’t know what the next step is, but I took pictures of the damage and will try to open every other box before I send in the claim form.

I opened all the boxes of artwork (about 6) and everything else was fine.  We repacked a few of them, because I can’t possibly hang them all up here, and I just kept the ones I like best, or which mean the most.

This is a picture of my grandmother's mirror as it looked hanging in our living room in Whitestone.  In the mirror you can see the Marilyn litho, which was damaged in transit.

We opened the box containing the giant mirror that hung in the living room (which belonged to my grandmother).  The mirror is framed with mirror, which is surrounded by thin gold molding, and then has a black frame around that, with gold Asian figures painted on it.  The mirrored “frame” around the big mirror had fallen off in two places but, luckily, hadn’t broken.  It just needs to be reglued.  We packed it back up, because we’re definitely not hanging that up here.  It’s huge and heavy and is a major project (even though it would look fabulous above our new couch!).

My friend, Susan, called me this afternoon.  We talked for over an hour.  She is SO funny and really had me laughing, which I really needed.  She is actually very stressed and nervous, because her mother is ill and is having surgery on Thursday, so everyone say a prayer for her sweet Mom’s speedy recovery.  Thanks!

Late in the afternoon I started a new at-home typing job.  I have an old friend, who lives in LA, and I used to type things for him years ago.  I haven’t heard from him in 3-4 years and last week he emailed to ask if I had the time to type some stuff up for him.  His timing couldn’t have been better!  I am charging him by the page, and it’s not hard at all.  I love to type, and can sit with Eric and watch TV while I do it.  I don’t have to absorb anything I’m typing.  I just need to make sure I get it all right.  I’m typing from books, but not complete pages – just sections that he has highlighted.  I have three books to work on, which will probably take me a few weeks.
The last project I did for him, which was about 10 years ago, I typed an entire book.  It was actually easier, because I just went from page to page, instead of having to search for the highlighted pages, which causes me to start and stop a lot.  I still type over 100 words per minute, so I finish a page in about 10 minutes.  It’s not going to make us rich, but at least I’ll have some cash coming in until I get a regular job!

I stopped long enough to throw a frozen pizza in the oven and that was our dinner.  It was really good – deep dish.  We both didn’t eat much today – cereal for breakfast and just a snack-style lunch.  I gave Eric a bunch of grapes, a cut up pear (from our friends’ gift basket), some cubes of cheese and some chips.  He loved it!  I had some of the same.

I’m going to go to a temp agency this week to sign up and see if they can find me some real work.  I temped for years when I was younger, and always enjoyed it.  A lot of times it would lead to an offer, so it’s a great way to “test the waters” before taking a full-time job.

I thought you'd like to see a pictures of my buddies, Alf and Gossamer, whom I spoke of yesterday:

Tomorrow I have a bunch of errands to run, so I’m glad I’ll get to spend some time outside, enjoying the weather.  After all, that’s really what it’s all about here, isn’t it?

I woke up at around 9:00am, but Eric was still sleeping, so I came out to the living room and did some work on my typing project.  Eric got up soon after and we watched THE VIEW and waited for the sleeper sofa to be delivered.  They had called yesterday and said it would be delivered sometime this morning, and I was anxiously awaiting its delivery!  They had told me that they would bring it to the foot of the stairs, but wouldn’t bring it up the stairs, but I told Eric that I was sure if we offered them a fast $20 they’d do it for us.

We were expecting a call, to let us know they were here, when I heard a noise outside and Eric opened the door.  It was the delivery guy (yes, one guy) and he had already dragged the couch up the stairs by himself!  It’s a full-size bed, and it comes flat, so it’s pretty big and VERY heavy.  I don’t know how he did it.  Eric told him he would have been happy to help him, if he had just rung the doorbell first!

Anyway, Eric offered him a tip, but he wouldn’t take it and, instead, told Eric to donate it to his favorite charity.  Did you ever?

We opened the box, Eric put it together in a few minutes, and we put it in place.  It’s really beautiful and so comfortable.  I’m so happy!  What a deal!  They don’t charge tax or shipping, so it was exactly $379, and it’s even nicer than the picture!  I hope it’s comfortable to sleep on!

So, after that was taken care of, I jumped in the shower and got dressed.  I wanted to look professional, because I was going to drive Downtown to register with an employment agency.  Unfortunately, getting dressed wasn’t very easy.  Since I’ve gained weight, a lot of my clothes don’t fit very well.  I don’t have much that’s appropriate for an interview, so it took some doing.  I finally found a skirt and sweater set that fit comfortably and looked okay, and left the apartment.  I’ve been on a diet, but I REALLY need to step it up, because I can’t start buying a whole new wardrobe, just because I’m working!  I need to be able to fit into the clothes I already have, because a lot of it would be perfect for the office.

I was going to ON CALL EMPLOYEE SOLUTIONS, INC.  I had found them online and decided to just go there, instead of calling or emailing first.  I thought it would be good experience to drive in the city and get to know the area a little better.  They were kind of surprised that I was a “walk-in” but were actually impressed and said I must be a real go-getter.”  I just figured an in-person meeting would be best, and I think I was right!

There was no traffic and it took about 10 minutes to get there.  I can’t believe how close we are to the city.  It’s fabulous!  I could have parked on the street because, believe it or not, there were lots of metered spaces available (they still have the regular coin meters here), but the parking was only for 2 hours and I was afraid I wouldn’t be done in that time.  So, I put it into a lot and walked over to the building.

When I got to their offices on the sixth floor, I was greeted by a lovely young woman behind the reception desk.  She proceeded to walk me through the entire process, which included submitting my resume, signing up online (by filling in a bunch of forms with every piece of information you can imagine), taking three tests (typing, EXCEL and WORD), and then interviewing with two people, one at a time.

Here’s something very depressing – when I had to fill in my work history online, they had a lot of spaces for you to go back through all your jobs.  Unfortunately, the earliest date in the drop-down menu was 1980 and I started with PricewaterhouseCoopers in 1979.  I also worked for Reader’s Digest from 1977-1979, so I couldn’t even put that in.  BOY, did I feel old!

I was really nervous about the tests, because I hadn’t done anything like that in so long, but it wasn’t bad at all.  I got 26 of the 30 questions correct in WORD, 27 of the 30 correct in EXCEL, and typed 100 words per minute with no errors!  I was actually disappointed, because I typed my fastest, and the last time I was tested I typed 120 words per minute, so I’ve slowed down considerably, even though I still type all the time.  I guess I’m getting old!

I was happy to hear that they thought my results were very impressive, and the two interviews went very well.  I never really get nervous in interview (or audition) processes.  I don’t know why.  I just love meeting people, and figure if they like me they like me, and if they don’t they don’t.  I’m always myself, and never try to be anything I’m not.  I never worried about it too much, and it always worked for me!

I explained to them that I worked in a VERY boring environment (accounting) for so long and was hoping that, this time around, I could find work in an exciting and stimulating environment, like working for a designer, hotel, publisher, clothing manufacturer, etc.  I told them that I would consider working in finance or banking if the money and benefits were really great.  Everyone has their price!  I told them I’m looking for temp work, and would also consider temp-to-hire.   I just want to be able to check them out, while they check me out!

I told them I was pretty flexible with location, too, and would be willing to drive or take the bus, as long as it wasn’t more than a half hour away.  She said that would be easy.  It will be SO nice to have a shorter commute, as my best time from Manhattan to Queens on the express bus was 45 minutes, and driving was always at least an hour, depending on traffic.

I was there for about 2 ½ hours.  When I left, I drove to HILLCREST and stopped by WEAR IT AGAIN SAM.  I had left behind a bag holding some clothes I didn’t sell, and wanted to go pick it up.

I also stopped right next door at a fabulous bookstore called BLUESTOCKING BOOKS.
Eric and I had visited several times the first time we visited in October, and I was happy that Mary, the woman who works there, remembered me, even though she thought my name was Yippy!

My final stop was STARBUCKS, which is right on the corner, where I got a hot, sugar-free, decaf, non-fat Dolce de Leche latte.  There was nothing real in there but the coffee – no sugar, no fat, no caffeine, yet it tasted delicious!

I finally got home after dark, to find that Eric had been working all day – inside and out – on finishing up the shelves.  He also started organizing all his stuff on all the shelves.  It looks SO great!

I immediately started on dinner – Chicken Gorgonzola and macaroni and cheese for him; a big salad for me.

After dinner, I started working on my resume.  The two women I had interviewed with had critiqued my resume and asked me to make all the changes and send it to them tonight in an email, so they can get started submitting it to different companies.

My resume is so weird, because even though I worked for the same company (PricewaterhouseCoopers) for 22 years, I worked in many different departments, for many different people.  I had broken it down to each person and each department, but they said to put a general heading on top and then get more detailed in what exactly I had done, instead of where and for whom I had worked.  They also asked me to add an OBJECTIVE on top and RELEVANT SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE at the bottom, which I did.  It was a lot of work!

Once I finished that, I started watching THE BIGGEST LOSER, while Eric slept on the floor.  My poor baby, he must have really worked hard today!

I also worked on my typing project.  It’s easy to do while I watch TV, and I like to keep busy anyway, so it works out great.

Tomorrow I want to go food shopping and do more laundry.  Company’s coming and we only have three days left to get ready!

My allergies have been really bad for a while now.  It’s worst in the morning.  My nose is really runny and I have to blow it like 30 times.  It’s pathetic.  My poor nose!  I also have that post nasal drip that causes me to clear my throat every five minutes.  I know a lot of people have been suffering, because I’ve heard others complain, and my friends have also told me their allergies are bothering them, but I was kind of hoping for a “San Diego Miracle.”  My allergy doctor told me that sometimes when people move their symptoms will disappear, but it’s only temporary and they eventually come back.  I would have settled for temporary!

They were pretty much the same all across the country, until we got to Arizona, where they got REALLY bad.  I always thought a dry environment would be better for me, since I’m allergic to mold, but Eric says dry is more dusty, and I’m also allergic to dust!  I can’t win!

Anyway, I woke up at 5:00am sneezing and had to blow my nose and I couldn’t fall back to sleep for over an hour.  I woke up again at 8:00am and that was it – no more sleep today!

I got up and immediately started working on my typing project.  At 10:00am I woke Eric up to watch THE VIEW.  It’s kind of getting to be a habit with us, which will end as soon as I go back to work (boo hoo).  I am REALLY spoiled, because I got to spend most of every day for the last six months with my husband.  How many non-retired people get to do that?  It’s been such a luxury to be together, not working, and get to enjoy little things like watching THE VIEW.  We love HOT TOPICS in the beginning, where they argue about current events and gossip about celebrities.  It’s really fun.

I kept typing until I went to do laundry.  I did another four loads – three blankets, all the linens from our bed, and some clothes, too.  Eric walked me down with it all, since it was so heavy with all the linens and blankets.  I figure it’s not mean to use all four machines at once when it’s a Wednesday afternoon, because most people are at work.  The machines run for 37 minutes, so I go back after a half hour, so I’m sure to be there when they finish.  I put them into the four dryers and came back up.  Then, I went down to pick up three of the loads.  The only stuff that wasn’t dry were Eric’s jeans (3 pairs).  Blue jeans take a LONG time to dry, don’t they?  The blankets were all dry!

Eric left to go to ACE HARDWARE to buy some supplies to put the legs on my desk.  As I mentioned before, we had originally made it with six boxes, which we covered with fabric, but now it looks exactly the same, but there are wooden legs in each corner and I can actually unpack the six boxes that were underneath!

I went back into the city this afternoon for another interview at an employment agency.  It went very well and I think I made a good impression!  It amazes me how I can be in the heart of Downtown San Diego, amid all the hubbub and excitement, and then – just a few miles down I-5 and 10 minutes later, I’m back in the quiet suburb of Clairemont!  It’s SO cool!

I stopped at on the way home KEILS and picked up everything for a big salad, and also some turkey and Swiss for Eric.  I made him a big salad with some leftover chicken cut up into it, and added a new ingredient – black beans.  It’s supposed to be very healthy and adds protein to a vegetarian diet!  I also made my own dressing, instead of a bottled dressing, or just oil and vinegar.  I mixed my balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, a little honey mustard, a little garlic, a little mayonnaise and shook up the bottle real good.  It tasted deliciousd, if I do say so myself!

After dinner, I got to work in the master bedroom.  I had unpacked all my artwork, but there were only a few pieces I wanted to hang, most of them in the master bedroom.  I hung up the black velvet board with the silver frame that holds all my rhinestone pins.  It looks really pretty. 

I also noticed that I could hang something from each of the brackets holding up all the shelves.  I went on eBay and ordered 6” Ball Chain Key Chains with 2.4mm beads, so that I could put a purse through, hang it up and then close the clasp.  They arrived today, so I was excited to start that project.  All my larger purses are on the shelves, but the little ones, especially the mesh bags and beaded bags, either won’t stand up themselves or are too delicate to stand on the shelf, so they’re better off hanging.

One of my favorite purses, covered in rhinestones, now hangs from a shelf bracket:

A close-up of the collage Elizabeth made for me, filled with Victorian valentines, butterflies, crystals and pearls:

I also hung up a fantastic collage my dear friend, Elizabeth, created for me.  She is an amazing collage artist and I got to see many of her pieces, because she used to have them framed by the guy who had the framing store next to my shop.  That’s how she first found my shop, and we have become very good friends.  I was blessed in 2004 when she gave me one of her creations for my birthday.  It hung over our bed in Whitestone and I would have put it there again, except our bed is under a window, so it’s on a wall next to the bed.

Eric and I are so lucky, because a lot of our best friends are people I met through the shop, who the became a big part of our lives.  That is probably the most wonderful thing that I got out of the entire PEPPY’S DREAM experience.  A lot of the people I met there will be a part of my life forever!

I finally stopped hanging at 9:30pm, because I realized it was after “quiet time” and there I was, hammering away!  I came back into the living room, where Eric was watching his ULTIMATE FIGHTING, and worked on the computer until it was time to go back in the bedroom and watch KITCHEN NIGHTMARES with GORDON RAMSAY, which I had recorded so Eric and I could watch it together.  It’s a hoot!

Tomorrow – I must unpack the six boxes that were underneath the desk.  I know a lot of them are books, and have NO idea where I’m going to put them (they’re too heavy to go on the shelves), so they’ll probably just stay in the boxes for now.  We just don’t have enough room to unpack everything!

I had an epiphany last night.  After I blogged about my allergies, I thought about my pills (Allegra), which I take every single day – all year round.  My prescription is really for twice a day – every morning and night – but I never needed to take it that much, and got used to taking it just once a day.  So, last night, I suddenly thought, “Maybe I should start taking it twice a day, as it is prescribed!”  So, I took one last night, before I went to sleep.

This morning, when I first woke up, I felt better and couldn’t believe how fast it had worked.  Then, after I was up a few minutes and started walking around, my nose started to run, and run, and run.  It wasn’t any better.  I figure I’ll still take two a day for a while, to see if it helps after a few weeks.  Maybe it needs to get into your system?  I don’t know.  If it doesn’t get better in a few weeks, I’ll just go back to once a day.  One thing I do need to use more often is my nasal spray, which I’m also supposed to use once or twice a day.  My friend, Jimmy, keeps telling me to try NASONEX.  He swears by it.  The problem is, you can only spray up your nose if your breathing passage is clear, and if your nose is stuffed, it doesn’t work so, if my nose is always stuffed…

Anyway, enough about that.  Eric got up soon after me and we had breakfast – grits for him (which he makes himself almost every day) and Special K Chocolately Delight for me.

He surprised me by telling me he planned to go mountain biking today.  He was going to NOBLE CANYON, which is about an hour’s drive from here.  I was VERY excited, and happy that he was getting out and riding, but also VERY nervous, because I knew if he was disappointed in the ride it might make him more miserable than ever.

He left around 11:00am and I got to work – hanging pictures in the Master Bedroom, and the kitchen.  I also arranged my tin collection on the shelves above the closet in the Master Bedroom, and the two center shelves on each wall.  The other four shelves hold my purses, pocketbooks and handbags.  I also unpacked the 8 boxes which had made up my desk, since Eric fitted it with legs and now it is simply fabulous, with lots of room underneath for storage!  Four are still filled – because they were mostly books and I have no place to put them, but I did manage to empty four others, which I think is a great accomplishment!

This is another great piece I got from the shop, before I closed.  I call her "Cherry Girl."  Did you notice the cherries she has hanging on her ear?  How cute is she?  She looks great in our kitchen!

The area behind my desk, with storage, my ribbon board, and the end table Eric and I made:

The bedroom looks really great.  It’s very busy, with lots of stuff going on, but I like it.  I like when I’m in bed watching TV or just waking up and I can look around and see my collections of tins, purses and rhinestone pins.  I love display!

The area behind Eric's massage chair, including the perfume screen I made, and the other end table.  Do you see the wood sculpture of a head on the table?  That's a piece Eric made in wood shop in high school.  I LOVE it:

Yesterday, our new friends in San Diego -- Bonnie, Michael, and Nicole -- whom we met through my cousin, Audrey, sent me an early birthday gift – a beautiful box of chocolates.

Today, I got a wonderful birthday surprise from my cousin Ilene and her family in LA.  The doorbell rang and there was a beautiful box from http://www.goodfortunes.com/.  Inside was a giant fortune cookie dipped in dark chocolate and covered with edible birthday decorations and rainbow confetti.  It’s wrapped in cellophane and tied with a big ribbon.  I’m going to save the fortune cookie for my weekend celebration with Eric and Jimmy, and I’m saving the chocolates for next weekend, because Audrey is coming to visit from Las Vegas, and she’s coming over with Bonnie, Michael and Nicole!

I got a call from Eric around 3:30pm.  He was on his way home.  He wasn’t very happy about his ride, but didn’t say much on the phone.  When he got home, he didn’t talk about it much.  One thing he DID mention was that, instead of buy a pass that was good for a year at all the San Diego parks, (which costs $30), he bought a day pass for $5.  He said he has no interest in going to any of the parks anymore, because the riding is not good.  I feel bad, because at least he tried, and I was really praying that he would have fun.  I guess it’s not meant to be, at least not here.  I’ve been making notations in his Mountain Biking book every time he goes to a new place.  I asked him what he wanted me to write on the page for NOBLE CANYON and he said, “Same old s---.”  I guess that says it all!

After Eric got home I was still working around the apartment, and he got busy doing things, too.  I had a long piece of 6" black bullion fringe and sewed it to a piece of red fabric, which is layered on top of a piece of pink fabric, which is on top of a bunch of boxes that make up our buffet.  It really looks pretty and it only took a few minutes!

Our "buffet" with the black bullion fringe:

I made an appointment to get my hair touched up at 6:15pm at a salon in HILLCREST  called HAIRSPRAY.  Of course, since I am a big fan of the movie, the Broadway musical, and the movie musical, the name really appealed to me.  I had driven by a couple of times and their sign says something about being “snob free,” which I really liked.  A lot of salons are really snobby and I try to avoid those.  I went to a great salon in New Hyde Park, which two of my girlfriends still go to – called LE SALON.  I just heard from my friend, Susan, that they sold the salon, but the owners still work there.  I always had fun there.  Everyone was very friendly.

I got to HILLCREST early, but drove around for a while before I found a spot.  There’s a small lot in front of the salon, but there were no spots.  I went in at about 6:00pm and told the girl behind the desk that I had a 6:15pm appointment.  She asked me who the appointment was with, and I said I didn’t know – they didn’t tell me when I called.  She asked me for my name and said she didn’t have anything on the calendar for me.

She then found my name, but under tomorrow’s reservations.  I assured her that I had called this morning for an appointment tonight.  Instead of apologizing for the error, she made it seem like it was MY fault and that I was crazy.  She made it look (and there were at least 3-4 other employees standing around) like I had decided to come a day early and was lying about my appointment!  I was really mad, but really wanted to get my hair done tonight, so I refrained from walking out.

She found someone who could do my hair, but said I’d have to wait until 7:00pm.  I told the guy who was going to do my hair that I was going to STARBUCKS (which is a few blocks away) and asked him if wanted anything.  He said I could bring him a regular coffee and thanked me.

I took a walk around HILLCREST, stopping at STARBUCKS and getting him his coffee and myself an iced, sugar free, fat free, decaf Hazelnut latte.   I walked around a little and looked at stores I hadn’t noticed before.  Another bookstore – right across the street from BLUESTOCKING BOOKS and another vintage store called RAGS, which is on University.  They both looked interesting, but I didn’t want to stop with two coffees in my hands!

I went back to the shop and read magazines until he was ready for me.  While I was reading, the stylist who worked right in front of where I was sitting started to do a little dance, and I noticed it was the Charleston.  I asked her if she was learning to Charleston, and she said, “You know the Charleston?”  I said, “Yes, I know lots of ballroom dances.”

Her name is Krystina and she told me she actually teaches the Charleston, and told me about the school – CHAMPION BALLROOM ACADEMY, which is just a few blocks away.  She also teaches Swing, which is something I’m very interested in doing.  I have wanted to take ballroom classes since DANCING WITH THE STARS started two years ago.

I checked out their website and I was shocked to find that it’s the studio founded in 1990 by MARY MURPHY – the judge for some of the most reputable competitions in ballroom dance, including the U.S. National Championships and Fox TV’S “So You Think You Can Dance”.  I had heard that she taught in San Diego, but I never thought I’d end up going to that school.  Now, I’m really excited!  I think I’ll start taking Krystina’s classes, because they are at a very convenient time (7:00pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays).

At 7:00pm, my stylist was ready for me.  Turns out he’s a really nice guy, and a great colorist.  My hair looks fabulous (if I do say so myself)!  His name is JOHN STANISZ and he’s adorable.  We talked the whole time – me telling him about how we just moved here, and him telling me about all the places he’s lived, including New York, LA, San Francisco, and San Diego.

There was an adorable dog there – his name is BUGSY and he was SO sweet and friendly.  I didn’t even notice him at all (the salon is very big – with two floors), but all of a sudden he was in front of me, with his big eyes, and I couldn’t resist petting his smooth little head.  I was a little nervous about him making me sick, but I couldn’t very well leave with a head full of dye, now could I?

When I got back to Clairemont I was starving.  I called Eric, but he said he had already eaten (it was 8:30pm), so I stopped at CARL’S JR. for their taco salad.  Eric and I saw CARL’S JR. all across America and NEVER went there, because we don’t eat fast food, but it is right down the block from the apartment, and I’d seen their taco salad on TV, which looked really good, so I decided to through the drive through and get one.  I got it without meat (of course), but it had refried beans, lettuce, tomato, salsa, shredded cheese and sour cream in a tortilla bowl.  It was really good and hit the spot!

I also bought Eric a vanilla shake.  How could I come home empty handed?

Eric had been a busy boy while I was away.  He is SO cute, because he got everything looking spic and span for Jimmy.  He said, “We’re ready for company!”  The apartment looks so beautiful.  I’m really proud and Jimmy will be the first person to step foot in here, besides all the cable guys!

I hung a lot of pictures, and Eric hung a bunch more.  We worked together, moving things around a little, and then he watched basketball in the living room while I watched TV in the bedroom and opened my mail.

My friend, Marybeth, whom I have known for almost 30 years sent me a beautiful card with a crocheted pink and white dishcloth.  It is SO cute I couldn’t possibly use it.  I will just put it on the counter and maybe put a hot pot on it, since I think it would work as a trivet, too.  I thought it was so sweet of her to make it for me, and send it all the way to San Diego.

Marybeth and I worked at Price Waterhouse together, before it became PricewaterhouseCoopers.  We sat on either side of a cubicle wall for many years.  We were very close and talked across the wall all the time.  Marybeth is a computer genius, and would try out software for the firm, before it was widely distributed.  She was always there to answer questions and help me with any problems I had with projects.

You have to remember that when I started with the firm, in 1979, Marybeth already worked there and we were on electric typewriters at that time.  When they first started using “word processors” (not computers, like we have now), you actually had to go to a special room and make an appointment in advance in order to use the machine.  I remember when we each got our own word processor.  That was a big day!  No one had the internet at PW until the early 90s.  How things have changed!

Tomorrow – more sewing, organizing, hanging, and cleaning.  We want everything to be perfect for the weekend.  It’s going to be so much fun and we’re both really looking forward to it!

Eric and I both slept until almost 10:30am.  We got up, ate breakfast, and then Eric jumped in the shower, went to put gas in the car, and waxed it in the parking lot.  He had washed it yesterday, on the way home from his mountain bike ride.  There’s a place close to here where you can wash your car for $2.00.  You do it yourself.  They just supply the water and the soap!  I guess it's for all those apartment-dwellers who don't have a driveway and a hose!

He spent almost two hours waxing and detailing the car.  It sparkled!  I think it’s really relaxing for him, even though he works very hard.  He listens to the car radio and just zens out.  I think it’s kind of a “wax on, wax off” thing.

I did things around the apartment and then left to run a bunch of errands.  Eric said he was thinking about going for another ride today, just locally.  I think that’s his way of relaxing, too.  I was SO happy he was going to be riding two days in a row.  That hasn’t happened in a LONG time.

First, I went to the post office to mail a few packages.  Then, I drove into Pacific Beach and got a manicure and pedicure.  That’s MY way of relaxing!  I haven’t had one since we got to San Diego, so I just drove around until I saw a nail salon.  There was a parking space right across the street, and parking can be hard to find, so I thought I’d just go in there.  It was a very strange place.

First of all, they had four pedicure chairs, but the tub portions were covered with towels and everyone was getting pedicures sitting in regular chairs with their feet in those foot baths you can buy (that massage your feet in water after a long day).

The place was really busy, and at least three girls were getting pedicures and manicures while I was there, but I couldn’t understand why we didn’t get to sit in the pedicure chairs!

I asked if they did massage, and they said no, so I guess it’s just a basic mani/pedi/waxing place.  No frills.  One of the best things about SUNSHINE NAILS (now called CINDY'S DREAM) is that they gave you a massage – either while you are having your manicure done or after, while your nails are drying.  You could also get a massage in the massage chair, for a dollar a minute.  I used to love to get a 15 minute massage after doing the windows in my shop, because it was such hard work and my back would usually be killing me after being on my feet for 8-10 hours.

I got a cherry red on my nails and toe nails -- my favorite.  They did a really good job, so I had no complaints, but I don’t know if I’ll go back.  I’m just so spoiled by Cindy and the girls there.  They’re so nice, so helpful, so friendly, so gracious.  These girls didn’t even say goodbye when I left.  Like they couldn’t care less.  They didn’t help me with my keys and purse, so I didn’t ruin my manicure – which Cindy and the girls always did.  Oh, well.  That kind of customer service is hard to come by!

After I left there I drove back to Clairemont and went to the 99 cent store to pick up those wire holders for all your shower supplies.  I got two but, instead of hanging it on the shower head, like you’re supposed to, I hung them both on the opposite wall with suction cups.  It looks great and holds everything, so it’s not scattered all around the tub.  Now, it looks organized!

After the 99 cent store I went across the street to KEILS and did some food shopping.  I wanted to get some snacks and drinks, so there’s plenty to eat this weekend.  Jimmy is coming early tomorrow and leaving Monday morning.  Even though we’ll probably eat out most meals, I still like to be a good hostess and have something to offer!

Jimmy told me his favorite drink is PEACH FRESCA, so I bought a 12-pack and Eric and I tried one tonight.  He didn’t go for it, but I thought it was very refreshing!  I also bought some HAGEN DAZS Orchard Peach Sorbet, and I told Eric it would make a great ice cream soda, with the PEACH FRESCA and the peach sorbet.  Eric added, “and a little vodka!”  We may just have to try that this weekend!

When I got home, Eric was still out riding.  I was happy, because that meant he was really getting in a good ride.  I unpacked all the groceries and opened my mail.  This is a great time of year for me, because I LOVE mail and we’ve been getting even more than usual.  We usually get a lot of Chanukah and Christmas cards, but then I get birthday cards, too, so there are a lot.  Now, we’re also getting “New Apartment” cards, so I’m getting even more mail.  Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I was watching DR. PHIL when Eric got home.  He said he had a good ride, but he also went to BICYCLE WAREHOUSE, and made plans to ride with a bunch of guys on Sunday.  I was SO happy!  He said he didn’t want to ride, because Sunday is my birthday, but they ride SO early (he has to meet them at 8:00am) and Jimmy will be here to keep me company, and I told him it would be a gift to me if he rode.  I’m VERY happy!

Eric heated up some leftover chicken for himself and I had a salad.  I didn’t eat much today, because I know I’ll be eating out and enjoying myself for the next two days!

I did some work on my typing project, and then Eric went to sleep and I watched GHOST WHISPERER.  I really like that show.  After that, I walked around the apartment and looked at everything we’ve done in the past three weeks.  In some ways it feels like we’ve been here forever, and the place looks very homey, but if you go in the back bedroom, you would see that we’ve still got a long way to go!

Eric and I were up early, because we were picking Jimmy up at the airport at 9:35am.  His flight was on time (how unusual!) and we are only 10 minutes from the airport, but we had never been there before, so we left plenty of time, in case we got lost.

We got there by 9:15am and pulled over by Terminal 1 to wait for Jimmy’s call, letting us know he had arrived.   He called and we told him which way to walk to find us, and there he was, with his little suitcase on wheels!  We got on I-5 and went to IHOP in Pacific Beach.

All photos in today's blog were taken by the fabulous Jimmy Donahue!

I had New York Cheesecake pancakes (not as cheesecake-y as I would have liked, but still good).  Jimmy had pumpkin pancakes (he loves pumpkin flavoring) with sausage, egg and hash browns; Eric got nut and grain pancakes with bacon, egg and hash browns.

Except for this one!

After breakfast, we got back in the car, but just drove down the block, because Jimmy wanted to go to the beach.  We found a spot, and walked along the boardwalk.  We saw a cute, little Christmas tree (it was about 2 feet tall) and Jimmy took a picture of us standing next to it.

A great mural in Pacific Beach:

When we walked away, a man and woman approached us and asked us if we liked their tree.  Turns out they put one there every year and decorate it.  Then, they leave food and gifts for homeless people.  It was kind of sad, but sweet.  Eric was wearing a DOORS t-shirt (as usual) and they commented that they liked it.  The man ran over, grabbed a guitar and started playing LOVE ME TWO TIMES (a classic DOORS song).  He sang and played for a few minutes – and he sounded great!  They told us they play music and I asked where (thinking we could go see them play at a bar or something).  He said, “Right here!”  Which was also sad, but sweet.

Mosaic octopus:

We walked along the water, passing fancy hotels and beautiful apartment buildings, both with views we can only dream of.  I’m not a beach person, but I’d sure like to live somewhere where you could look out the window every day and watch the waves rolling on the beach.  The problem with the San Diego beach is that there aren’t any seashells – but there’s lot of seaweed washed up on the shore, so the water’s edge is not very pretty.  The water is really blue and clean looking.

Eric and I have only been here a month, and we never go to the beach, so we hadn’t been here before.  We were amazed at how many people were surfing.  At least 100!  We walked along the pier and watched them for a while.  The water must be REALLY cold and, even though they’re wearing wet suits, their feet and hands must FREEZE!  Not for me!  I hate the water, and being cold.  Eric doesn’t mind the water, or being cold, but he’s really afraid of sharks.

After walking along the water for a while, we walked down some of the blocks and went in and out of the stores.  Then, we passed by BELGIAN FRIE – one of those fabulous place to buy French fries with dipping sauces.  Even though we had just had breakfast an hour ago, I HAD to have some (there goes my diet!).  We went inside and ordered three small orders.  I had mine with horseradish mayonnaise; Eric had creole mayonnaise and Jimmy had chipotle ketchup.  They were SO good and the order was SO big, I can’t believe it was called SMALL!  While we were there, the owner came in.  Her name is Marcelle Hawkins.  She started talking to Jimmy, telling him she thought it was so clever that we were using a stool as a table!  We ARE so clever!

After stuffing ourselves with delicious pommes frites (French for French fries!), we walked some more and then got back in the car and continued the tour of Pacific Beach.  We took Jimmy down GARNET AVENUE and went into THE HIGH ROAD (the store where our friend, Tony, works.  Unfortunately, Tony was off today, but we talked to the manager and looked at all the great stuff they sell.

Then, we went into the CEREBRAL PALSY THRIFT SHOP and the GOODWILL THRIFT SHOP, both of which were a disappointment.  We’re just into vintage – not thrift!

Cute little bungalos you can rent -- right on the pier!

We finally got back in the car and came to the apartment.  We gave Jimmy the 5 minute tour (which is two minutes longer than the tour of the RV!).  He loved the apartment and said he couldn’t believe we’ve just been here for 3 weeks.  He said we’ve done more in 3 weeks than he’s done in a year-and-a-half.

We relaxed for a while, looking on the computer to find a place to eat tonight.  Jimmy was also helping me “clean up” the computer by deleting files and he taught me how to “defrag” (don’t ask) the computer.  I’m hoping it will run better now!  Sometimes, it’s VERY slow!

We left the house at 5:15pm, because we had an early reservation at AZUL LA JOLLA a fabulous restaurant on a block FILLED with fabulous restaurants!

The Spanish-style building was sparking with tiny white lights.  The tiled steps leading to a courtyard were blue, white and terra cotta.  We went inside the restaurant and were taken to a table right by a big window, looking over a canyon.  It was so elegant.  There were three people sitting at the next table – an old woman (whose birthday they were celebrating), her daughter (who was probably in her 50s, and her husband).  The younger woman was wearing a white mink jacket.  Eric asked how you could eat while wearing fur.  The “birthday girl” was wearing a ring with a stone that was the size of a doorknob.  It was pretty dark, but it looked like it was either amber or topaz.  It was a biggie!

We started with four appetizers:
1. Maryland Soft-Shell Crab Fritter with pea tendril & far far, kiwi and papaya salad. 
2. Hawaiian Ahi Tuna Tartare – sashimi-grade tuna, napa cabbage and soy-ginger vinaigrette;
3. Oak Roasted Oysters Trump with pernod creamed spinach & tarragon glacage topped with black truffle caviar; and
4. Togarashi blackened scallops with tangerine salad and avocado coulis.

Can you tell this was a fancy place?  We have NO idea what pea tendril, far far, glacage and coulis are, but it was ALL very delicious!  (Jimmy says “far far” is a long, long way to run!)

For the entrée, I had Live Maine Lobster Risotto (Maine lobster chunks cooked in creamy Arborio rice with parmesan.  I think it was one of the most delicious meals I ever had.  I LOVE risotto, and this was fantastic, but with the chunks of lobster (and there weren’t just a few), this was so good that, as my mother always says, “My mouth was having a party!”

Eric had Five Spice Orange Glazed Muscovy Duckling Breast with Indian harvest rice, buttered spinach and sunchoke emulsion.  He loved it!

Jimmy had the fire-grilled, free-range Airline Chicken Breast with rosemary garlic roasted potatoes, buttered aspiration, and marsala cream sauce.

We were stuffed and running a little late, so we didn’t have any dessert.  We drove a few minutes to LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE in the MANDELL WEISS THEATRE, (which is on the campus of the University of California at San Diego.  The theater is really beautiful.

I couldn’t wait for the show to start.  I was SO excited to see CRY BABY.  I haven’t seen a show in months and getting to see a big new musical – before it heads to Broadway – was really amazing.
We all enjoyed every minute.  The show is colorful (great costumes and scenery), fast-paced, funny, and the music gets your feet tapping.  We agreed it will be a big hit on Broadway.  The cast was excellent and the choreography was top-notch.

Since Eric is riding early tomorrow morning, we headed right home, so he could get everything ready for his ride.  We relaxed, drank some Peach Fresca (refreshing!) and watched TV.  Jimmy will be trying out the sofa sleeper tonight.  We will get his review tomorrow morning!
This is my last day in my 40s.  Tomorrow, I will be 50 years old!

Eric was up at the crack of dawn (5:00am), because he had made plans to go mountain biking this morning.  He met up with a few guys and rode for a few hours.  He had a really good time.  It was all downhill riding.  They had to drive up a dirt road seven miles (which Eric said the RV or PT could not handle) and then it’s a total downhill ride that takes about 40 minutes. 

Eric did it twice, but he was lucky there was someone to take him up there the second time.  He had taken the RV, so Jimmy and I could have the car to go shopping, and the RV wouldn't make it up the mountain.  In order to do the ride, you need someone to drive to the top, leave the car there, and then you ride down, but then you have to have someone else with a car to take the first person up to get his car!  It's not the kind of road you'd like to ride the bicycle up (even though 7 miles is not far at all), because it's a dirt road and it's all uphill.  Eric said you'd be so exhausted by the time you got to the top that you wouldn't want to ride down!

Jimmy took this picture of our apartment from the other side of the complex.  We're the corner apartment on the second floor.

Photo by Jimmy Donahue!

Jimmy and I went to breakfast at a place called KONO’S SURF CLUB CAFE, which is right off the beach in Pacific Beach.  We had passed it yesterday and saw a long line waiting outside and figured we’d go see what all the fuss was about!  It turns out that there are two reasons there’s a long line:

1. The place is very small, with only about a dozen or so tables; and
2. You wait on line, give your order, then go sit down and a waitress brings you your food.  It’s very down-to-earth – not fancy at all.  Breakfast burritos, bagels, etc.

Jimmy had a breakfast burrito and I had a toasted bagel with egg salad.  It came with a bag of chips!  He had coffee and I had fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Jimmy took this picture of a dog he and I fell in love with.  This sweet girl was sitting right near where we were parked.  She had NO interest in us whatsoever, and hardly changed her expression (or her position) from the time we left to go to breakfast, and the time we returned!

After breakfast, I took Jimmy to the swap meet in the parking lot of the Sports Arena where I had been a few weeks ago, trying to find a piece of furniture for the TV in the master bedroom.  Jimmy loves vintage clothes (as do I!), and I had seen a vendor there who had men’s clothing.  We finally found her, but she didn’t have anything Jimmy liked or needed.  We walked around the swap meet for a while.

Jimmy loves music (as does Eric) so he looked at the DVDs.  I was looking for a vanity seat, because I have been using a chair from my grandparents’ bedroom set, but it doesn’t go very well and is a little too big for the vanity.  I’d rather put it in the corner of the room, where it will look beautiful and I can throw my purse or lay out my clothes for the next day.

I couldn’t find anything, and Jimmy didn’t see anything he wanted either, so we left the swap meet and headed to HILLCREST, where there are a bunch of great vintage clothing stores.   There are a lot of parking lots in San Diego that I was afraid to try, because I didn’t know how they worked.  I'd just drive around until I found an open spot with a parking meter.  Jimmy told me he’d help me figure it out, so I parked in a lot and we went over to where it said, “PAY HERE.”  Turns out each spot has a number (we were in 119).  You punch that in, put in your credit card and tell them how long you are going to stay.  It was $2 for 2 hours; $4 for 4 hours; $6 for 6 hours, etc.  We paid $4, thinking it would be more than enough time, and went on our merry way.

I brought all the clothing which had been rejected from BUFFALO EXCHANGE, because there are other stores in the neighborhood who buy used clothing and I was hoping to have better luck.

Our first stop was WEAR IT AGAIN SAM, because I wanted him to see my favorite store!  Barbara, the woman I’ve befriended there, wasn’t in, but a gorgeous girl in a bright red wig was working.  She was dressed so beautifully in a vintage outfit and had great make-up.  She was totally put together.  Fishnet stockings, spiked heels, cute pencil skirt and lovely vintage top.  Adorable! 

I recognized her, because I had checked out the eBay auctions that WEAR IT AGAIN SAM was running and she's the model for all the clothes they're auctioning off!

I showed Jimmy the two pairs of shoes I had sold Barbara, which were on display with a bunch of other great vintage shoes.

The girl (I forget her name) said, “Are you the woman who brought in those fabulous shoes?”  I told her I was.  She said she bought the third pair (called “Springolaters”, because they had a piece of elastic that ran under your foot, which caused them to make a slapping sound as you walked.  I don’t know if this elastic design was supposed to make them easier to walk in, or more comfortable, but they looked exactly like Barbie’s black mules.)  They had really high heels in black fabric with a bow over your toes.  I used to wear them at Price Waterhouse – which really caused stares, but who cared?  I loved high heels!

These classic Barbie Doll shoes look just like the Springolaters!

Anyway, I forgot that they had vintage men’s clothes, too.  (Actually, I was always in such a trance, looking at all the fabulous jewelry, purses and dresses they had, that I don’t know if I EVER noticed they sold men’s clothes, too!)  Jimmy looked around, but they didn’t have anything in his size.

Did I ever mention that Jimmy is tall, dark and handsome?  He’s 6’-4”, which actually makes Eric look short when he stands next to him, and you know how tall, dark and handsome Eric is!  It’s hard for Jimmy to find vintage clothes, because it seems EVERYONE was small in the “old days.”  That’s why I don’t fit into any of the clothes – the average waist size is 24”.  Who has a 24” waist these days?

After WEAR IT AGAIN SAM, we went to BLUESTOCKING BOOKS.  Jimmy loved it as much as I do.  He loves books, too, and they have a great selection.

After that, we went to a place called FLASHBACKS (Fashion Reinvented).  They buy, sell and trade vintage clothing.  They have the same deal as BUFFALO EXCHANGE – they’ll give you 35% in cash or 50% in credit.  A young girl and guy went through all my clothes and picked out a bunch of stuff.  I said I’d take the 50% credit and ended up with $57!!!  I was so happy, because it was all the same stuff rejected by the other store, and they loved my stuff!  Also, they had SUCH great things that I knew I could spend the $57 in no time, which I did!

I bought a vintage Lucite purse with a white pearlized finish in excellent condition (for only $38) and a small gold mesh Whiting & Davis eyeglass case (for $12).  I had $7 left over, so I bought a pair of black tights.  I was so happy.  I loved my purchases!

After I skipped happily out of FLASHBACKS, with Jimmy walking behind me, we walked around some more, going in and out of bookstores, card stores, and boutiques, until we were ready to go home.

Eric called and said he had a great ride and was on his way home.  By the time we got back to the apartment, he was walking his bicycle to the apartment!  What timing!  We relaxed and hung around for a while, and they dozed a little while I was working on the computer and watching TV. 

Then, I said I needed a nap, so I went into the bedroom and slept until 6:30pm while they hung out and watched TV.  Then I jumped in the shower, we all got dressed and we went to “our” sushi place – HAIKU on Garnet in Pacific Beach.

Jimmy LOVED it.  We got our usual – edamame and shumai, and then got our favorite roll – Spicy Crunchy Shrimp Roll, along with a Dragon roll (which had lots of great stuff in it, including eel – which Jimmy had never tried before), and a Scallop Roll.  Everything was delicious and we all enjoyed it tremendously.

We decided to drive to Mission Hills (near Hillcrest) to go to Gelato Vero Caffe, which is on the corner of Washington and India Streets.  It was after 9:00pm and we weren’t sure how late they were open.  I got us lost on the way (it’s the second time I got lost on the way to Hillcrest at night), but luckily it was still open when we got there.  We found out they’re open until at least midnight every night.  That was good news that could be VERY bad for us!

We got four flavors to bring home – pumpkin spice (Jimmy’s favorite), pistachio, some kind of creamy flavor with chunks of brownie in it (how descriptive, Peppy!), and the fourth was the one I picked, but I couldn’t pronounce it, and now I can’t even remember how to spell it.  It was a chocolatey flavor, reminiscent of Nutella, which is DELICIOUS!  Anyway, we got 2 pints with 4 flavors and headed home to have a party!

We broke up the giant fortune cookie my cousin Ilene sent and it was the perfect complement to the smooth, cold gelato.  The cookie was super-thick (much thicker than a fortune cookie), but tasted delicious and the chocolate coating melted in your mouth.  Wonderful!  What a party we had!

Jimmy is very high-tech and he helped us with so much stuff over the weekend.  He taught Eric how to use the DVD and how to play DVDs.  I know that sounds easy, but not to us.  We’re totally spastic about that stuff.  Anyway, after my nap, Eric was playing DVDs like crazy!  He was having the time of his life!

Jimmy bought me a box of FERRERO ROCHER chocolates (my favorites!), a DVD of JOHN PINETTE (a really funny comedian), doing his stand up act (I SAY NAY, NAY).  We all watched it and it was REALLY funny.

He also made me a poster (by enlarging and printing a card I had sent him) of a picture I REALLY love.  It’s by an artist I discovered in Flagstaff, Arizona.  Her art was on display in a restaurant we went to and I bought myself and Jimmy a card of her art, because I knew he’d love it as much as I did (and he did).  It came out SO great and I’d LOVE to hang it up, but I already have SO much artwork packed away, because we don’t have that much space here.  I’m hoping our next place will have lots of wall space (and high ceilings), so I can have it framed and hang it up.

Jimmy helped me with my laptop by showing me how to “defrag” (something I never even HEARD of before), and he cleaned up my hard drive for me.  He also installed itunes and showed me how to download CDs, so I have music on my hard drive.  This is all stuff I never bothered to do before.  I didn’t think I needed it, or wanted it, and didn’t know how to do it, but now that I have it – I love it!  I can play music while I’m typing, and don’t even need to get out of my chair!!!! 

Finally we all went to bed.  We knew we had to get up early on Monday to drive Jimmy to the airport.  His flight was taking off at 10:15am.

We had such a great weekend and it was so much fun having Jimmy around.  He’s the perfect guest – he cleans up after himself (made his own bed two days in a row!) and helped us with the DVD player and the computer!  He’s a lot of fun, and really made my 50th birthday more fun and festive!

I’ve been behind on my blog for a couple of days now.  It was partly because we were having such a great weekend, and I just didn’t have the time, but yesterday was different.  Without going into too much detail (I don’t want to be guilty of TMI), let’s just say that I was “under the weather” yesterday from something that should NOT still be getting me down when I’m 50!

We woke up very early (6:30am) and got showered and dressed to drive Jimmy to the airport.  We had such a great weekend, and now I was feeling really yucky.  We wanted to take Jimmy out to breakfast, and figured the best plan was to drive close to the airport and find a place to eat there.  Unfortunately, there wasn’t a Denny’s, IHOP, or Diner to be found.  What kind of a place IS this?

We finally found a STARBUCKS and decided that would have to do.  We all got breakfast sandwiches and coffee or tea, and sat at a table for a few minutes.  We were in a 15-minute parking spot, so we really couldn’t relax very long, but it was long enough for us to finish our sandwiches and we took our coffee with us in the car.

We dropped Jim off at 8:45am, because his flight was at 10:15am and he figured he’d need an hour and a half to get through security.  Fortunately, his flight was on time and he had a great flight, although they DID confiscate his shampoo, because it was in a 4 oz. bottle, even though it was half full!  That does NOT make sense to me at ALL, because I thought the rule was that you couldn’t carry on more than 3 oz. of liquid, but they didn’t say it has to be in a 3 oz. bottle, do they?  I’m confused!  Anyway, I now know to be very careful about what we bring to South Carolina next week!

After we dropped Jim off, we headed right home, and I got right back into my pajamas and went to sleep.  Eric laid down with me, too, and napped for a while.  He got up in the late morning and was doing things around the apartment.  I slept until 4:00pm!!!!

Even after I got up, I wasn’t in the mood to do anything.  I felt really bad and even Advils didn’t help.  I kind of moped around the apartment, opening my mail (which made me slightly happier), and reading emails.  I didn’t even have the strength to blog!

The only thing that made me really smile was the gift that had arrived while I was sleeping.  A bouquet of giant birthday cookies, from a company called COOKIES BY DESIGN.  They were shaped like cakes, presents, balloons, candles and there was a giant cookie in the middle that says, “HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY!”

These buttery shortbread cookies are all iced by hand and they’re SO good.  It’s real comfort food, which was JUST what I needed!  They were sent by our friends, Susan and Andrew, so I called them up to thank them.  Susan and I talked for a while.  She told me about her Mom’s surgery, which went well.  Her mother is on the mend.  That was good news!

I am so behind on my blog and was in such a fog yesterday that I forgot to mention another fabulous gift I received for my birthday.  My friends, Geri and Larry, had shipped a box of stuff we had asked them to hold for us when we left NY.  When Eric, Jim and I got home Saturday night, the box was waiting for us outside.  I didn't open it until Sunday afternoon.

Inside were our things, plus lots of treats for us, and a special gift for me!  They sent us some CHILI SPICED MANGO, which is a healthy delicious treat we’ve enjoyed all across the country – thanks to Geri and Larry!  They always brought it to me when I worked in the shop and Eric and I have become addicted to it.  It’s just the right combination of sweet and spicy and is the perfect snack!  They also sent me a big bar of dark chocolate, which I love – and which is really healthy!

Finally, there was a beautifully wrapped box that contained a gorgeous 2008 Day Planner, which has a fabulous red and gold leather boot on the cover.  I hadn’t yet purchased a 2008 calendar, and I always need one, so it was perfect!  There was also the CUTEST little purple purse, which opened to reveal a regular mirror on one side and a magnified mirror on the other side.  Geri and I both LOVE and collect shoes and purses, and this is SO cute.  I think I’ll keep it on my vanity, so I can look at it every day!

I put all my cards out on the “buffet” Eric and I made.  It makes me so happy to know our friends and family are thinking of us and I enjoy looking at them every day, so thank you!

After a while, I started to feel a little better, and Eric was hungry, so I made us both a big salad and was actually able to eat it!  I WAS feeling better!  We watched TV, and I worked on my blog for Sunday (even though it was now Monday evening).  Finally, we went to bed, but I wasn’t really very tired, since I had slept most of the day!

I went to bed last night at 11:30pm, but was up at 3:04am, 5:35am, and 6:30am (I forgot to turn off the alarm from yesterday!).  I then woke up again at 8:30am, and woke up again at 9:15am, when my friend, Julie called.  I decided I had been in bed long enough, so I talked to her for a while.

Eric and I both had breakfast and then I started working on the computer, making phone calls, paying bills, etc.  I got a lot accomplished and then did my blog for yesterday.  I’m finally caught up!

I spoke to our friend, Jerry, who usually lives in Chicago, but is staying in Malibu for a month.  We're going up to Los Angeles on January 11th for the weekend and will see Jerry, my cousins (Ilene and Karen and their families), and also hope to see our other friends who live in L.A. -- Joe and Miguel.

This afternoon I did FIVE loads of laundry (four at once, and then one after that).  We had accumulated a lot and Eric also unpacked a few bicycles (yeah!) and found some clothes that needed to be washed before he could wear them.  He’s still wants to move away from here, but seems more enthusiastic about riding, which is REALLY great.  He geared up in the afternoon and went for a ride to Pacific Beach to ride along the water and then to BICYCLE WAREHOUSE.

I stayed in the apartment, folding five loads of clothes, linens and towels and putting them all away.  I did some sewing for Eric (his bicycle pants were ripped).  Then I watched TV and relaxed.  I am in BIG trouble when we get back from South Carolina, because the temp agency will start calling me and I’ll have to go to bed early (boo hoo!), and wake up early (yikes!) to go to work (uh oh!).  I’ve gotten VERY lazy, since I haven’t worked for 8 months and was on vacation for 3 months!

I’ll be happy to start working again, but I know the getting up early part is going to hurt – real bad!

I did a lot of work on my project – typing for about 2 hours.  Eric got back from his ride around 6:00pm.  He was out for almost four hours.  He did about 12 miles, including a stop at the bicycle shop.  He said he enjoyed himself, and he felt good about getting out there and riding.  Sounds good to me, too!

I made us dinner – a salad and some macaroni and cheese for me; leftover chicken and macaroni and cheese for Eric.  When I make chicken for Eric, there are usually 5 or 6 cutlets and, since I don’t eat chicken, there’s always a lot left over, which makes it easy for me to add it to salads, wraps, or just reheat and serve with a side dish.

We finished up the giant fortune cookie Ilene and Kyle sent (which was SO good) and ate more of the butter cookies Susan and Andrew sent.  I also had a piece of the dark chocolate from Geri and Larry.  How it melts in your mouth!  It is VERY hard to get back on my diet while all this great stuff is floating around the house.

Meanwhile, Jimmy has gotten me hooked on Peach Citrus FRESCA.  It’s SO delicious – with no caffeine and no calories!  So refreshing!

I continued typing after dinner while Eric and I watched FAMILY GUY and then DIRTY JOBS with MIKE ROWE.  I love that guy!  He’s funny, adventurous and doesn’t mind getting REALLY dirty!

I typed about 20 pages and then Eric and I retired to the bedroom to watch BOSTON LEGAL.  That’s a great show!

Tomorrow I am going to go out (for the first time in two days) to run some errands, including some food shopping, and buying some travel-sized toiletries.  I don’t want to have my things confiscated by security at the airport!

It rained all night last night, but was just drizzling when we woke up this morning.  I was anxious to get out, since I had spent pretty much the last two days in the house.  I drove to Pacific Beach and went to the SALVATION ARMY to take a look around.  I already know everyone who works there on a first name basis.  They’re all very nice.

Next, I drove to Hillcrest.  I parked in the PUBLIC PARKING lot.  I really like parking there.  Any where you can use a charge card to park is my kind of place!   My first stop in Hillcrest was WEAR IT AGAIN SAM.  I had a pair of vintage shoes with a matching purse that I wanted to sell.  The shoes weren’t in the best condition, so they said they couldn’t buy them.

I went down the block to FLASHBACKS and they bought them and gave me a credit, which I promptly spent.  I got two black skirts (good for work) and a red bandana-print sundress.  It’s a little tight but, as you know, I’m trying to lose weight.

I stopped at Starbucks on my way back to the car.  After that, I drove back to Pacific Beach to get lunch for me and Eric.  I stopped at CHIPOTLE MEXICAN GRILL and got him some chicken tacos and I got the salad with everything but meat or chicken.  YUM YUM!

I am working on my first decoupage project in months.  I have a small black wood tray, which was originally used to hold candles.  It is a bit beat up and chipped, so it’s perfect for decoupage, which will hide all the flaws.  I’m covering it with pictures of wine bottles, liquor bottles, champagne, martini glasses, wine artwork, etc.  It’s very colorful and festive.  It feels so good to be working on my crafts again.  I also want to decorate a mirror with vintage jewelry.  I am hoping to put it in a shop on consignment, or sell it directly.

Eric worked in the second bedroom all day long.  He unpacked boxes, moved some from one side of the room to another, and hung a few more shelves.  He also hung a second shelf in the closet in that room.  There was one shelf across the top with a pole for hanging clothes.  He hung another shelf above the first one, and put folded clothes up there.  For someone who wears mostly t-shirts and jeans, Eric has SO much clothes.

First of all, he has about 50 pairs of socks, 40 of which have never been worn.  I think every time he saw socks he liked in a store he would buy himself a pack.  He even said, “I can’t live long enough to wear all these socks!”

He also has about 40 t-shirts, some of which are 10-15 years old!  He likes to keep t-shirts even when they’re stained and ripped, because he wants them for when he’s cleaning, or painting, or working on his bicycles.  I can see the logic, because why get paint or grease or stain on a good t-shirt, but do you need 20 work shirts?

He also has at least 10 pairs of jeans and at least 10 sweatshirts – some with hoods; some without.  Then comes his bicycling clothes – jerseys, pants, socks, jackets, padded shorts, armor for his knees, elbow guards, gloves, and helmet.  He also has winter gear – all the same, but in a heavier fabric.  He wears special bicycle shoes, too.  His bicycle clothes alone could fill a closet.  

The room in the back is still packed with boxes, but it’s easier to walk around in there.  He unpacked three of his five bicycles, so they’re taking up a lot of room, too (plus my bicycle makes 4).  Two are still in the big cardboard boxes.  At least it’s now possible to walk around in that room!

Eric and I have plans to go to Los Angeles the weekend of the 11th.  We’re going to see our friend, Jerry, who usually lives in Illinois, but is spending a month in Los Angeles (lucky boy!).  We will also see our cousins, and my cousin, Ilene, and I are going to see WICKED.  I love that show so much and really wanted to see it again before I left New York.  I feel so lucky that I am going to have a chance to see it in Los Angeles.

I heard from my niece, April, today.  She said that she is planning to come out here with her sister, Jessica, and her cousins, Melissa and Stephanie (who are also sisters).  They’re planning to come out here the weekend of the 18th, which is a long weekend, because of Martin Luther King Day on Monday, January 21st.  Eric and I are SO excited.  We don’t know where we’re going to put all four of them, but it will be SO much fun to have them all here, so we’ll figure it out.  I miss all my girls, and having four of them here at once will be fantastic!

I never did go food shopping today, so that’s on the agenda for tomorrow, along with preparing for our company on Saturday.  My cousin, Audrey, is flying in from Las Vegas and she’s coming over on Saturday afternoon with her friends – Bonnie, her husband, Michael, and their daughter, Nicole.  We also have to start packing for our vacation on Monday.  We have a lot going on!

Having lived in a house for the last 21 years, I didn’t really have a problem with noisy neighbors.  The only time it was noisy on Leggett Place was when the kids were out of school and would sometimes play outside until after midnight, even on days when the rest of us had to get up for work the next day.  Sometimes our neighbors had parties that would get pretty loud, but it was never anything constant or too annoying.

While we were traveling in the RV, the only noise we ever heard was the occasional barking dog, or the train whistles, which I've written about several times.

Now, we’re living in a cute little apartment, and the walls (and floors) must be pretty thin, because I can hear the two guys who live downstairs as if they’re in the next room.  During the day, when we have the TV or radio on, you don’t notice anything, but every morning they get up early to go to work, and it’s pretty noisy.

I first heard what I thought was a guy throwing up, but have since figured out is a guy who must smoke going through his “early morning hacking.”  It’s pretty horrible.  Eric and I saw the two guys one afternoon and they both look like they’re about 25, so to have such a hacking cough every day is pretty unhealthy.

He also likes to sing in the shower – very badly.  So, every day at 7:00am, I’m now waking up to hacking and singing – horrible hacking and bad singing.  Most times, I can just turn over and fall back to sleep, but this morning it went on for a while, so I got up and came into the living room.  I read my emails and worked on my typing project.

At 9:00am I went back into the bedroom and watched REGIS AND KELLY while Eric slept.  I found my eyes closing, so I turned off the TV and fell back to sleep.  I didn’t get up until after 11:00am.  I don’t know what time Eric woke up, but he was already showered and dressed when I came out in my pajamas.

I finally showered at around noon.  I wanted to go to MICHAEL’S for a can of varnish for my decoupage project.  I know I have some packed away somewhere, but I can’t put my hands on it and I figured it would just be easier to go buy a new can.  Luckily, there’s a MICHAEL’S just a few miles away – down Clairemont Drive.  I swear if I had a thousand dollars to spend there, I could do it in one afternoon

They sell MARTHA STEWART craft supplies – for scrapbooking, gift-wrapping, etc.  I had to run away, because I can’t get started with all that.  It’s just too expensive a hobby and I have too many other crafts to do!  MICHAEL’S also sells every other craft supply you can imagine, plus decorative stuff, too – and their prices were really good.

I purchased some urns for our balcony, right outside our front door.  We wanted to dress it up a little.  They were on sale, so they didn’t cost much and now we just need to buy some soil and plants and we’ll be all set.  It’s nice, because they’ll live all winter long here!!!  In Whitestone, we would put out planters all spring, summer and fall, but then Eric would have to either bring them in the house or put them away in the shed for the winter, and most of the plants would die.  I told Eric I’d like to find little palm trees for the planters, but I don’t know if they really sell those!

After Michael’s, I drove into Pacific Beach and my drive-through STARBUCKS.  Then, I headed back up to Clairemont to go food shopping.   I went to KEILS, stocking up on veggies for our "big salads" and also buying some chips, grapes and cheese to put out when our guests come on Saturday afternoon.  I figure Audrey will be starving after her flight (you know they only give you that teeny bag of peanuts!) and everyone can snack a little before we go to NYPD for Italian food!

I saw one of our neighbors for the first time today.  A young man – also probably under 25 – and he was very sweet and waved to me.  The two guys who live under us didn’t even smile when they saw me and Eric.  There’s also a girl who comes out of her apartment and sits on a curb by the pool to work on her laptop.  Not only does she look uncomfortable, but she’s right in the way of your path when you walk by the front entrance. You could trip over her legs, because she's almost sitting on the ground (the curb is just about 6 inches high), but she never looks up or acknowledges you.  I think that’s so weird.  At least smile at someone!

Half the neighbors I’ve encountered smile and say hi, while the others just ignore you as if you didn’t exist.  We’ve been here almost a month and not one person has struck up a conversation, like “Oh, you’re the folks that just moved in,” or “Welcome to Pine Terrace!” (that’s the name of the building complex, since there are big pine trees outside on Clairemont Drive.)

I don’t need to have someone bring me a casserole, or a plate of home-made brownies, and welcome me to the neighborhood, but a simple “hello” would be nice!  Is that so much to ask?  I thought everyone in California was SO friendly, but I honestly think New Yorkers are more friendly and outgoing!  Eric and I have made some acquaintances – mostly in places we’ve gone to eat or shop – but I haven’t made one friend yet.  I’m hoping when I start working, and going to yoga, I’ll meet some people and make some friends.

I’m the kind of person who makes eye contact and smiles and talks to most anybody.  I get it from my mother.  She’s the same way.  When I visit her in Florida and go shopping with her, or to the doctor’s office for an appointment, or to a restaurant, every single person knows her and most of them give her a hug and kiss!  She’s so friendly and builds a relationship with everyone she comes into contact with.  I’m pretty much the same way.  I think it’s nice to be friendly, but people here obviously don’t feel the same way!

Eric went bicycling while I was out shopping.  He’s made a few acquaintances mountain biking and visiting BICYCLE WAREHOUSE.  He will also stop and talk to anyone he sees with a mountain bike.  He’s very friendly and outgoing, too.

Since I got home, I’ve been spraying my decoupaged tray every half hour with the varnish.  The more coats, the better.  Tonight I’m doing the top.  Tomorrow, when it’s good and dry, I’ll do the bottom.  I’ll photograph it and put pictures on the blog, when it’s all done.  I really think it came out great!

I bought all the ingredients to make Eric Chicken Asparagus Gorgonzola and I had Salmon Asparagus Gorgonzola.  We also enjoyed a side of Uncle Ben’s Vegetable Harvest Ready Rice!  I really don’t mind cooking when it’s a recipe I know and don’t have to think much about it.  I’m kind of lazy that way, and I’m lucky Eric is easy-going about food, because he’s just as happy with a tuna sandwich and a handful of potato chips, or a bowl of Kraft Macaroni and Cheese!  As I always say, he didn’t marry me for my cooking!

Eric and I are very excited about our trip on Monday.  I went online and found a few car service companies that can pick us up at 4:45am.  Since our flight leaves at 6:15am, I figure we need an hour and fifteen minutes to check in and get through security, and it takes about 15 minutes to get to the airport.  Yikes!  We have to get up at 3:30am!!  Maybe we won’t even go to sleep that night and we’ll sleep on the planes.

We’re flying into Houston, then changing planes to go to Columbia.  I’m anticipating delays, since it IS Christmas Eve morning, but we’re not on any schedule, so we’re ready for whatever happens!

Tonight I started another craft project.  I went through 5 big tins of jewelry that I use for crafts – most of it is broken, or missing stones, but a lot of it is clip on and screw on earrings, which no one wears anymore because they’re so uncomfortable!  I used to sell a lot of pairs in the shop, because a lot of the older women who came in never got pierced ears, and they were so happy to find nice clip-ons or screw-ons.  I have about 200 pairs and I want to use them to decorate a round mirror I brought from NY.  They’ll be easy to recognize, so they will appeal to anyone who likes costume jewelry.  I know no one will buy them to wear, so I might as well use them for crafts!

The earrings were all mixed up in all the tins so I ended up putting pairs together and it was like that game – Concentration – where you have all the singles laid out and then you have to find the match.  I told Eric it was good exercise for my brain!

I probably won’t get to the project before January, because we will be busy tomorrow running errands for our company and for our trip on Monday.  Saturday our company is coming, and Sunday is our last day before we go away!

The cookies are gone.  All those big, hand-decorated, buttery, shortbread cookies.  They’re gone!  And they didn’t even last a week!  I’m happy to report that Eric ate a lot more of them than I did, but I certainly helped.  It wasn’t like you took an entire cookie and sat down and ate it.  No, it was more just breaking off a piece from the “bouquet” every time you passed by.  They were SO good, SO tempting, SO addicting.  I never even had a piece of the biggest one – which said HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY.  Eric ate that one all by himself!

I’ve also been nibbling on the dark chocolate, but I kind of think of that as a “daily vitamin.”  There’s a lot of healthy stuff in dark chocolate and, as long as you’re just having a piece every day, it’s very good for you!

Yesterday, when I went to KEILS, I bought a big bag of Clementines.  They are the smallest Clementines you’ve ever seen.  They’re very tasty and refreshing, but they’re gone in no time!  The best thing about a Clementine is they have no pits, so there’s no spitting involved.  I feel a lot more ladylike eating a Clementine than I do an orange.  Being ladylike is not always of the utmost importance to me (as many of you have seen), but I do enjoy eating seedless fruit!

Speaking of being ladylike, anyone who has ever walked or driven with me while I’m chewing gum will know that my absolute worst habit is that I just spit my gum out in the street.  If I’m driving, I will roll down the window and just let it fly.  If I’m walking, I try to spit it into a garbage pail, if there’s one available, but if not…

I’ve gotten a lot of flack about that, but I just don’t like to put it into a tissue or a piece of paper and then have to worry about it floating around my purse or my car until I can dispose of it.  It’s just easier (and faster) to spit it out.  But the shocked expressions I’ve received at times have been hilarious.  People just don’t expect it – again, because I’m usually very ladylike!  I do think it’s my worst habit.  Maybe my New Year’s resolution should be to stop spitting out my gum!

This morning, I continued my game of Concentration with the clip-on and screw-on earrings, until I was positive I had no pairs left.  I kept all the pairs in one giant bag and all the singles in another.  I still have more tins to go through, so I may find them yet. 

Eric couldn’t understand why I cared about pairs vs. singles, but it’s because sometimes in projects I like to make it very symmetrical, so the pairs help me balance it out.  Other times, it’s more mixed up and “devil-may-care!”

After Eric and I both had breakfast, we went out to run a few errands.  First, we went back to MICHAEL’S, because I had purchased two urns, a wall pocket and big planter – all in a brownish antique-look metal.  I thought we’d use the two urns and either the wall pocket or the big planter in the center.  Eric said we should put the big planter in the center, with an urn on either side and put a wall pocket on either end of the balcony, so I went to buy another wall pocket. 

Then, we went to HOME DEPOT and got a bunch of plants in their nursery.  We got calla lilies for the two urns, cyclamen for the two wall pockets, and a mixture of pansies, begonias, and other flowering plants for the big planter in the center.  We also bought some soil.  When we got back, Eric did all the planting, while I put plastic bags and rocks in the bottom of each planter, since they didn’t have any drainage holes.

They look SO pretty.  I forgot to take pictures (with my cell phone).  I’ll do that tomorrow!

After that, I did three loads of laundry, so that everything will be clean for our vacation.  We’re really getting excited now!  I am waiting until Sunday to pack.  It’s very important that we take as little as possible, because we just have two small carry-ons, and Eric’s bicycling clothes and armor alone take up most of his carry-on.  I also have to take my lap-top and Betty (the GPS system).  We wouldn’t DREAM of traveling without Betty!

Eric made a frozen pizza for dinner, because I started working on jewelry mosaic project using a mirror with the clip-on and screw-on earrings.  Once I get started, I don’t want to stop.  It is a round, frameless beveled mirror I brought from NY.  The best mirrors to do my jewelry mosaics are the frameless mirrors.

I worked for a couple of hours, until my back was killing me from leaning over the table for so many hours.  I can sit while I decoupage, but I need to stand when I do the mosaics, and it’s really hard on my back!

I’m going to hang the mirror at the end of the hallway in between the master bedroom and bathroom, but I really want to sell it, so I’m going to photograph it and show it to some shops in town.

It’s been great to do my crafting again.  I’ve really missed it.  I hadn’t done anything since July and I used to do crafting almost every day, when I had the shop.  I love it!  If I could, I would just craft every day, all day long.

Sorry the picture is so blurry!  This is the plain black tray I decoupaged.

I also finished my decoupaged tray today.  I put a lot more coats of varnish on the top and bottom and think it’s finally finished.  Eric will do a final inspection tomorrow.  He’s very good with things like that and if he says it’s done, it’s done!  If not, I’ll put a few more coats on it.

The bottom of the tray before I decoupaged it.

Here's the tray after I covered it with pictures with a party theme!

I did a New Year’s Eve party theme for the tray, since Eric and I have been invited to a New Year’s Eve party in Los Angeles and we are hoping to get back from South Carolina early enough to attend.  We’ll drive up in the RV, go to the party, sleep in the RV overnight and then drive back to San Diego in the morning.

We are looking forward to seeing my cousin, Audrey, and her friends tomorrow.  It will be nice to have company again!

My phone rang at 4:00am this morning.  It was the shuttle company we had hired to pick us up on Monday morning at 4:45am.  I explained to the gentleman that our reservation was for MONDAY not SATURDAY.  He apologized and I hung up.  I told Eric that this doesn’t bode well for our pick-up on Monday.  He asked me what “bode well” meant.  I found it hard to explain.  We both eventually fell back to sleep.  That’s how our day started!

We didn’t wake up again until after 10:30am.  Our company was coming at 3:30pm, so we figured we better get out of bed!  The first thing I did was call the shuttle company to make sure they knew we were flying on Monday.  The guy I spoke to had heard all about my 4:00am “wake up call” and apologized.  I said it was fine, but just wanted to be sure they WOULD pick us up on Monday morning!  He said not to worry – they would call Sunday night to confirm the time and be there on Monday morning.  We hope so!

We ate breakfast, took showers, got dressed and then started vacuuming, dusting and tidying up the apartment.  I set our little card table with all the bowls and dishes I would be using for the snacks I had planned.  I used a vintage “California” tablecloth that has a map of California and all the cities marked on it.  We served grapes, Clementines, hummus and chips, potato chips, a tray of 4 different cheeses and the box of chocolates Bonnie had sent for my birthday.  We had saved the chocolates just for today!

Here's a close-up of one section of the mirror made completely of clip-on and screw-on earrings:

I hung up the mirror I made yesterday.  I’m still not sure it’s done, but the only way to tell is to hang it up.  That’s what I used to do in the shop, too.  I’d finish a mirror and hang it up, because you really can’t tell when it’s laying on a table.  I think there are a few little spots I can add to, so I will probably do a little more work on it while it’s hanging up.  To anyone else it might seem done, but I told Eric, “It’s not done until I say it's done!”

Audrey, Bonnie, Michael and Nicole arrived right on time at 3:30pm.  Audrey had an easy 40-minute flight from Las Vegas.  She was happy, because the weather here is milder than it is in Las Vegas.  She said it’s been freezing there!

We gave them all the tour of the apartment and I was so happy that they liked everything and commented on how much we had done in just a month.  Bonnie, Audrey and Nicole loved the decoupaged tray I made for our friends for New Year’s Eve, and they loved the jewelry mosaic mirror, too.  I told Bonnie and Nicole I would definitely teach them how to decoupage, because it’s fun and easy!

We had some snacks, talked and then we asked if anyone wanted to try the massage chair.  Audrey volunteered.  She really loved it.  It IS fantastic!  Nicole was next and she seemed to like it too.  She is so cute.  She kept giggling and saying it tickled!

We left the apartment and drove to Bonnie’s mother’s restaurant – NYPD PIZZA.  Michael and Bonnie treated us all to pizza and calzones.  Their food is really good!

It was only 6:30pm when we left and after a stop at STARBUCKS and the gas station to fill up, we were home by 7:00pm.  I told Eric I thought it was great that it felt so much later, but it was still early, because we should go to bed early tonight (like 9:00pm) and wake up early tomorrow.  Then, we’ll be tired enough to go to bed early tomorrow night, since we have to wake up at 3:30am to be picked up at 4:45am and make our flight at 6:15am.  It’s VERY early!

We could sleep on the plane, but by the time we get settled we’ll be in Houston.  Maybe we’ll have time to sleep on the second flight from Houston to South Carolina.

My friend, Geri, called tonight.  She and Larry just had friends visiting from Australia and showed them a really great time.  Geri and Larry are the kindest, most generous couple.  They will go to the ends of the earth for their friends, and I’m sure they did everything they could to make sure their friends’ vacation was perfection!

Tomorrow is all about packing for our trip.  I am very nervous, because I keep hearing how strict the airport security is with your baggage.  You have to have the right size bottles for your liquids, and they have to be in the right size baggie (1 quart).  I’m going to the airport’s website, so I can read up about all the restrictions.  I REALLY don’t want to deal with all this, so I have to make sure we are following all the rules!

My entire day was devoted to laundry, packing, and organizing for our trip tomorrow.  Since we have to wake up at 3:30am, get picked up by the shuttle bus at 4:45am and the flight takes off at 6:15am, I figured I’d better get EVERYTHING done tonight!

Eric and I didn’t get up until 10:30am.  We went to bed very early – 10:30pm – which is really about three hours earlier than I have been going to sleep.  I couldn’t fall asleep for a long time, because I wasn’t tired.  I just turned the TV off, because Eric said we should go to bed early.

I guess I fell asleep around 11:30pm or midnight.  For some unknown reason, I woke up at 3:30am.  Was it in preparation for the alarm tomorrow morning?  I don’t know.  Anyway, as usual, I started sneezing and blowing my nose.  I fell back to sleep about an hour later.  I thought about getting up, because then I would be REALLY tired by early evening and to sleep early.  But I didn’t and we ended up both staying in bed until 10:30am.

The first thing Eric did was run some errands for me.  I needed 3 oz. bottles to take shampoo, conditioner, etc., and also one quart zip-lock bags to hold the bottles.  Who knew?  My friend, Geri, told me about that, and I confirmed it with Jimmy, who just flew.  Then I went to the airport website and saw their 3-1-1 rule.  Three oz. bottles in 1 quart zip-lock bags and one bag per person.

Eric also bought wraps, so I could make sandwiches for us for the plane.  I was kind of stupid, because I did a big food shopping in preparation for our company, and forgot we were leaving on Monday, so I bought stuff for us, too.  I had all the makings of a big salad, and a pound of Honey Turkey and Alpine Lace Swiss cheese.  Eric ate some of the turkey and Swiss this weekend, and I finished it up by making him two sandwiches.  I also made a big salad and had some for lunch and dinner, and so did Eric.  There was a little left and I threw it away.  I also threw away anything that will be rotten by next Monday.  I don't want to come home to moldy stuff in the fridge!

 If Eric doesn’t eat both wraps on the plane (we WILL be on two planes, with over an hour in between in Houston, so he’ll have plenty of time to be hungry!), we can have it for dinner that night.  For myself I made a salad wrap with Swiss cheese.  I also packed TWO zip-lock bags of Clementines and a zip-lock bag of grapes.  We will have enough snacks to last for days, but that’s okay, because they will be fine for snacks in the car while we’re driving around South Carolina!  I just don't like to waste good food.

After Eric came back from shopping he geared up and went for a ride to Balboa Park, which is only about 15 minutes from here.  He drove in the car and then parked and tried to find the trails.  He met a guy who was riding, and he showed Eric a trail, but Eric said it was a short ride, as there really aren’t many trails there.  He was back in two hours, but at least he got out for a while!

I did two loads of laundry, just so there wouldn’t be anything waiting when we got back, cleaned the apartment, and then proceeded to pack for the trip.

I packed my little pink and black suitcase on wheels.  I’m bringing a minimal amount of clothes – comfy pants, some velour, one skirt, and a bunch of t-shirts, a sweater set and my brown Sausalito fleece jacket.  I figure I can wear layers if it’s cold, so I’m not bothering with a coat.  It’s been about the same temperature in South Carolina as it’s been in San Diego, just a little cooler at night.

I was also able to fit Eric’s underwear, socks and t-shirts in my suitcase.  He has a carry-on with all of his bicycling stuff, and was also able to fit a pair of jeans in there.  We’re not bringing anything dressy, because we don’t anticipate going anywhere that requires dress-up.  I’m wearing one practical black purse, which I will use all week.  I’m bringing three pairs of shoes, but only because I can’t wear the same shoes day in and day out – it makes my feet hurt.  I am wearing very comfy flat sandals to the airport.  These are my most comfortable walking shoes, which I wore all across the country.  They're made of fabric, so they're pretty worn out, but they'll have to do.  I'm also bringing a pair of flat clogs that are comfy, but not good for extensive walking, and a pair of Maryjanes that are a little dressier, but also completely closed, in case it’s cold or raining.

I have a little pink and black tote bag that matches the suitcase.  I’m putting all the bottles in the zip-lock bags in one pocket, all my paperwork (for the shuttle, the flight info, the hotel info, and the car rental info) in another pocket, and all the food will go in the main compartment.  That will go under the seat in front of me and the suitcase on wheels and Eric’s carry-on will go in the overhead.  Eric will carry my laptop, which will also hold Betty (the GPS system) and all the power cords, plus the charger for our cell phone.  He'll put that under the seat in front of him.

I feel like I’ve thought of everything, and anything we’ve forgotten we will just have to buy at the airport or in South Carolina!

I’m so used to flying to visit my parents and I never had to worry about anything, because my Mom and I are pretty much the same size, so I could always borrow clothes from her.  I didn’t have to bring any toiletries, because I used all theirs, so I was always able to fly with a very light bag.   I’m SO glad this one is on wheels, because it’s REALLY stuffed!

Eric is busy reading all the information on South Carolina mountain biking that I printed off the computer.  He will be renting a mountain bike from Thursday through Sunday, so he will have four days to check out lots of different parks and trails.  We will arrive (if there are no delays) at the hotel at around 5:00pm on Christmas Eve.  Everything will be closed on Christmas Day, so we’ll probably just drive around and see some neighborhoods.  The bike shop he’s renting from is also closed on Wednesday, so we’ll be doing some driving on Wednesday, too, and then Thursday through Sunday he will ride, ride, ride.

I told him I’d either drop him off at the trails and pick him up, or he can drop me off in the city and pick me up, or I can stay in the hotel and watch TV while he's out riding.  I’m very easy!  Our flight takes off at 6:15am next Monday (New Year’s Eve), but because of the time difference we should be back in San Diego by noon!

I’m very excited about this trip.  It’s not really because I’m dying to go to South Carolina, but more because I’m anxious to know what our future holds.  If we both like South Carolina, there’s a good chance we’ll be moving there next summer.  I really want to know, because it’s hard to think about work, making friends, and getting into a routine if I know it’s just for six months.  Of course, no one really knows what the future holds, but I’d like to have a general idea of which coast I’ll be living on!

I’d like everyone who reads this to say a prayer for our safe travel, and also that Eric finds what he’s looking for out there.  I really want him to be happy.  I know I can make a life anywhere I go.  Doing my decoupage and jewelry mosaics this week made me so happy and I explained to Eric that the things I love can be done anywhere!  They teach yoga everywhere; I can do my crafts anywhere; I can work anywhere.  I just need to be warm and for HIM to be fulfilled and happy.

This has been a VERY long day, and if I didn’t sleep a little on BOTH flights, AND take a nap when we reached our hotel, I’d be a goner.

The alarm went off at 3:15am.  I snoozed once and then got out of bed, took a shower and got dressed.  Eric was right behind me.  I had done all the packing, got our clothes for the trip ready, and even made us snacks the night before.  I waited until the shuttle called to pack turkey/Swiss wraps, apples, grapes, chocolates (still left from my birthday), and clementines.  I took a lot of snacks because I know they never give you more than a bag of peanuts these days.  I remember when we were in Vegas with Geri and Larry, they were starving when they got off the plane, because they had a long flight and didn’t get anything to eat.  On the way home, they stopped and bought sandwiches to bring on the return flight.

The shuttle was on time at 4:30am, and we were at the airport before 5:00am.  I got our CONTINENTAL boarding passes through a kiosk and we had a short walk to the gate.  We relaxed until we got on the flight.  I immediately gave Eric a turkey/swiss wrap and I had a salad/swiss wrap.  We were half-way through when they came through with drinks.  Then, they served – BREAKFAST!  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Okay, it was just a bowl of Wheaties with a tiny container of milk and a pouch of raisins, but it was breakfast!  We put away our wraps and had the cereal with milk and raisins.  I was impressed!

They also showed a movie – RATATOUILLE.  I really wanted to see that, and it looked SO cute, but I didn’t have the patience to listen with the earphones for 2 hours.  I just slept instead.

We took off on time and landed on time.  Unfortunately the connecting flight seemed like a million miles away.  We walked, and walked, up escalators, down escalators, and then finally had to get on a TRAIN to take us to the other terminal.  Who knew George Bush International Airport in Houston was so huge?  We got on the train, which had no seats – I guess because you’re only on it for a few minutes.

We got off the train and had to walk up MORE escalators, down halls, down escalators, and on and on and on.  At one point, we saw a woman with a small transport vehicle (like a golf cart with extra rows) and it said CONTINENTAL on the side.  Since we’re flying Continental, I asked if she could take us to Gate 84.  She said she could and we hopped on (with all four of our bags).  She took us at LEAST a half mile and we STILL had to walk more when we got off.

We finally got to Gate 84 and the woman behind the desk informed us that our flight was moved to Gate 88, so we had to go BACK up the escalator and walk down another long hallway.  We finally got there, with lots of time to spare, and relaxed until the second flight took off.

The plane for the second flight was very small, so they wouldn’t let us take our bigger bags with us.  They weren’t checked, like regular baggage, but they took them away and then brought them back to us right outside the gate when the flight was over.  That made me VERY nervous, but it all worked out okay.

Other than that, everything went super-smoothly.  Eric thought I was complaining too much about how far we had to walk, but it’s just that the bags were heavy and even though one of mine was on wheels it was still cumbersome and my arms were hurting!  Okay, so I’m a big, complaining baby, but I can’t help it!  Poor Eric, he had the computer, which is heavy and his carry-on, which was also very heavy, but he didn’t complain at all.

On the second flight, they served – LUNCH!  I know, it’s amazing!  This time it was even better – little turkey sandwiches on cute little buns with lettuce.  They gave you a packet of mayonnaise, a bag of chips, and a tiny little MILKY WAY bar!  Who could ask for anything more?  It really boggles my mind that we got TWO meals on two flights, when I was expecting two bags of nuts and brought enough fruit and sandwiches to feed a family of 4!

Eric bought a book of Stephen King short stories at the San Diego airport, so he read for most of both flights.  I like to sleep, and I did manage to doze a little on both flights.

We got to Columbia and walked a short distance to the ALAMO CAR RENTAL.  I requested a PT Cruiser, and the guy behind the counter thought it was VERY strange.  I told him that I drive one and I’m very comfortable with it.  He understood.  He was able to give us one (wheee!).  It’s silver and the minute I got into it, I felt completely at home!  This way, I won’t mind dropping Eric off and picking him up, or doing some driving if we go for a long ride.  I feel like I’m in my own car!

We plugged Betty in and programmed her to bring us to the HYATT PLACE HOTEL, which is in Irmo, South Carolina.  I guess it’s a suburb of Columbia.  I told Eric I could NEVER live in a place called Irmo.  It’s too much like Elmo.  Tickle me Irmo!

The hotel looks brand new.  We were greeted before we could get through the front entrance by a handsome young man.  He showed us the kiosk where we could check in automatically.  It gave us a receipt, and two room keys.  The whole thing took about 3 minutes!

The room is fabulous!  There’s a 42-inch high-definition flat panel TV.  Eric is in heaven.  It swivels so you can watch it from the 2 full size beds, or from the L-shaped couch with an ottoman.  The décor is so elegant—all in neutrals beiges, browns and creams.  The sink has a granite countertop.  They supply you with an ironing board and an iron, a blow dryer, an alarm clock, a fridge (by the wet bar), a coffee maker, and lots of other great amenities.  I’m so happy, since we will be spending an entire week here! 

As I mentioned before, we watched a little TV and took a nap.  We woke up around 7:30pm and went out for dinner.  There were lots of choices, but we decided to try YAMATO – the original Japanese Steakhouse of South Carolina – for some sushi.  First, they seated us at those tables where the chef is cooking right in front of you, but we told them we just wanted sushi, so they showed us to the sushi bar and we sat at a table right nearby.

Eric and I were surprised to see a NO SMOKING sign in the sushi bar, but there was a regular bar area right next to the sushi bar and smoking was obviously allowed in there, because I could smell it and it really bothered me.  I’m so sensitive to smoke!

Our hotel room is a no-smoking room and they actually tell you that if you smoke in the room they will charge you a $200 cleaning fee.  I love that!

We got our usual -- Edamame and Shrimp Shumai, but also got three rolls -- Spicy Tuna, Volcano and Japanese Bagel (which had smoked salmon, cream cheese and avocado).  It was all good, but not great -- certainly nothing like we've had in either NY or SD! 

We didn’t have dessert at the YAMATO, so we drove around and finally went into a Denny’s, which was decorated like an old-time diner.  It was very different from any other Denny’s we’d ever been in.  Really cute.  We shared a banana split, which was just what the doctor ordered!

We came back to the hotel, I unpacked, washed up, got in my pajamas, set up the computer and Eric took a shower and watched TV while I worked on the computer.

Tomorrow is Christmas Day, so most everything will be closed and it should be pretty quiet.  We’ll probably drive around a lot, so we will get to know some of the neighborhoods and drive into the actual city of Columbia.  We will do more driving on Wednesday, since the bike shop he’s renting his bike from won’t be open again until Thursday.  The weather report tonight said rain all weekend, which would be VERY bad for riding, so keep your fingers crossed for us!

The weather here today was just slightly cooler than San Diego.  We DID get here at 5:00pm, so I’m sure it was warmer during the day.  It was definitely pretty warm, even when we went out for dinner, and I was happy about that!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, TO ALL OUR DEAR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!

We had to get down to the lobby by 9:30am if we wanted the free Continental Breakfast.  I usually could not care less, but Eric was interested, and he woke me up at 8:00am.  Since we hadn’t gone to bed until 1:30am, and I hadn’t slept very well, I was REALLY tired, but I got up.  We took showers, got dressed and went downstairs.  It ended up being worthwhile.

They had honeydew (too soft), red grapefruit (too tart) and fresh pineapple (just right).  They also had two kinds of yogurt in the little containers – including Activia, which I thought was really considerate!

You had a choice of about 5 or 6 different cold cereals, or you could make instant oatmeal (they all came in the pre-measured bowls).  They had regular milk and 2% milk, orange juice, apple juice, and STARBUCKS coffee!  I was REALLY impressed by that!

They had English muffins and bagels, and a toaster, so you could have them hot, if you wanted.  They supplied margarine, cream cheese and butter.

I had some fruit, a cup of decaf coffee, a glass of orange juice and a toasted English muffin with cream cheese.  Eric had a cup of tea, instant oatmeal, fruit, a toasted bagel and a toasted English muffin (I told you he was interested!).

After breakfast we went back upstairs.  I watched TV and Eric fell back to sleep.  I watched most of WALK THE LINE, and I really enjoyed it.  I missed the first 45 minutes.

When the movie was over, I woke Eric up and we went out for a ride in the car.  The first place we went to was WALGREENS.  Somehow, Eric lost his reading glasses (not his prescription -- just the kind you get at the drug store), so we had to pick up another pair.  We also desperately needed gum (what else am I going to spit out the window?).

After that, we drove to Downtown Columbia, to see the city.  It was much more deserted than even I imagined (and I imagined it would be quiet).  It was absolutely dead.  No stores open, no restaurants open, no buildings open.  Dead.  Like a ghost town.  It was almost disconcerting.  We did see a couple of people driving around or walking down the street – a couple.

The city is relatively small.  I mean, any city is small when you compare it to New York, even the city of San Diego is small.  When I say “city” I mean the part where all the businesses are – the tall buildings – the business center – the hub.  We saw a lot of small cities as we drove through America.  This is another one.  Parts were just like any other city in the country – the Bank of America building looked like it could have been in Manhattan.  But, there were streets that looked like “small town America.”  Eric was not impressed.  I didn’t fall in love, but I didn’t dislike it either.  I figure I could get a job anywhere, so why not here?

After that we decided to try to find Harbison State Forest, which is supposed to provide some good mountain biking just 10 minutes outside Columbia.  We drove north up I-26 to I-20 to 215, but saw no signs about any forest.  We went as far as Jenkinsville (which was about 3 blocks long) and then headed west on 213 to 76 and then south again.  No sign of it.  I asked Eric to talk to the concierge at our hotel but, just like a man, he didn’t want to ask for directions.  He had his atlas!  Well, we followed the atlas and look where it got us.  We drove about 40 miles and couldn’t see the forest for the trees!

At least we got a good look at the surrounding area of Columbia.  Eric said we couldn’t live here.  It was much too rural.  I agreed, but told him there were still plenty of cities we could check out.  It’s funny, because as long as we were in California, Eric hated it, put it down, made jokes about it, and was generally negative.  Now that we’re in South Carolina, San Diego is looking better and better to him.  He even said he’s glad we came here, because it’s making him appreciate San Diego more.  Don’t ask.

I don’t understand it myself.  He apologized a couple of times for “dragging me here.”  I told him I don’t mind at all.  He feels bad that we spent the money to come out here for a week, when we could have visited family.  I told him I wanted to come out here, because if he’s not going to be happy in San Diego, I want to figure out where he DOES want to live.  If it’s not here, we have to keep looking.

Eric makes his mind up VERY fast.  We had only been here a day when he decided this wasn’t the place for him.  He made up his mind just as fast about San Diego.  I told him we’re going to be here until Monday morning, so he better hold his judgment until we get back to San Diego and has a chance to think about it.

Now, he’s talking about moving to Northern California.  I had suggested that right after the fires, before we ever moved to San Diego, but Eric didn’t like the idea then.  Why that has changed, I’ll never know, but he’s liking California more and more.

I’ll let you know what he says when we get back there!

When we got back to Irmo, we decided we were hungry and went to the only restaurant in town that was open – DENNY’S.  I expected it to be quiet, since it IS Christmas Day, but it was so busy we actually had to wait for a seat.  Now, this wasn’t a restaurant filled with people who don’t celebrate Christmas, like the Chinese restaurants and movie theaters in New York.  This was a restaurant filled with people who DO celebrate Christmas who decided to go out to eat at 3:30pm to Denny’s!  Again – don’t ask – I don’t understand it myself.

I had clam chowder and a fish sandwich with mashed potatoes.  Eric had chicken fried chicken with mixed veggies and French fries.  He also had a vanilla shake; I had iced tea.  I took home half my sandwich; Eric took home a piece of chicken fried chicken.  I don’t even know WHY it’s called Chicken Fried Chicken and not just Fried Chicken, except it’s a cutlet and not the usual piece of chicken that’s breaded and fried, and it is prepared like the Chicken Fried Steak, except it’s chicken.  Are you confused yet?  I know I am!

When we got back, Eric took another nap.  That’s a sure sign that he’s not happy – he always sleeps more when he’s depressed.  When Eric's busy and happy he can be up for 20 hours -- work, then ride, then watch TV, etc.  Otherwise, he sleeps a LOT.  While he slept, I watched an episode of MONK, and then was turning channels and found that WALK THE LINE was on again, and this time I only missed the first 20 minutes.  I watched it until I came to the part where I came in this morning.  I hope to catch it from the beginning some day!  It’s a really good movie with great performances by everyone.  No wonder they were nominated for Oscars!

Now, Eric is up and watching basketball and I’m working on the computer.  Tomorrow we are going to find the bicycle shop, even though it won’t be open, so we’ll know exactly where we have to go on Thursday.  While we were driving around today, we passed at least 5 antique shops and antique malls, so I know I’ll have plenty to do while he’s riding for the next few days!  I also saw a STARBUCKS in the city, so I know I can have my decaf raspberry mocha if I want.  I told Eric all I need to do is find a yoga studio and I’m ready to move here!  Unfortunately, he doesn’t feel the same!

I forgot I had taken pictures of our cute balcony in San Diego on Clairemont Drive, so I’m including a few pictures of the flowers Eric planted in the pots I bought.  I think it looks so nice and told Eric that now WE have the nicest balcony in the complex!

There are two of these planters:

There are two of these large wall pockets:

The two taller pots surround the smaller, bigger pot:

Here are a few pictures of the hotel room.  It is SO lovely and I’m enjoying it SO much!

The living room area of the suite:

Here's a picture of Eric trying to steal the flat panel TV!

The dressing area, outside the bathroom, with the granite countertop, and the dresser:

There's a small wall that separates the living room from the bedroom, but the light from one room flows through the "windows."  It's very clever.

Here's a close-up of the rug, which is really pretty and comfy!

There are two of these lights in the living room, and two in between the full-size beds.

I hope tomorrow will be a little more productive than today.  I want Eric to find out where the riding is, so he’s ready to roll on Thursday morning, when he goes to rent the bike.  I think it’s very important he follows through, although it IS supposed to rain, in which case, he won’t get to find out much.  That would really be a shame.  I hope the weatherman is wrong!

We missed the free Continental Breakfast this morning.  We just went to bed too late to get up so early.  Last night we stayed up until after 1:30am.  We decided to watch some movies (which were $10.00 each).  First we watched THE SIMPSONS MOVIE, which was good, but I was dying to watch HAIRSPRAY, and Eric agreed to stay up to watch it.  I had seen it already, but he hadn’t and he had seen the show on Broadway, and the original movie, and I knew he’d love it.  He did!  I was moving my feet the entire time (bed dancing, since I was laying in bed and dancing at the same time).  It’s just that kind of score!  I also love every single dress, every piece of costume jewelry, every purse, every accessory.  It’s FABULOUS!

So, since we missed the free Continental Breakfast, we decided to really sleep in and didn’t get out of bed until after 10:30am.  We finally left the hotel room a little before noon and went across the street to the CRACKER BARREL restaurant and store.  We had never been to one before, which is pretty unbelievable considering there are 560 restaurants ALL across the ENTIRE United States!   We just always thought of them as a “chain” and – as I’ve said before – we usually try to avoid those.  This was just SO convenient, we couldn’t resist!

It really is my kind of place.  The entire restaurant is filled with antiques and collectibles.  There’s an interesting history, too.  The first one was opened in Lebanon, Tennessee in 1969, and there was an antique store down the road.  They asked the owners of the store to decorate the restaurant for them, because they wanted an old time look.  The same family has been decorating all the Cracker Barrel restaurants and stores since then.  There are approximately 1,000 antiques in each Cracker Barrel location.  That’s a job I’d love to have!

I didn't notice that I got this couple in the photo, but -- seeing as I did -- do you believe this guy?  He couldn't even take off his bluetooth for lunch!

I got a grilled cheese with a cup of vegetable soup and iced tea.  Eric got the Old Timer’s breakfast, with turkey sausage, scrambled eggs and a potato casserole.  It also came with grits and biscuits and gravy.  He had apple cider, which tasted like fresh-squeezed apples.  Really refreshing!  Everything was really delicious and we had a great time.

After brunch we took a ride.  When we went downstairs to the lobby before brunch, I insisted that Eric ask someone where the Harbison State Forest was located, since we drove over 40 miles yesterday and couldn’t find it.  Turns out, it’s less than THREE MILES from the hotel.  Can you believe it?  All we had to do was make a right out of the parking lot, make a left at the light, and go about 3 miles.  We went down there and checked it out.  In the parking lot we saw two guys in a pickup truck with mountain bikes in the back and I made Eric talk to them.  When I say “I made” him, I mean that he said, “What am I going to ask them?  Why should I talk to them?”  I finally convinced him and they turned out to be two really nice guys.

They have just begun mountain biking and it was their first time at Harbison State Forest, although they are locals.  They took Eric’s number and gave him theirs and said they’d try to hook up for a ride on Friday.  When Eric got back in the car, I said, “You can thank me now, or you can thank me later.”  Eric thanked me and admitted I was right, which is never easy for him.  I don’t know why he has to be so stubborn.  I always say, it doesn’t hurt to talk to people or ask questions.  If we had asked yesterday, we would have found the park in 5 minutes, instead of driving around, but I guess it worked out, because we got to see the more rural areas of Columbia (which we didn't really like) and Eric met the two guys today (which he wouldn't have done if we went to the forest yesterday).

After that, we drove to a local bicycle shop, but they were also closed today.  Then, we decided to go to OUTSPOKIN’ BICYCLES, where Eric is renting a bike tomorrow, so we could see where it was.  We knew they were closed, but now Eric has an idea of their location, so it will be easier to find tomorrow.

We got to see a lot of different neighborhoods in Columbia, some of which were really nice.  I even saw a yoga studio!  I told Eric I found my three requirements: antiques, Starbucks and Yoga!  I’m ready to move here, but I don’t think he is!

After that, we found a STARBUCKS and I got a Peppermint Mocha Latte.  I’ve already explained how they taste exactly like an Andes Candies (the mints).  FABULOUS!!!

By now it was after 4:30pm.  We drove back to the hotel and relaxed, watched TV, and then took a nap (what else?).  We woke up at 7:30pm and went out to dinner.  We drove around for a while, but most of the places are barbecue and ribs, so we ended up at CARRABBA’S ITALIAN GRILL.  I was excited as soon as we got to the door, because there were a lot of words stenciled on the door, and one of them was GELATO!  I said, “Look, Eric.  They have gelato!” 

When you sit down, they bring you fresh-baked bread with olive oil infused with herbs.  We could have eaten the whole loaf, it was so good, but we resisted!

We started with the Crab Cakes appetizer, (Two crab cakes made with jumbo lump crabmeat, seared in a cast iron skillet and served with a roasted red bell pepper sauce), which were really delicious.  Eric’s dinner came with a salad.  I had the Damian Platter, which was a trio of seafood dishes -- Spiedino di Mare (Shrimp and sea scallops coated with Italian breadcrumbs, grilled and topped with lemon butter sauce), grilled salmon and lobster ravioli.  It was all really good. 
Eric had the Pasta Sostanza (which is just like our friend, Joe’s name – Costanza (and like George’s in SEINFELD), except with an “S.”  It was tagliani pasta with artichoke hearts, grilled shrimp, mushrooms and spinach in a tomato sauce.  It was SO good.

We were really stuffed (Eric even took his leftovers back to the hotel), but we thought we'd have some gelato.  We asked the waitress what flavors they had, and she said she didn't know what we were talking about.  We said, "On the door -- it says you have gelato."  And she said -- and I swear, these were her exact words -- "Oh, that's just words they put on the door.  I don't even know what gelato is."  We explained to her that it was a kind of ice cream.  They didn't have any desserts we really wanted, so we just came back here.

We were going to watch another movie, but we have to get up really early tomorrow, because Eric wants to rent the bicycle at 8:00am, so he can get in a good ride.  We’re just hoping it’s not raining when we wake up.  It rained last night, but today turned out to be a really nice day.  We need the same weather tomorrow!

That’s when we knew we wouldn’t fit in here—when we saw the big sign for “Smoked Hog Jowls – 79 cents a pound!”  It’s not that we’ve never eaten pork, but I’ve never even HEARD of hog jowls, let alone eaten them.  It’s not just that.  We talk differently than most people in San Diego, but we REALLY sound different than the people here.  They look at us a little funny when we talk.  We didn’t notice that in Alabama, or Mississippi, or Louisiana, or Oklahoma, or even Texas.  I don’t know why I notice it here, but I do.  It’s not everybody.  Some people are REALLY friendly—like the people who work at the hotel, but I guess they’re used to people from other places.  That’s the business they’re in!

Anyway, Eric’s met a lot of nice people.  He had a great ride today in Harbison State Park.  We got up at 8:00am, went downstairs to the free Continental Breakfast, and then went to OUTSPOKIN' bike shop to rent his bicycle.  He got it for three days.  We went back to the hotel, he geared up and I drove him to the park and dropped him off.

My first stop was not far from where he was riding – on Broad River Road.  It was an antique mall called OLE TOWNE ANTIQUE MALL.  I spent at least an hour there.  It was pretty big and they had lots of great stuff.  I found two rhinestone pins – one is blue with aurora borealis stones; the other is red with aurora borealis stones—both in mint condition and at a great price.

Next, I decided to drive into the city, because there are supposed to be a lot of antique shops on Gervais—which is a main street in the city.  I drove there—without even using Betty (since Eric and I had done the drive 3 times already).  I found the MARKETPLACE ON MEETING, which is an antique mall on Meeting Street in West Columbia.

The mall was really nice, and the woman who ran the place was really great.  She would open a case for me and walk away, so I could “play.”  Her trust in me was really gratifying!  Most places watch you like a hawk.  I never watched people in my shop, and I found that when you think the best of people they won’t disappoint you.  I never had one piece of jewelry stolen in 5 years, and I had tons of pins, necklaces and bracelets where anyone could touch them.

I found two bracelets – one gold metal with big yellow danging stones, which Eric said look like horses' teeth.  He said, “It looks like a horse teeth bracelet!”  I said, “Don’t say that!  I wouldn’t wear a bracelet made of horses’ teeth!”  Anyway, they just look like big yellow stones to me!  The other bracelet was flat silver metal squares with faux turquoise stones and ornamental silver pieces.  It fit perfectly (some bracelets are too big on my scrawny wrists) and looked great.  I was happy with all my purchases and figured I’d better stop before I spent too much!

My hair was bothering me, and I had a couple of bad hair days, because I needed a trim, so I decided to find a salon and get a haircut.  I ended up at J THOMAS SALON & COLOR STUDIO.  Kristie was available to cut my hair, and did a great job.  I was out of there in one-half hour and decided it was time to go back to the hotel.  It was 2:30pm.

I got back to HYATT PLACE and jumped in the shower, because I hate feeling all “hairy” after getting a haircut.  I took my cell phone in the bathroom with me, because I knew the minute I got in the shower Eric would call—and he did!  He wanted to give my email address to his new friend.  He had a great ride and was exchanging information with the two guys he rode with.

He got back soon after (because one of the guys drove him back to the hotel, instead of him riding back).  He was exhausted, because he said although it wasn’t very technical, it WAS very challenging and he’s not in top shape anymore, so he really had to work hard.  He said they were “kicking his ass” because he had a hard time keeping up, but it was really fun.

I showed him my purchases, which he "oohed" and "ahhed" over (he's so sweet) and he told me all about his ride.  He was really happy, and enthusiastic, and felt great about his day.  It was wonderful!  Then we watched Dr. Phil and took a nap (what else?).  We woke up around 6:00pm and decided to just walk over to the Cracker Barrel, rather than get in the car and drive someplace.

It's really a fun place.  They have this peg game on each table and I kept trying to do better than I had done yesterday, but instead I was doing worse!

Eric had the grilled cheese with bacon, mashed potatoes with gravy and Vidalia onion rings.  I had the veggie soup (again) and salad with some biscuits.  We finished it off by sharing a piece of Chocolate Pecan pie.  It was gooey and delicious!

We walked back to the hotel and rented LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD.  The story line was ridiculously impossible, but I loved it anyway.  Eric calls it DIE HARD-Y HAR HAR.  He didn’t like it as much, because he said it was so unrealistic—but that’s the whole idea--that it could never really happen and the more unrealistic it is and the more he manages to avoid all the bullets, cars and helicopters coming at him, the more I like it. 

I love Bruce Willis in most everything he's ever done, and the new kid -- Justin Long -- is great in this film.  I liked him a lot in ED, which was a cute romantic comedy on TV a few seasons ago.

DIE HARD is one of our favorite movies, which we've seen a million times. I love the second one, too.  The third wasn’t a favorite of mine, but this is definitely one for my “can’t not watch” list—if it’s on TV, I’ll watch it.

Many of you who know me know about my “Can’t Not Watch” list.  It’s the list of movies that, if I find myself turning channels and find on TV, I have to watch.  I can’t not watch!  Some of them include SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, A FISH CALLED WANDA, BEETLEJUICE, DIE HARD, DAVE, MOONSTRUCK, E.T., and THE GREEN MILE.  We’re not talking classics here, like CASABLANCA, CITIZEN KANE or GONE WITH THE WIND.  These are just fun, contemporary movies that I find endlessly entertaining.  Eric feels the same about a lot of them, but I can watch a movie a HUNDRED times, if I really love it.

I’m the same way with some TV shows, too.  FRIENDS, SEINFELD, WILL & GRACE – I never get tired of them, and there are some episodes I know by heart!  If I like something…

So, it’s supposed to pour tomorrow.  Eric already heard from his “new friend” saying the ride was off tomorrow.  If it doesn’t rain, he’ll probably just ride Harbison State Forest again, but it probably will rain.  It’s pretty much raining along the entire East Coast.  Just our luck!

I say it was a wasted day, because it never really rained today, which is a shame, because we planned for a rainy day!  The TV, the radio and the newspapers all said it was going to rain all day today, so we ended up staying up really late last night.

After LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD, we watched most of ALONG CAME A SPIDER with Morgan Freeman.  He’s such a great actor it’s a pleasure to watch any film he’s in.  That ended at 3:00am.  It’s amazing how late Eric has been staying up lately.  It’s nothing for me – I’m a night owl – but for him to stay up until 3:00am is a miracle!

We didn’t mind staying up late, because we assumed it would be pouring this morning when we finally woke up.  I probably would have slept until noon, but some kids were making a lot of noise out in the hall and I looked at the clock.  It was 9:30am.  I tried to listen carefully, to see if I could hear rain outside, but I couldn’t.  I lay there, wanting to fall back to sleep, but SO curious as to whether or not it was raining that I couldn’t.  I finally got up, looked out the window and it was perfectly dry.  The sun wasn’t shining, but it wasn’t raining either.

We decided that Eric would gear up and we would drive an hour to a place called FATS (Forks Area Trail System) near Edgefield County in a town called Clarks Hill.  It was very close to Augusta, so we would be driving southwest, almost to Georgia.  We had gone only about 10 miles when it started to drizzle, then pour.  It might have been different if we kept driving, we might have driven through the clouds and come out to a sunny day on the other side, but Eric said it wasn’t worth driving all that way in the rain, so we turned around.

He decided that, since it was supposed to rain tomorrow, too, he would just return the bicycle.  The bike shop is closed on Sundays, so we had to return it by 5:00pm on Saturday.  So, here’s the weird thing.  By the time we drove the 10 miles back to Columbia and returned the bike, it had stopped raining.  It was about 1:00pm and we decided to get something to eat. 

We asked for a local place that wasn’t a chain and the guy in the bike shop recommended YESTERDAYS on Devine Street.  I got a piece of quiche with cucumber salad and macaroni and cheese sides, and Eric got the potato skins with chicken on top.  Their food was good, but nothing spectacular.

By the time we came out of there, the sun was shining!  We were both so mad and frustrated, because Eric could have ridden locally, at Harbison State Forest, even if we didn’t go to FATS.  He returned the bike because the newspaper, TV and radio all predicted rain today, but it never did happen!  They're all big liars -- or really bad at predicting weather!

We ended up driving around Columbia after lunch.  We stopped at another Starbucks and found a cute little neighborhood with lots of trendy little boutiques, galleries and shops.  It was the kind of neighborhood where I would love to have a shop.

It's hard to tell, but this entire tree was covered with red lights:

We drove around and found some really nice neighborhoods, and then some not-so-nice neighborhoods.  We saw a sign for an apartment for rent in a small building and I decided to call the realty company and ask about it.  Turns out it was 1,600 square feet – 3 bedrooms, 1-1/2 baths – for $1,200 a month.  Can you believe it?  It wasn’t the best neighborhood, but it was still nice, and the guy said it had just been rewired, with new wood floors, etc.  Can you imagine what a one-bedroom would cost?  The only problem is, the salaries are probably just as low as the rents, so what’s the use?

We got back to the hotel in the late afternoon and watched some TV and then took a nap.  We woke up and decided to go back into Columbia to see what their Friday nightlife was like.  We left at about 8:30pm.  We drove around a while, then parked in the same neighborhood where I had gotten my hair done, and walked around the neighborhood.  We finally decided to go to eat at a place called THE BLUE MARLIN.  It made us laugh, because we once went out to eat with Geri and Larry in College Point to a new restaurant called THE BLUE MARLIN and it was some of the worst food we ever ate.

It was about a year ago that we had this experience.  I think I had a coupon, since the restaurant in College Point had just opened, and the coupon said the restaurant was called THE BLUE FIN, but when we got there, I’m pretty sure it said THE BLUE MARLIN outside, so we were immediately confused.  The first sign that it wasn’t a great place was when we ordered drinks and they gave us cans – of iced tea, ginger ale, etc.  I figure even if you’re serving soda from a can, the least you can do is open it in the kitchen and pour it into a glass!  It was downhill from there.  The four of us laughed about that place for months.

This BLUE MARLIN in Columbia was the exact opposite.  It was very fancy, very beautiful and the food was one of the best meals we’ve had in a long time – maybe since San Francisco, New Orleans or Los Angeles!

We ordered drinks – a Shaken Betty martini for me (Raspberry vodka, Chambord, and pineapple juice) and a Bloody Mary for Eric.  My drink was SO perfect – sweet and not too strong!  Eric’s Bloody Mary was nice and spicy – just the way he likes it!

After looking over their extensive menu, we decided to have a dinner of appetizers, which is one of our favorite ways to try a lot of different dishes in one meal.  We started with two cups of soup: Classic She Crab Soup—Fresh lump crab meat in a rich, creamy soup served with a spoonful of sherry on the side; and New Orleans Seafood Gumbo—An original Orleans recipe with shrimp, crawfish, mahi, okra, etc.  The gumbo was the best I’ve ever had, and the crab soup was fabulous, too.

We had the soups with a salad – chunks of bleu cheese, candied pecans, cranberries and raspberry vinaigrette over mixed greens.

After that we shared Ahi Tuna Sashimi—Sesame seared tuna in teriyaki sauce, wasabi and pickled ginger; a Crab & Spinach Fondue—Fresh crab meat and spinach combined in a creamy mornay sauce served with toasted garlic crisps; and broiled scallops with a lima bean, tomato, and corn salsa.

There was so much food that we hardly touched the Crab & Spinach Fondue, so we brought it back to the hotel!  We were too stuffed for dessert, so we just got the check, put the leftovers in the car, and walked around the neighborhood.  There was an interesting combination of shops, art galleries, bars and restaurants.  The weather was perfect – 68 degrees – at night – on the Friday before New Year’s.  This is weather I could live with!

Here I am on Gervais Street -- the main strip in Columbia -- next to a giant urn!

We got back to the hotel and there was a fight on HBO, so Eric was happy and I decided to work on the computer.  We are going to wake up early tomorrow (8:00am).  If it’s not raining, we will get dressed, have the free Continental Breakfast and be at the bike shop by 10:00am, when they open, so Eric can rent the bike again.  We will drive to Clarks Hill and see if he can’t get in another great ride before we head back to San Diego.

As Tony Joe White wrote:

A rainy night in Georgia, a rainy night in Georgia
It seems like it's rainin' all over the world
I feel like it's rainin' all over the world

This song, recorded by the likes of Ray Charles, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Al Hirt, Herbie Mann, Nelson Riddle & his Orchestra, The Temptations Revue, B.J. Thomas, Conway Twitty, Hank Williams Jr., and the composer, really says it all.  When it rains here, it feels like it’s rainin’ all over the world. 

We got up at 8:00am and were downstairs having the free Continental Breakfast by a little after 9:00am.  It had rained during the night, but it wasn’t raining when we left.  Eric decided it probably wasn’t worth it to rent the bicycle again, because it really looked like rain, but we decided to drive to AUGUSTA, GEORGIA anyway, and – if by some chance it wasn’t raining there – we would find a bike store and rent a bike, so he could ride FATS, like he planned.

The ride took a little over an hour.  Augusta was a nice little town.  The first thing I saw when we got off the exit was a Starbucks, so I knew I would like it there right away.  We also saw a big billboard for an antique mall, so I was excited!  We followed directions I had taken off the internet for where the forest was, but – again – we couldn’t find any signs leading us to the main entrance, or the place where the trails start.  It started to rain, then pour.  It was teeming – really coming down.

We were just going to head back, but we figured I might as well do a little shopping.  Eric dropped me off at one antique mall, but it was just room after room of furniture.  Then, he took me a couple of blocks away to another place, called THE ANTIQUE MARKET, which seemed the same at first, but I asked the owner, Suzette, about accessories and she showed me a single booth that had hats, hankies, purses and costume jewelry.  I was in heaven!  I looked around and then she opened the cases for me, so I could see a couple of pieces.  Their prices were ridiculously low – much lower even than Columbia.  Suzette was so sweet and helpful.  It was a delightful experience.

I ended up getting a gorgeous navy blue petit point and needlepoint purse with a flower design, which is in mint condition, a round pin with lots of white stones (which will look fabulous on black), and a really old 1920s pin with three light blue plastic flowers with a blue glass marble in the center of each and three gold chains dangling with a blue glass marble at the end of each.  It’s SO pretty, so different, and I love anything with dangles, because the movement attracts the eye!
When I left the antique mall it was really coming down.

We drove to the Starbucks and, luckily, the had a drive thru, so I didn’t have to get out.  I got my iced decaf venti nonfat raspberry mocha latte and we hit the road.  It was only 70 miles, but Eric was driving very carefully (as he always does), so it took us an hour and a half to get back.  By the time we got here it was not even raining anymore, but it was still very dark and dreary out.

We came upstairs and Eric watched TV while I took a nap.  We had lots of leftovers from the last couple of days, so we brought it all downstairs at about 4:00pm and they heated everything up for us.  We watched TV in a little sitting area, ate our leftovers, and then bought a piece of chocolate cheesecake and came back upstairs.   We were stuffed from all the leftovers, but we knew we’d want something sweet later on and didn’t want to have to go back down.

We knew we were in for the night.  I was hoping to watch DREAMGIRLS, because it’s been on HBO for the past couple of days, but every time I find it it’s in the middle, and Eric wants to watch it from the very beginning (and I can’t really blame him).

After flipping through the channels 4 or 5 times (and Eric was ready to kill me), we decided to rent another movie.  We watched SUPERBAD, which is really funny.  There are three young actors in it (who play high school seniors) and they were hysterical.  We highly recommend it!

At around 11:00pm I ended up going downstairs to the lobby where they have a little snack bar and got a bottle of water for Eric and a grapefruit IZZE for me (sparkling water and fruit juice).  There’s something very cool about getting anything you want and just giving them the card key that opens your door.  They slide it through the register and it is automatically charged to your room.  Very cool.

Eric’s happily watching football and I’m almost finished with FOR ONE MORE DAY, which I am really enjoying.  It’s another beautiful book by Mitch Albom.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another rainy day and Eric was thinking about taking another drive to see more of South Carolina.  I was happy we took the drive today, even though he didn’t get to ride, because we saw a lot more of South Carolina, and a little bit of Georgia, too.

As Neil Sedaka sang:

Oo, I hear laughter in the rain
Walking hand in hand with the one I love
Oo, how I love the rainy days
And the happy way I feel inside

It’s been raining on and off for three days, but Eric and I haven’t let it ruin our good time.  We’ve been enjoying Columbia, Irmo, and the surrounding areas, and making the best of the wet weather.  The one thing I’m happy about is, even though it’s been raining, it’s been very warm – at least 65 degrees every day, most days about 70!  So, the rain doesn’t bother me much.

We really slept in this morning, even though we didn’t go to bed very late last night.  We watched SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE with John C. Reilly hosting, and turned off the TV around 1:00pm.

Eric woke me around 8:00am and asked if I wanted to go down to breakfast, but I wasn’t interested and we both fell back to sleep.  The next thing I knew, housekeeping was knocking on the door and it was 10:45am.  We told them we were still sleeping and they left.

We got up, took showers, got dressed and decided go out to do laundry, since there wasn’t much else to do.  I also wanted to try to get a manicure, so my nails would look nice on New Year’s Eve.

We took all the dirty laundry we had accumulated all week and left the hotel.  First, we ate lunch at a place called FATZ CAFE.

Fried Green Tomatoes.  Doesn't this look delicious?

We started with Fried Green Tomatoes (Southern green tomatoes, hand breaded and fried on top of creamy stone-ground cheese grits with their special FATZ remoulade sauce).  You know how Eric loves his grits (which is one reason he loves the south so much!).  Well, this dish was fantastic.  We loved it!

Shrimp and Grits--so good they could be "Magic Grits!" 

Eric had MORE grits with lunch—Edisto Shrimp & Grits (their version of a lowcountry classic.  Stone-ground cheese grits with Cajun jumbo and popcorn shrimp and chopped bacon drizzled with burgundy mushroom gravy.  Garnished with parmesan cheese.  He loved it and I thought it was delicious, too!

I had soup and salad – the Loaded Potato Soup (rich, hearty homemade potato soup topped with Monterey jack, cheddar and bacon, and a Caesar salad.  Eric ate all the bacon pieces off the top, and the rest of the soup was creamy and fabulous!

We were both impressed with the quality of the food, since this is a chain with restaurants in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia.

After lunch we drove a few miles to the coin laundry and I did 2 loads.  We drove around town for a half hour and then Eric waited in the car while I put the clothes in the dryer.  I like to hang out while the clothes are drying, because I don’t let everything dry all the way.

After the laundry was done, I dropped Eric off at the hotel, so he could watch football, and I drove off to find a nail salon.  The waitress at FATZ had given me a few leads, but we weren’t sure they would be open on Sunday.

I found a place called NAIL PRO on Harbison Boulevard and I was actually the only customer!  I got a manicure and then, since I was in a shopping center, I decided to do a little shopping.  I went into a clothing store, tried on a few things, but didn’t buy anything.  Then, I saw a fabric store called HANCOCK FABRICS and decided it would be fun to take a look.

I was actually thinking about finding a fabric store in San Diego, because I wanted to make another frame with velvet for my other rhinestone pins.  The only pins I have on the black velvet with the silver frame are my clear rhinestone pins (in silver metal).  I decided to get a yard of chocolate brown crushed velour velvet and then I would find an ornate gold frame in San Diego to put all the multi-colored rhinestone pins.  It should look really pretty!  I figured it would be easy to pack a yard of fabric, and I should get it now, since it was very cheap ($7 per yard) and it was the exact color I wanted.

It was starting to get dark, so I drove back to the hotel.  Eric was relaxing in bed watching football and I read more of my book.  I am almost done.  We left to go out for dinner at 6:30pm.  We were going to drive to Columbia again, but it was still rainy and we figured it would be better to stay local.

First, we filled up with gas.  We have to give the rental back with a full tank.  Then, we decided to go to CARRABBA’S ITALIAN GRILL again.  It was really good food and we enjoyed it last time.  We thought this was the second time we were ever there, but when we were in Florida and Eric’s sister and family took us out to eat, that’s where they took us!  I only figured that out tonight, when I was blogging, because I did a search for CARRABAS and it took me to the paragraph in my blog about our trip to Ft. Lauderdale!

Tonight, we got two delicious dishes.  Eric had a salad, and broiled rainbow trout with a side of fettuccini Alfredo.  I had a cup of minestrone and the manicotti.  I haven’t had manicotti in years.  Everything was delicious.  Our waiter, Ryan, was very sweet, but a bit of a “hoverer.”  It seemed like every time we looked up, he was standing there telling us our meals were on the way, or asking if we needed more drinks, or if everything tasted good.

Then, when the meal was done, it took him forever to bring us the check and then another 10 minutes to bring us the receipt to sign.  It was 7:57pm when he finally brought it.  We wanted to go across the street to an ice cream place to bring home dessert.  I said, “If the ice cream place closes at 8:00pm, I’m going to kick Ryan’s ass.”  Luckily, the ice cream shop was still open and Eric and I each got a scoop in a cup to go.

I got my usual – Chocolate and Peanut Butter.  Eric got something called a White Turtle, which was vanilla ice cream with pecans and caramel.  You’re never too full for ice cream!

There was more football on when we got back, so Eric watched TV and I read my book and worked on the computer.

We have to go to bed really early tonight, because we are leaving tomorrow and our flight is at 6:15am, so the alarm is set for 3:30am. 

My mom called and I spoke to her for a while.  Then, I packed as much as I could, so we would be ready in the morning.

I’m anxious to get home.  I miss the apartment!  I’m also ready to start working and I’m hoping there will be lots of temp jobs coming my way.  I have a lot of crafting projects in mind, and I’m excited to find a frame to use with the brown velvet.  There’s a lot to look forward to!

We got up at 3:30am and left the hotel at 4:30am.  We arrived at the airport, returned the car, and got our boarding passes for our flights.  There was actually an earlier connecting flight in Houston, so we ended up getting back at 11:00am, instead of almost noon.  The flights were uneventful; in fact I slept most of the time on both flights!  They didn’t serve breakfast on the first (as they did when we were going to SC) but served breakfast on the second (Eric had my cereal and muffin, as well as his own!).

When the flight landed, we got on the shuttle bus and were home very quickly.  Eric immediately watered our flowers (which, by the way, are looking FABULOUS!).  I dropped my stuff and got the mail (lots of mail – wheeeeeeeeee!), then went food shopping.  I wanted to buy drinks for the party (they asked that you bring what you like to drink for the meal), and some brownies to put on the tray I had made for the party.

I did the food shopping, got everything I needed and headed home.  I bought some more of that IZZE soda, since it was so good – the Pomegranate flavor; I also got two kinds of organic fruit juice.  I found big containers of brownie bites in two varieties, which was so perfect, because it’s easy to “nosh” and you don’t have to commit to an entire brownie!

Once we unpacked all the groceries, we took a nap.  Eric didn’t sleep well, but I definitely had a good nap.  We woke up around 5:00pm, took showers, and got dressed.  We were so happy that the party was casual, because we just weren’t in the mood (especially Eric) for anything fancy.  In fact, in the invitation they said to bring comfy socks, since all shoes would be left at the door.  Since most of my outfits involve high heeled shoes, I decided to wear my comfy leopard pants and a black shirt, and dressed up the outfit with some great vintage jewelry pieces.  I brought a pair of Betty Boop slipper socks that Geri had given me.  I was comfy and dressy at the same time – you can’t beat that!

We had considered taking the RV, so we could sleep in it overnight, but it seemed too complicated to pack it, check the generator, etc., so we decided to drive up in the PT (which saves a lot on gas and time) and just stay over in a motel.  After all, we were already packed!

We left a little before 7:00pm.  The party started at 9:00am.  It was a fondue party, which sounded really delicious.  I had never had a cheese fondue – just chocolate fondue – so I was really looking forward to it.  We arrived just around 9:00pm.

Our hosts, Greg and Julie have a lovely old bungalow, which they have expanded and renovated.  They added a master suite to the back and broke down walls to make a large open kitchen area.  Greg also tiled a big kitchen island with beautiful green and decorative tiles.  He’s very handy! 

They have two young sons, Aiden and Zachary, who were so sweet, fun and well-behaved.  They were a pleasure.  There were some other kids there last night, and a one-year-old that Eric and I really enjoyed.  Her name was Callie and she was such a sweet and happy baby, clapping hands and waving.

Soon after we arrived my phone rang – it was midnight in NY -- and Susan and Andrew called; then Geri and Larry.  It was great to hear from the “New York Contingent.”

As PRIMAS sings: Come with us we’ll sail the Seas of Cheese.

Julie and Greg had quite a spread – cubes of bread, chicken, beef and lamb, with lots of vegetables.  There were two kinds of cheese to dip in and pots of hot oil in which to cook the chicken, beef, lamb and veggies.  The cheese fondue was to die for.  I always tell people I’m the “Cheese Queen,” because I love cheese so much, so I was in heaven.  They also had all kinds of dipping sauces – like horseradish sauce, anchovy, garlic, mustard, etc., for the meats and vegetables.  Everyone was having so much fun standing around the big table, dipping, cooking, and eating.  It was fun, festive, delicious and cozy – all at the same time!

People kept arriving all night long.  We met a lot of great people, who were all very interested to hear that we had just returned from South Carolina that morning, and had recently moved to San Diego from NY.  We explained that we knew Greg from mutual friends in the theater community in NYC.  We had never met Julie until last night.  They are a beautiful, sweet, loving family and it was an honor to spend an evening in their home.

People were still cooking and dipping the meats and cheese when our hosts set up the chocolate fountain.   They had marshmallows and all kinds of fruit to dip in the fountain.  It was delicious and sweet and decadent!  People were dipping the brownie bites in the chocolate, too.  We all were having so much fun.

Before midnight, their son, Zachary, went around giving out plastic leis, paper hats and tiaras, horns, and poppers to bring in the New Year.  At midnight – our first New Year’s Eve Pacific Time – we blew our horns, pulled the poppers and wished each other a Happy New Year!

We left shortly after, since Eric had decided we would drive all the way back to San Diego.  I don’t know how he was still going after being up more than 24 hours and traveling across the country in 2 planes and then driving 2 hours, but he was fine.  Neither of us had anything to drink (except fruit juice and IZZE), so he was good to drive.

We left at 12:45am and were home before 3:00am.  We fell into bed and went right to sleep.  It was a SUPER long day (and night).  Greg and Julie already invited us next year, since they say this is a yearly tradition.  It was a wonderful night and a great welcome to the West Coast!