Friday, August 31, 2018

August Recap

What a difference a year makes!
Last year in August there were very (bad) things happening: Terrorism attack in Barcelona, huge floods in Houston. And at home, it was a bad month for Marvin, hospital, emergencies... pain, hip wound infection...I had a meltdown and anxiety, spider/bug bites galore. And to top it all, a total eclipse of the sun!

This year, August was a very good month, but missing Marvin...

August 1- Crystal Cove Park, Olive Garden
August 7 - Sandy got a cute turtle tattoo, her first. With N to  San Juan Capistrano all day. Wonderful                   dessert at Les Hirondelles.
August 8- To Jersey School, lunch with Jennifer. Geezers.
August 10- Tristan got rear ended but  he's OK, car was totaled  :(
August 11- Jacuzzi party at home with teachers and friends.
August 13- To Porto's
August 15- Sandy and Marty's 25th Anniversary.
August 17- Get 2 pairs of Sketchers
August 18- Sandy to San Diego
August 19- With Sandy and Lizzie to El Cholo
August 20- To San Diego with girls and Lulu. Nice walks,  L's apartment and rooftop, lunch and                            dinner in cool places.
August 21-Breakfast croissant, to Coronado, drinks at the Hotel lovely (fries yum) Lolita's. Take S to                   airport and  drive to home.
August 22- 12 Sixty with L then she went back to SD
August 24- Podiatry and Los Alamitos Fish Company with N. Then home clean Jacuzzi etc.
August 27- To Hiccups and talk to Farmer's
August 28- To Long Beach. Gelson's Candy Cotton grapes. Drive around.
August 31- Lizzie to LM for Labor Day weekend.


MOVIES I'VE WATCHED THIS MONTH


BOOKS I'VE READ THIS MONTH




Wednesday, August 29, 2018

San Diego

I was born in a big city, Barcelona. But after marrying an American I came to the US and have lived in small towns in Northern California, Idaho and now in Southern California. My two daughters  were born in small towns, one in Northern California, the other in Idaho, lived in smaller towns until they went to  the University. They now live in cities, one  close to Salt Lake City and the other in San Diego.

On August 18th Sandy visited from Salt Lake City, she flew to San Diego, the next day she and Lizzie came to see me, and on Monday we all drove to San Diego, with Lulu.

San Diego is a beautiful city, with great weather, close to the ocean, with many restaurants and bars and fun places to go. I had not been in San Diego since the  first time I went with Marvin to see Lizzie's apartment last year.. She lives in the 9th floor of an apartment building downtown San Diego. It's a very nice apartment.


 From her roof she has gorgeous views of the Ocean, the baseball Park and the downtown area.



After we rested a little we went out to lunch to a nice place near the ballpark, 
then we walked around downtown. 

There's a lot to see, I like cities!  We stopped for a drink in a bar restaurant, can't think of the name, we sat outside, facing the street. We all had a beer. That place had an unusual bathroom :)

We  left and walked around some more, I think  about 5 miles :) Then went back to the apartment and the girls took Lulu for a walk.  Later we went to dinner, again I can't remember the name of the Restaurant, but it was very nice and we sat outside. I remember I had Irish sausage and  a  strawberry cocktail that tasted of herbs. I wanted something sweet so we walked  to Ghirardelli's where I had a nice hot chocolate with whipped cream. It was getting a little windy and it hit the spot.
And then it was back to the apartment, another little walk for Lulu and bedtime. Thanks Lizzie for letting me have your bed, I slept very well.

In the morning we went to a cute little french place for breakfast , they have great croissants! After a little walk to see the San Diego Library which is very close to Lizzie's apartment, we went back to the decide what to do until we had to take Sandy back to the airport.  We decided to go to Coronado Island. It was a beautiful sunny day, warm but not hot. We stopped close to the Hotel del Coronado and they decided to get their feet wet , they said the water was warm, unusual for the Pacific :)
Then we went to the Hotel deck and had really delicious garlic fries and several adult beverages. Loved the Island Breeze!

We enjoyed our time there very much, it was pleasant, sunshine, breeze, 
good food and drinks and great company!


It's a beautiful hotel in a great setting

We went back to San Diego and stopped at Lolita's for some  nice Mexican food to go, which we ate at the roof. It was fun. Then it was time to start getting ready to go :(  Lulu went for another walk. 
She was thinking she liked city life :)

We took Sandy to the airport, then we stopped at Extraordinary Desserts and had my favorite slice of cake to go. And from there on to home!  It was a full, fun few days with my girls!!!








Saturday, August 25, 2018

Fun August

So far this month has been fun! :)
 I haven't written much of anything because I have been, yes, busy.
I will write a little about it, and put some pictures too. 
Tomorrow I will write about the San Diego trip :)

On August 1st I went for a nice drive with N along PCH,  and spent a lovely day at the Crystal Cove Park. It is a beautiful place with great views of the Pacific . We walked a lot almost down to the beach. It was a gorgeous day!  We had dinner at an Italian Restaurant in the way back home.



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On August 7, N had to go to run an errand to San Juan Capistrano and asked me to go along. I had not been to the Mission for quite a few years so we spent the day the visiting the Mission, both the old one and the newer Basilica.

 The golden retablo, an 18.5 feet wide by 22.5 feet tall baroque altarpiece originates from Barcelona, Spain and is made of hand-carved wood with a gold leaf. 
It is estimated to be well over 330 years old.

Father Junipero Serra was a Catalan from Mallorca, and many of his writings 
at the Mission were in Catalan. This is part of the original walls and bells.

After  seeing the Mission and Basilica we were hungry. There was a Mexican Restaurant across from the Basilica so we went there, he liked his meal but I didn't care much for mine, so we decided to walk to my first choice Les Hirondelles, a nice French Restaurant with a very pretty terrace. We had dessert, one of the best creme brulees I ever had!


Our table
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On August 11, I invited some of my teacher friends for a nice evening of drinks and potluck and Jacuzzi. Six women and 2 men. I was pleased to see that the only 2 male teachers at Jersey came to my get together :) We had a lot of fun, lots of drinks, lots of food. 




Even Lulu was happy to be there!

Fun days!

Thursday, August 16, 2018

Happy 25th Anniversary!

August 15, 1993


Love you ,
Mama