Close up of Tiffany style lamp
Steven has been working very hard on preparing for the Olympics at work – less than two weeks! Be sure to check out his hard work at NBColympics.com.
We went to Universal Studios Hollywood on Saturday with Heather and Dave to activate our 2010 Annual Pass. It was the first day Steven was back in LA, and the first day of the week it was clear after all the rain.
Apollo was happy to have Steven home, but was especially sad that Jessi left after her visit.
We experienced a hailstorm tonight for about two minutes tonight, which was very exciting. Hopefully that is the most excitement we will have!
Close up of hail on our back steps.
View of the hail on the back steps.
Steven driving to the Central Coast through a mountain pass
Our fabulous room at the San Luis Creek Lodge
Patriotic sunset in Pismo Beach on our way to see Avatar
Walking path along San Luis Creek in downtown SLO
Perfect day at Pismo Beach
Monarch butterfly sanctuary in Pismo Beach - the brown blobs are hundreds of butterflies
Adam, Jenn and Victoria at Cracker Barrel
Jerri, Mom, Victoria, and Maddie on Christmas Day
Fresco in his Kansas City Chiefs jersey
Our big gifts were new cookware and new dinnerware:
Plates from Ikea
New cookware by Cusinart
Seed starter kit from Steven for an herb garden
Hard to believe that we are halfway through December already! The house is all decorated and we are about ready to head to Florida for Christmas. The past couple of weeks have been very busy with lots of playing of gigs in Santa Barbara and Torrance. I’m playing several Christmas concerts at Grace Community Church this week, which happily is close to our house. This is my last week of teaching and playing, and then I fly to Jacksonville on Monday, December 21. I should arrive just in time for Martinis and Messiah! Steven leaves the 22nd and is going straight to see his family in Vero Beach. My parents will drive me down to Vero and visit for a couple days after Christmas day. It has been raining really hard all last week, and here were some clouds hanging over the mountains on our walk this morning:
Apollo doesn’t like wearing clothes, but it’s so cold in the morning now (40 ish degrees) that I make him wear a sweatshirt. Here he is in his Stetson hoodie!
I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Steven and I had a lovely, quiet Thanksgiving with Apollo and a really large turkey. Read more…
This week was very busy with rehearsals in Santa Barbara, culminating in two concerts this weekend. Happily, Steven was able to come stay the weekend with me in SB and we had a lovely time. I was there to play 2nd oboe on Handel’s oratorio “Israel in Egypt” by the SB Master Chorale, but in between we had fun sightseeing in the area.
We drove up on Saturday after lunchtime and spent a couple of hours at the Camarillo Outlets. We continued up the 101 as the sun was setting:
We checked into our hotel and had dinner in downtown Santa Barbara. Steven attended the concert Saturday night, and then we had dessert following the concert!
Sunday morning we had breakfast at Andersen’s Danish Restaurant and Bakery, which was just adorable. Every breakfast came with a “surprise” – they picked a couple of amazing pastries to go with your meal!
We visited the Santa Barbara Courthouse, built in 1929 in a Spanish/Moorish style.
We went to the top of the clock tower and had a panoramic view of the city and beaches!
The Santa Barbara Mission is in the center of this picture:
View of the ocean and mountains:
Then we went down to the beach and walked up Stearns Wharf. It was a perfect day, clear and cool, and we enjoyed looking at the ocean and sail boats from the pier.
Then we walked up and down the beach looking at an art fair. We had fish for lunch on the beach and went back into town so I could get ready to perform the second concert. We were glad to get back home Sunday evening and reunite with Apollo!
Last night we went to Heather’s improv show, and actually dressed up! Victoria was Elphaba, the “Wicked” witch of the West, and Steven was Captain Hammer from Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog. We had a great time, and enjoyed lounging around today.
Apollo being adorable in his costume:
Apollo reprised his role as Red Ears the Pirate, and succeded in scaring a couple little children who came to the door. He did very well sitting and staying while we gave out candy. We didn’t have too many trick-or-treaters, we only gave away about half of the large Costco size bag of candy.
Candles leading up the stairs to our pumpkin (that’s the Rebel Insignia from Star Wars on the pumpkin) and spooky lights on the wreath. We actually had the porch light on most of the night to be more inviting to kids.
Happy Halloween!