Cuteness Overload

Geoffrey is on TV!!

Our nephew, Geoffrey, is in the North Carolina State University Band. We just spotted him during the football game on our TV in Seattle!!
Cool!! Go, Geoff!!

We're not in San Francisco Anymore

Seen at the Kirkland Costco: Noble Fir 8' Christmas Tree for $39.00. This would easily be three times as expensive in San Francisco. (No, I did not buy one.)

Cloud City

Back in Bellevue, where it's 30 degrees and foggy.

We are living in Cloud City. :)

Flight Upgrade!!

6:30am flight back to Seattle made easier with an upgrade. Apparently, no one flies this early on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. This is, by far, the most empty flight I've ever been on between San Francisco and Seattle.

Be Still my Heart...

Two of my favorite musicians/entertainers together in a photo.

"Speakeasy" Painting: Session One

I'm really excited with the start of my newest painting. Thankful that Dean and I were able to squeeze in a painting session today before I head back up to Seattle early tomorrow morning

By Dean's suggestion, I started this one as a monochrome and will add more colors as it progresses. I did the same starting technique with Sophie's Ballerina painting, and the Taxi painting. I love how the whole canvas filled up so quickly and how most of the major components are already in place.

I also varnished and fitted the "Caltrain/Girl with the Pink Umbrella" painting in its frame and hung it up.






end of session one

More photos from Dickens Faire

Had a ton of fun (as usual) at the Dickens Faire yesterday.

We arrived when they opened at 10:00am. Good crowds, but not as crowded as other times we've been.

Dickens Faire Bound!!

The boys are dressed and ready to head out to the Dickens Faire. Third year in a row!

Thanksgiving with the Family

I'm so happy to have had Thanksgiving with our family in Milpitas for the first time in five years!!

It was a smaller crowd this year, but so wonderful!

My Mom makes this best turkey and gravy.

Great food, great conversation, a day with family, and the last Thanksgiving at the Chow House, Milpitas.

So thankful for my family and being home on this Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Visit with a High School Friend

Had a wonderful visit with our Junior High/High School friend, Tatia, this afternoon!! We hadn't seen each other since 1985 or so. We were all in Milpitas today to spend Thanksgiving with our families.

Tatia brought her photo album from 1983 to share (my sister and Tatia were in Winter Guard together in 1983). How fun!!!

Sent from my iPhone- please ignore any inadvertent  autocorrect typos. :)

Thanksgiving Tree!!

I know, I know.... It's too early!! Today is Thanksgiving, and we're not supposed to out up the Christmas Tree yet.

Dick and I are only in San Francisco for a few days this time around, and wanted to get the tree up before we come back next month for Christmas. We're booked for the rest of today (Chow Family Thanksgiving) and have plans all day tomorrow. The only free time we had to put the tree up was yesterday afternoon and this morning, so there you go.

We're pretty minimalist with our Christmas decorations these days, but I think it's still very pretty. :)

Replacement Fuses for Christmas Tree Lights

For the last two or three years, the lights in the bottom portion of our (fake) Christmas Tree haven't worked. I chalked it up to traditional light strands where if one bulb does, the whole strand goes, unless you can figure out which individual bulb is giving you problems.

This is our tenth year with this tree, so again, I figured the lights were getting old, and that it would be a pain to try to fix.

As we were putting the tree together today, Dick suggested that we try to figure out the light situation tier by tier. I admit, I doubted him, but he was totally right to try!

When we found the small bag of replacement lights and directions, we also found tiny little fuses! The directions said that most strand light problems stem from a blown fuse. It then gave step-by-step directions on how to replace the fuse for each strand.

Since we knew which strand section was having problems, we tried popping out the old fuses and replacing with new ones.

...and just like that: a fully lit tree for the first time in a few years!! Who knew?!

Thanks to my hubby for having the wherewithal to investigate. Smart man, he is.

Here's a photo of the small fuses, next to replacement bulbs for size reference.

Gina's Favorite Things Party!

Gina held a "Favorite Things" party at her home Saturday night. It was a ton of fun.

The concept:
Pick one of your favorite things (under $10) and bring three to share at the party. Introduce the others to your favorite thing, then draw three names to see who the recipients are. Everyone goes home with three new things!

I chose to share "Tales of the City", one of my favorite books/series.

Gina had a ton of yummy goodies for us to eat - so many of her favorite things: Fried Chicken strips from Ezell's, amazing cheeses, cupcakes from Trophy, cookies from Pomegranate, pumpkin pie from Costco, chocolates....

Unfortunately, I didn't get a group photo, and more unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of Nicole, who was also there. So sorry, Nicole!!

Thanks for hosting a really wonderful event, Gina!


Trophy Cupcakes


Gina decorated her house so beautifully!


the spread of yumminess


Paula's favorite things: nail polish top coat, Burt's Bees Products and Pencils w/erasures and sharpener. Paula brought lots of her favorite things!


Sarah's Favorite Things: two different types of shampoo - wet and dry!


Amanda's Favorite Things: Chocolate!


Gina's Favorite Things: Poo-Pourri Toilet Spray (she's also holding one of the books that I brought


My Favorite Thing: "Tales of the City"

My Thank You Card for the 2015 Immediate Impact Breast Cancer Walk

This is my Thank You card that I sent to all of my sponsors for the 2015 Immediate Impact Walk. I tried something new this year and made them traditional folding cards with a front and inside message.

Thank You to all of my amazing friends and family who helped me raise $12,958.00 this year!!
22 walkers and 4 virtual walkers raised over $103,000. 100% of the donations from this year's event were granted directly to our beneficiaries!!

Unenthusiastic Soup

My lunch (from Tuesday) doesn't look thrilled about its imminent fate.

Mockingjay, Part 2!!

Treating ourselves to opening day of Mockingjay, Part 2 at the fancy iPic Theater!

It's early and cold

No snow showers in sight yet, though!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!!

It's that time of the year here in Downtown Bellevue!! The lights and Christmas Trees are being put up, and the fake snow is beginning to fall!