Anniversary

I'm in between vacations...leaving again for tomorrow. My in-laws are celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. So for now I'll leave you with these yummy floating cupcakes with the promise of goodies in the next couple of weeks.

A Great Day

This is the big flag hanging above our back yard. New and crisp, just in time for the Fourth of July.

Our wedding anniversary was on Friday, but we saved celebrating until Saturday since we could be together all day. We needed to make a morning run to our favorite old fashioned neighborhood hardware store and since it's right around the corner from our favorite breakfast diner, we stopped first for a meal...y-u-u-m!

Then we were off to the first showing of the morning for "Star Trek" and discovered that the movie theater shaves $4.50 off full price tickets if you attend that early bird showing...yahoo, $9 saved! That covered one of the breakfasts...right ON.

The movie was good, but I still prefer "X-men origins: Wolverine". Star Trek was on a big scale and sci-fi, no matter how good, always loses a little in the translation for me. Wolverine was smaller, more intimate and much more focused on one character than a large cast. And Hugh Jackman looked incredible and moved beautifully so that wins out for me!.

We got home at 1 pm and put a 2nd umbrella up to cool our very hot brick patio and were just about to decide what to do for the rest of the day...when my sis called (mom to our sweet 3 1/2 year old nephew/godson) to say that one of our brothers was near her house for a visit and could we come up for an impromptu barbecue.

Yahoo, you bet! She's only a little over an hour away, so we were off to Napa. These vineyards are visible from her kitchen deck. They surround her on 2 sides but belong to a neighbor, so it's like she has vineyards but doesn't have to tend them...very cool.

I played and played with my nephew for hours, had dinner, yacked for about an hour and then said goodbye before his bedtime. He came running to me with arms out, calling my name and gave me a rare squeezy hug...he usually puts his arms around me but doesn't squeeze. Well this time he did and after I said "I love you" he said "I love you TOO". That "too" was a new concept he's recently begun to understood....and all the other adults said "ooohhhh" in unexpected unison...how sweet that was.

As we drove home on the freeway, we got to see a surprise mini, illegal firework display as the night sky was darkening. That was fabulous! What a great end to a great day. So, 26 years married and 32 years together, here is what we looked like a few months after we met. Hubby was taking a photography class so he took my photo and I took his...they both turned out pretty darned great!

My next entry will be photos of my next Summer Special beach themed bracelet so don't stay away long!

Happy 26th Anniversary to Me!

Yep, I was married 26 years ago today...our 26th is on the 26th...kinda cool

And NO we will NOT be dancing like the lovebirds above! Hahaha.

Tonight we will enjoy beer & cigars in the summer weather,

and tomorrow we will go to the movies.

I know, not too thrilling for some of you, but we've been

together for 32 years now!

So, the special dinner type anniversary is long past and

we can't afford a cruise...hahaha....

So this is what we will do that will make us happy.

Ahhhh, oh yeah, and we still like each other!!!

25 years

Happy Anniversary to me my husband. We were married 25 years ago yesterday! You'd never know it because we still totally flirt and kiss up a storm and are often told we don't even LOOK like we are in our 50's so you could say we have a lot going for us.

We are celebrating today since he gets half days on Fridays during the summer...how sweet is THAT? We will have a leisurely lunch at our favorite upscale restaurant and later have two of our best buddies over for beers, laughs and stories in our front yard.

I say upscale because with my husband's new job, (3 months tomorrow), all the insane overtime he worked that paid for our son's year in college is no more so I've been much more aware of our budget.

Since gas is so pricey and even food prices are rising, I had to find ways to cut corners so we can maintain our lifestyle and not have to sacrifice too much. I switched grocery stores 3 months ago and was soooo happy to see a regular $30 weekly drop in my spending but it's now shrinking even at this cheaper store. So the convenience items like Trader Joe's wonderful cooks-in-3-minute frozen brown rice is off the list. I work from home so I think I can cook a pot of brown rice on the stove for a half hour.

So with all this consciousness, we've got a little extra cash to live it up today at the restaurant.

Business wise, I'm about to finish up a few designs for the Manhattan salon & gallery and a nightmare situation with a temporarily misplaced bracelet to Canada that finally turned out for the good are the latest thrills in my life. The mailer had a greasy strip on it, the box had a mashed corner, the solid silver bangle was slightly bent but can go back into position but all 7 lampwork beads survived the mysterious journey!

Tip: like my friend told me, just email the US AND foreign country postal and/or customs services and magically, even if they tell you they can't help you, the package suddenly appears shortly thereafter.

I don't know if it's just hopeful energy that makes it happen or what, but thanks for all your help with that, Sandy!