California- Day Four

After sitting up talking half the night, we didn't do a whole lot on Sunday. Judy went off to visit with her family, and Elaine and I just hung out at home, relaxing. That evening, Elaine, Judy and I went to Bonnie and Mirko's home for dinner.

Elaine and I brought a hot artichoke dip, which was positively addictive- I couldn't stop eating it. And I had plenty of time while Mirko finished the main course!





Mirko and Bonnie are fantastic cooks- we had Arroz con Pollo, ceviche (made with fish that Mirko caught off La Paz on Baja), salad with a special homemade dressing, and flan. Add wine, and what more could anyone ask?

Bonnie set a colorful, springy table--



The food was great--





and the guests all had a wonderful time!!





A fitting, enjoyable end to my long weekend in California.

I'll spare you the details of Day 5. Suffice it to say that both my flights were delayed, I got home two hours late, and I got some pictures of the Grand Canyon as we flew over it.

Next posts should have some quilty content!

California- Day Three

Saturday was when the larger group got together for a slumber party- a common occurrence when we were in high school. Fortunately, there were enough soft spaces to sleep on for those of us who didn't have camping gear!

Judy made it to Fullerton from Palm Springs mid-morning, after getting her alternator and battery replaced. We ate a late breakfast around Elaine's kitchen table, and talked non-stop.

Elaine asked me what I like for breakfast before I came, and I told her I enjoyed fruit. She bought enough to feed an army, all kinds! So I made a big fruit salad to take to the party. I had pears, apples, oranges, kiwi, red grapes, green grapes, strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe, and watermelon. (And still had plenty of fruit leftover for breakfast!) It made a lovely, tasty salad with only a little lemon juice.

We left for Cindy's mid-afternoon. Cindy lives in the old part of Orange, in a restored home with lots of character. The party begins!!



The hostess Cindy is on the left, talking with Judy and Jan.



We ate (Elaine was worried we'd run out, I told her no way- and I was right!), drank, and talked up a storm. What else would twelve women who haven't seen each other in years do?

Cindy and Dennis have a big wooden Indian in their living room. It's very apropos, our high school mascot is the Indians. So Elaine and I were among those who posed with the Indian-



And, we had to pose for a group photo! Dennis took lots of pictures, with lots of cameras. As you can tell, we were having way to much fun.




Later in the evening, we started discussing our nocturnal escapade. To understand this, you need some history. Mr. Daniels was our hands-down favorite teacher in high school. When we had him, he was young, single, good looking, and a teacher who managed to make learning both fun and interesting. We loved him so much, toilet papering his home became a regular event. We became pros at it-once we even tp'ed the inside of his car. And, as I recall, the next morning we came over, cleaned up the tp, and left the mound of it on his front porch, blocking the door. The mound was at least four feet high.

We didn't stop when we graduated. We had another reunion when we were all about forty, and did it again. We even left a big banner hung on his garage: Class of 68 Stikes Again, Forty Isn't Fatal! He loved it.

So here we are, eighteen years later. We had quite the discussion. Mr. Daniels, like us, is older, and cleaning it up might be a problem. Also, he is a well-known gardener in the county. This year, he planted 3500 tulip bulbs in his front yard, and the display was magnificent. He got news and TV coverage. So we didn't want to tromp on his garden, even though the tulip display is mostly over. Here's the solution we came up with.

We all signed a sticky label, and put one label per square of tp on a roll we unwrapped. Cindy made a sign for a 6 pack roll of tp-



Cindy made a certificate of appreciation for his enduring all the years of having his house tp'ed. She'd also bought a four-pack of gourmet cupcakes to leave for him. All that in tow, we headed back to Fullerton and his house.

We found it with no problem, and collected everyone from the three cars. Here's his house, and then us outside the house, trying to figure out if he's home.





We all ended up on his porch to leave our 'gifts'. It was pretty clear he wasn't home, we made enough noise to alert anyone. Janice and Elaine placed the goodies-first the open roll with our signatures on the mailbox,



unrolled to take him right to the 'Do It Yourself' kit.



Then we all posed for a picture in the midst of the crime!



Earlier, we'd noticed that the next door neighbors were outside. So Jan and I went over to talk to them, let them know what we were up to. The whole group ended up over there. We found out how Mr. Daniels is doing, and told her our history with him.

I laughed all the way back to Cindy's house, where we sat up talking until 3 am. I caught four hours sleep, then up for breakfast- Cindy had muffins, strawberries, and coffee ready for us. After eating and collecting all our contact information, we bid each other good-bye.

Who says you get too old to party and have fun???

California- Day 2

This day was fabric/fiber/quilts day! One of my friends, Bonnie, shares my love of fabric and sewing. She teaches quilting at a couple of the quilt shops near her home. Like me, she thinks creating, whether it be art or traditional quilts, should be fun and relaxing. She picked me up at Elaine's- and Elaine got our picture together before we left.



First we hit Soft Expressions, a store that caters to art quilters in Orange County. I thought I'd walked into a candy store- inks, paints, paint stiks, charms, beads, every supply you could want, all under one roof. And, they had a display of some of Rose Hughes' quilts upstairs. I'd seen her work in Quilting Arts, and even looked at her recently published book- but nothing compared to seeing them up close. She uses non-traditional fabrics, and incorporates hand stitching and beading into her designs. Her lines are simple and graphic, and her colors zing!! If you have the chance to see her work, do!

The best part of the day was next. I'd asked on the Quiltart list about any fiber happenings in Southern Cal, and Jamie Fingal responded with a gracious invitation to visit her studio in Anaheim. She has 'office' space in a complex that looked like it catered mostly to medical and business types. Her three rooms were filled with fabric, embellishments, and piles of her work. The best part? We got to see the apron that was on the last issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors. It was such fun looking at all the embellishments close up, and hearing about how she came up with this idea. I loved every minute of it, and Jamie even posed with me for a picture.



I needed a silk screen to take with me to Rayna's workshop in a couple of weeks- Jamie recommended the Art Supply Warehouse, so Bonnie and I hit the freeway for Westminster. We got turned around, had some laughs, and finally figured out where it was. That was another candy store, aisles and aisles of art supplies, reasonably priced, and lots of nooks and crannies with goodies. Their homemade paper was awesome. I found my silk screen, and also got some steel wool pads for rust dyeing, and a zero center ruler for making circles.

Then we headed back to Fullerton, where Bonnie lives and I spent my teen years. She drove through our old neighborhood- we only lived a block apart in high school. I couldn't believe our old house. The front landscaping is awesome, and the trees on the street- well, they've grown up and now they're big!



My bedroom was on the far right on the upstairs, with French doors out to the balcony. Elaine tells me once I snuck out through the balcony- for the life of me, I don't remember!

We spent the rest of the afternoon at Bonnie's house. I got the tour of her two rooms of fabric and quilts (her stash definitely outdoes mine!!), and gave her a copy of the Kemshall's Painted Quilt book- an art quilt addition for her library. We enjoyed wine and conversation with her husband Mirko (another high school classmate) while we waited to hear from Elaine about the arrival of our friend Judy from Phoenix. Unfortunately, Judy had car trouble outside Indio, and didn't made it to Fullerton Friday night for our planned dinner date. So Elaine, Bonnie, Mirko and I trekked off to my very favorite California restaurant, Rutabegorz. I love the funky interior, and the eclectic menu. It's a hippie joint that has been going strong since 1970, and the place was packed when we got there at 8 pm!



The food was as good as I remembered. After much consideration of the menu, which is actually a book about the size of a comic book, I decided on Chicken Green Chili Enchiladas. They were wonderful!



Over food and wine, we laughed and caught up on everyone. Our waiter was kind enough to snap a photo of all of us, after we'd eaten our fill.



It was a fitting end to a fantastic day!

And, to end it all, here's a photo I took the first day while I was at the beach with Elaine. I have no clue what these flowers are, but they caught my eye- bright, intense colors. Can you tell I was loving all that spring color??



More tomorrow!!

California- Day One

Now that I've had time to download my pictures, you'll get a day by day account of my WONDERFUL long weekend with a group of women I've known since high school. Class of '68, so that gives you a clue just how long we've known each other! Funny, I don't see most of them that often- but it doesn't stop us from having a ball when we do get together.

I flew out of Salt Lake in the midst of a snow storm- my flight was delayed so they could de-ice the plane. I wish I'd taken pictures of that, it was interesting to watch! I had a layover in Vegas, then finally the last leg to California. We were warned about a windy, bumpy flight right from the start. I got this picture not long after we took off, the wind was clearly blowing all that sand around!



The flight was uneventful, and actually not that bumpy. Elaine and I connected easily at the airport, then we drove down to Laguna Beach for lunch. I can't fly all the way to California and not see the ocean, can I?? And it was a gorgeous day for the beach!





All that green is just balm for my color-starved eyes.

From there, we drove to Elaine's home- with a stop at my favorite California store on the way.



And I couldn't leave there without a bottle of two-buck chuck, much to Elaine's disgust. (However, I enjoyed every drop!)

The rest of the day we just hung out, catching up on all our news since we'd last seen each other. Dinner at Mimi's, and just talking into the night- what more could one ask?