August In A Sentence A Day

August was the month that finally felt like 'Hello Summer!' We balanced our never ending home remodeling to-do list with equal doses of fun in the sun. We hiked, backpacked and ran to and at the beach, we attended concerts in the park, enjoyed dining al fresco almost daily, slept under the stars, awoke to the sound of waves crashing, experienced the solar eclipse event, heard elk bugle and a mountain lion roar (!!!), BBQ'd, wine tasted, and simply immersed ourselves in the still new-to-us fabulousness of living near the coast.

So if my sentences appear to be a bit more upbeat this month, it's not your imagination!

(And P.S. - Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to see who else is participating,

and to visit their blogs for additional August In A Sentence A Day inspiration!)

1. Backpack training hike #3 (eight miles, 22 pounds), followed by a loooong nap, then dinner at Ivory in Laguna Beach before enjoying Pageant of the Masters, a longtime summer tradition.

   

   Those be real people up there!

2. Woke up to ants in the kitchen, eek, and quickly called our pest control service, after which I left the house and shopped till I dropped - groceries, more home decor items, and lots of ant killer spray to use while we await our pest control service.
3. Long, tiring day helping watching my electrician friend install ten new lighting fixtures, three new ceiling fans, remove oodles of useless wiring for a now-dead security system, remove more useless wire for an also-dead outdoor lighting system, and re-position several outlets away from three soon-to-be installed replacement sliding glass doors.
4. Sleepless night due to a helicopter loudly circling above our neighborhood for two hours in the middle of the night, a highly unusual event that literally blew-up our Facebook neighborhood page, then five hours of volunteer training at the Dana Point Ocean Institute followed by an evening in the park trying to stay awake enjoying a No Doubt tribute band.

   

   It's Gwen Stefani!
   OK, maybe not, but she did sound pretty darn close.

5. Ran around the harbor in the AM with my running club, bought massive peaches at the Dana Point Farmers Market, then joined friends Ed and Susan for a truly unforgettable Burmese meal at the wonderful Irawaddy.

   

   One of the best items we ordered was this divine Tea Leaf Salad.
   Unlike anything we've ever eaten before.

6. Fun potluck after Sunday services, with my contribution being another sinful Ina Garten recipe, this amazing Sour Cream Coffee Cake.
7. Bribed a friend with lunch to pretty please come over and patch a couple of small drywall holes before getting our new glass sliders installed, plus met with our designer to create a new office for hubby that will look an awful lot like the one we had installed just before selling our prior house.

   

   The office hubby barely got to use. 
   So happy we are making this a priority in the new house!

8. Moved six boxes of packed dishes and glassware into garage to await upcoming replacement of flooring, and couldn't believe I really had that much stuff stored in my dining room hutch!

   

   
   

   

   
   

   

   Hello, my name is Tamara and I have a dishware problem!

9. Glorious morning run, then onto my second orientation at the Ocean Institute on a gorgeous summer day.
10. Backpack training hike #4 at Carlsbad State Beach, eight miles with 24 pounds in packs, followed by breakfast at Daily News Cafe.
    
11. Morning run, then off to a yoga retreat in Ojai with my oldest daughter.
12. Yoga, it does a body good!
    

    

    My daughter demonstrating the perfect post-yoga activity.
13. Started the day early with meditation, then enjoyed a lovely hike with my daughter before packing up and leaving for home.
14. The first set of replacement windows started going in, and when we opened our new casement window in the ocean-facing upstairs guest bedroom it was instant paradise as a strong ocean breeze immediately came flowing in.
15. A lovely lunch with my spiritual ladies group, then home to await the delivery of new living room furniture, which eventually arrived just before midnight, grrr.

    

    New wood flooring sample in lower right corner . . . can't wait!
16. Eight mile training hike, stopping halfway at the beach for lunch, then home to check out how things were progressing on tile installation in our, blech,  previously carpeted bathrooms.

    

    So glad to see this carpeting go bye-bye!

17. Long day hanging around the house to be available for the million little decisions any home upgrade requires (where to stop tile, where to place baseboards, what to do with closet organizers, what to do with closet doors), plus a big design decision to attempt to emulate this sample staircase:
    
18. Met with our window treatment guy for a second time in order to measure for shades, instead of shutters, for all of our view-facing windows, a much better option for preserving our view without sacrificing privacy.
19. Morning race walk, then spent the rest of the day getting ready for your upcoming two week backpacking/wine tasting/hiking/RV'ing trip, yeah!
20. Departed home bright and early at 4:30 AM to get a head start on our 470 mile drive to Point Reyes National Seashore, oof!

    

    Last scenic few miles of a very long day of driving.

21. Solar eclipse fail in that the skies were too overcast to really see anything, then off onto day one of our four day backpack through Point Reyes National Seashore.
    
22. So many animal sightings as we hiked - whale, weasel, coyote, quail, rabbit, deer, seal, hawks, turkey vultures and osprey.
23. A VERY memorable warning growl from a just out-of-sight mountain lion when we accidentally lingered near where it was apparently guarding or ingesting the body of the weasel head we briefly stopped to look at along the trail.
24. An absolutely gorgeous hike out of the park, then lunch back at our RV's, followed by looong hot showers.
    
25. Point Reyes Lighthouse, elephant seals and French Marin Cheese, yum!
    
26. The sights and sounds of Tule elk, males loudly bugling, as we hiked to Tomales Point in the northern end of the park.
    
27. Fascinating discussion with our newly arrived wildlife naturalist RV site neighbor about how Tule elk came to be resettled in Point Reyes, and then onward to Petaluma for the next leg of our trip.
28. Funnest wine tasting experience ever at Williamson Wines in Healdsburg!
    
29. To Cline Cellars in Sonoma for more wine tasting, followed by a gluttony of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, cheese, jam and sauce tasting (hello bacon jam!), then dinner at Mustards Grill in Napa that ended with this amazing dessert - Mile High Lemon-Lime Meringue Pie.
    
30. Nerve wracking drive towing our travel trailer over San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, then south along scenic Highway 1 to our last stop in Pescadero/Santa Cruz.
    
31. Immersed ourselves in elephant seal biology at beautiful Ano Nuevo State Park, and let's just say that being an alpha male elephant seal may not be all it's cracked up to be!
    

And so went the month of August! We are still RV'ing with our friends, with just a couple more days to go before we return home and embark on an almost solid, non-stop month of remodeling.

July In A Sentence A Day

Turns out that the theme for July was settling-in, as we packed up our old house and moved coastal-close to a new home in beautiful South OC. After the first few crazy days of working to clear the mountains of cardboard boxes in our new home, we got to work and started venturing out into the surrounding communities in the hope of building a new life sooner rather than later. And increasingly had a lot of fun doing so, which I think is reflected in my sentences below.

1. Did some yardwork at our new home, then changed clothes and drove up the coast a couple of amazingly short miles to Laguna Beach to attend a wine club event at the gorgeous ocean-adjacent home of one of our members.
   
2. Attended services at our new Congregation, then returned to our 'old' home for a farewell pool party one of our neighbors threw for us.
3. Finalized and recorded the sale of our prior home, big, loud hooray!
4. Walked to the beach from our new home, enjoying the 4th of July crowds and general holiday craziness once we got there.
   
5. Moving Day #1, meaning we pretty much sat around while three brawny guys moved through our home like ants wrapping and packing all of our stuff.
6. Moving Day #2, meaning we again pretty much sat around waiting to clean while now four brawny guys loaded our aforementioned stuff into not one, but two moving vans(!).
7. Unpacking, lots and lots and lots of unpacking.
8. Unpacked all morning, then a very fun evening with our spiritual group enjoying Broadway singalongs and a Broadway-themed buffet.
   
9. Attended services at our new spiritual congregation then, yeah, furniture shopping!
10. After sleeping on it, returned to furniture store and bought this yummy sofa, plus two matching chairs, for our family room.
    
11. While our home was being re-piped we enjoyed a super fun day walking down to the beach, having lunch at the casual, but wonderful, Pain du Monde, and riding the free Coastal Trolley into Laguna Beach. Cheat sentence: Can't believe we really live in such a wonderful place!!!
    
12. Busy, productive day getting our re-piping inspected by city (it passed, yeah!), our sprinklers fixed, a new sprinkler timer installed, and our backyard trimmed up.
13. First day working out at our new gym, then a return trip to Home Depot for bathroom fixtures.
14. Our new family room furniture arrived, and it looks great in the room!
    
15. Designated driver for hubby at a Scotch and Bourbon tasting event.
    
16. Spiritual services in the morning, then trip #101 (or so it seems!) to Home Depot, this time to buy ceiling fans for our four bedrooms.
17. Unpacked boxes all day, then made bangin' bacon cheeseburgers for dinner . . . so good in that I placed the bacon inside of the burgers before grilling, rather than on top.
18. Finished unpacking the last cardboard box, hip hip hooray!
19. First official training hike for our upcoming August backpack through Point Reyes National Seashore, meaning we each carried 15 pounds as starting loads. 
    
20. Got a bid to re-grout this rather revolting pinkish grout in our guest bedroom bath to a nice clean white instead, yes, please!
    
21. Found a new walking route that afforded lots of opportunities to see the ocean, got interviewed and cleared to become volunteers at the Dana Point Ocean Institute, then finished out the day at our nearby regional park enjoying a U2 tribute band and eating OMG-good The Cut Hand Crafted Burgers.
    
22. Joined a new local running club (I'm in the light blue tank and hat) and ran four miles pain free, fingers crossed in that I've been battling shin splints since last January 2016!!!
    
23. A gal can only do so much furniture shopping before the brain shuts down!
    
24. Lunch date with my  girlfriend, Wendy, at, Javier's Cantina at the Irvine Spectrum, then this new color and cut by my wonderful stylist.
    
25. Attended a crafters social event in my continued efforts to sink roots and make new connections post-relocation, plus took delivery of five of these fabulous woven chairs, two of which I ordered in counter height for my new kitchen island.
    
26. Training hike #2 for our upcoming backpack, with my weight load boosted to 20 pounds, after which we shopped till we dropped for lighting fixtures at Home Depot.
    
27. Friends came over to assist with hanging some of the new lighting fixtures, and brought us this absolutely gorgeous bounty of home grown produce, plus homemade jam, which I subsequently shared with some of our neighbors.
    
28. An at-home day consisting of a four mile run, followed by hours of work in the garage getting it completely organized, a chore we had both been dreading, but were thrilled to complete.
29. Another four mile run, this time around Dana Point Harbor with my new running club, (hubby joined us after for coffee, hence why he looks so clean :-)
    
    then home to make this Old Fashioned Banana Cake for a potluck we're attending tonight, plus a batch of Cookies 'n Cream Ice Cream for a BBQ we're hosting for family on Sunday.
    
30. A great day consisting of an early morning fast walk with hubby, a visit from our oldest and dearest friends (who brought these pretty flowers :-), and a BBQ here with our family in the evening.
    
31. Longest month ever in that tonight, the last Monday of the month, is when our HOA board meets to review architectural requests, finally giving us a thumbs up to proceed with ordering new double-paned replacement sliders and windows for the entire house, the necessary first step before new flooring can go down.

In comparison to both May and June, July turned out to be a whole lot of fun even as we worked like crazy people to settle in and start fixing up our new home. And already I can see that August is shaping up to be a great combination of home improvements, fun in the sun, and RV travel, so do be sure to check back on September 1 for my update.

June In A Sentence A Day

Greetings! Today, and each month going forward, I'm joining in with some other fab bloggers to share how we spent our month in just one sentence per day.

Turns out that the theme for June was transition, as we continued to work on turning our dream of living near the coast into actual reality. The beginning of the month was loaded with stress, but it tapered off as the month progressed and things fell into place. And our much needed dose of granddaughter time was just the wonderful anecdote we needed in order to return home recharged and ready to take on our actual move come July.

June In A Sentence A Day

1. Researched every single remaining possible home option available in our price range in our target city and sent the very long list to our realtor so that she could schedule showings.
2. Accepted an offer on our home here in the morning, then spent the remainder of the day viewing lots and lots of homes before finding 'the one' and, fingers crossed, submitting an offer.
3. Volunteered at a commercial wine competition organized by our wine society and took this booty home afterward as our 'thank you.'
   
4. We got the house, we got the house!
   
5. Made phone call after phone call to begin the process of shifting our lives over to a new community, then spent the evening with our book club discussing the first half of Wuthering Heights.
6. Early morning geology and home inspection appointment at the new home, which generated a lot of stress when we began receiving more information about our potential new home than we probably cared to know(!).
7. Another appointment at the new house, this time to meet our flooring guy and take measurements, after which we walked to the beach to check out our new stomping grounds.
   
8. Had our current home termite inspected (we passed!), reviewed the completed home inspection report on our new home, then made a rapid call to our agent to better understand just what we were getting ourselves into!
9. Got on the scale and realized I'd lost almost five pounds in the last two weeks from the stress of it all . . . I completely lose my appetite when stressed!
10. Decided to hold an impromptu party to drink all the open bottles of wine we brought home from the wine competition, so I messaged the neighbors, baked brownies and lemon squares, and fired up the front yard patio firepit in anticipation of a fun evening, which it definitely was!
11. Attended our spiritual congregation where we said another sad goodbye before heading to Costa Mesa to attend the Pacific Symphony and enjoy dinner afterward at Seasons 52 with our wonderful friends Ellie and Jim.
    
12. Went for a long walk while our current home was being appraised for our buyer's loan, fingers crossed!
13. Exhausting but productive day meeting with our new insurance agent, flooring vendor #2, repiping vendor #2, window replacement vendor #1, and a gardener, all at the new house.
14. Got my hair done, always relaxing in that I load up on the salon's copies of People magazine during the two and a half hour process . . . my stylist is very good (see photo from the 16th of June, below :-), but a wee bit slow!
    
15. Enjoyed a super fun lunch out with my girlfriend Mary, learning afterward that the appraisal came in spot on on our house, meaning our buyers were one step closer to closing, hooray!
16. Escaped the house here for a long hike while buyers had their inspection done, then partied hard in the evening to celebrate my girlfriend Faith's retirement.
    
17. A seven mile hike in mid-90's heat, which never does my body good . . . I wilt in heat!
18. Took my father to see our new house and walk trail to the beach and back, then enjoyed a Father's Day lunch at the lovely Cedar Creek Inn in San Juan Capistrano.
    
19. Cut my basil plant back, and made homemade pesto with the bounty.
    
20. Long, hilly hike with my girlfriend Mary, the last we'll do together until after our move.
21. Flew to Metro DC to visit our granddaughter . . . yeah!
22. Had a picnic lunch on the front lawn with our granddaughter, an instant hit along with the homemade bubbles I made using dish soap and water, plus the handle of a pair of scissors as the bubble blower - Nana points for creativity!
    
23. Repeat of yesterday, because, yes, both front lawn picnics and bubble blowing continued to enthrall, then watched our granddaughter overnight for the first time ever, gulp!
24. The parent-free evening went great . . . after an evening of play with Baba and Nana, she literally rolled over in bed and went to sleep after three songs!
25. Drove an hour to Fort McHenry National Historic Park in order to purchase a lifetime Golden Age National Park Pass now that my husband has finally reached the qualifying age of 62 - the best $10 we've ever spent!!!
    
26. Visited historic Fredericksburg, Virginia and learned about one of the Civil Wars bloodiest battles, which left us both quietly contemplative for a good long while afterward.
    
27. Said goodbye to our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter and flew back to California, boo hoo!
28. Started setting aside the items we wanted to take to the new house ahead of the movers, plus took delivery of a new set of pots and pans suitable for cooking on an induction cooktop, new-to-me technology.
29. Closed on our new coastal home!
30. Took our travel trailer over to the new house to make sure it fit into the garage (it did!), trimmed some overgrown foliage to open up our stunning view even more, met several of our neighbors, then walked down the hill to dinner in Dana Point before driving back to our current home, which doesn't really feel like home anymore! 
    

Our buyers close here right after the weekend, which should make for a most memorable 4th of July if everything goes as planned. 

May In A Sentence A Day

So the month May, sigh - it turned out to be a rather emotional, tumultuous month. Sell, don't sell, sell, don't sell. May seemed to be all about evaluating our current lives here in inland north Orange County vs. what they could be like in coastal south Orange County. And after much, much, much agonizing, we finally decided that trading in our current lives for a cooler, ocean-adjacent community chock full of ocean-related activities was something we really, really wanted to do.

But it wasn't all home selling agony in May by a long shot, as a lot of really nice things occurred as well, so onward to my sentences.

May In A Sentence A Day

1. Did laundry, grocery shopped, cleaned house and just generally got things organized around the house after being away for so long.
2. Had dinner with a dear friend that gave me the sad news that she and her hubby were moving south upon retiring in June - boo hoo!
3. Attended a scholarship awards luncheon sponsored by my Art Alliance group, and so enjoyed the energy and enthusiasm that only college students can deliver.
4. Spoke to several realtors by phone in the areas we are targeting, then had fun going through the MLS links they subsequently provided to see if we could locate our coastal dream home.
   
5. The cabinet installer arrived to deliver and secure the final countertop in hubby's home office, only to realize that, oops, it needed to be cut down first, and he didn't have the correct tools to do so. 
   
6. A second set of cabinet installers arrived, did successfully cut down the countertop, and, yeah, finally finished the job to update my husband's home office that had been started way back in March.
   
7. Met my oldest daughter for lunch at the Anaheim Packing District and had a really nice time together drinking Mexican-inspired cocktails, and noshing on chips and tacos.
   
8. Met with a realtor to discuss listing our home, which was more emotional than I'd thought it would be.
9. A long, completely fun day in Los Angeles taking a tour of the Music Center, visiting the Broad Museum, having dinner at the amazingly delicious Otium, and attending a performance at Disney Concert Hall.
   
10. Spent the entire day obsessing over whether or not to make this dang move!
11. Met with a second realtor to discuss listing our home, and decided that yes, he was the one, even if we weren't quite ready to commit.
12. Toured view homes in a nearby community to see if we might want to remain more local, then attended a very fun OC Wine Society event hosted by the owner of Jamieson Ranch Winery, where we tried to spend the evening not obsessing over where to live!
     
13. After a very restless night decided that, yes, we were really ready to do this, and contacted realtor #2 to let him know we'd like contract with him to sell our home.
14. Attended a Mother's Day cooking class with my oldest daughter at HipCooks Orange County, making and enjoying a scrumptious brunch comprised of pomegranite Bellinis, chevre-stuffed grapes with pistachio, smoked salmon potato pancakes, eggs benedict wrapped in ham, and hazelnut, lemon & ricotta cake.
    
    
15. Attended my monthly book club meeting even though I ended up boycotting the book, The Sellout by Paul Beatty, about a third of the way through - a brilliant book without question, but also so incredibly distasteful I simply could not carry on.
    
16. Met with our realtor to sign selling contract and bombard him with questions about the current status of the market, and what we might expect to occur as a result.
17. The realtor's For Sale sign arrived, which caused all kind of not-so-happy emotions to arise as I watched it being placed into my front yard.
    
18. Home stager arrived and said she had absolutely no suggestions to make because our home was already staged beautifully, and P.S., did I want a job? 😊
19. And yet another day spent obsessing looking at homes online to determine if we really wanted to go through all the work that was going to be needed to make this happen.
20. Attended a BBQ at my girlfriend's new home, a gorgeous, drool-worthy 1912 Craftsman home located in an adorable Pasadena historic area titled 'Bungalow Heaven.'
    
21. A diverse day, my favorite kind, which started with services at our UU congregation, lunch at The Gypsy Den in Santa Ana, then a fascinating after-dinner lecture about Israel's strategic challenges in the Middle East given by former Israeli television and print journalist, Alon Ben-David.
22. Entertained friends that dropped by both for lunch and to see our newly updated home, tiptoeing around the professional photographer that was shooting photos for our upcoming MLS listing as we did so.
23. Attended a theology seminar, which was uber-interesting even as I continue to ascribe to the John Muir way of thinking: "Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt."
    
24. Our home went live this morning on the MLS, so we set up a meeting with our tax accountant and financial advisor to review all matters pertaining to the expected proceeds we'll receive from our home once it sells.
25. Woke up in a panic, convinced we were making a mistake by selling, which my husband (and this article on the internet) assured me we were not.
26. A terrific, busy day comprised of a Skype Spanish lesson with my Venezuelan-based teacher, yoga class, cycle spinning class, and a married-couples fellowship meeting.
27. Escaped an Open House here by doing our own house hunting at Open Houses down in South OC.
28. Got an offer on our house after just four days on the market!!!
    
29. Spent Memorial Day hiking, BBQ'ing and countering multiple offers on our home.
30. Countered more offers on our home here, then spent the rest of the day with our realtor in coastal OC looking 'for real' for the first time.
31. Spent the entire day with our realtor again, returning home utterly exhausted from trying to take in, absorb and imagine ourselves living in so many different homes!

My fervent wish for June is that we find a home, open escrow and are forward focused on our next chapter.