March In A Sentence A Day

Greetings! Today, and each month going forward, I'm documenting how I spent my month in just one sentence per day.

Turns out that the theme for March was Don't Stop Until You Drop! I don't know quite how it happened, but we ended up packing what felt like a year's worth of fun into March's 31 days. We hiked, we biked, we dined, we partied, we hosted, we rocked out, and we almost passed out from exhaustion on more than one occasion.

It was a heck of a good month!

(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 Sentence A Day inspiration!)

March In A Sentence A Month

1.  Enjoyed a sunny walk to the beach and back with hubby, 6 miles in all, and the last time we'll likely get outside for a bit in that a big storm is rolling in per our local newscasters.

2. Early morning grocery shopping to stay ahead of the rain, a bit of reading by the fire while watching the rain, then off to volunteer at a jazz festival, where after working for several hours we were able to sneak into the first row and enjoy some freakin' amazing sax by Michael Paulo, plus some 80's R&B with crooner Jeffrey Osborne.

3. Well, we had planned to attend the Dana Point Festival of Whales, plus an outdoor Hamilton sing-along, before joining friends for dinner, but everything got rained out, so we ended up spending the day at home, although I did manage a trip to Bed Bath & Beyond to purchase some new bedding and wall hangings for our guest bedroom.

4. Early morning four mile race walk, spiritual services, then a wonderful walking tour of downtown Dana Point with the Historical Society as part of this month's Dana Point Whale Festival.

We learned that before Dana Point Harbor was built, people just drove right on up to the beach!

5. We did our scheduled 45 mile training bike ride, and the weather was absolutely picture perfect for it - 70 degrees and light winds.

We ate a sack lunch midway through the ride, but did stop for a well-earned treat just before finishing!

6. Attended two lifelong learning classes, then home to read for pretty much the rest of the day . . . ah, the joys of being retired!

7. My month for planning the dine out for our UC Irvine OLLI Gastronomy Club, so we all traveled to Stanton's Irrawaddy: Taste of Burma, where the owners gave a presentation on the style and flavors of Burmese cooking before the group happily dug in.

8. A 'typical' day in retirement at our new digs: AM gym workout, grocery shopping, volunteer shift at the harbor, dinner at home, then a marine science lecture in the PM.

9. A 25 mile bike ride through the Irvine bike trails with my biking group, including a stop for lunch, home to clean up, then a wine pairing dinner and presentation in Costa Mesa that featured the owners of the lovely Pear Valley Vineyard, located in Paso Robles.

Taken by the wine club's photographer during the evening's events.

10. AM race walk along the beach with my Saturday walking group, then hubby and I decided to skip our originally scheduled evening out event, and instead stay in and cozy up on a rare, rainy Saturday night.

11. The start of Daylight Savings, bah humbug on losing an hour of sleep, though I did appreciate this sweet note and hot cup of coffee my husband left me as a reminder,

then off to enjoy the play Plumas Negras at UC Irvine, about the farm workers of Salinas, California, and which was proceeded by a most interesting talk from the play's writer and director, Juliette Carrillo.

12. Gave myself permission to work on my needlepoint project the entire day for our soon-to-be-here new little granddaughter.

13. Our planned 50 mile training bike ride got fogged out, so we walked 12 1/2 miles instead, the approximate equivalent at my estimated 4:1 ratio (four miles of bike riding is roughly the equivalent effort of one mile of walking).

The weather we woke up to . . . a blanket of fog.

14. Spent the day grocery shopping and cleaning the house . . . every so often we do need to take a day off in order to take care of chores!

15. Field trip with my Art History class to San Diego's beautiful Balboa Park in order to visit the San Diego Museum of Art and the Timken Museum of Art, where we took three docent tours, learning lots and lots in the process.

16. A 30 mile bike ride through some of Irvine's multi-use trails with my biking group (Irvine has over a 100 miles of these paved trails), then home to enjoy a rare, but much enjoyed, quiet Friday night at home

17. Best St. Patricks Day ever as we kicked off the night with a Happy Hour get together at our house with two other couples, before heading to The Coach House to enjoy an absolutely fabulous night of Irish music with The Fenians.

One of our friends really went all out!

These guys are just as amazing in 2018, as they were back in 2008 below.
.

18. Six mile walk to and along the beach, home to clean up, then off to attend a performance of the Pacific Symphony at Segerstrom Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa.

19. Completed our 55 mile training ride, traveling from Irvine to Bolsa Chica and back again, including a midway stop for lunch at Pacific City in Huntington Beach, then absolutely nothing the remainder of the day!

Hubby during the ferry crossing section of our route through Newport Beach.

20. & 21. Attended the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour at Orange Coast College with overnight guests - we love this event! - plus enjoyed over 18 miles of hiking and dining at some of our favorite lunch spots with them while they were here.

22. Out with the former, in with the new . . . our house guests left for home, only to be followed by Bob and Betty Lowry of Satisfying Retirement blog fame, who flew in for a five day visit, starting with a short hop over to San Clemente, where we walked to the pier for some sightseeing under threatening skies.

23. Took Bob and Betty to San Juan Capistrano for a walk through it's historic Old Towne, lunch at the wonderful Ramos House Cafe, a tour of San Juan Capistrano Mission, including a lecture on the swallows that migrate their annually, a stop into El Adobe for margaritas, home for naps, then out again to The Coach House for dinner and a concert featuring tribute bands to The Beatles and The Rolling Stones . . . . such a fun day!

The San Juan Capistrano Mission is one of California's oldest and most historic structures.

The mission's gardens were a good reminder that S. California is actually a dry, desert climate,
in spite of it's magnificent coastline.

Bob and Betty were terrific sports in agreeing to pose for this photo!

24. Started off our third day with Bob and Betty at the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, a wonderful organization dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of marine mammals along our S. California coastline,

then on into Laguna Beach for lunch at scenic Las Brisas, followed by a stroll through town visiting a variety of artists studios, which I knew the very-artistic Betty would enjoy (and she did!).

Bob and Betty posing along the scenic pathway behind Las Brisas.

Beautiful Las Brisas always brings out the romance in hubby and me!

25. Today was all about our much anticipated whale watching excursion out of Dana Point Harbor, and it delivered in spades: five gray whale sightings, dozens of playful dolphin leaping all around our boat, and waves sufficiently high enough to cause a whole lot of rockin' and rollin', which just added to the day's excitement for most of us (hubby didn't fare quite as well with the high waves as the rest of us did, poor guy!).

26. We ended Bob and Betty's too-brief visit with a stroll down along Salt Creek Beach followed by lunch at Pain Du Monde before saying sad goodbyes at dropping them off at the airport for their return trip home.

Beautiful Strand Beach at low tide.

27. An aggravating trip to the DMV to update my address and also apply for California's new Real ID Drivers license (90 minutes, even with an appointment, grrr!), then took my gal pal out for lunch at Mendocino Farms in Tustin, where we exchanged lots of happy news about our growing families,

28. We joined our Wednesday hiking group for a nine mile trek in the hills of San Clemente, speed grocery shopped on the way back, then got cleaned up and entertained friends staying in Dana Point for the week, including a guys vs gals game of cribbage, where the gals prevailed and then some!

29. Our backyard project kicked off this morning, with lots of this going on currently -

- plus I worked a volunteer shift at the harbor.

30. Joined my bike group for a 40 mile repeat ride to Huntington Beach, enjoying lunch at scenic Bear Flag Fish Co. at the halfway mark.

The guys at our lunch break point at Bear Flag Fish Co. 

The gals staying warm around the restaurant's fire pit on a chilly Spring day.
 At 55 years, I'm the youngest of this
group by a good 10+ years, but let me tell you that
I have to pedal like a crazy person to keep up with this bunch!

31. Morning race walk with my Saturday group, chores at home, then met friends for dinner at the fiery Sichuan Impressions, where we all broke into a sweat as we ate, because, yes, it was that spicy hot!

Our massive sweet teas, recommended as a way to offset
the fiery food.

Tea leaf smoked ribs.

Cumin spiced lamb on toothpicks over a bed of red chiles.

Savory Cold Noodles up top, Juicy Steamed Chicken in Spicy Chili Sauce below.

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And so went the month! How was your March? Please share your highlights (or lowlights!) below.

An InLinkz Link-up

February In A Sentence A Day

Greetings! Today, and each month going forward, I'm documenting how I spent my month in just one sentence per day.

Turns out that the theme for February was Keep Moving! I came into the month feeling strong, stalled out for a bit while visiting our granddaughter in chilly Metro-DC, came home and got back to it, stalled out again due to getting sick, then kicked it back up again once I recovered. The lesson here is clear I think - Don't give up! Tomorrow is always, always a brand new opportunity to do better.

February In A Sentence A Month

1.  Joined a new hiking group for a six mile super fast hike through our local canyons, followed by coffee hour, then home to clean, dust and put my finally-completed kitchen and home back together . . . so happy!

My freshly cream cabinets . . . love!

2.  Fabulous 34 mile bike ride through San Clemente into Camp Pendleton Marine Base in N. San Diego County followed by lunch at a terrific Thai restaurant, then a quick shower and nap before attending a performance of the Dana Point Symphony in the evening.

Always a wee-bit intimidating when we pull out our ID's to show to the always-serious marines on guard before being given clearance to enter the base on our bicyles.

3.  Spent the morning puttering around the house cleaning and doing painting touch ups, then prepped for a fun evening entertaining friends here for Happy Hour before we all headed to dinner at Sol Agave in nearby San Juan Capistrano.

I'm really bad at full-bodied selfies, but here's a photo of the cute new peekaboo booties I wore to dinner!

4.  Quick race walk in the morning, Sunday spiritual services and lunch, then to Costa Mesa to attend an afternoon performance of the Pacific Symphony followed by dinner out with symphony-attending friends at Seasons 52.

5.  Early morning flight to Metro-DC to see our girl!

6.  Took our girl on the Metro into the city to visit the National Building Museum, which was chock full of toddler friendly activities, then a toddler-friendly lunch at the otherwise mediocre Greene Turtle before taking the Metro, and one very tired girl, back home.

7. Freezing rain resulted in a snow day for my teacher-daughter and granddaughter, so we all stayed home and played games and read books together.

8. A cold but gorgeous sunny day here in DC, so while my daughter and granddaughter heading off to school, my husband and I enjoyed a six mile walk, followed by lunch out at a restaurant.

9. Took our girl to an indoor playground on a wet, wintry day, then all had lunch out together at a little bistro where she happily colored away while awaiting delivery of her grilled cheese sandwich.

10. Took our girl into DC once again, this time in order to visit the Natural History Museum . . . . butterflies, bugs and fishies galore, oh my!

11. Lots of last minute playtime with our girl (hide n' go seek and 'chase!' being her two favorite pastimes currently), then lunch out with everyone at fab Mediterranean fast casual Cava before being dropped off at the airport for our flight home, boo!

12. Came home with a little cold, so pretty much all I accomplished was a trip to the supermarket before retiring to the sofa with hot tea and a good book.

13. Felt fatigued, but went ahead and attended two scheduled classes - the first of a four part lecture on real-life history behind the musical Hamilton, and my Art History course . . . so fortunate to have such fantastic professors for both classes.

14. A nine mile hike with my hiking club, where I realized halfway through that, yep, I'm really sick, then home to shower and take a nap before getting dressed up for a wine pairing Valentine's dinner at our Lifelong Learning program . . . I was feeling extremely fatigued, but it was still a lot of fun.

15. Really sick!

16. Still sick, but pulled myself together in order to attend an evening Pacific Symphony Pops Concert featuring Christopher Cross . . . totally worth the effort!

17. Feeling better, met up with a group to do a four mile beach race walk,

Can you find me? Hint . . . look to the left!

   . . . then home to prep for tonight's dinner party - red wine, bruschetta, mushroom-butternut squash risotto, Caesar salad, garlic bread, and for dessert a double chocolate cake . . . so good!

I tried to get my pretty on for our dinner party, but lordy am I lousy at selfies!

18. Morning spiritual services, a fantastic, gorgeous 32 mile bike ride along the coast, then hosted our neighbors after dinner for wine and leftover chocolate cake.

A spectacular February day should not be wasted!

19. A fabulous day showing friends around our new home, taking them hiking along a set of ocean viewing ridges for a total of 10 miles, lunch at Pain Du Monde, then over to our friend's oceanside timeshare to relax for a bit before heading next door to Olamendi's, one of Richard Nixon's favorite Mexican restaurants based on the number of wall photos of him dining there on display in and amongst the rather overwhelming decor!

20. Lots of learning - classes on Alexander Hamilton and Art History, followed by dinner at the international student cafeteria of Soka University, where we were also attending a talk on racial injustice in America given by this amazing man, Bryan Stevenson.

21. Six mile walk at the beach, chores here at home (every so often!), then a couples meeting followed by Happy Hour dinner out on scenic San Clemente Pier.

22. Tax appointment, hair appointment, then dinner with my daughter and her significant other at their place in Huntington Beach, where her sweetie made the most amazing street tacos . . . he's a keeper for sure!

23. Morning beach bike ride with two gal pals (26 years of friendship and counting!), lunch afterward at the harbor, then home to check in on hubby and enjoy a quiet Friday night dinner together at home.

24. Early AM grocery shopping, beach workout with my Saturday morning race walking group, more grocery shopping, then home to make Balsamic Pork with Winter Vegetables to take to a wine tasting & dining event in tony Emerald Bay - Warren Buffett listed his vacation home there in 2017 for $11 million buckaroos - so fun to have a peek at how the 1% lives!

25. Spent the day on our bicycles, first to drop in on a vintage surfboard exhibition, then off to do a 40 mile training ride along the coast, which became even more exciting when my husband realized he'd left/lost his backpack during one of our rest stops, aargh!

26. Long day cancelling credit cards, changing passwords, ordering new ID cards, getting the locks changed, and replacing car keys . . . oye vey!

27. Hubby's phone was found and returned, relief, plus two lifelong learning lectures, a little shopping, then a first time visit to El Adobe Mexican Restaurant in San Juan Capistrano, yet another apparent favorite of Richard Nixon per signs on the wall . . . the man got around!

The sign above our table informed us we were sitting in the spot, and on the chairs,
reserved and frequented by Richard and Pat Nixon back in the day.

28. A seven mile hike along a ridge overlooking the ocean with my group on a glorious February day, a two hour coffee klatch with some of my fellow female hikers afterward at Crystal Cove in Newport, then home to clean up and get presentable for a volunteer thank you banquet at the harbor . . . a very good day to finish out the month!

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And so went the month of February!

January In A Sentence A Day

Greetings! Today, and each month going forward, I'm documenting how I spent my month in just one sentence per day.

Turns out that the theme for January was Fun In The Sun! You guys, this month was so full of outdoor activities you'd have thought it was the middle of summer! We started the month hiking under sunny skies, and ended it doing same. It was almost a picture perfect month, save a couple of chilly days when temps stayed in the 50's all day. And with whale migration season in full swing, I finally saw my first whale spouting as a local, while walking along the ridge trail one afternoon. Seriously, this was a fantastic month almost from start to finish, and a wonderful re-affirmation that all of the hard work we went through to get here was well worth it.

January In A Sentence A Month

1.  Took hubby on the Colinas Ridge Trail for his first time, seven miles roundtrip, Starbucks for coffee afterward, home to enjoy a well-earned Trader Joe's mushroom and truffle flatbread pizza, then read by the fire for the remainder of the day.

2.  Attended training to become Citizen Marine Scientists, then assisted one of our volunteer organization's full time staff person on an amazing tide pool walk during a super low tide.

3.  Fabulous 11 mile club hike in our local hills overlooking the coastline, grocery shopping on the way home, then showers and a well earned nap.

This sign cracked me up!
Legend has it that once upon a time it read 'Environmentally Sensitive Trail' but someone with a sense of humor removed the first few letters, and the rangers liked it so much they left it as altered.

 4. Woke at 1:00 AM in pretty significant pain, that then got worse and worse and worse, until a trip to Urgent Care, and subsequent X-rays, showed I had a condition called calcific tendinitus that necessitated pain pills to get me through the day.

5.  Weaned myself off of the pain pills by white knuckling it for a bit, then an evening get together with our backpacking group to plot out possible trips for 2018.

6.  Feeling massively better, ran eight miles with my running club, then breakfast with my daughter and her sweetie, a drop by from my niece, and hubby and I started on preparations for hooking up our travel trailer and heading out to Palm Springs in the morning.

That's me on the left!

7.  Off the the Palm Springs Film Festival for the week in our travel trailer.

Our itty-bitty Trail Manor; but look at those views! 
Plus, the RV park has a pool, spa, club room and pool table, and we are within walking distance to downtown Palm Springs,
all for a paltry $45 a night.

8.  Hiked up nearby Lykken Trail in the AM, attended two foreign films, Foxtrot from Israel, and The Insult from Lebanon, plus dined at the always-delicious Trio in the PM with the friends we are here with for the week.

At the top of Lykken trail, our turnaround point.

9.  Attended two foreign films on a rare, rainy Palm Springs day, Germany's well-deserved recent Golden Globe winning In the Fade,  and Russia's compelling Loveless about two self-absorbed parents, then pizza and Chianti at the always-excellent Bill's Pizza - bonus points for having the most entertaining waitstaff around!

10.  Four mile racewalk in the AM, attended two foreign films, Thailand's entertaining Pop Aye about a man and his elephant, and the Czech Republic's charming Barefoot about a young boy coming of age during World War II.

11.  Two wonderful foreign films today, Turkey's beautiful true-to-life Ayla: The Daughter of War set during the Korean War, and Switzerland's hysterical, also true-to-life The Divine Order about the surprisingly late 1971 legislation that finally gave women there the right to vote - this movie is a must see if it comes to Netflix or elsewhere at some point -  then to Las Casuelas for Mexican Food, followed by attending the Palm Springs Street Fair afterward.

12. Hiked Lykken Trail again in the AM, then saw Italy's A Ciambra chronicling the real life of Europe's migratory Roma people, and Spain's quirky Lots Of Kids, A Monkey And A Castle documentary, followed by dinner and a show at The Purple Room Supper Club, featuring Broadway at The Keys with Tony award winning Levi Kreis - absolutely fantastic night!!!

13. Five mile race walk in the AM, then just one movie, the US documentary Jane, featuring recently recovered video on wildlife extraordinaire Jane Goodall (so good!), followed by checking out and driving home in the PM.

14. Morning spiritual services, followed by lots of shopping - Old Navy, Big 5, Sprouts and Trader Joes.

15. Physical therapy appointment for my newly diagnosed calcific tendinitis, then cleared out the knick knacks and smaller furniture in our downstairs in preparation for flooring removal and re-installation.

16. Demolition of remaining downstairs flooring began, plus race walked three miles and attended my first Art History class, courtesy of a new Emeritus Lifelong Learning program for retirees in S. Orange County.

17. Hiked 5 miles in Ladera Ranch with my hiking club, returning home to just in time to paint out hundreds of feet of baseboard and 1/4 round trim for the few remaining hours before the sun went down . . . exhausted by day's end!

18. Flooring re-installation begins, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and why all the painting above on the 17th above occurred.

19. An exhilarating 30 mile bike ride with my new bicycling club up and around Irvine and the Newport Back Bay, along an amazing array of biking trails I'd long heard about but never been on, taking a well deserved lunch break midway at the terrific new-to-Orange County eatery Grater Grilled Cheese, yum!

20. Attended the Women's March for the first time, compelled to do so in the wake of the tidal wave of sexual assaults against women ripping through our nation, not the least of which is the recent USA Gymnastics scandal - as one woman's poster proclaimed, I can't believe I'm still protesting this sh*t!

21. Morning spiritual services, then a matinee showing of The Post in nearby San Juan Capistrano . . . the movie was well done, but discovering how cute downtown San Juan Capistrano is was even better.

22. Final day of flooring installation, hooray, a walk along the Dana Point Headlands Trail with a girlfriend followed by breakfast at always delicious Pain du Monde, an Intermediate Spanish class (excellent class, excellent instructor), then a quick dinner at home followed by a couples meeting in the evening.

23. Long day cleaning, dusting, and moving everything back into place downstairs, while electricians simultaneously worked in our family room installing recessed lighting and in our kitchen hanging two pretty new pendants over our kitchen island . . . love!

24. Six mile hike with my club in the hills of Mission Viejo, then lots of errand running afterward.

25. Shutters installed over kitchen bay window, worked an information booth shift at the harbor, enjoyed sunset at the beach with hubby, then a fascinating lecture about the gray whale's annual migration from Alaska to Mexico and back in the evening.

26. Uber-fun 25 mile bike ride over to scenic Corona Del Mar with my biking group, then rushed home to clean up and welcome my dad to our new home for the first time.

27. Took my Dad on a hilly 10 mile hike - at 81 years of age he did great - then home to prepare homemade pizzas for dinner.

It was a three generation hike, in that my older daughter joined us.

28. A gorgeous 85 degree day which we spent with my dad kayaking, tide pooling, and scenic beach walking.

We kayaked.

We tidepooled and beach walked.

We ate!

29. This was my dad's last day here, so we took him to San Clemente for breakfast at Ellie's Table, followed by a beach walk to the San Clemente Pier where we spotted whale breaching - so exciting - plus I managed to make my Spanish class and a couples workshop in the evening after Dad departed, whew!

30. Worked a volunteer shift at the harbor, attended my Art History class, and made a delicious mushroom risotto for dinner.

31. Painters arrived to finish off our kitchen cabinets, so we escaped the house for the day by joining our hiking club for a gorgeous 7 mile hike along Crystal Cove Beach, after which we enjoyed burgers, fries and ice cream shakes at the iconic Shake Shack in Newport Beach.

Hubby and I shared a strawberry banana shake, so good!

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And so went the month of January!