November In A Sentence A Month

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

November In A Sentence A Month

1. Awesome, but challenging six mile fast paced hike in Laguna with my Thursday group, plus got my teeth cleaned.

2. Did laundry and cleaned the house from top to bottom, then got a bit dressed up for Happy Hour dinner at the harbor with hubby, followed by seeing the British farce Noises Off performed by some uber-talented students at Saddleback College.

It was a gorgeous evening to be outside enjoying wine and small bites.

3. An enjoyable training session at the cultural center I will now be volunteering for, a fantastic run/walk along the beach, then off to meet up with my daughter and her SO for Bourbon barrel-aged beer tasting at The Breury, followed by a fun, fun, fun get together with my longtime running buddies for dinner.

It felt like summer!

Bourbon barrel-aged beer, you had me at 'Hello!'

Attempting to show my running buds how my face would improve with some tightening, ha!

4. Thank you time change for finally getting me back into a normal sleeping pattern, plus lunch at Houston's in Pasadena with my oldest daughter and my mother, first time seeing the later in six years (yes, there's a story there).

5. Monday hill hike with hubby, coffee at Starbucks together afterward, afternoon Spanish class, then a robust evening book club with our spiritual congregation debating the merits (or not!) of the universal base income championed in the nonfictional Give People Money by Annie Lowrey.

6. Volunteer training at the cultural center I'm newly signed up with, then a wonderful night out with my workplace bestie and her hubby at Mizu Sushi Bar in Tustin laughing, reminiscing, and excitedly discussing their plans to retire, sell their New Jersey primary home, and hit the road in early 2020.

7. A 'normal' Wednesday doing menu planning, grocery shopping, laundry, yardwork, and general household chores.

8. Early morning hike in Laguna Canyon, home for a quick clean up, then over to the harbor to do my first solo volunteer shift there as a tidepool docent . . . talking with visitors about our local tidepool critters was fabulous fun!

There are wondrous critters hidden in there!

9. A yoga and lunch date with a new friend, then an evening out with hubbie attending a Pacific Symphony Pops Concert enjoying selections from all things Oz . . .Wicked, The Wiz and The Wizard of Oz.

10. Morning beach walk with my Saturday group, then home to bake myself silly making these pecan bars for a wine tasting dinner event later in the day, where my dessert took first place honors!

So much butter!

So much yum as a result!

11. Celebrated hubby's delayed birthday gift . . . tickets to see a tribute  to Simon and Garfunkel at beautiful SOKA University, followed by dinner at, sadly, the very mediocre Avila's El Ranchito . . . sigh, take them off my list of new Mexican dining possibilities!

12. Long hike along the sand with hubby in San Clemente, then a walk back through town to try out a new lunch spot, The Bagel Shack . . . delicious!

It was scenic and fun walking under the pier, something we'd not done before.

13. Balcony glass panel brackets finally going in!

14. We snuck out onto the balcony in the PM to enjoy the sunset, even though the glass remains to be installed, meaning we felt a tad conspicuous!

Sunset, I missed you!

15. Thursday morning hike in Laguna, hoping the pain in my right leg didn't mean I was looking at more rehab in my future, oof!

16. Morning racewalk, worked a volunteer shift as a greeter at the harbor, then attended a lovely and scenic evening out at Casa Romantica in San Clemente for members night sunset viewing.

Loved the quiet ambiance at our first members night.

Views to die for out on the Casa's bluff top patio area.

17. Morning beach walk with my Saturday group, chores at home, then off to a super casual, but fun, night out in Old Town Orange with our best dining buddies enjoying fried chicken at the excellent new fast casual eatery Buttermilk Chicken, and liquid nitrogen ice cream at the also excellent A La Minute just up the street . . . we split a cup of strawberry ice cream topped with a balsamic glaze, yum!

18. Our usual Sunday routines in the AM, then packed for our trip to Texas.

19. Super smooth flight into Dallas, where we picked up our rental car and drove the 160 miles to my dad's home, arriving just in time to enjoy dinner out with him, plus a group of his friends, enjoying fried fried chicken . . . no, that wasn't a typo!

20. A two hour drive to a little rinky-dink gas station restaurant in nearby Lousiana, serving, according to my dad, the biggest piece of breakfast ham we'd ever encounter, a stop at a bayou on the way back, then a visit to cute, touristy Jefferson for 5 cent coffee (Dad) and not-5-cent coffee (me) . . . I have my limits!

It was a beautiful day to be outside!

21. A five mile hike through my dad's town along a newly opened walking path, then a first for my dad, craft beer tasting . . . in spite of himself he liked it!

22. Happy Thanksgiving to those of us in the USA!

23. Heading out for the long drive back to Dallas, easy check in at almost empty airport - the morning after Thanksgiving is, apparently, a great day to fly - followed by another nicely smooth flight back home.

24. Morning walk with my Saturday group, grocery shopping to restock the cupboards (the only reason I'd brave the crowds in the market on a weekend!), plus unpacked and did laundry.

25. Our usual Sunday morning spiritual routines, plus entertained friends for a delicious, but quick dinner of Ina Garten's Barefoot Contessa lemon marinated chicken and satay, rice, and a cucumber salad, before heading out together to a lecture on the wines of France, including, of course, lots of tastings to go along!

26. Enjoyed working in the yard today under sunny skies . . . I basically walk around with a paperbag and weed trowel, picking up leaves and the random weed, plus made a wonderful pot of sweet potato, pork and cumin soup for dinner.

27. Back to  our old town for his-and-her haircuts, plus a visit with my sister-in-law that remained behind when we moved . . . so far she's doing just fine on her own in her senior apartment complex, fingers crossed it remains that way!

28. Laundry, menu planning, grocery shopping, and most exciting of all, finally finished my daughter's birthday gift needlepoint project and dropped it off at Hobby Lobby for framing!

Found an off-the-shelf deep black shadow box to accommodate the fluffy pompoms, beadwork and fringe, then left it with Hobby Lobby to be stretched and matted in white. 

29. Happy Birthday to my youngest daughter, and I hope you enjoy this little add-on gift from Animal Rescue Site, understanding that your heart is enormous when it comes to our little four legged critters.

30. Rain . . . exciting because it's such a rare event here in S. California, and just the excuse we needed to spend the day reading by the fireplace.

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And so went the month of November! How did your month go? Please share your highlights (or lowlights!) below.

October In A Sentence A Day

So, I'm back with my monthly sentences after an absence of a few months. It was a loooong summer, what with our ongoing yard construction, and as a result, I just didn't feel like blogging my daily activities because so many of them were affected by the stress of our project. Honestly, I was more focused on simply surviving what seemed to be the never-ending ordeal of finishing up our front and backyard without alienating everyone on the street . . . bright yellow outhouse anyone?

However, we are almost to the finish line and the outhouse is now long gone. I feel like I'm forward facing for the first time this year, and excited to be back on board with the Sentence A Day crew!

(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!) 

October In A Sentence A Month

1. Started the month with a dreadful case of the blahs so accomplished pretty much nada.

2. Still had the blahs, so I curled up on the sofa and spent the day reading.

3. Enjoyed a group hike through the beaches of Dana Point, followed by lunch together at Coffee Importers in Dana Point Harbor . . . best bagels ever!

4. Termite inspection and spot treatment (a constant issue here along the coast), then a fun night out with some gal-pals enjoying the Laguna Beach First Thursday Art Walk, where I fell in love with this oil painting:

The art gallery was closed, so I took a photo of the painting from outside.

5. Couples retreat weekend, an annual event with our spiritual congregation.

6. Left the retreat to attend a daylong Sierra Club leadership training class, then dashed back afterward to rejoin hubby for the evening events.

7. Last day of the couples retreat, then returned home and enjoyed dinner together at Brick  in San Clemente (check another off my Top 75 In OC list   ), with two thumbs up for the glasses of excellent Chianti we enjoyed along with our wood fired pizza.

8. Seven mile ridge hike with my hubby, attended Spanish class, then a new book club meeting where we discussed In The Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea, a charming and poignant story about a group of teenage girls determined to bring back the men to their Mexican town.

9.  Enjoyed a seven mile hilly hike with a new group of folk, including one 80 year old gal that hiked so fast I had to run to keep up, then a group lunch with everyone afterward, which we much enjoyed.

10.  Attended a talk by the League of Women Voters, which went over all of the various propositions on our upcoming November California Ballots . . . there's a lot of them!

11. Appointments with our financial planner and our hairstylist, both in our old town, which after 15 months no longer feels like home, yeah!

12. Lunch with one of my favorite gal pals at her wonderful new home just steps from the beach in Corona Del Mar, plus lunch together at Rose Bakery Cafe including one of their unbelievably delicious mini-coconut cakes.

13. Did laundry, packed for our upcoming trip to Japan, made delicious stuffed portobello mushrooms for dinner, then headed out to attend the musical 'Beautiful,' the story of singer Carole King's life, only to experience the thrill of my life when she walked out onto the stage during the final curtain call, joining in on the encore song, I Feel The Earth Move Under My Feet , and demonstrating that she still has her chops and then some!

14. Cooked my heart out for our quarterly book club dinner, being hosted here, positively swooning over these Barefoot Contessa raspberry & almond crumble bars, which I served with small glasses of Amaretto . . . yummy!

15. Our backyard staircase finally got delivered, plus hubby and I went on a seven mile hike, and I attended Spanish class.

16. We're off to Tokyo, Japan!

17. Landed late in the afternoon at Narita Airport, where our tour shuttle was waiting to whisk us off to our Tokyo hotel, the Keio Plaza, where we dropped our luggage and went for a walk before joining our fellow travelers for a beautiful Kaisaki welcome dinner.

18. Tokyo sightseeing, and there was so much to see - Shinjuku Temple, the Imperial Palace, Asakusa Kannon Temple, historic Nakamise and trendy Takeshita shopping promenades, and a trip up to the top of the Tokyo Observatory.

19. Drove toward Mt. Fuji, hidden behind clouds unfortunately, but a wonderful day was still had visiting the breathtaking Itchiku Kubota Kimono Art Museum, Hokone National Park's sulfur vents via gondola, and Lake Ashi by boat, before enjoying a rousing chorus of group Karoake on the way back.

20. Enjoyed the Tsukuji Fish Market, including samples of fresh ahi, a sushi making class, shopping and people watching in the glamorous Ginza District, then a tour through the very busy, but somewhat odd, Akihabra electronic district - think thousands of young men wandering in and out of gaming, anime and electronic stores in a bit of a glaze, not to mention the scantily dressed 'Kitty girls' waving to the crowds.

Made by hand . . .  mine!

21. Bought bento box lunches at the train station before hopping aboard one of Japan's fabulous bullet trains, headed to Kaga for a night in a traditional Ryokan Inn with tatami mats, futon mattresses for sleeping, and nothing-but-your-birthday suit hot springs baths.

22. Got up early to enjoy a long soak in the women's hot spring, where I was lucky enough to find a private tub overlooking the lake (plus managed to keep my towel on until the last possible moment!), then headed to UNESCO designated Shirakawa, a thatched-roof village, then onward to gorgeous Takayama where we toured a fabulous wooden float museum, and then enjoyed a romantic dinner for two at lovely Le Midi.

Overlooking the thatched-roof village of Shirakawa.

23. Another no-clothes (!) hot spa bath to start the day, then to the Takayama Morning market where we sampled raw beef sushi and sake-from-a-cedar-cup, before boarding another bullet train, this time bound for Kyoto.

24. Full day of Kyoto sightseeing, after which we about dropped dead of exhaustion - Kiyomizu Temple, Sannen-zaka and Ninen-zaka promenades, Kodai-ji Temple and Garden, a zen meditation lesson, a tea ceremony, and a visit to Heian Shrine.

Hubby with our zen teacher, a Buddhist monk of 10+ years.

25. Another full day of Kyoto sightseeing, after which we did drop dead of exhaustion - Arashiyama bamboo forest, a ride on a rickshaw, Kinkaku Ji Temple, aka the Golden Pavilion, Ryoan-ji Temple, Nijo Castle, and Kimona dressing up at a traditional Kyoto-style home.

26. Drove slightly out of Kyoto to tour Imperial Nara, the Gread Buddha Statue, One Thousand Deep Park, the Kasugu Grand Shrine, and then a final dinner with our group where we were honored to be visited by a real-life Geisha for ceremonial dancing plus a Q&A.

27. A long trek home - 90 minute drive to Osaka Airport, a 9 hour flight to San Francisco, 3 hour layover, then a one hour flight back to Los Angeles, and a 90 minute drive home from there.

28. Slept 11 hours straight (!), unpacked, grocery shopped, then attended a performance of Dvorak's The New World Symphony by the Pacific Symphony, the same chosen by Neil Armstrong to take along on his voyage to the moon in 1969 on Apollo 11.

29. Awake until 3:30 AM (thank you jetlag!), so I slept in late, meaning I missed two before-lunch events, however I did manage to attend an evening training session to become a volunteer at a nearby cultural arts center.

30. First hike since returning home, seven miles of rolling hills, plus new boots and booties shopping!

31. Happy Halloween, which we celebrated at Laguna Beach's Pageant of the Monsters . . . so fun!

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And so went the month of October! How did your month go? Please share your highlights (or lowlights!) below.

An InLinkz Link-up

June 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 June was On The Road Again! We spent most of the month traveling with friends through Utah and Colorado in our RV's, and it was glorious. And possibly even just a smidge better, when we returned, our backyard balcony rebuild was well under way, relief!

(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!)

June In A Sentence A Day

1. A lovely afternoon out with my daughter in Laguna Beach, including dinner together at Urth Caffe, then a fascinating late night out at the beach learning about, waiting for, then experiencing that most unusual (and earthy!) event, a genuine grunion run.

2. Beach racewalking in the AM with my Saturday group, then a terrific evening out enjoying dinner and tribute band Queen Nation, a defining band of my teen years without question, at our favorite nearby concert venue, The Coach House. (P.S. Keep an eye out for the Queen biopic movie Bohemian Rhapsody coming November 2!!!)

3. Morning visit at the house with our daughter and her significant other, than over to UCIrvine to attend the Green Day written musical, American Idiot . . . dang but those college students did a terrific job with it!

4. The city approved our balcony project, the city approved our balcony project, the city finally approved our balcony project!!!

5. A glorious morning walking the five mile San Clemente Beach Trail with a new friend I met through my Spanish class, including lots of talking over breakfast afterward at Ellie's Table.

6. Lovely six mile hike through the hills surrounding Ladera Ranch with my hiking group, followed by a group lunch, always fun.

7. Met my Thursday group for breakfast before heading out on a fast paced hike through Quail Hill in Irvine afterward, home to clean up and do chores, then off to a fabulous dine out with my Lifelong Learning group at The International Culinary School's testing restaurant, Exhibition, in Costa Mesa . . . oh those wonderful, enthusiastic culinary students!

The culinary students receiving a well deserved round of applause after our meal.

8. Last minute landscaping decisions so our project can continue to move forward during our trip, then off to a super fun evening pops concert featuring the music of BeeGees . . . a group that was one of several that most definitely defined my teen years.

9. Morning beach walk with my Saturday group, a mad dash to pack and prep for tomorrow's departure, then an evening performance with the Dana Point Symphony, whew!

10. And we're off . . . a 5AM departure toward St. George, Utah, travel trailer in tow, arriving finally at 2PM, where we promptly threw on our bathing suits and headed to the pool to await the cool of evening, at which point we toured nearby Pilgrim Park.

11. - 30. Our Southwest RV Adventure!

Our 2018 driving route, 1720 miles in all!

We were gone a total of three weeks, visited five national parks, three national monuments, and traveled over 2,000 miles. We visited an amazing array of places by car, foot, kayak, gondola and boat, and made countless memories we will never, ever forget. Our newly retired best friends, who have the same type of travel trailer that we do, accompanied us, and I am pretty confident they had as wonderful of a time as we did in that midway through they were already talking about planning another long distance RV trip to do all together, possibly up into the Pacific Northwest.

Here are a few of the random things that went through my mind during our journey:

• Wildfires are a constant summertime threat throughout the southwest. Our scheduled ride on the Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Train out of Durango was cancelled due to the Burro Wildfire, and our return trip home from Kanab, Utah was impacted by the Lone Pine Wildfire.
• Our National Parks are without question one of our nation's greatest treasures. We met foreign visitor after foreign visitor that came here solely to see our vast, beautiful wilderness, and we were humbled anew each and every time they shared their joy at being able to do so with us. 
• It's hot in the southwest! And while, yes, it's a dry heat that is much, much easier to take then when combined with humidity, it still affected us tremendously when we were out and about. My skin cracked open in a few places, plus I experienced several instances of moderate heat exhaustion in spite being well covered from the sun, finding shade where  I could, and  drinking a good amount of water each day that had been supplemented with electrolytes.
• Utah is the cleanest state we've ever traveled in, with some of the nicest, most helpful people we've ever met. But it's also home to some of the goofiest alcohol laws we've ever encountered, including not being allowed to order any drinks in a restaurant bar unless it's accompanied by a food order, and limiting the percentage of alcohol in beer to 4% or less. Too funny!
• We enjoyed riding a series of gondolas into and out of Telluride, Colorado during our visit there, which are completely free to use in the summertime.
• We saved over $250 in entrance and camping fees with my husband's National Parks lifetime senior pass, including half price full hookup camping reservations at Mesa Verde National Park. 
• We came in well under budget thanks to our love of being active wherever and whenever possible. The majority of our days were spent hiking or attending ranger talks, both free, including an Astronomy event in Bryce Canyon one memorable evening - we exited the shuttle bus in a completely dark field, and basically groped our way over to the dozens of viewing telescopes that had been set up. 
• In total we hoofed our way over more than 100 miles of national park and monument trails, enjoying amazing sights and sounds as we went along.
• Our wildlife sightings included coyote, marmot, collared lizard, turkey, mule deer, Blue jay, red tail hawk, chipmunks and squirrel. 
• Our geology sightings included the Colorado River, the Colorado Plateau, Bryce, Capitol Reef, Canyondland, Arches and Mesa Verde National Parks, and Canyons of the Ancients, Cedar Break, and Escalante National Monuments, plus the Navajo Nation's Four Corners Monument at the point where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico come together. We also enjoyed exploring the Utah towns of St. George, Torrey, Moab, and Kanab, and the Colorado towns of Cortez and Telluride.