Fun in the Sun

The last five weeks have been a whirlwind of activity for me. It started out with a trip to the Bay Area to visit my brother and some dear old friends. I ate way too much food, went to Seabright beach in Santa Cruz, hiked at Wilder Ranch, shopped on Pacific Avenue, and attended a first birthday party.

Me and Heather at Wilder Ranch

 When I got home from my trip, my boyfriend’s mom had arrived for a visit. We spent a lot of time hanging out and eating delicious food. One afternoon we went on a tour of the Gamble House. It’s an amazing house built by the famous architect brothers, Greene and Greene, who built craftsman style homes right after the turn of the century. The quality of the workmanship was pretty stunning. I fell in love with the kitchen, which was gigantic. It’s hard to imagine living in a house like that. I would constantly feel like I was going to ruin something priceless.

 

Me, Goofy, and Annie (holding her first book,
The Quest of the Golden Python)

Then my BFF from high school came out from Texas for a quick visit. We went to Disneyland on the first day and then to the beach on the second day. Our trip to Disneyland was the shortest I’ve ever been on. I think we lasted six hours. It was really hot and the park was super crowded. But it was fun going to Disneyland together again. Our senior class trip was to Disneyland so it had been quite a while since we had gone together.

After my BFF left, I had a few days to rest and then I was off to the SCBWI conference. And then my boyfriend’s stepmom and little sister came to visit from Vermont. We ventured to the beach, went shopping, ate a lot of ice cream, and cooked a bunch of delicious dinners. It’s been a few years since we’d seen them so there was a lot of catching up to do.

I’ve noticed a common theme running through the summer—eating! It is one of my favorite things to do, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised.

Overall, I’ve had a great summer. But sadly, in the next few weeks I need to transition out of summer mode and back to the real world.

What I’m reading: I’m still working on The Care and Management of Lies (which I need to hurry up and finish since it’s a Kindle library loan) and Private Life. I like Private Life more now because I think I understand why the author has focused a lot of the story on Andrew, the husband (I’ve found these parts to be boring). I believe she’s attempting to make the reader understand what the wife, Margaret (the main character), has to deal with. Andrew’s life completely dominates Margaret’s and she seems to exist merely to support him in his endeavors. I’m looking forward to reading the last third of the book. And someday I’ll get back to reading The Thorn Birds…