Day Trippin'

Steve and I rarely take a vacation in the summer.

We live in paradise and with everyone else on vacation in the summer we prefer to take our getaways during my October school break and winter ski trips.

This summer we planned several day trips.

Yesterday, KC flew to Southern California for a girls' weekend in Laguna Beach.

Several weeks ago she mentioned to me that her flight was much earlier than her friends so she would work remotely in the airport while she waited for the others.

Instead, we drove down to Laguna to get some time with her and to explore one of my old favorites.

It was a blessing for KC because the others were to arrive at 11:30 a.m., but their flight did not leave San Francisco until 1:00 p.m.

This little cottage in Laguna Beach is the reason I live in a beach house today.

a screen shot from Google street view

I have always loved the beach, but my parents were not beach people.

The only time we would go to the beach would be for my mom to visit her cousin who lived in Laguna Beach.

I loved visiting Cousin Gladys in this charming little house on Wave Street, just 1 block from the beach.

Gladys had the most exquisite taste in decorating and after beach time, I would just sit and look around her house and soak in all the details.

Some of my favorite memories took place in this little cottage.

As we walked along the boardwalk, I shared Laguna stories with KC and Steve and they kindly indulged me and feigned interest.

The lifeguard tower is cute just like the rest of town.

 We stopped in at Tuvalu just to see what was there and to get some inspiration.

Steve stretches his own canvas so I have a big pile of leftover scraps that I just washed.

I think I will make a few of these pillows.

I love the heart made from bits of driftwood.

There isn't much driftwood on our beach, but if we head up to the estuary we will find a wonderful supply of bits to create this heart.

I have been into clock faces and found some great large pieces, but I really have no wall space since our home is Steve's art gallery.

This wonderful clock was about 3 feet in diameter.

And, I wish I could have gotten a better photo of this table because it was beautiful.

I was good and only bought one of these little clock face plates that came in a variety of designs.

Since the girls had still not landed, we headed up the Laguna Canyon to drop by the studio of Ken Auster.

Steve studied under Ken in Taos at Donner Ranch about 8 years ago and we have always wanted to stop in to see his studio.

Ken showed us around and then generously offered us free passes to The Festival of Art.

We parked and rode the shuttle to the festival.

After viewing some amazing art we headed to Cliff Drive.

Our timing was perfect.

We arrived at the condo overlooking the Pacific to drop KC off just as the taxi arrived filled with her friends.

And then, we had a 3 hour drive to travel the 109 miles back to Ventura.

At home, I looked at my purchases and decided where to place them.

The weight ended up on my "number" mantle.

And the clock face plate ended up in my scale vignette.

 

Day trips are the perfect way to get away without needing to pack or find a sitter for Dorje.

No more day trips for awhile.

This final week of summer vacation is "finish all projects" week.

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