The Sky is falling

Yes, in fact the sky is falling in flakes of ash...everywhere. So, Southern California is surrounded by fire and even though I live far away from the fires, they are causing chaos everywhere. The sensors that let meterologists know that it is raining keep letting them know that we are in a rain storm....only it is not rain, it is ash. This morning when I got to my car it was covered and now I can actually see little white flakes in the air. They are saying we should try to stay inside and breath only filtered air. Hopefully for the people that are near the fires we will be able to get them under control soon. They leave fantastic sunsets, but the damage that it has already left with over a hundred homes destroyed is just unbelievable.

It may be hard to see, but the photo above is the table on the patio...covered in ash...if you look up at the top of the table near the lime tree (that has actual limes on it-yeah!) you can see the one spot where there was a candle sitting.

In other news this week, I am trying to eat healthier and make more veggies. I made my first spaghetti squash last week and it was a hit...we will do that again soon.Unfortunately, I also decided that this week would be a good time to clean out the cabinets and start using some of the food that was stashed in there. I found a spice cake mix, so of course I decided...why not...let's make an October cake. I made it last night and as you can see enjoyed two pieces before it went off to the fridge.

My last weekend was one of relaxation and doing absolutely nothing in terms of cleaning up or any work type stuff. I rode my bike to the library and checked out some books and then picked up some buffalo mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes from Whole Foods (whole paycheck) and watched some movies....The Queen (made me want some Corgis) and Cold Comfort Farm (most bizarre and I think they cut out some needed scenes).

Jon on the other had was in the middle of no where in a desert sand storm on his manly camping trip:

Poor truck got stuck: On his way back on Sunday, he almost did not make it due to some of the fires. Here is a view of what he had to drive through on the way back.

Lazy Pink Weekend

So, I have been hard at work trying to get ready for this conference that we finally had on Friday of this last week. Everything was done in pink and brown for the Women's Wellness Conference and the theme was Power of Pink for Breast Cancer Awareness. We had over 500 women attend on Friday and our keynote speaker was Ann Jillian. I was not so sure how she would do, but she gave a fantastic speech and kept tying in our hospital and Breast Center so that was good.
Our office has been inundated with pink and I think I am finally ready to get rid of it all...here are a few of the items we had at our conference.Norah flew in on Saturday to stay with us before work on Monday. We spent the afternoon relaxing around the South Bay and hanging out at the pier where Norah tried the largest pinball machine...unfortunately Hercules was not working that well and needs some TLC from the Fun Factory Folks.The next day we took the long road (Mulholland Dr.) toward downtown to drop Norah off at the Westin Bonaventure and stayed to have a drink in the revolving lounge on the 35th Flr.
Work on Monday was back to normal. Wrapping up after the conference and figuring out all the money. I went grocery shopping after work and due to the pomegranate conversations I had with Norah, I had to get this local large pom at the grocery.There was also an interesting package from Mom...and it was a good thing I saw the return label on the package, otherwise it would have been so strange to have gotten this squeezy brain scull. Jon just love's it.

Camping

Camping last weekend in Ojai was a blast. We drove up on Friday and first went to the original camp site that we booked called Wheeler Gorge. It was gorgeous and had a creek running right through the camp site. Unfortunately due to the large Ojai fire that they recently had, they had restricted campers to only use a propane stove to heat anything. So, plan B, we drove back into Ojai to see if we could find a different campsite. Luckily we met up with a county park ranger and he let us in on a little secret...regarding a camp site that had just been reopened and since it was county you could have fires.
We set up the tent and opened the krispie treat...the largest krispie treat we could find, don't worry I ended up sharing...a little.We were so close to downtown Ojai that we drove down for a fancy coffee in the morning and drove around to see the sights...like Edith's Walnut Factory and tons of horse ranches. I have decided that I would like to have a Lipizzaner pony...they are born usually brown or black and then turn white.


Our friends came up on the Saturday morning to join us. Then the four of us hung out with Terry (our camping pet turkey). Terry was so bold. He would walk right up to you and hung out at our campsite the entire time we were there.

One thing Terry did do that got him into a bit of trouble with us, was after drinking some beer from a plate, Terry jumped up onto our friends car and left a huge scratch with his talons. Bad Terry.....Bad.

Argh....Talons.

We were so glad we did not pack Turkey bacon...we would have probably have felt too guilty to eat it.
Saturday afternoon we toured around the Ojai area and tried to find a place to go swimming. We found a fresh spring by the side of the road and also stopped at this place that said it had hot springs, but also stated that it was private property. When we asked, Jon was greeted by a suspicious man in white pants...you know what that means....drug dealer. They were probably growing pot and opium plants near the springs...that is my theory.
So, back to the camp site to have dinner and hang out by the camp fire, where I finally split my camping pants. This is right before I threw my camping pants in the trash:Thank goodness I had extra jeans. That night I slept like a log and the next morning we made a huge breakfast with pancakes, TONS of bacon, and eggs with peppers and potatoes.
Oh, and before I forget...I did not style it too much for the photo, but here is my new haircut with all the layers that I like.

More from two weekends ago

So, not much has happened this weekend just yet. I went and got a haircut at Floyds today and then bought some tape to cover an old tennis racket handle. Last weekend we got together with friends down at the pier for some Najas time. We got down there right after sunset as you can see from this pic of Sue taking a beach shot. Najas is always the same, although I wish that the band would not play so much because they are so loud that you have to shout over them.Other than that night it was a pretty calm weekend. Went to a movie that was funny, but had enough bad language for a lifetime...Superbad. Then on Sunday we had friends over for a BBQ and tried to stay cool in the heat. I did get a chance to show off some of the stuff I bought while Shannon and Nicole were in town. I now have a huge hobo purse, and a fancy new perfume called the Angels of Florence. It was pricey, but I have been wanting to purchase a scent from the famed Santa Maria Novella. It is a perfumary that was created by Monks in Italy. The scent that I bought was created to raise money to restore some of the famous artwork in Florence that I unfortunately will probably never see because I spent so much money on this perfume. :(
I also received TONS of compliments on the gorgeous earrings that Nicole gave me as a gift for her visiting. It was so nice of her and she has the best taste. I should actually hire both Shannon and Nicole to be my personal stylists...they would rock and highly approve of the new haircut that I got which I promise to post a picture of soon...gotta wait to get the camera recharged again. In the book world I finally finished the new Harry Potter while hanging out on the hammock and I am hoping to check out the library on Monday afternoon to replenish. Tomorrow I have volleyball and Manhattan Beach plans. Take is easy and enjoy this warm weather at the end of summer while you can.