Did a fun thing with my daughter and her fiance recently. We have a really historic mansion with some gorgeous gardens about 20 minutes down the road from us and I have never been there before so when I saw an ad for an event they were having I thought it would be the perfect time to go check it out. You may have heard of the place. It's called Filoli Gardens and in 2023 President Biden took a walk around the gardens with Chinese President Xi.

A while ago I read that there was a troll exhibit in the garden and it looked intriguing. Then I read that they were having a Halloween event called Nightfall. Then I knew I had to go.

We got there just before the sun set and were greeted by the first troll, Ranja Redeye. There were TONS of carved pumpkins all in the field. Then we walked through a gate to get to the trail. There we met Sofus Lotus, the Listening Troll. That is my husband standing next to her. I think he's whispering in her ear, "How did I get trapped into this?" LOL. Truthfully, it was a little hard on him because there was a lot of walking on uneven ground which is not good for his back or legs. He made it through though. There was a group of scarecrows standing in a field. Reminded me of the movie "Children of the Corn." There were colored lights on the trees and as the night got darker it really started to come alive. There was a huge pumpkin decorated ring that you walk through to get to the main area. Once it got dark it almost looked like a ring of fire.

We came across a group of banana slugs. It looked so cool. There were a lot of other scenes too, including a forest of mushrooms all lit up. Those reminded me of the display in Golden Gate Park that I saw when I did the Illuminate SF A to Z. There was a spot to get a beverage and sit down for a spell by some fire pits if you wanted. It was there that we came across my Spirit Troll, Kamma Can, the Treasure Troll. She can see the potential in any little scrap to turn it into something beautiful! We ended up back at the main entrance and it was spectacular. It was a great evening and lots of folks were there with their kids dressed up for Halloween.

After I got home I looked up the trolls and it seems that we missed one because we only saw 5 and there are 6! I guess I will not see it because the trolls are going away on November 11 and I don't think we can get down there again before that. I know my hubby won't go because it took him a day or two to recover from this visit. Poor guy.

I know that Filoli (which stands for Fight, Love, Live) has a Christmas display as well so I think my daughter and I will check that one out because we didn't go into the mansion on this visit at all and it was decorated too. I was feeling bad for my husband so we stopped once we had made it back to the main area. 

Have you heard of Filoli Gardens? Which troll would be your spirit guide? Happy Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by. 

Oh My Gosh, It's October!

Hello fellow Ultimate Blogging Challengers. I feel a bit remiss because here we are almost in the middle of the month and I haven't mentioned my Etsy shop or my crafting work at all! Very poor in the marketing division. I'll have to speak with someone about that! (I AM the marketing division, along with every other division - LOL).

For about 10 or 11 years I have had an Etsy shop where I sell my handmade greeting cards, mini scrapbook albums and other paper crafts. In the last five years I have begun attending craft fairs, mostly around the holidays but I'm beginning to branch out to other times of the year as well. A lot of my creations are interactive and I find that they are best shown in person, although Etsy does now have a spot for videos of your items.

At any rate, one of the things I did recently was be a vendor at an outdoor evening event. It was at a local church and as part of their festival they were having a holiday night market. I have done outside events but none at night so I thought I'd give it a shot.  We just recently got a canopy so that outside events would be possible and I must say that we put it up really quickly. 

I knew that it might get a little windy, especially as night came on, but the days had been really warm so I wasn't too worried. Still, I didn't display everything as I usually do because most of my products are made of paper and I didn't want to have to chase everything if the wind came up. Which it did. Forcefully. I had weights around the legs of the canopy but it almost blew away. Thankfully my vendor neighbor helped secure it by sharing some of their weights. One of my items did fall off and unfortunately it was a glass frame which broke. 

Since it was going to get dark, I bought some twinkle lights to spread around the table. I really liked them and decided I was going to get more for the upcoming holiday craft fairs I have scheduled next month. 

 

Sadly, I didn't make any sales. I think it will be a while before I attempt that venue again. It is was definitely not worth setting it all up and sitting in the cold and wind for 5 hours. It was a three day event but I only could do Friday night. Perhaps if I had done the Saturday one it might have been more profitable. 

These are examples of the products I make. 

Here is a little tour of my studio. This was from a few years ago but it is basically the same, just more crowded with stuff! 

I also have a YouTube channel where I share some of the processes for making my items. That's another aspect of the business that I want to enhance. 

And that's about it for now. Hope you enjoyed the tour of the studio. After watching it again I can see how much has actually changed in the 5 years since I made it and I'll have to do an update. If you are looking for unique handmade greeting cards or need an album for a special occasion I'd love to work with you. Send me a message on the Etsy site! Happy Saturday!

Oh My Gosh It's October!

I took a little break from posting for a few days while I went away and had some quality time with my BFF. I may write about that later.  I'm back now and hoping to finish out this month with more posts in the Ultimate Blogging Challenge. 

Shortly after we returned from the Seattle trip we went to a concert at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga, CA. This is one of our favorite venues because as a rule the tickets are reasonable and even though we like to sit up close, there really isn't a bad seat in the house. We are part of the "Loyalty Program" since we go to at least four shows a year there, although to be honest I'm not sure if that will continue because it is getting harder and harder to pick bands to see and the rewards of being a "loyalty" club member aren't that great unless you see upward of 11 different shows. That's a bit much for us. 

Anyway, tonight's show was .38 Special. We have seen them a few times and like their music a lot. They were doing a 50-Year Tour although not all the original band members still perform (what group after 50 years still has all the original members?). 

I am sad because as a scrapbooker I miss the paper tickets that I could use to embellish my pages. I try to remember to take a screenshot of my phone ticket but sometimes when I do they flash a bar across that says "Screenshots of tickets are not valid entry" or words to that effect. The opening act was a guy named David Lunig and he was actually pretty good. We have been to the Winery so many times that my hubby has made "friends" with one of the security staff. 

We did notice a little difference this time. The original singer, Donny Van Zant, is no longer able to tour with the band as he has ear issues and we could tell the difference. But they sang most of our favorite songs and we were still able to get up and dance. There was no one behind us so we weren't blocking anyone's view. 

The view of the seats from above after the show is always so pretty to me. 

I'll leave you with "Hold On Loosely" which is one of my personal faves. Not sure I'll make a daily post but definitely will be back with more! 

Oh My Gosh It's October!

And just like that our trip was almost over. It was time to board the train to come back to reality. 

One last look at the two stadiums. So for future reference, the stadiums are within walking distance of the train station so theoretically if you wanted to catch a Seahawks or Mariner's game you could just hop the train. You definitely need to plan ahead though since it takes 23 hours from the Bay Area!

The whole train experience is exciting in my opinion. Just being in the station and seeing all the different people is fascinating. I took pictures of the stops we were making so I could know where we were. You are kind of in your own little world once you get on board.

We were able to upgrade to a larger room for the way home. The bed was still not 100% comfortable but again, it was only for one night. At least we had our own bathroom and it even had a shower if we wanted to take one. We had a lot more leg room. 

We saw some different scenery on the way home since we were traveling this part in the daytime whereas we had come in during the nighttime. I could see the end of the train behind us when we went around the bend. The trees were starting their fall colors. Some of the stations were really unusual. 

Once again the food was delicious. The flowers on the table were fresh and the staff was so pleasant and helpful. There is a point going through the mountains where you lose service but I was able to catch some of the Giants game on my phone while my husband watched football on my laptop.   

All in all it was a really great trip. Something we hadn't been able to do in a LONG time. Now we are thinking of Catalina Island. I told my husband it is the "island of romance." I was surprised that he had never heard the song "26 Miles - Santa Catalina." 

If you are thinking about taking a train trip, do it. I have to 100% thank my friend Karen@MarvelousMouseTravels for helping us put this all together. She is great and so easy to work with. Highly recommend her for your vacation needs. 

I've been having fun blogging this experience. Make sure to check out the other folks who are doing the Ultimate Blogging Challenge. 

I am not sure if I will be able to connect here the next few days. I am going away for a scrapbooking getaway with my BFF. If I can, I will. If not, I'll catch up with you when I get back!  

Oh My Gosh It's October!

It's day 6 of the October Ultimate Blog Challenge and I'm still here! Hope you have been following along with our Seattle Adventure.

Today we are going to take the Hop On Hop Off Bus Tour of the city. This is a big bus that goes to several (18 to be exact) places around the city. You can get off the bus at any of the stops and then when you are ready to leave that spot you just wait for the next bus to come and continue your journey. We only got off at 2 of the stops but it was still a really fun thing to do. They have these tours all over so it's something to consider the next time you visit a new city. 

Our starting point was the Space Needle so we walked up the street and got on the bus. We sat up on top so I could take pictures of everything we saw. The first street we went down reminded me of the steep hills in San Francisco! We were heading down to the waterfront. Since we had already taken the Argosy cruise, we didn't get off here, although I almost wanted to so I could go get that necklace from Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe! 

I was taking pictures of all the interesting things we saw along the way. Had to get the Howl at the Moon sign since I am always snapping pictures of the full moon. One of the stops was Chinatown but we didn't get off there. I do love the entrance pagoda though. The building in the bottom right corner reminded me of some of the buildings we have in San Francisco. Keep in mind the spire from the clock tower. And where else can you find a horse hanging on the ledge?

We did want to see the Sky View Observatory so we got off at that stop. You can get all the way up to the top floor through this elevator!

The Sky View Observatory is another building where you can walk all the way around and get a 360 degree view of the city. See the spire below? That is the top of the clock tower. 

Football and baseball fans will recognize the stadiums below. I don't care much about football but if the Seattle Mariners had been playing at home I would have tried to get us tickets. The picture in the lower left shows just how far up we really are. 

When we were done with the observatory we were fortunate to get down to the bus stop right as the next Hop On Hop Off bus was loading. I was able to get some more pictures of the scenery even though we didn't sit on the outside. Some really pretty murals on the walls and those legs reminded me of the ones sticking out of the window in San Francisco.  

The next stop that we wanted to get off was at Pike's Place Market. It was amazing to see all the different vendors inside and of course we got a picture of the original Starbucks. The flowers at the market reminded me of the glass pieces we saw at Chihuly and those really were some pretty big a$$ lobster tails! I had to keep my wits about me because I found SO many things that I wanted to buy there. I did end up getting a silver Washington State charm for my charm bracelet and a necklace with a moon and star. I was sad that we missed the bubble gum wall but hubby was getting tired with all the walking and I didn't want to keep searching for it. 

After walking around the market it did take us about 45 minutes before the next bus came along but we made it home in time for hubby to watch his Cowboys on Thursday Night Football. Sadly it didn't turn out well for them. 

Also sadly it was our last night in Seattle. We were set to be at the train station the next morning to catch our Coastal Starlight ride home. Have you ever taken a Hop On Hop Off bus tour? 

Oh My Gosh It's October

Howdy folks. Are you ready for more of the Seattle Adventure? To recap:  Amtrak train ride from SF Bay Area to Seattle, Washington. Tour of Space Needle and Chihuly Gardens was next. Lunch at 5 Point Cafe. 

After we ate lunch and relaxed a bit we went to the hotel lobby desk and asked for a cab to take us to the harbor so we could catch the Argosy Cruise Line for a trip around the Seattle waterfront. While waiting to board I saw there was a Curiosity Shop that I definitely wanted to go in when we got back!

We were fortunate that the weather was just perfect for a little jaunt on the water and we sat on the upper deck so we could see everything. We had a great tour guide who was able to tell us what we were seeing and she was a fountain of knowledge about the history of the city. There were several things that we had seen from the Space Needle that we saw in closer range, like the ferris wheel and the Needle itself looks impressive from the harbor.

We were able to see the stadiums for the Seattle Seahawks and next door, the Seattle Mariners. Seattle has some pretty interestingly shaped skyscrapers. Apparently there is some controversy about which building is actually the tallest. One of them is built on a hill so it appears taller but really isn't. There was a sailboat on the water with us as well.

Seattle is a shipping port and we went right by the cargo ships. It was fascinating to watch them load the massive crates. The cranes always make me think of something out of Star Wars. We were pretty close to them. That is not zoom photography.

We were out on the water for at least an hour. When we got back to land we did take a stroll through the Ye Olde Curiosity Shoppe. There were definitely some curiosities in there. I don't know why I didn't take any pictures of them. I also found a necklace that I almost bought but didn't. Maybe we'll have to go back! 

When we were ready to head back to the hotel I used the Seattle Yellow Cab app that I had downloaded and was able to order a cab with no problems. I felt so tech savvy! We've never used Uber or Lyft so it was a new experience.  

And that was the end of our first full day in Seattle. We had one more day there with another excursion, the Hop On Hop Off bus tour through downtown. Come back tomorrow and see what delights we found.  

Oh My Gosh It's October!

 Hello! I know it's a little later post than usual today but had a family emergency this morning. All is well but it took longer than expected. Because of that today's post is a little shorter than they have been. I said I was going to write about the Harbor cruise around the Seattle waterfront but that will have to wait. 

We were hungry after our trip through the Space Needle and Chihuly so we looked for someplace to eat within walking distance of our hotel. We found a cute tavern a few blocks away so went there for a late lunch.

  

It was interesting to read about the history of the tavern. I can tell you that there definitely were "all types of people" both as customers and as servers. 

I loved the checkerboard decor. This was the bar area. They had another side which was more of a restaurant and then there was space out in front if you wanted to eat outside.

Some of the signs were pretty funny. I do drink quite a lot of coffee in the morning as a rule. LOL 

 I appreciated what they had on the menu regarding the staff. 

This was a fun little place and was so close to the hotel that we actually ended up eating here twice during our stay. The food was delicious and the prices reasonable. 

And that's it for today. Tomorrow will be the Harbor Cruise so hope you come back!