Rain Rain Rain

It rained buckets this weekend, but it brought many cozy hours of being snugged up inside. We San Diegans are not as used to rain as, say, Floridians (which is what I am at heart). We forget how to drive and we don't own rain gear for the most part. Agghh!

Well, I ask you: where would you want to sleep if you were a little kitty and there was a big warm robe to crawl into? This is a typical scene many mornings and nights here on the couch. Gwyneth is a Daddy's girl.

She often needs a little rest after getting her butt kicked by Kate. We cheer Kate on because Gwyneth is a bit of a dirty fighter. She dive-bombs Kate as Miss K. tries to ignore her - to no avail. But there’s no ignoring Little G.

This is the sign for a fabric store in La Jolla by this restaurant I love to go to for breakfast. I love the old graphics.

And who could pass up snapping a shot of this be-whiskered cat sticker. Nope, not me.

Happy week to everyone. Hope it’s a nice one for us all! I’m expecting some exciting news, so I’ll be sharing that this week I hope!

Miss B. (Katie Bee), Sun Lover

Katie Bee enjoying some rays, and a few moments peace before Ignat (a.k.a. Gwyneth) comes to “play” with nails drawn and fangs ready!

Wallpaper the Whole House I Would

Marriage is a wonderful thing AND it seriously cuts into my love of wallpaper! I'd have every wall covered with the stuff. And it's not like I've even proposed it, but I feel that men think of one thing when they think of wallpaper: removing it. As husby gets older, however, his defenses must only be weakening when it comes to who makes the decorating decisions. I gain ground every year!

Feast your eyes on these amazing wallpapers...

Here's Mr. Morris himself probably dreaming up some new pattern
to make us gasp with delight!

Small Bear School

There’s no one quite like my husband. And this is only trumped by the fact that there is no one quite like his Mother. Mary is one of the most creative people I know. She’s an amazing craftswoman and her house is chock full of fantastic vignettes that I am always photographing. Oh, and there’s the Ikebana! It boggles my mind to see some of the things she has made. Lest anyone should think, boy, this gal is butterin’ up her MIL, I’ll get to the point (I’m just one of those lucky gals who loves her mother in law…I have friends who are not as lucky!). So, James recently came home with a gift that his Mom gave him when he was little. She sent it home with him on my birthday.   
I present to you: Small Bear School!

The bears all come out of their chairs and have jointed legs. They also have little black slates for their desks. The teacher’s desk has a little wooden apple. And of course the black board for up front! So cute…

Halloween Nite Out

Since my b-day falls close to Halloween, our dinner out is often chaperoned by ghouls and goblins! Here are a few pictures from this weekend’s night out for din-din at Searsucker. The chef, Brian Malarkey, was a Top Chef finalist. He stopped by our table wearing, of course, searsucker! Very cute…
Here are some of the sights we encountered. Frankly, I think the dude in the Hooter’s outfit takes the cake. And that last mustachioed fellow is my neighbor, Jeff, wearing his boyfriend’s Cher wig and a pirate ‘stash! Oh my!

Birthday Cupcake

Hey peeps! I know I’ve been M.I.A. lately, but here I am: spotted having a cupcake for breakfast on my birthday last week. Bread & Cie is a bakery and restaurant in the ‘hood with some mean sweets and lunch time goodies. I had an awesome birthday, and it started out superbly with dessert for breakfast. Why not?

Going Back to School ;)

I think this could be the post graduate degree I’m looking for. I could get about 10 more cats and go to the head of the class! Oh, how I wish I knew how this photo was taken? What were these ladies up to? Very cute indeed.

$410 Scratch Post

I have this idea/dream/thought that once my traditional work years are over (not exactly sure when I deem this time to be – age 65?) that I’ll open an antique store where I will find odd pieces of furniture, maybe on the side of the road even, re-do them, and make a profit. Kind of like these girls if I were even slightly this good – these girls are amazing. So, a couple months ago, hubs and I were driving to the grocery store and I saw an old wingback chair sitting in front of a house – obviously free to anyone who would haul it off. A burned out toaster was next to it. Fast forward, I have it home, I find fabric and an upholsterer, and it’s back all redone in this cool grey men’s suit-ish fabric and ready for … the cats to use it as a scratch post! Aggghhh! Okay, so there’s a sub-plot (isn’t there always?). I fully instructed the reupholster dude to take it down to the wood and replace all foam, padding, etc. before upholstering it. Well, he did, almost! He apparently used some of the old padding, which he claims was just fine. Hm? So after 4 straight days of sniffing the chair, the cats have pretty much claimed it with their claws! They love to scratch it: the front, the back, the arms, the sides – they love to scratch it! For some reason, (perhaps it’s their special scratching technique), it doesn’t leave scratch marks – it just sounds like they’re ripping it to shreds… It’s actually just sitting in the middle of the dining room until I can clear a spot for it. Oh joy. Excuse the blurry picture!

$1,000,000 Smile

Although you would think that a wife who is also a marketing consultant would have long ago created a whiz-bang incredible website for her darling husband, this is not exactly the case. Did I put up a site that we believe gets the job done for now? Yes. Did husband go and get beautiful pictures professionally taken for his temporary website? Yes. And, does this man have a million dollar smile or what? Uh-huh.

Little Italy: the Festa!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! It’s an Italian festival. A few blocks from our house, we have San Diego’s Little Italy. It’s  like walking down memory lane for me. My dad was a stereotypical Italian man. But I never knew this until I moved here and realized that this is how Italian men are. Of course watching the Sopranos was a little eye-opening, too! Yeeks!
This woman was dancing through the street followed by a band. The smell of garlic and red sauce-laden pasta filled the air. We rode bikes down to the festival and then moseyed over to the car show.

This dude was guarding the gondola. It was so hot, we were wishing we were in a gondola … on a river … in Venice!

Here I am snorking down an icy, fresh squeezed lemonade. It was daaah-lishous!

Over at the car show, a cool vee-dub bus had everyone taking snaps. And, why yes, it smelled like patchouli! Perhaps that was covering up another smell?  I loved the vintage luggage and cooler on the roof.
 

Weekend Breakfast

One of my favorite weekend rituals is going to Pannikin in La Jolla for breakfast. I often meet my MIL and FIL there and they bring their little dog, Choula. Sometimes it’s just me and James, or I even go alone some days. On Sundays, the farmers market is there and it’s a great one. Or on Saturdays, there’s a fabulous store one block down called Etcetera: chock full of vintage and antique furniture, home decor, et al. Here’s the window where you order at Pannikin. I can smell the coffee now…

Saw this funny sign outside one of the shops:

And these cute paw imprints in the sidewalk:

And a pretty window vignette:

Wish we could all meet there and have a big blog people ho-down. Ha! 
How surprising! This isn’t a post about the cats! Oh, just give me time. ;)

S.O.U.L. Food

Hi there, peeps. Are you eating your veggies? I just found this cool food rule, though it’s really nothing new. But, here it is:
Eat more S.O.U.L. food:  Seasonal, Organic, Unprocessed, and Locally grown! Why? Greater nutritional value. Uncontaminated by pesticides and harmful chemicals. Grown without genetically modified organisms. Grown locally to reduce sprays across state lines (I didn’t know this happened anyway!). Fresher because it isn’t spending days being transported on a truck.
This isn’t always easy, but when you can, it’s the way to go! The picture is of an amazing wrap (with strawberries, avocado, and feta) I had at a place called Roots that no longer has their actual restaurant, but apparently goes to the farmers markets now. The two women who run it make delicious, healthy food!

This Must Be What It’s Like

…to have two children, and one is faster, more outgoing, and more cunning than the other. Our fur-child #1, Kate, was for all accounts, feral. We discovered her in a storm drain by a very busy street. She had the very slightest of purrs, jumped at noises outside, ran and hid from people, and was generally delicate. Feline-fur-child #2 is the opposite. A rattling purr, super-outgoing, faster than a speeding grey bullet, and devious to the tips of all 20 very sharp claws. I know these crazy kittens will work it out, but it’s sad to see her chase our darling Kate under the bed where she has to run to escape the tiny talons of terror. The lazy afternoons with Kate in her bed on my desk are replaced with insane chases through the house until either I throw Gwyneth in the hutch or Kate gets high enough or hidden enough to escape the little rascal. Ah, the kitten drama!

But for all those mothers out there that have to go through this with REAL children: ouch, it must not be easy.