It’s been almost 2 years since my dear friend Pauline has come out from Illinois to California, and a year to the month since Valerie was out here with her father. Both times were related to Valerie and boyfriend Roni’s desire to move to this area, and after a long year full of anticipation Valerie and Roni dreams have come true. Roni is transfering out with his job from Bloomington, IL to Irvine, CA. Valerie will probably transfer within her job as well. So, once again, Pauline and Valerie drove across the states in 2 days and arrived ready to accomplish their goal, to find an apartment for Val and Roni. It was also a great excuse for Pauline and Patty to see each other once again.

As always, Pauline and Valerie looked so pretty, and I was so excited to see each of them. So to honor the time we were going to spend with each other I had my awesome hubby, Jerry, take photos of us. We started out wanting to critique each photo after Jerry took them.

As time went by we got a bit goofy, lightened up a little, and having some usual fun times together. Most of it was caught on Jerry’s camera.

And as usual Pauline and I were giggling and having a bit of fun. Doesn’t Pauline look cute when she thinks she’s gotten away with a little something?

We went a bit further and clowned around, being our usual silly selves. Only with a such a wonderful friend can you truly not care (well, mostly not care) how silly you look.

Pauline ended up bringing her laptop which resulted in us having a lot of fun sitting side by side sharing photos, playing FarmVille, and delighting in the fact that we were indeed right next to each other and not chatting on line long distance.

In between Valerie and Pauline’s search for an apartment we enjoyed eating out at Souplantation as well as feasting on Valeries’ home cooked meals. Can that girl cook! umm, umm, umm!

Catching Pauline in a quiet contemplative mood was a treat for me. I’m not sure why you don’t like this photo Pauline, I sure do. So pretty!

Taking a day off from their tasks, Pauline and Valerie enjoyed a long wonderful day at Disneyland. The weather cooperated and they came home with stories and photos. Ahhhhh!

Pauline and Val took me out to lunch at Oami’s, a favorite Sushi place near by. What a treat, such yummy food and a lot of it too. Thank you girls!

Another fun get together and one that could become a tradition, was inviting one of Pauline’s neighbors from way back when she lived here in Mission Viejo, Jill, on the far right, as well as a friend of mine, Karen on the far left, and now friend of Pauline’s. 3 bottles of wine later and we can all say that we had a great time visiting. Ready to do this again whenever you’re back out here Pauline!

Anxious to spend some time with friends she’s made out here in CA, Valerie left our little wine gab fest early. I had to snap a few photos of mom and daughter.

Isn’t she just adorable? Valerie always knows how to put an outfit together, and always looks so stylish!

The 9 days went by too fast, both Pauline and I agreed on that. Knowing it would not be the last time we saw each other again, and anxious to head home to her sweetheart, Pauline and I were able to keep our goodbyes dry eyed. Valerie will be back in about 3 weeks time, bringing with her her boyfriend Roni and a truck load of furniture. If I know her well enough I’m sure she’ll have a big smile on her face too. Love you girls!

When Valerie and her dad John were here last month he took us out to a great local sushi resturant, Oami, that a good friend of mine referred me to.

Of the 2 chef’s who were working that night, this was the only one who allowed me to take his photo.

John took this photo of me with my food, yum! Every bite was delicious!

Such a nice evening, full of wonderful memories. Thanks John and family. Here’s to Valerie and her boyfriend visiting Oami when they move out to the O.C.

Val’s dad John flew out at the end of Val’s week here so that they could drive back home to Illinois together. While here, John needed to run a teleconference meeting. Jerry and John worked a couple hours on getting that set up, but were unsuccessful. Jerry and Patty enjoyed seeing John again, especially since he is a camera enthusiast just as Jerry and Patty are. So much so in fact, John has the same camera Jerry has, a Nikon D90!

Valerie’s packing of her car turned into something of a Nintendo’s Tetris session, but she did make it all fit. Yeah! You can see Val here in the guest room closet going through her things. Here’s to Val and Roni getting a place that has a huge walk in closet when they move out to OC!

At the last minute Patty and Valerie decided to take a trip to Disneyland today, Tuesday March 24th. The weather was spectacular even if the park was full. We got a late start but still had a fun day. Val lucked out and found Pluto just as we entered the park, so we waited in line to get her photo taken for her sweetheart, Roni. And was it worth it! Such an adorable photo! Of course it’s not hard when you start out with such an adorable girl!

We also got lucky and got if not a somewhat obnoxious cast member at least one who had a great suggestion, and that was to get our photo taken with Tink, in front of the castle! Yeah Tink! I always love to play with Tink. All in all, a great day.

This adorable chandelier hangs above the table and doesn’t really offer anything in the way of actual light yet it looks so sweet and was just what I wanted. Valerie, a dear friend, helped Jerry and I figure out how high to hang it. I think it finishes off the space very nicely.

I’m late posting photos, but as the saying goes, better late than never.

I had just gotten home after taking our houseguest Valerie to the airport (she went home to Illinois for the holidays) when I saw Jerry’s car in the driveway. I was so excited to see him home for lunch! I was sure he had come home to see me so I rushed in the front door to say “hi sweetie”. When he walked out of his study and I saw the look on his face I knew there was a different reason for him being home in the middle of the day. You know the rest of the story, another job lay off with the holidays right around the corner. This short story line leads up the photo of me with a very special person in my arms, baby Jack L. Hord. Carol’s daughter Teresa, husband Jeremy, and daugher Emily welcomed Jack into the world a few days after Thanksgiving this year. Jerry had gone back to work after telling me about the job lay off news, and I was on the phone with my girlfriend Pauline boo-hooing about it. I was in no mood to break away from my conversation with Pauline, despite Carol’s persistance. She called my cell several times, then the home phone. I finally gave in and took her call. She didn’t tell me that Teresa and Jack were with her, she didn’t know about Jerry’s recent job status. She just knew how much I loved her girls and T’s kids. I hung up with Pauline and waited for Carol to come over like she said she was going to do. When I answered the door I was so tickled. I also knew that I needed a baby’s love at that very moment to lift my heart. Thank you baby Jack, Teresa and Carol.

We started our festivities by having good friends Terry and Karen over to enjoy the Christmas vibe. Karen brought over hot chocolate and we enjoyed that while we opened our gifts.
It was Jerry’s year for all things Coke related. Maybe next year we’ll put up a small tree in his study to show off his Coke ornaments.It was the year of the fairy for me. I was blessed to receive Tink in many different forms this year and loved it. This was a Mary Cicely Barker calendar, another favorite artist of mine who illustrates exquisite fairies.

Terry’s gifts came in the form of Disney. Not too big of a surprise because that’s his mantra, his main thing, what makes his heart go thumpedy-thump. Karen and I went to an estate sale this last year that had a awesome amount of Disney items for sale. We found out as we were purchasing our items that the estate sale was due to a foreclosure which made it very sad. But in the end Terry got this shirt and a cool Disney blanket, so I was thankful for those gifts.

Next on our holiday festivities was spending Christmas eve with good friends the Bennets. Jill made everyone a wonderful mexican feast with delicious margarita’s, and Matt joined us for dinner that evening which was nice. In a festive mood Jill placed celebratory New Years eve crackers on each table setting which was a lot of fun.
Inside each cracker were crowns, a joke, and a prize. Each end of the cracker was tied up with twisty gold ball ties. Those ended up being the most entertaining, something akin to the box, not the contents. Patrick made “knuckle-cracking-beaters” out of his. Steve proudly shows off the paper crown. It seems to fit him just right, don’t you think? Jill bravely shows there is more than just 1 thing you can do with the New Years cracker ties thank you, while Matt tries not to notice that mom did not have her focus set right!

We had a nice treat this year with having both boys home for Christmas. Jason and his good friend Christina, better known as Chuck, made the long trek down from Arcata, Ca in his dependable blue Honda. Since it is about a 14 hour drive one way, they decided to stop over in San Fransico on their way down. It had been almost 2 years since we’d seen Jason last, so we were all very excited. Christmas morning was nice. We slept in a bit, and Matt drove down from Newport Beach to open gifts with us. Matt appreciated his gifts as did Jason, of course, yet the best part for Jerry and I was the fact that we had both the boys home for the holidays at the same time.
As part of our family tradition, we traveled down to San Diego for Christmas day dinner at Patty’s cousin’s house. Greg and Doreen make the best prime rib known to mankind and are the most gracious of hosts. Getting to see Greg’s parents, and Patty’s closest aunt Lou and uncle Jim who live a stone’s throw away, is another part of the wonderful tradition, as is seeing a whole host of other family members. It is time spent with great food and spirits, lots of wonderful stories around a long table, and best of all simply the best family a girl could ever wish for.

After living with Jerry and I for almost a month while seriously pursuing a job in the interior design market, Valerie decided to purchase a Disneyland Annual Pass. It allows her to have fun during these hard economic times, and besides who doesn’t love Disneyland? Uh, for those of you who don’t? Don’t answer!

One of the cool things about Val is that this girl loves REAL rides! Like one of our favorites, Screamin’!

And she loves the holidays and is very photogenic! Our friend Terry went with us on this trip and played tour guide till our ears dropped off! I’m so tickled to have you as a Disney pal Valerie!

Before you dive into this blog you might wonder if these topiaries at Disney World and Disneyland Resort are real. I am not sure if the Peter Pan and Snow White topiaries shown here at Disney World in Florida are real, but I do know the others are as I’ve seen them up close. The only part that is not real on the topiaries in Disneyland Resort is the yellow main on the lion. That is made out of some synthetic fiber. I hope this bit of information is helpful.

My girlfriend Pauline took these topiary photos while on a trip to Disney World in Florida with her 2 children, David and Valerie, a place I someday hope to enjoy to the fullest. I am a huge fan of Tinkerbell, for those of you who don’t know me well. I love the fact that Peter Pan is getting some recognition in these topiaires, he’s really how Tinkerbell came to be know now isn’t it?

This topiary of Snow White and a few of her adorable dwarfs is just remarkable. I wonder why they can’t do this in Disneyland or California Adventure. Maybe because of Florida’s climate, where it is more humid. The California sun can sure beat down on our horticulture.

I’m not saying Disneyland doesn’t have some amazing topiaries, as shown here with their lion ornamental tree. I’ve looked at this lion up close and the mane is made out of some kind of synthetic fibers. This particular topiary is over by It’s A Small World, where they have the largest variety of topiaries in all of Disneyland and California Adventure displayed.

I love their swan featured also by It’s A Small World. The pink flowers are geraniums and are remind me of a peacocks feathers.