4.26.2010

STAGECOACH 2010

2010 was our first year to attend Stagecoach, but it will not be our last! We arrived home Monday afternoon and as I unpacked our bags, I was already thinking about next year's show.


We drove to our hotel in La Quinta Friday afternoon and checked in and took a stroll to our very favorite mexican restaurant there. Las Casuelas Quinta. We always eat at one of the Las Casuelas restaurants whenever visit the Palm Springs area.

I love their salsa! I could eat it with a spoon. Really, I could. It's that good. But, we ate it with chips and ordered a side of guacamole and sipped on ice cold Margaritas.

The days were warm with temperatures of 88 degrees the first day and 92 on the second day. But there were plenty of places to get ice cold refreshments and find shade to sit or stand in at the festival. After breakfast at the hotel we wandered out poolside and enjoyed the sunny clear morning and at noon, we showered and dressed for our day at Stagecoach.

I have to commend the organizers for how well everything was set up. We got through the front gates and the search of our bags, showing our tickets and getting our wristband at the 'check ID' tent very quickly. Once inside, we were surprised that we didn't have to stand in any long lines for anything!! There were plenty of places to find cold bottled water, and all of the drinks were kept in ice filled coolers. Which is important when it is 92 degrees outside and you are thirsty. Just sayin....

The barbeque (pork and beef) sandwiches we had for dinner Saturday night were fresh, hot and delicious! Can you say yum?


On Day 1, we heard Joey & Rory, Phil Vassar, Billy Currington, Sugarland and Keith Urban. There were lots of screens and speakers around the fields, so we never missed out. The first day, we secured a spot directly in front of a big screen and enjoyed our "front row seats"! This is one view of the "Mane Stage".


On Day 2, we met up with some other friends who had arrived earlier and secured an open space with room for all of us closer to the stage. We met some of the people around us and had a blast people watching in between the acts. We heard Heidi Newfield, Jason Aldean, and Brooks & Dunn, who by the way, put on the best show of the weekend and came back out for an encore.

We were closer to the Mane Stage on Sunday, but also had this view of a screen to the left of our seats, as well.

After such a great weekend of good music and beautiful weather, I can't wait to get our tickets for Stagecoach 2011! Yeehaw!

4.19.2010

MONDAY MUSINGS

Monday morning rambling thoughts:

hot Dunkin Donuts coffee
sunshine
Lil Miss
writing
work out
mother's day brunch
unique garden markers
Bethenny Frankel (my favorite RHNYC)
packing for Stagecoach-sunscreen and camera (most important)
cold spring rainfall
Taco Bell
highlights hair appointment
Friday Night Lights (need to rent Season 3--Boo Mama reminded me in her blog post today)
making to-do lists

I had a wonderful weekend. We planted our vegetable/herb garden and one of my very best friends became a grandmother this weekend (twins Isabella and Tristan were born on Saturday).

I just love this photo of my own precious grand-daughter, Grace. It makes my heart smile. Nothing better than your very own ice cream cone....

Have a beautiful Monday!

4.17.2010

LET THE GROWING BEGIN

Today was another nice day in San Diego. So, this morning we filled our second raised vegetable box with nutrient rich soil and planted our plants.
Then we set up the tomato cages, and some great cages for our squash and zucchini, some small stakes for our peppers and jalapenos and trellis for our cucumbers.

We found this cute, crazy garden bird and decided we "just had to" have a couple for our garden.This box contains cucumbers at the top, then green peppers, jalapenos, some strawberries, basil, thyme and rosemary.
This box contains yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, and tomatoes (Celebrity and cherry).
Now that our hard work is mostly done (for now), our garden is ready to begin growing! I can't wait to harvest some homegrown veggies!

4.10.2010

PROJECT GARDEN BOXES

We had a very productive day building our raised bed garden boxes. We went to Home Depot last night for all of our lumber, screws and stakes and today Bruce built both of our 4 x 8 x12 boxes. They are awesome!!


Here is a photo of a lizard we have living in our yard. Isn't he the coolest? He keeps our yard free of insect pests.

He seems to be saying, "whatever, dude!", doesn't he?

Our dog, Kona, (resident supervisor), helped by laying in the warm sun and keeping us company. She is a great companion, to say the least. We completed our project without her help...but let's keep that between us blogging friends, okay?
While Bruce was busy building, I focused my attention on pruning a lot of the overgrown plants in our yard (and filling trash cans) and I am so pleased with the results. I love how our yard looks since I attacked it with the pruner today. We have been blessed with a rainy winter and our yard is lush and green.

So, after all the building was completed, we went to Home Depot again and picked up (8) 3-cubic foot bags of soil and (2) 2-cubic foot bags of Miracle Gro amendments to mix into the soil and we filled one of our garden boxes. What a great day! We are going back to Home Depot tomorrow morning to get the soil and amendments for the second garden box. We also saw some beautiful hanging flower pots that we want to use to replace out hanging ferns --(ummm, to be honest, after the long, cold San Diego winter) mostly dead, now-- across the back of the house. Gorgeous reds and oranges to adorn our yard. It will add some vibrant color to the house. I can't wait to have my beautiful backyard back!!!!

I will take some more photos as we make more progress on our garden and yard tomorrow!
And next.....we get our pool ready.
Oh, sorry, I am getting ahead of myself. *Think June!*

4.09.2010

SPRING INTO ACTION

Spring is here and April is going to be a busy month for us. I am praying that we continue to have nice weather. It's time to get outside in the yard and get our hands dirty. Dig into Mother Earth and grow some stuff!

This weekend, we are building two raised bed garden boxes and hopefully getting our plants in too. We are going to grow tomatoes, yellow squash, peppers (green and jalapeno), cucumbers and basil. We might also plant some strawberries.

We also need to work in our yard and do some pruning and shaping. With all the wonderful abundance of rain we have had and recent warm weather, our plants have taken off and our yard is beginning to take on the attributes of a jungle. I love working in our yard and being outside in the sun and fresh air.

Do you have plans for a garden this year? What are you growing in yours?

4.07.2010

QUAKING IN MY BOOTS

I am sure most of you have heard now that San Diego, well actually all of Southern California, parts of Arizona and all the way into Nevada, were affected by the 7.2 earthquake that hit Mexicali on Easter Sunday at 3:40 p.m. DST.

When I say affected, for most of us it was a major emotional experience as well as the physical shake up. Mexicali (in Baja California) and Calexico (a desert border town in California) were the hardest hit. They sustained the most real damage to buildings and property. There were 2 deaths and hundreds injured in Mexicali. 25,000 are homeless-- many are sleeping in the streets, afraid to go back into their houses.

For me, it was the single most terrifying earthquake I have been in. I have lived in San Diego since I was almost 6 years old and I have been in MANY earthquakes, but nothing like this one. Most of them, by the time you realize it is an earthquake, it is over. A few seconds at most.

This was very different. Our house first began vibrating, then shaking, creaking, popping. For over 30 seconds, everything in the house was being moved and shaken. Our flat screen TV began rocking on the stand, chandeliers swinging. NEVER have I been in an earthquake that shook that hard and that long. As pure terror gripped me, I began crying. Fear paralyzed me as I thought, THIS is the BIG ONE.

Thank God, it was not.

In the days since, I have realized how completely unprepared we are for the BIG ONE. We not have an Earthquake Kit, we do not keep sturdy shoes and a flashlight by our bed at night, and our heavy furniture is not secured to the wall. We live life as if the BIG ONE will never happen.

My nerves are still on edge. We have had hundreds of aftershocks in the days since the quake. I can feel them all day at my desk in my ninth floor office downtown. Unsettling. Scary. Each time the rumbling begins, I hold my breath and wait. Will it continue? Will it get stronger? Is this another one? Is this the BIG ONE?

This quake was a wake up call and has spurned me into motion toward preparedness. I have done some necessary research and am going to get my Earthquake Kits together. I learned that everyone should have an Earthquake kit at home, in each car and at their workplace. The reality is that I don't know where I will be when an earthquake happens. I must be prepared.