Chasing the Sun

While I didn't have any big plans this summer, I wanted to take some extra time off to intentionally unwind, time away from checking social media platforms constantly, reading and responding to emails. All of that.  Wednesday My mom and I had a lazy morning of drinking coffee, watching some of the Olympic coverage and hanging out. Once we were ready, we did some shopping at Target (where I got a lot of good stuff - books, cosmetics), then we had lunch at Chick-Fil-A. We needed to get some things at Sam's Club but had to wait about an hour, so we stopped at our local Hallmark store which is so fun to look at all the goodies. Especially because it was filled with all the fall and Christmas goodies. I got the last Stars Hollow Gilmore Girls blanket on the shelf and one of the Gilmore Girls ornaments.  After that, we got some necessities (and I bought more books) at Sam's Club. Their shelves were also filled with Halloween items, which has me praying for cooler weather and fall...

Most of the days and weeks are busy with — Getting by on a whole lot of caffeine and faith.  The evenings are filled with a lot of reading.  And a lot of hypothesizing and theorizing about Taylor Swift, her creative mind and her Eras Tour shows.  I did get to have a fun girl's night to celebrate one of my best friend's birthdays. All of her best gal pals got together for dinner at one of our local Italian restaurants. We had the best time, devouring appetizers and delicious pasta, getting our glamour shots taken by Athena and dishing all about our favorite books, travel plans and life. So much fun! And it was also fun to splurge on the dessert for those amazing cannolis that I ate both of.  Those are the moments that summer is all about. Making time for longer meals, more conversation, getting dressed up and having fun with the gals. It doesn't have to be so serious all the time.  Here's to making time for the people who matter in our lives.  That's all for...

  Saturday was my parents' 39th wedding anniversary, so I tagged along with them to the California Mid-State Fair in Paso Robles! We didn't leave until later in the afternoon, so we took our time getting ready and getting over to the coastal area.  We made a stop at Big Bubba's Bad BBQ across the street first. I had the pit beef sandwich which was yummy and filling.  We parked about two miles away from the fair and made our way into the fair. We walked through the exhibits but they were wall to wall with people and humid, sticky air. BLEH! We made our way around the fair through the food booths (there were a TON), around the animal area and back through the rides. We took a short break for a churro and water and gave me a chance to put a band-aid on my foot where a blister was developing. Then, we walked through some of the plant and flower competition exhibits.  They had some really picturesque spots near the front of the fair, so I took a few pictures of my parents...