Back to School!

Well, our first ceramics class was a success! When we arrived at the class our teacher told us that it wasn't actually a class, but more of studio time. It was kinda scary at first because I haven't worked with clay since I was in 8th grade, but then I realized that it would allow for some real creativity! We listened to 70's music and just played around with the clay for 3 hours... I destroyed most of the things I created, but I came away with a small pinch pot and my mom and I did a collaborative effort ( I'll post pics later!). Now let's talk about the other people in the class. The average age of the students is about 65... I'm getting used to being the youngest in the room by like 30 years. Most of them have been in the class for several sessions, so they are old pro's, but they were so welcoming. There were only 4 of us newbies. One of the newbies chomped her gum the WHOLE time, but the other one is my new bestie, Mary. Mary is probably about 90 years old. She can't really hear, so you have to yell when you talk to her. She is the sweetest lady in the world. Love her! I can't wait to continue to create and learn... hopefully I won't sit next to the gum chomper next week.

Heads or Tails?

We knew we needed an adventure today, but were not full of inspiration. So we flipped a coin! Heads we go north, tails we go south. It was heads, so we set out going north on the 101. We hadn't really been beyond Paso Robles, so we were curious as to what was out there. There is NOTHING. We ended up like 70 miles north of SLO, and had to turn around because we weren't finding anything. So after a long (but pretty) drive, we headed back to Paso Robles (which doesn't look cute from the freeway, but has a darling downtown). We had an amazing lunch at this place called Thomas Hill Organics (as people with food allergies, organic is a keyword we look for!). They own their own farm, so they change their menu everyday based on what is growing.

Then we explored some of the antique shops! It was HOT, so we only went through a few, but they had really fun stuff.

As we headed inland, we were driving in a cloud... Literally. It was so crazy, but an awesome end to our extremely random day.

Small Town Charm...

A few nights ago I hung out with a new friend (she's so fun!), and she showed me some awesome places in this area. We started the day off with coffee at Andreini's. It is my absolute favorite place for a beverage. I got the apple pie chai tea, and my friend got pumpkin hot chocolate (told you she was fun!).

After coffee, she said we were going to a movie at Fair Oaks theater (which meant nothing to me). It was a DARLING old school theater. The type that only shows one movie at a time and has that cute awning! I was trying to find a parking spot and could only find a gravel lot... So I parked there anyway, but asked if it was ok to park there (it seemed so wrong!). My friend started busting up and said, "Welcome to small town living!"

We saw You Again and it was pretty cute. Betty White should have been in it more, but it was a super fun chick flick. I'm loving meeting new people and finding all these places that only locals know about!

Heat Wave...

I've spent the majority of my summer wearing sweaters & jackets. We've only had 4 or 5 days over 75 degrees. Until now. Apparently October/November are the hottest months in the central coast. Unfortunately, the central coast does not believe in air conditioning... Even the brand new houses we've been looking at haven't had air in them. Everyone says they don't need the air. The McAlpine's do not feel the same way, so we headed to the movies!

We decided to see Secretariat. It was so good! I love it when movies based on true stories make you forget that you already know the outcome. I've been a horse lover my whole life, so I was well aware of the fact that Secretariat was a Triple Crown winner, but I still found myself rooting for him in every race. I definitely recommend this movie!

By the time we got out of the movies it had returned to the lovely weather we're used to :) For dinner, I just happened to make THE BEST SANDWICH EVER CREATED! Seriously... it was so good and simple. I used my Udi's whole "wheat" gluten free bread, Gopher Glen apple butter, and Brie! I just grilled it like a normal grilled cheese, but it was so fabulous! New favorite meal for sure...

Henry LOVED the sandwich too! How could you not give him a taste??? Look at that face :)

We"re Back!

We made it home safe & sound. Even more importantly, we all still like each other after being in close proximity for 15 days! I will post pictures later. Right now we are catching up on Tivo & mail. Here are a few stats for the trip though:

15 Days

9 States

3 National Parks

73 Cups of coffee consumed