Friday Mishmash

Impulse buying - most of us do it, and I'm no exception.  Two of my favorites purchases from my recent trip are a rock, and a picture of plants.  Here's the rock (and mineral and fool's gold!) seller:

His name is Nicky, he's going to be in third grade, and really, how could I NOT buy something from him?

My rock.  Cost me a dollar - totally worth it! 

And here's a picture of my picture:

Amazing succulents growing around the area.  I first saw this for sale at a coffee house - it was framed, and priced around $125.  Loved it, but too expensive.  Then the night we met Janell for dinner, we stopped at an artisan's gallery, and I found it, unframed, for a much more reasonable $30 (although Janell thinks I'm crazy to have spent that much).  I think it's beautiful, and hey - I like supporting local artists!

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And speaking of shopping, we hit the jackpot on shoes this visit.  Amazing deals were found at Nordstrom Rack (oh how I WISH we had one here), and also Aptos Shoes, although I ended up with only one pair, as there weren't as many great deals in my size.  Oh well, it was fun to play!

Shoes, glorious shoes!!!  Mine are the blue Born flip flop sandals in the right corner.  If the blue Danskos were available in my size, I would have bought them, too.  Barbara and Theresa both got new running shoes and now I'm (of course) wanting a pair in purple, too!

Shoe love starts early!

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Shades of Seinfeld:

Seen at Bookshop Santa Cruz, haha!

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I drew from the people who indicated they were interested in my remaining GU products, and the winner is Linda!  Send me your mailing address (email it to 40somethingsjourney@gmail.com) and I'll get them in the mail to you.

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Sit and Knit update:  I'm working on a project that I can't show you yet, as it's a gift.  Actually, I have so many projects going that I should institute a speed-dating style to my knitting...set a timer, knit for X number of minutes, and then change to something else.  Anyway, here's a shot of the windmill bags that I brought out to California as gifts for Barbara and Theresa:

Pink for Theresa, blue and yellow for Barbara, and all three of the bags in the last shot.

The bags got praise from a stranger, too...Theresa was carrying hers when we went shopping one day, and a boutique owner complimented her on the bag and said that she could sell them in her shop!  Very sweet, but I'm about as slow a knitter as I am a runner, and I wouldn't be able to mass produce them.  Still, that was nice to hear.

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On my last night in Santa Cruz, we went to Laili restaurant - they serve Mediterranean/Afghan style food.  Oh my, it was GOOD!  Fresh flavors, and it felt like we were eating on the healthier side, as well.  We ate in the courtyard outside, which was gorgeous...everything about the night was a real treat!

Left to right: Chicken Kabob, Pumpkin Boranee, Spinach Chicken Flatbread (with a bite taken out, lol) - YUM!

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Believe it or not, I haven't even come close to being finished with recapping all the fun I had in California.  More next week - aren't you lucky?!  Have a great weekend!