Paris - Mariage Freres & LeChamp

Going to Paris wasn't high on my bucket list but there were a few things I wanted to do while there. I'm a big fan of Mariage Freres teas, with Marco Polo being a favorite. Being able to have afternoon tea at the original tea shop was a treat. The tea selection reads like a novel, pretty amazing!
The second place was to visit the main LeChamp store. I'm not a big into shopping retail, but I do like this brand of bag. Picked up a few things for family members who wanted some things we can't get in the states. 

Favorite photo from my Europe Trip 2016

Out of the thousands of photos taken, this one is my favorite. The back story to all that had happened up to this point is what makes the trip memorable. 
1) The doll is a figure of Patty's boss Linda. She would pop in random photos.
2)We went rouge after we found out the tour group we signed up for wasn't what we expected. We set off doing our own thing everyday.
3) We squeezed into a bike rickshaw and drove through parts of Paris we would not have seen otherwise, because our driver didn't always stay on the streets. Had to close my eyes a few times.
4) On one wild rickshaw ride, we passed a store that made Janet scream. How she remember where it was after hours of shopping in another area, I will never know. We ended up in this boutique eyeglasses shop of a designer Janet loves. She picked up two pairs. I have a really hard time finding glasses that fit and amazingly there was a neon blue pair that fit from the designer Theo. Even Patty picked up a purple pair. 

What I love about this photo is that is shows 3 smiling and very independent women running around Paris discovering new things and pretty much ignoring all the tourist traps. I never knew where I was in the city and barely understood how to use the metro system. An adventure indeed!

Sights around London 2016

Of course we also did a little sight seeing around London, hitting all the major tourists areas. We also had a tour of the palace while the Queen was on vacation. 

We ended up eating at the same Italian restaurant for several meals since it was right down the street from our hotel. Can't say the food was any good but the waiters were a crack up!

Sights around London 2016

Of course we also did a little sight seeing around London, hitting all the major tourists areas. We also had a tour of the palace while the Queen was on vacation. 

We ended up eating at the same Italian restaurant for several meals since it was right down the street from our hotel. Can't say the food was any good but the waiters were a crack up!

London 2016

Getting around London was very easy since there wasn't any language issues. We used the tube, taxis and Uber. I did manage to buy some interesting things and had to ship two big boxes home before we headed off to Paris. I was also surprised by all the great graffiti along some alleys, pretty amazing artwork! 

My Junking trip to London and Paris

Kimpton Flea Market, London  2016

Took me awhile to figure out how to blog about my recent trip to London and Paris. My good friend Patty wanted to do something big for her 50th birthday (it's a year long celebration) so she picked Paris. The tour group she picked was also doing a London trip a week earlier, so we signed up for both. You may notice I fail to mention the tour group's name, because it wasn't the best travel experience I've ever had. Being a one woman operation, I can only hope it gets better as she get more experience. It was billed as a "junking" tour of London. (Junking means shopping at flea markets type of places.) We did do a little of that but not as much as I thought we would if we followed the very loose schedule from the tour leader. There were some other hard core junkers on the trip and they googled whatever they could find and let us tag along so in the end we did do a lot of junking, thanks to other guests on the trip. 
The Kimpton Flea market at the race track was the best and what I though we would see more of. Huge and tons of cool stuff, most of which was too big for me to bring home. 

Pokemon Go

Always have a stick ready for play time.

I started playing Pokemon Go last week because my adult children said it was fun. I know the news only prints the negative or really stupid stuff people have done, but I found it to be very entertaining. 
Annie and I now go to the local parks near our house for a walk. In doing that I found out about a big dog play group that meets every night for about an hour.  Annie is the only dog out of 30 that will find something for you to fetch. People find that funny, so there is no shortage of playmates for her. After a hour of play time, we walk another hour so I can play Pokemon Go. Annie will carry around a stick just in case I stop near anyone not afraid of dogs to see if they will play with her.  Annie gets a good work out (a tired dog is a happy dog) and some social time with dogs the same size. There are no little yappy dogs in the group, because if you have an attitude you would quickly become the center of attention, which is not a good thing at all!
So we now walk 2+ hours a day, clocking in 6-10 miles. It's a win for both Annie and me. Now I just need to learn how to fight in the gym. :)  

Beaded Cards

I'm looking for things to do on the long plane ride to Europe next month. I pack light, so really don't like taking lots of stuff in my carry on bag. I was thinking maybe I would make more of these critters for a class I hope to get on my meetup calendar after I get back. 
I finally broke down and got the Pokeman Go app. Still have no idea what I'm doing but so far I have 3 in my backpack and no balls (or whatever those things are called) to catch anymore. Now trying to figure out how one goes about getting more. I thinking of it as learning something new to keep my brain healthy. Beaded that Pokeman years ago!
Annie and I walk a lot but it's very unwise for me not to pay attention to my surrounding with Annie. Any sightings of raccoons and Annie would be off in a heart beat, dragging me behind her. 

August Auction - DGW 2016

DGW Auction August 6, 2016

Today is auction day down at DGW auction house in Sunnyvale. 
I normally don't go to the live auctions anymore. I put in silent bids instead. There are too many cool things for me not to be there in person today. Does take a good chunk out of one's day but if I can score some good buys for my consignment booth it will be worth it!
There is a narrow vintage oak filing cabinet (one I've never seen before) that would be perfect for 8.5X11 paper storage. The old library card file cabinets is another hot item people collect for their craft rooms. The display box for silk threads is cool but I think it will good way over my budget. It isn't in mint condition, as two of the drawer have the inside replaced with particle board, which was a super bad choice. Still, a non dealer person will jump on it. I like the doll house dioramas, just because it something different. Not to sure that I can resell them for a profit, so I have to be there in person to bid to see how low the bidding will be. Wish me luck!  

Annie's Travel Toys

I finally found something I can make and pack for Annie to play with when we are out on the road.  Annie would rather play with her orange rubber balls but at $5 a piece, I'm always worried about losing them. Since I'm volunteering at FabMo so much, I come across some heavy duty fabric which is perfect for these fetch toys. They can get really gross (dog slobber and dirt) so I can either wash them or just throw them out. So far has worked out really well!

Things you do when bored

Lemon Mango Punch Tea is my latest obsession. It was served at one of my team building events and I've been back to Steepers in Campbell so many times, I now buy the tea by the pound - yeah that's a lot! Since I like herbal teas, I decided to make a version of a lemon grass, ginger ice tea I had when I was in Borneo. Everything but the ginger came from my garden.Turned out pretty good!
Lemongrass, ginger, Thai basil,
cucumber, lime, lemon, honey.

Traveling doggie toys

I've been making tote bags for the homeless who visit the local food shelter for the last few months. I pick up the fabric from FabMo, a local nonprofit that recycles fabric from the design center in San Francisco. I figured out I could make them into fetch toys for Annie using the smaller pieces of fabric. When we are out running errands we sometimes bump into some of Annie's buddies.  They always want to play but I never have anything in the car for her to fetch. Annie runs around like a crazy dog looking for a stick, leaf or scrap piece of paper to play with. Now I have a stash of these in the car and when they get super gross (dog slobber and dirt = GROSS) I can either toss them or bring them home to wash. 

FabMo Banners 2016

I'm volunteering at FabMo and there is a volunteer appreciation event coming up this month. At one of the planning meetings, they wanted  big bright banner flags so volunteers knew where to go. Having a small warehouse of fabric to choose from it was like a kid in a candy store! My sewing skills are getting better with each project I take on. Some day I may make something I can wear!
There's another project made from recycled wallpaper, but it's a surprise for the volunteers so I can't post until after the picnic.