Take a Walk With Beth...

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

"Mickey and Me" - Our Big Bear Mini Vacation

Let's go Mom! I'm READY!

Mickey and I just got back from a beautiful 2 day trip to Big Bear Lake. I heard about Pine Knot Guest Ranch through a Living Social deal. They allow dogs so it sounded like the perfect place to take Mickey and Dad for short getaway. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking about the elevation issue, and we realized this wasn't going to work for Dad. It was already paid for so Mickey and I went ahead and made the trip.

The ranch has about 6 or 7 little cabins. Many of them are the same (there are a couple larger ones) with 1 king bed in the front room with a jacuzzi tub, fireplace, flat screen TV & DVD player, another room with a full bed adjacent to a small kitchenette (microwave, toaster, coffee maker, small fridge, dishes and utensils), then the bathroom with a shower. Here's the outside of our cute little place.

Right outside the front door is a nice little grassy area, chairs, and a swing. This view shows about half the yard, looking towards our cabin, and another with Mickey and I hanging out with the llama.

Llama? Yes, Llama. They have a couple of pet llamas you can pet or even take for a walk. Mickey wasn't sure what to think of these "little horsies". Then again, she's never seen a horse either! This is Dolly and Willow. Yes, Dolly Llama :-)

We arrived on Sunday afternoon and walked down to the Village which is just a short 5 minute walk away. It was Aug. 12, 2012, the day that Ryan Hall was competing in the Olympic Marathon, and for those who don't know, Ryan is a home town boy. It was fun to see signs everywhere in support of Ryan's run.

We had dinner at a Saucy Mama's Pizza (yummy!) in the Village. A lot of the restaurants have outdoor patios so they're doggie friendly. After that we went back to the cabin and relaxed. The cabin has 2 skylights including one right over the king bed, so when I shut off the lights I had a magnificent view of the starry sky!

On Monday morning after a quick breakfast at the cabin we attempted to go for a nice walk on the other side of the lake, but we got caught in a thunderstorm. We sat in the car for awhile waiting for it to clear up, but it became apparent that just wasn't going to happen.

Back at the cabin, I took a little video of the storm. This gives you a view of the area in front of the cabin, even a nice porch so we could hang out & not get wet. Note the little escape artist. :-)

After a few hours the sun came out and we went out for another walk. The temps were so refreshing, especially since we left 108 temps back at home! I left the windows open 24/7 and it was cool and refreshing, 50's at night and high 70's during the day. I just loved every minute of it, and especially that I could take Mickey. She was such a good little camper. She loved being a guard dog and watching the people and doggies go by.

Tuesday morning before going home we walked down to the Village again and I had breakfast at the Teddy Bear Restaurant, again sitting outside on the patio with Mickey. If you ever go here, you must try the cinnamon cornbread! YUMM!

I definitely hope to go back sometime!

Friday, July 20, 2012

TIM MCGRAW!!! (and a few other people) July 14, 2012

I finally got to see Tim McGraw in concert!!!

I've wanted to see him for several years but just never had the chance, so when I heard he was going on tour again, and with Kenny Chesney, I had to go!

My friend Bev & I had a few delays getting to Anaheim Stadium and arrived at 4:30 just as Jake Owen was going on, and he sang about 4 songs. After Jake was Grace Potter...didn't really care for her music. More rock than country. Then it was time for TIM! He came out looking VERY NICE dressed all in white! :-) I couldn't believe I was finally seeing him. He sounded great, and of course looked great! I was only wishing Faith would make a surprise appearance and sing with him like she did in Nashville!

Our seats weren't on the floor or anything, but we enjoyed where we were. Front row of our section so we had no one in front of us. And we were concerned we'd be in the sun but we in a nice covered area the whole time with a beautiful breeze.

There sure were a lot of drunk people! I read one girl's comment online that she was so drunk by the time Kenny came out, she passed out and doesn't remember anything. Seriously? I understand wanting to have a fun, but when you're so plastered you can't remember it, or getting sick all over yourself...what a waste (no pun intended.)

Kenny had a really fun entrance, arriving by way of a big swing overhead which passed over the crowd. He was SO energetic, jumping & running all over the place the entire time he was on! I was pretty impressed at how entertaining he was. Grace came back on and they sang "Tequila" together (while I was enjoying my margarita!) Then TIM came back out - wearing jeans and a white tank :-) - and the guys sang together. After Tim & Kenny's set, all 4 of them sang together, then signed autographs for quite awhile. I didn't want to leave! SO much Fun!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Time to Get Crafty!

I FINALLY got around to re-doing my extra room and making it craft-friendly! I have to give credit directly to http://sewmanyways.blogspot.com/ (Thank you Karen!) I don’t know Karen personally, but found her site via Pinterest. I loved the black and white inspired craft room she created and incorporated a lot of her ideas. (The link to her site is to the right on my blog.) My room is no where near as elaborate, but here we go!

EDIT!!! - I originally wrote that I couldn't find the “Before” pics, but I found them! Prepare yourself, they're scary! It's embarrassing, but I'm posting them in the hopes that SOMEONE can relate.

And now, the finished room! Here’s the overview walk around the room, and then I’ll break it down in detail below. (Click on any picture to enlarge.)

OK, let’s break it down. I removed the big closet doors, emptied the closet, painted inside so it would match the room, and added a shelf (I was pretty proud of myself for adding the shelf all by myself!) I needed to keep the top shelf for storage, but it was ugly up there so I added a curtain rod and an inexpensive curtain to the top to cover my junk (shh, don’t tell anyone!)

Below: I already had the white piece, which was perfect for my Cricut supplies and a few other items. The paisley printed box on the far left is just a box (like a small cereal box) covered with fabric (Karen has instruction for this in her blog), and the same goes for the polka-dot box on the shelf, though that was a leftover box I had from a greeting card assortment. It worked perfectly for my photo squares & stickers. I also already had the Mickey shaped peg which I designated for my Cricut scissors.

The smaller boxes were on sale at Michael’s 6 for $10. and the bigger ones were on sale 40% off plus a coupon, so a great deal, and they're really nice. The "Mickeys" are just shower curtain hangers that I thought I might be able to use later on. And they were just CUTE!

The wire mesh holder was silver colored and I spray painted it black, the polka-dot boxes are just covered in fabric (again, Karen’s blog…you can make them from cereal boxes but these were ones I had but were not b/w), a black/white notebook (on clearance at Target!), and the paisley box (Target $1. aisle!)

The ribbons are on a simple spring rod, full already, but I can always add another. (By the way, yes I know it’s no longer 2006. My Mickey was featured on this Cockapoo calendar when she was a puppy, and I just like looking at it.

The filing cabinet was a really ugly one that I spray painted black and added pretty contact paper to the drawers. Here’s a “before” and “after”. (The “before” pic is not great…I had already started painting when I remembered to take it.)

I bought the peg boards from Home Depot and, as you can see, it holds more than scissors…magnifying glass, spray bottle to clean rubber stamps, a hole punch, and even my reading glasses, also black & white of course!

A few pens & pencils! The polka-dot and paisley container is covered with fabrics (the bottom spins-bonus!), and leftover “Mickey” coffee can. The glue gun is on a silicone pot holder, which apparently works well for any hot drips of glue when you’re using the gun.

More inexpensive photo boxes, plus the little $1. aisle Target boxes. I already had this little shelf thingy too, but it was white and I spray painted it black. The framed pics are Walt Disney and the castle (right) and a a cute little Mickey one my friend Nancy gave me.

I have a collection of “Mickey” stuff, and needed to keep a space for this, so I did buy this shelf unit from Target for $30. I also already had the Mickey candle sconces.

Some “cubes” and drawers that I already had. Still need to organize the drawers & shelves a bit.

Just for fun, polka-dots! Oh how I love them! When I found black & white polka-dotted flowers at Michael’s I think I squealed out loud! The vase was found by a friend at a garage sale. The polka-dotted box is a greeting card assortment, and then of course the Minnie Mouse mug.

A couple more tid-bits: I also covered the light switch and electrical outlets with b/w paisley contact paper. You can see one in the first pic of the room. Another Pinterest idea!

And inside the closet, I mounted an outlet strip to the wall. An outlet strip makes for an easy way to shut off everything with one switch.

The 4th wall still has my Dad’s desk with his “Video Eye”, a machine that magnifies things for low vision. It will have to remain that way for now.

That’s it! Now I need to actually do some crafting! Haha. At least now I don’t have to be embarrassed to show this room anymore!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Thanksgiving 2011

About 15 of us gathered at my brother's house and enjoyed a great meal and good company. I was getting a kick out of their dog Starbuck who was making the rounds, soaking up the attention.