31

Just when I stamped a label on the hubs, he goes out and proves me wrong.

I was at work on Friday, when I called him during a break to say hello, and what does he tell me?

He tells me he's out shopping.

For my birthday(the next day) present no less, but make no mistake about it - the hubs is out. Shopping.

Not a targeted-purchase operation, not a hunger driven grocery cart pile-up, not a necessary 30-sec stop, but a true searching, looking escapade.

Sure I wished sometimes he'd just be my company when I shop, which he does too, but I never expected that he would venture out at it alone.

I love my hubby, he does everything and would do anything to make sure I'm always happy :)

In the end, just as even the most avid shoppers do once in a while, he aborted the mission when he remembered me delighting in a pretty charm bracelet a week ago (I hadn't meant it to be a hint on a birthday present at all then).

At once, he reclaimed his hunter-gatherer instinct and set out to secure the item of desire.

Target acquired~

I absolutely love it!!

How happy for a woman to get something so chirpily frivolous for her birthday, even at 31 ;)

Thank you sweetie!


Charms, beads, and lovely jewelry all handmade by Judy Carlson. Thank you Judy! :D

~
For my birthday, we biked down to Manhattan Beach for the day in beautiful sunny weather, and even met a group of bikers on the way - one of them had ribbons all over her helmet and a big birthday smiley with a party hat on the back of her jersey - I guess it's her birthday too!

Finally got back home and then a quick splash in our little pool in the courtyard to cool off. Ahhhh, I always liked that last bit the best. :)




31 and never happier :)

The Anti-Retail Man

Walking along the Promenade yesterday, we strode along a young couple on vacation from England (I presumed from the invariable bright pink of tourists in Santa Monica, and from their accent). We come to a stop at the light.

Across the street was the Victoria Secret store of sexy lingerie fame, that women adore in all its Pinkness. To the left was a pizza stop. At the crossroads of a fledging relationship, the guy gives a grimace.

"Oh I know that look, it's the but-I-don't-wanna-go-shopping look." chimes my jolly-wolly hubby to them.

The guy shoots us a look of self-pity and moans "We've been at it for 3 hours."

To which the hubs heartily dispenses some empathy and oft-executed advice

"Oh I totally understand. There's a Borders right down the block - make a dash for it."


How's that for instant camaraderie.

How Long Can You Hold Your Breath?

After a nice long sleep-in on my day off, hubs and I took off to Malibu for some freediving. There was a little bit of surf, not too much, but enough for me to feel wooozey after about 75 minutes. We went right through the mass of kelp, got tangled a bit, but without scuba equipment, it was much easier to get out and get through.

Looking down snorkelling was like looking through a haze, but once you dive right in, the water column clears up and there are beautiful sights - the bright green sea gras swaying back and forth with the surges, red algae, kelp forests, schools of baby perch darting about, rock fish, kelp bass hanging out, a couple big guitarfish cruising by, silvery baitfish everywhere, giant kelpfish playing hide and seek.

As I was taking a breath at the surface, I spotted a harbour seal about 60 feet away, doing the same and checking me out for a bit. Through my foggy mask, I thought it was hubs, albeit strangely grey and spotted, until the real McCoy bobbed up right in front of the imposter, just as it ducked, splashed, and dived down under1 ~ Whaa..???

Freediving was a lot of fun - much lighter, streamlined, thereby faster, and quieter without the bubbling(you hold your breath and dive under for as long as you can). You can sneak up on fish and get up closer, that's what the hunters and photographers( like hubby) do. But really, I just think there's a lot more freedom of movement and speed, you feel like a mermaid!

case in point: Feeling and looking like a mermaid are two very different things.

Bubble Bubble

Hubs and I went swimming in Laguna early in the morning yesterday, it was a beautiful sunny and the water was clear as can be. With all the fishes and reefs under us, it was like swimming in a huge aquarium! I saw lots of silvery topsmelt swimming just under the water surface, a school of barracuda, a harbour seal cruise by on the sandy bottom, a baby bat ray, and the hubs saw a dolphin close by.

My Little BeBe!

We have a new piggy!!! She's a little 8 month old abby-peruvian mix, and she's a little darling! We got her from a rescue. Her name from the rescue is Phoebe, I'm calling her BeBe. She has a plume of hair on her hiney!






And here is the love of our lives, Mousey. She's been with us since she was a little baby, now she's almost 5 yrs old, somehow she still seems like a little kid that's never really quite 'grown up', if you know what I mean.






So now we have Mousey-Pie and Cookie-Pie and Bebe-kins to rule this house - the guinea pig way - once again everybody! ~

She's A (Weather-Man's) Lady

I saw a weatherman dance on the news tonight, to Tom Jones' She's A Lady. Boy was he really enjoying it, rockin' it, and even unbuttoning his jacket at one point. He had not a care that he was on national tv, he did not once look into the camera. Just doin' his thang, and finally dancing off the screen with the warm and cold fronts billowing around behind him.

Of course, I was so amused watching him, it didn't even matter that not a word on the weather was said.

That was some spontaneous en-ter-tain-ment :)

Seriously, who can resist Tom Jones?

Well, she's all you'd ever want
She's the kind I like to flaunt and take to dinner
But she always knows her place
She's got style, she's got grace--she's a winner
She's a lady
Oh, whoa, whoa, she's a lady