Whirlwind Trip

Hi all!  Whew.  I’m glad to be back home safe and sound.  Safe referring specifically to safe food choices.  Safe from all the many many opportunities to make less than stellar food choices.  Sound referring to a routine where I can work out and walk regularly.

I got up early Sunday morning and drove down to the Bay Area to have a picnic for my Dad’s 83rd birthday.  That was what he wanted,  and it was really very fun to do for him.  Just my sister and I, and about 5 or 6 other very special friends of his, people who have taken a special interest in him, and have helped him in the past few years.  It was really nice to be able to serve them a nice lunch and to tell them how much I appreciate their care and love for my dad.  My sister brought some of the food, and I just stopped at Safeway and got a few things to add.  We had some fairly healthy choices.  I had picked out green and yellow tablecloths, and some pretty napkins with sunflowers on them, and when I stopped at a second Safeway for some ice, I saw these sunflowers and couldn’t resist buying them for the table.  And look who visited us, and was nice enough to pose for a picture!

A closer look:

And I am sorry to say, those are the only pictures I took of the picnic…

And guess what I did next?  Guess!  I bet you’ll never guess.  Well, maybe Pubsgal will guess.  I drove over the hill to Santa Cruz to meet Shelley!!!!!  Can you believe it?  SO MUCH FUN to meet a fellow blogger that you enjoy reading and writing to.  And guess  where we met?  GUESS!  I bet you can’t guess.  Well, maybe Lori will guess.  FROYO!!  Of course!  Oh.  And guess what we talked about.  GUESS!  Tired of guessing?  Okay, I bet all of you guessed this one.  We talked about blogging and food and losing weight and exercise.  And fortunately Shelley’s good friend Barbara was there and fortunately Barbara is a very good photographer.

Barbara told us to place our feet just so to give us the most flattering stance.

Do you see that interesting looking thing next to us?  It is a real watermelon!  They were offering fruit carving classes.  Here’s a better look.

Isn’t that fascinating?  Anyway, thanks, Shelley, for taking time out of your busy schedule to spend a little time with me.

I made it back over the hill, and then stayed at a really nice hotel (a Hilton!) for the night.  Do you guys use Hotwire?  I have had really good luck getting very nice hotels at great prices through them.  Always makes me a little nervous clicking on the reservation without knowing exactly where or who the hotel is. But I have never been disappointed with any reservation I’ve made through them.

I’m not gonna give you a blow  by blow report of the food choices I made this weekend.  Some of my choices and plans were great, and some were less than stellar.  Overall, I ate too much.  Darn it.  But now I’m home, and I have some good produce I brought back with me, both from Costco, and from  a local farmstand.  Here’s my evening snack:

Don’t those blackberries look luscious?  They were!