Summer Weekend Thoughts...

Phew! I am sure that I am still catching my breath after traveling back and forth between Seattle and San Francisco several times in the past month. Thank goodness for wi-fi on most plane flights and in the airports... Have laptop, will travel! (I am rethinking this motto, btw)

On a serious note, our lives have been crazy, topsy-turvy with adult children launching into their own adventures. My daughter Allison is heading to New York City to live out her dream - thank goodness that she has had such a wonderful job a Starbucks with such incredible opportunities like this!  She's also going to be writing for me on the Everything Coastal Style Blog, which I have severely neglected. Alex is off to the US Navy; first stop basic training outside of Chicago and then who knows where. Tom and I are keeping our fingers crossed for Italy or Hawaii.  So darn proud of both of them!

Here they are - hamming it up at the Crab Pot on the Seattle waterfront.  We were playing tourist in our hometown, and had a great time eating "caveman" style!

Maddie, Tom's daughter, is with us for the summer, working and interning at a non-profit in the city.  She's also helping me with marketing and "pinning", before running off to Paris in the fall for school.  We've been having fun catching up with her after her sophomore year at George Washington University in DC. She even braved the barbequed  fresh Tomales Bay oysters at Marshall store last week for Tom's birthday. (I confess that I ate some too - they were actually quite yummy!)

Not to mention that Caron's Beach House is experiencing growth by leaps and bounds.  We've had our best months ever this spring!  Somehow Tom and I are trying to carve out time for each other....

Pretending to look for whales in Santa Cruz....

Goofing off at the Alameda Flea Market - I said NO on the Leisure Suit.

For me, I need that time when I can disconnect completely and revive my creativity. Without the time to dream, to plan, to walk on the beach, or simply stare off in space, our business (and my over 50 sanity!) suffers.  I start to get a little stupid and grouchy...not to mention my "chef" skills. We end up eating not-so-gourmet around our house.  Vacuuming? Laundry? What are those things? Tom is a good sport, but even he starts to grumble.

Lately that precious "wasted" time is only a passing memory. Thank goodness Tom took me up north to Glass Beach and Fort Bragg  for a long weekend trip on my birthday in April. My phone (my handheld computer- lol) did not work in many spots along the Mendocino coast.  Oh Darn. Oh Bummer.

Needless to say, I think I am still working on the fumes of that trip.

Keeping my fingers crossed for a beach walk and picnic sometime this weekend. And a little time to dream...

More next week about the winery we stumbled on while driving on Hwy 1 north of Fort Bragg...