San Diego Symphony Pops | Bee Gees Music

One of our favorite summer traditions is going to the San Diego Symphony Summer Pops concert at the Embarcadero Marina.  It all started when Todd’s rock band The Northstar Session opened for the Symphony Pops with Dave Brubeck in 2005.

(The guy on the left is the cutest keyboard player in the world!)

Ever since then, we’ve gone to the SD Symphony’s Summer Pops concerts several times. We took Peppermint & Tom there when they came to visit in 2009.  We went there with Sally in 2010 to see the Symphony Pops with Kool & The Gang.  So when we heard that the Symphony Pops was playing with the Bee Gees tribute band, Staying Alive, we quickly rounded the troops and got tickets to the show! 

The concert was on Sat 7/13.  We had gone up to LA to have lunch with my family.  Then we drove back down to San Diego in the afternoon.  We decided to have dinner at our favorite seafood restaurant, Point Loma Seafoods.  The view outside was spectacular!

And we had our usual halibut sandwich.

After dinner we headed over to the Embarcadero Marina South, where our friends Anne, Gilbert, Victoria, and Greg had already staked out a spot right on the bay!

The weather couldn’t have been more perfect for a summer picnic on the bay with live symphony Bee Gees music!

Lots of boats parked on the water so they could enjoy the concert as well. 

Anne took a pic of us.

The sun setting over San Diego Bay.

The concert was spectacular and the views were awesome.

A little known fact is that I love the Bee Gees, even though they were slightly before my time.  Every month when I pay bills, I listen to the Bee Gees because somehow it makes bill paying happier for me!

After the concert, there was a fireworks show over the bay.  It was awesome to have front-row seats right there!

As we left the concert and walked across the SD Convention Center, we got word that Tim Lincecum of the San Francisco Giants pitched a no-hitter right here at Petco Park.  History was made!

We’re so glad we made it to a San Diego Symphony Pops concert this summer.  It’s one of our very favorite things to do in San Diego during summertime!

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Summer Fun | Family Visit

My sister Joyce and her family live in Texas, so we don’t get to see each other as often as I’d like.  The last time we saw them was in December when we went for a pre-Christmas visit.  In early July, they came to visit us for a couple of days before heading up to LA to visit my dad.

We squeezed in lots of San Diego fun in the two days they were here.  We ate at a favorite Mexican restaurant, El Nopalito.

We went to Moonlight Beach.

We went to the world famous Belmont Park at Mission Beach.

Todd, Joyce, and Xander on the boardwalk.

My nephew Andrew and my brother-in-law Alex went body-surfing in the ocean. 

It was unusually overcast while they were here.  Sunny San Diego didn’t live up to its reputation!  I suppose it’s better than being too hot.  After staying with us for two days, they drove up to LA to stay with my dad and Shelly for a week.  That Saturday 7/13, we drove up to LA to have lunch together to celebrate my dad’s birthday early.  We went to Joe’s Crab Shack (my dad’s pick).  Alex and Xander stayed home.  My nephew Xander is severely autistic and non-verbal, so sometimes it’s just easier to stay home than go out to a strange new place.

My dad and Shelly had to wear bibs for some crab-eating,  ha ha!

Andrew was excited because it was the first time he had ever eaten crab!  He loved it, unlike his dad, LOL.

It was super-fun to have a family get-together.  We don’t get to do it very often.

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Lily Bee | Makapuu Lighthouse

Last week was “Fun In The Sun” week on the Lily Bee blog.  For this theme, Becky Williams and I decided to scrap some vacation photos.  You can see the entire post and both of our layouts on the Lily Bee blog here. 

For my layout, I used a photo from our December 2011 vacation to Oahu.  We went on a hike to the Makapuu Lighthouse and enjoyed some gorgeous views along the way.

Supplies:  Destination Collection (Atlas paper, Luggage paper, Tickets paper, Boarding Pass paper, Souvenier paper, Postcard paper, Letter Stickers, Label Stickers, Chipboard Stickers, Embellishment Bundle, Circle & Tag Stickers, Chit Chat Stickers), Sweet Shoppe Collection (6x6 Tiny Tablet)

I made the large sun on top by cutting out a half circle and mounting it on foam adhesive.  Then I pierced some holes in the shape of lines radiating from the sun, and used the twin in the Destination Embellishment Bundle to create the sun rays.

I mixed some banners that I cut out from paper, along with a chipboard banner to create different textures and depths.

I used this Fun In The Sun cut file from the Silhouette online store and cut it out using the yellow airplane paper from Destination.

I used mostly blue and yellow colors on the layout, with brown and red thrown in.  I really like how it turned out!  :)

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Happy 3rd Birthday, Noodle!

According to Noodle’s papers from the county shelter where we adopted him, he was born on 7/14/2010.  That means today was his 3rd birthday!  We celebrate this occasion with some cute recent Noodle photos and stories.  :)

Lately Noodle loves to play in colorful tissue papers.  He will jump around in them and roll in them.  We hide some of his toys in the papers.  I think he likes the crinkly sound that the tissue papers make.

Noodle still loves to hang out by the window in my craft room with me when I craft and scrapbook.

Most of all, he loves to snuggle with Todd…

And watch TV shows together…

Recently he had a couple of scares.  We bought some new bedroom furniture and thus had two deliveries.  The first one was our mattress delivery.  Noodle freaked out when the delivery men came in with the huge king-sized mattress.  He ran like crazy and the door was not completely closed, so I wasn’t sure if he ran outside.  I searched the whole house after the delivery men left, and couldn’t find him.  I started crying because I was worried he had darted outside and was lost.  After searching all over the house for him for 30 minutes, I found him hiding under a corner table, wedged between the wall and the table.  He’s never hidden there before.  He was shaking and scared and wouldn’t come out, but I was so relieved that he was inside the house.  It took him a while to come out and feel ok again.  Poor Noodle.

Then that night, my sister Joyce and her family came to visit for the weekend.  She has two boys and Noodle is scared of children because he’s not used to being around them.  So we kept Noodle in our room and he mostly slept and hid under the papasan chair.

For his birthday today, he got to play with his humans.

Todd bought some roasted chicken for him, and he got to lick his favorite Cheetos! 

Happy 3rd birthday, Noodle!  We’re glad you joined our family 2.5 years ago.  You’ve brought much joy, snuggles, and amusement to both of us. 

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Write.Click.Scrapbook. | Summer Top Ten

The July layout gallery at Write.Click.Scrapbook. is live now.  When I saw that the theme for July is “Ten Things”, I knew immediately what I wanted to do with my layout.  Every summer Todd and I make a list of things we want to do/experience, and we have so much fun checking things off the list and making memories.  I also knew immediately that I was going to create a sunburst.  :)

12 x 12 | materials cardstock (Michaels) + patterned paper (Lily Bee Design) + washi tape (Freckled Fawn, Kid Made Modern) + glitter pen (Sharpie, Elmers) + pens (American Crafts, Staedtler) + letter stickers (American Crafts) + spray mist (Studio Calico) + sequins (Kelly Purkey) + wood veneers (Studio Calico, Freckled Fawn) + adhesives (Scotch, Glue Dots)

I have several layouts over the years that depict sun rays (both digital and paper). To me it is the perfect symbol of summer and I love creating the sun rays. For this layout, I layered washi tape horizontally and vertically across a sheet of white cardstock. Then I cut out the big circle from the layers of tape to create the main part of my sun.

I cut out paper strips and washi tape to make the sun rays.  Then I wrote my journaling along the paper strip sun rays.  I made a list of my summer top ten: boogie boarding at the beach, after dinner walks, concert under the stars, lunch on the Coronado sun deck, reading awesome books on the chaise lounge outside, watch sunset from gliderport, look at super-moon, rollerblading after work, homemade ice cream, staycation in SD.

A few wood veneers, sequins, and paint drops completed my layout!

Making this colorful layout was a whole bunch of fun!  I love it when a concept in my head actually comes together on paper.  :-)

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