The Daily Digi Feature

I woke up to a nice surprise this morning! I had thought my Daily Digi feature post would be on July 12th, but turns out it is today!



The template set you see above is included in this month's Digi Files, along with 6 other designers' products for only $5!  It's the best deal in Digi-land!

So go over to The Daily Digi and check me out! Make a comment in the post over there about which product of mine you like, and you get a chance to win $10 to my store! There's also a coupon code to my Little Dreamer Designs store over there. So go take a look! :) 

A little more about The Daily Digi:

THE DAILY DIGI gives you back your time to create memories! We bring you the best in digital scrapbooking on a daily basis, so you don’t have to spend time searching for it! We are an ad-free, affiliate-free site, so we are able to share our honest opinions with you about quality products, photo printers, programs, resources, and more! We work hard to find tutorials and other information to share with you, so you can spend less time online and more time creating memories with the ones you love! Each month we introduce our readers to quality digital designers through THE DIGI FILES, a collection of several products that retail for over $5 EACH for only $5 (that is over $35 of product for $5). The designers are chosen based on their quality products, they do not pay to contribute. THE DAILY DIGI is also leading the industry with the first dynamic informational based scrapbooking iPhone App!!

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As American As Baseball

On July 4th, we went downtown to Petco Park with Anne and Gilbert to watch the San Diego Padres play baseball against the Houston Astros. The tickets were courtesy of my good friend Sally, who had four tickets but couldn't use them. These were really close field level seats! I was very excited that we had made no plans for July 4th and were able to go last minute! Even more excited that Anne and Gilbert came with us. Anne had just finished running the Scripps Ranch July 4th 10K, her first race in 18 months.

Anne and Gilbert live pretty close to us, so they came by to pick us up. We would have driven, but remember, our Explorer is in the shop getting fixed up. My little Honda Prelude wouldn't fit the four of us. First we headed to the Subway by our house and picked up some sandwiches. They let you bring your own food into Petco Park, which is a nice perk. Then we drove down to Fashion Valley to catch the special game day trolley, instead of driving all the way downtown and having to fight traffic and parking. Trolley was easy peasy! It spit us out right outside Petco Park.

We arrived at our seats a few minutes before the first pitch. These were good seats! We were literally in the 2nd row.


After an inning or so, Todd went to find some garlic fries and a Coke. He came back successful.

Super-yummy garlic fries from Ruby's.

Besides the coke, Todd also found a big ole bag of caramel corn.


The great field level seats meant that I got some pretty good photos.


Before the 7th inning, the Pad Squad came out and threw out some souvenirs. The kids all went nuts.


Anne and Gilbert enjoying the game.


The floppy hat team also enjoying the game.


Todd taking in the action on the field.


During the 7th inning stretch, we sang "God Bless America" and also of course, "Take Me Out To The Ballgame".


The game was very close and tied at 2-2 until the bottom of the 9th inning, when the Padres scored the winning run with 1 out. Tony Gwynn Jr. got a base hit with the bases loaded and we won the game! It was the third game in a row where the Padres won at the last at-bat!


The trolley ride back was super convenient. We didn't even have to wait in line. Just jumped right onto the trolley. We had so much fun with Anne and Gilbert, plus, it was a very American way to celebrate Independence Day. If I would have had a hot dog and apple pie, it would have been even more American! :)

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Dinner at Sally's New House

Continuing with the series on "fun away from the computer"... :p

So in my last post I told you how our Explorer is broken and needs a transmission rebuild. That means the car is at the shop for quite a few days. Todd had ridden his bike to work on Thursday and left it there, because we went to the county fair after work. So on Friday we both worked from home and I drove him to work at lunch time to get his bike.

But first, lunch at Caliente Mexican, aka "Little Yellow House". Pretty good Mexican food for very reasonable price! It was my first time there and I really liked it. Todd's gone many times because it's right by his work.



After lunch, I dropped Todd off and he changed into his cycling clothes and rode his bike home. Our bike rack is a hitch one for the Explorer, we don't have a bike rack for my little Honda Prelude. So we couldn't just take the bike home. Todd took a 10 mile detour and rode 20 miles instead of 10 miles home, so that substituted for his long bike ride on Sunday.



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Sally invited us over to her new house for dinner on Saturday night. Her mom drove down from the Bay Area for the long weekend, so we got to see her too. Sally's mom has known me since I was 12! It was really nice to see her again.



Sally's family is from the former Czechoslovakia, or now would be Slovakia. So Sally's mom Zora made us some Chicken Paprikash, with some authentic Hungarian paprika that Sally brought back from a visit to Slovakia. It was the first time I've ever tried this dish and it was SOOOO delicious! There's a similar recipe on Cooking Light.



Todd made the Green Beans with Garlic Vinaigrette. Zora and Sally loved it because the green beans were blanched and retained their crispiness and greenness after cooking.

Some extra paprikash sauce to go around.


Sally has now settled into her beachy bungalow and everything is more decorated than the last time I was there.

Todd in the dining area.


Living room area.


It was a perfect way to spend a Saturday evening in a long weekend!

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County Fair

One of the problems with having less computer time because I'm having fun doing other things is... I fall behind on blogging the things I'm doing, LOL. So over the next couple of days, I will relive all the fun I've been having.

On Thursday after work, I drove to Todd's work to meet up with him. He rode his bike to work in the morning because we're having the transmission rebuilt on his Explorer. Sad to spend the money, even sadder that we'll probably have to get a new car in the next few months. We've had the Explorer since October 2001 and were hoping it would last longer. Anyways, we met up with Monika at Todd's work and rode with her to the San Diego County Fair at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

We have lived in San Diego for 10 years now and have not gone to the County Fair once. Mainly because we abhor the fair traffic, and we don't like fair rides. It always seemed like a huge hassle to go to something that's not even of interest to us. But Monika has lived here a couple of years and has never gone. So we went together on a weeknight, hoping the traffic is less bad. And it was.


Photo courtesy of Monika.

Look, ponies going round and round! Don't they ever feel bored? I kind of felt sorry for them!


Wow, that's quite a food stand... almost looked like a double-decker bus!


A butter sculpture family. Mmm... do they run from bread? Is a big piece of toast their worst nightmare?


We were hungry, so the first order of business was to find some food.
Hey look, a list of all the food you can eat at the fair!


Rides, junk food, and crowds.


Our first stop was at a roasted corn booth.


After the corn, we walked around, overwhelmed at all the choices. Finally we split up to get our food and met back together. Monika talked big about having fried foods and chocolate covered bacon. But we found her with a teriyaki chicken bowl with broccoli. Who has broccoli at the County Fair??? Monika does!


Now Todd, on the other hand, lived up to his fried foods reputation with the choice of fish and chips.


I got calamari and chips. It was pretty good.


After dinner, we walked around looking at all the spectacle, and looked for dessert.
Hey... FRIED BUTTER anyone???

and hey, it's even Food Network's #1 fried food at the fair!

Check out the size of that funnel cake. If this dude can eat it all, it would be free. But according to Monika, who stopped by later and saw his friends eating it, he did not get it for free.


We played a water gun game and Monika's friend Wendy won a big banana.


I think Monika had banana-envy and hijacked it for a while.


Dusk at the fair.


Somehow I'm not really convinced...


Monika played a game in the hopes of winning a big banana too.


But she got a little banana instead.


Still on the hunt for dessert, we found fresh cream puffs and shared one.


Meanwhile, Monika and Wendy found the chocolate-covered bacon.


On the way out of the fair, we stopped by the animal pavilion.
It's kind of sad to see the word "beef" right above the cows, eh? Cows are much bigger close-up in real life than far away from the freeway.


I think I liked the sheep the most. They were all sheared and wearing clothes.

We were told that they were all sheared so that their muscle tone can be seen for auctions. And the "clothes" were not to keep them warm, but for keeping them clean.

This little black sheep wanted to get friendly.


Aww... sheep snuggles.


We had a lot of fun with Monika, but overall I don't think the fair is our type of fun. We don't like spinning rides and that's the majority of rides there. It was crowded too. It took us a LONG time to get out of the parking lot when we left. But now we can say that after living in San Diego for 10 years, we've finally gone to the county fair!

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The Daily Digi - Digi Files #19

Have you been to The Daily Digi today? If not, go here and check it out!

I'm really excited and honored to be a part of The Daily Digi's Digi Files #19 this month!


(image taken from The Daily Digi site)

And look at the other designers in the Digi Files with me! Many of my favorites... Queen of Quirk, Audacious Designs, and Em Powers. Waaaaaay awesome!

Here's a little bit about The Daily Digi if you are new to the site.

THE DAILY DIGI gives you back your time to create memories! We bring you the best in digital scrapbooking on a daily basis, so you don’t have to spend time searching for it! We are an ad-free, affiliate-free site, so we are able to share our honest opinions with you about quality products, photo printers, programs, resources, and more! We work hard to find tutorials and other information to share with you, so you can spend less time online and more time creating memories with the ones you love! Each month we introduce our readers to quality digital designers through THE DIGI FILES, a collection of several products that retail for over $5 EACH for only $5 (that is over $35 of product for $5). The designers are chosen based on their quality products, they do not pay to contribute. THE DAILY DIGI is also leading the industry with the first dynamic informational based scrapbooking iPhone App!!

My designs inside The Digi Files #19 will be revealed later in the month. In the meantime, if you cannot wait, you can purchase it here! With all those awesome contributors, you can't go wrong! :)

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