Catching Up Post with Guest Blogger - My Sister!

So I did a post about a week or so ago about catching up with everyone while I was a way for a quick trip with my sister to the beautiful city of Seaside CA.

My sister Lisa was with me and she took some amazing pictures which I wanted to use in a blog post, so I asked her if she would write the blog post and she did.

Without further ado...here's my sister Lisa!

Welcome Lisa! 

I have been invited by my adorably cute sister, Alicia, to write a guest post for her blog. I enjoy reading other people’s blogs but have only been moved to write one blog post a few years ago when my father passed away.  I imagine my blog page has been deactivated since then.

I work for a cemetery as the secretary/bookkeeper. My sister and I have a strong background in the funeral industry. We both worked at a funeral home and now I work for a cemetery. I am fortunate that my place of employment is progressive and believes in continuing education. 

That being said California Association of Public Cemetery Association which my cemetery is a member of,  hosts 2 annual education conferences. The conferences are usually in the“off” seasons, so while the locations are beautiful they are also usually fairly cold. I am able to take a guest so my sister lucks out to be my driver and my guest.  The conference in March was in the picturesque city of Seaside, CA.

I 100% agree with the quote in the image above. While the conferences are quite educational the best part of the trip is the ride to and fro. Sis and I are able to bond, laugh, cry, sing and most of all SHOP!!! 

I am not a shopper in any way shape or form. I generally avoid shopping like it was the plague but I do love to shop on our bi-annual mini-vac. This year I went hog wild and walked out with over $350.00 worth of merchandise; an all time max on spending. I am set with clothing and shoes for 10 years.

I am in classes from 8:00 am to about 3:30 or 4:00. Once I am released from prison, uhm Class, Sis and I usually escape for about an hour on a small drive to see the local sites. 

(all photos taken by Lisa with her iPhone)

Our first trip was a quick trip past Monterrey and Cannery Row to enjoy the view of the ocean and the splashes of the water against the rocks.  

The 2^nd day we just rested in our room at the Embassy Suites and pigged out on Chips and Salsa, which we purchased at a small Mexican grocery store. Yummy and very SPICY!

Our final day sis drove me around Seaside and showed me the many sites she uncovered while I was educating my cemetery brain. 

Alas, it was time to head home so we gassed up and Starbucked up and headed home… Oh wait, silly me! I forgot the best part… the “17 Mile Drive” featuring Pebble Beach! 

Not only do you see gorgeous views of the ocean but also Million dollar homes. I checked Zillow.com and on some of these multi-million dollar homes the property taxes alone are $20,000.00 a month. Yes a month not a Year!!!! 

All these photos that I've shared were taken on the 17-Mile drive. If you ever make it up to the Monterrey/Seaside/Carmel area please do take this tour, it's amazing!

Ok, it's me Alicia again, thank you Lisa. I love it! A blog post that I didn't have to write! Thank you sis for taking me along on these adventures, they are the high-point of my year! Love you bunches!

Catching up Post

Surprise!!! It really is me!

Tomorrow will mark almost three months since my last blog post. So much as happened! Some good, some bad.

Today I'm coming to you from the Embassy Suites in the beautiful city of Seaside California. This place is gorgeous and I'm feeling a little guilty that I'm not out there enjoying the sunshine and the smell and sound of the ocean, but I've been here two days already and I have had my share of nature! It doesn't take much, I'm really more of an indoor girl!

I'm here with my sister Lisa, she's got a conference for her job and I get to come along as her plus one. She's working 9 to 5 and I'm just enjoying the sites, shopping, eating and now sitting here in the lobby finally having opportunity to blog for a bit. 

I wish I had a picture to share with you that would portray the beauty of this place, but so far I have only taken one picture from the window of our hotel room. You can see the ocean there on the horizon.

So today is our last full day here and we leave tomorrow. I had planned to take a little road trip and check out some antique shops and thrift stores, but to tell you the truth I am dead tired! Lisa and I are both suffering from allergies and we coughed all night. Right now I have laryngitis and poor Lisa is in the a conference room across from where I am sitting and I keep seeing her coming outside to cough! She is really struggling as her lungs are much weaker than mine. She's been to doctors and they all tell her it just allergies, but that doesn't make the actual symptoms any easier to bear.

So anyway, I'm still so in love with doing art, but as usual I'm a Jack of all Trades, Master of None! I started with sketching and took a class for that, then I got into Acrylic Painting and took a class for that, I still love acrylic painting, but I've gotten away from it for awhile because I am finding it really hard to concentrate with all that is going on in my life.

The new love of my life is Mixed Media art as some of you are aware if you've been reading my blog for the past year. I'm still doing mixed media and I've joined several great Facebook groups, my newest favorite at this time is a Mixed Media artist by the name of Dawn who has a YouTube channel called Let's Make a Mess Today.

My reason for liking Mixed Media is that it is so freeing, you can pretty much do ANYTHING and nothing is wrong. But Dawn is even freer than that. She has this awesome journal she uses called a Fatty Patty in which she saves images, ticket stubs, book marks, magazine photos, bits of fabric, ribbon, buttons, paperclips, anything and everything that she can find. What I like best about her is how as she's creating she's talking as though we are sitting right there with her, which makes for a great crafting buddy because you can turn her off when ever you want and she's always there waiting for you.

I'm really new to her channel, I've got my Fatty Patty journal that I named Pretty Patty after my best friend in high school who passed away several years ago, she was beautiful inside and out and my journal is going to be beautiful inside and out as well!

So far I've only contributed one page to the Facebook Group, it was the dedication page, dedicated to Patty.

I'm pretty sure by now housekeeping has finished our room, so I'm going to cut this short at this time and just let you all know I'm still alive and kicking and I would like to promise that I will blog again soon, but it seems that as I get older, I have less free time and more commitments and when I do find a moment for myself I tend to do Art more than Blog, but don't give up on me, I hope to retire soon and then I will have plenty of time to do both!

Alicia~~