By The Sea, By The Stormy, Stormy Sea and The Cemetery Industry

      **This post was written on Friday, March 24th and being published today**

    I've just come back to our hotel room after having the complimentary breakfast at The Embassy Suites in Seaside, California. I loved the oatmeal and the eggs and potatoes, but for the second day in a row they had no BACON, only sausage which I detest!! But it is complimentary, especially for me as this whole trip is paid for by my sisters job.

Embassy Suites in Seaside California

    I took Thursday and Friday off from work and we drove here to Seaside on Thursday. We took our time and stopped in Paso Robles for some shopping at TJ Maxx, one of my favorite stores. Then we decided to eat on the run rather than waste time at a sit down restaurant and we drove through McDonalds, then on to Seaside.

    Seaside is such a beautiful place and the whole drive here was fabulous because we've had tons of rain in California and it now looks like the California I remember when we used to come and visit my dad's family in Santa Maria. Green and lush with beautiful blue skies and puffy white clouds. 

    Thursday night we had a meet and greet downstairs and we barely had time to get ready for that. I always enjoy the meet and greets because they have a bunch of vendors there selling anything and everything associated with cemetery management. Yes...you read that correctly...cemetery vendors. I know for some that may seem shocking, I know it was for me at first, but both my sister Lisa and I have been involved in the funeral industry since 1993. Lisa is now a Cemetery Manager which is why we were here. I left the funeral industry in the year 200o'ish. 

    So the vendors have a lot of unique things they are selling, from cemetery plot mapping by computer to vaults and urns and niche plates. They're a great bunch of people and even though most of them fell into the industry by chance, some felt it was their calling. Lisa fell into it by chance, but definitely it is a calling for her. Her compassion and dedication to service makes her an excellent manager and I am so proud of her.

    Friday I spent the day shopping. There aren't a lot of shopping centers or stores in Seaside or Monterey, I guess they really don't want you to spend your time shopping but they prefer that you go to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and all the little shops along Cannery Row, which is what I did last time I visited. Friday evening there was a special dinner with dancing and a photo booth.

    We took advantage of the photo booth but the pictures were so small they really are not very sharp, but here you go. In the first one we included one of the board members that was there. They had a lot of props and things we could use to make the photos more fun, so these are pretty silly, but we had fun!

    We headed back home on Sunday and as always, there's no place like home, but it was a fun little adventure!

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~~

Sock it to Me Baby!!! A Blast from the Past

Do you remember the Bee Gee's, John Travolta, Saturday Night Fever, Disco, Donna Summer? Do you remember Pop Rocks, Pet Rocks, Mood Rings and Lava Lamps? Do you remember Flower Power, Polyester, Smiley Faces and The Hustle?

Well I'm about to show you pictures of people who dug way down deep into their memories and returned us all to the "1970's".

The CAPC put on a great party this past Friday night where the theme was the 70's.

First, the grooviest of chicks, my sister Lisa!

Peace my Sista!

"Make Love, Not War"
Unknown

We had so much fun, from the picking out of the costume to the hair and makeup session before the party. This was the first time Lisa had worn fake eyelashes and she picked some gorgeous, glittery purpley ones! She added the bright green eyeliner and she looked perfect!

When we got out of the elevator and turned the corner we ran into these characters and I don't think we quit smiling and laughing the rest of the night! 

"Old hippies don't die, 

they just lie low until the laughter stops 

and their time comes round again."

Joseph Gallivan

"I do my thing, and you do your thing. 

I am not in this world to live up to your expectations, 

and you are not in this world to live up to mine. 

You are you, and I am I, 

and if by chance we find each other, it's beautiful."
Frederick E. Perl

We also had a surprise guest join us. 
The one and only Gene Simmons from K I S S !
(Not the real Gene Simmons) Like my disclaimer?

C'mon people, now 
smile on your brother, 
ev'ry-body get together, 
try to love one another right now.
Chet Powers/Youngbloods 

"I've been smiling lately, dreaming about the world as one.  
And I believe it could be someday it's going to come."
Cat Stevens  

"Imagine no possessions, 

I wonder if you can, 

No need for greed or hunger, 

A brotherhood of man. 

Imagine all the people 

Sharing all the world. "
John Lennon

There's No Place Like Home! But Seaside was pretty Close!

Well I'm home again. For those of you that didn't know I've been AFK (Away from Keyboard) since Thursday morning. I was in the beautiful city of Seaside, California staying at the beautiful, luxurious totally comfortable Embassy Suites pictured here. It looks exactly like that.

Before I show you more pics I did want to mention that in my previous post I used some chat lingo and I wanted to translate for you now.

AFK of course is Away from Keyboard.
BRB is Be Right Back.
LOL is Laughing out Loud.
AAS is Alive and Smiling.
TTFN is Ta Ta for Now.
H&K is Hugs and Kisses.

My sister Lisa is a District Secretary for our local cemetery and the reason we went to Seaside is that she had to attend the CAPC Annual Conference, for the California Association of Public Cemeteries. My wonderful sister chose to take me as her date. We left on Thursday as we had to be there that evening for a "Meet and Greet" at the hotel. After that we went out to dinner with her boss and his wife and two members of the board and their wives. We went to the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in Monterey.


When we arrived it was still daytime outside and this is the view from our table.

Here's a picture of the nicest group of people EVER! I had such a great time with them. They were so much fun!

From the left beginning with the man in the red shirt; Bill Prout (board member) and his wife Kathy (Mayor of Shafter); Beeb Anderson wife of board member David Anderson pictured right across from her. Vaughn Unruh wife of Tim Unruh (Cemetery Manager, my sisters boss) and Tim Unruh; then that's me peeking out way in the back on the right and my sister Lisa then David Anderson.

I just can't say enough kind words about these people, my sister is so blessed to work with them and they are so blessed to have her!

Then we went back to the hotel for the evening, here's some pictures from the hotel room, this was the view we had.

Some pictures of our room which was amazingly confortable. The staff in the whole hotel was great. I would highly recommend staying at an Embassy Suite next time you need a great hotel!

The next day, Friday, my sister had to attend the conference and I was on my own so I set out early with my Starbucks Coffee and three Vanilla Bean Scones. I know...lots of carbs, but hey! I was on Vacation! I decided to drive North on Hwy 1 just to explore and see what was out there. What was out there was a gorgeous drive! Unfortunately because I was driving I didn't have opportunity to stop and take photos, but there was one time that I glance out the passenger side window and I saw this beautiful field being plowed by a big green tractor and less than a mile away you had a gorgeous view of the ocean and the waves breaking against the rocks. I envied that tractor driver...trust me!

I headed back to Seaside planning to do some shopping at a shopping center I saw on the way up with a Ross, Marshalls, Target and Cost Plus World Market, but my sister called and said she was done for the day so I picked her up and we headed to Cannery Row in Monterey.

We walked around looking in all the little shops but I still hadn't had lunch so we decided to go to El Torito. I know...here we are on the coast with lots of fresh seafood restaurants and we go to a Mexican food place. What can I say, we love chips and salsa and margaritas more than anything. Plus they had an El Torito right on the water with a great view from our table...plus did I mention Margaritas?

Here I am outside of El Torito. As you can tell it was pretty windy.

Here's my sister Lisa...

And here are the both of us together...

Here's a picture of us in the restaurant waiting for our drinks and food.

A view from our table at the ocean. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful state.

That evening the CAPC had planned a costume event. The theme was "The 70's". We headed back to the Embassy Suites so my sister could get into her costume and we could do her hair and makeup. I'll follow up with a post tomorrow with photos and stories from that evening.

The next day, which was a Saturday my sister again had to attend the conference and I had made plans to meet my daughter in Gilroy, CA so we could do some shopping at the largest Outlet Mall I had ever been to. The Gilroy Outlet Stores. We had so much fun traipsing in and out of all those stores. Gilroy also has a Home Goods and I now know I love that store...my daughter loved it as well. Plus she brought my sweet little grandpuppy Chorizo. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures :-(

I headed back as that evening was the Awards Banquet for the CAPC and I wanted to be able to have time to dress and touch up the makeup and hair. The food was great. We had Pork Loin Roast with Roasted Baby Red Potatoes and Broccoli. Dessert was a piece of Opera Cake. I didn't take pictures but it looked something like this. 

None of us had ever had this type of cake. It was good, but I would have rather had Creme Brulee! According to Wikipedia, Opera Cake is a type of French cake. It is made with layers of almond sponge cake (known as Joconde in French) soaked in coffee syrup, layered with ganache and coffee buttercream, and covered in a chocolate glaze. The cake was popularized by the French pâtisserie house Dalloyau.

We returned home on Sunday but we took our time driving and we took the 17 mile drive and visited Carmel and downtown Salinas before finally heading home. I'll post pictures of that later on the week also.

This was one of the best vacations I've had in a long time. The past two years I've used my vacation time for surgery for Thyroid Cancer and also for Radiation Treatments...so it was nice to take some time off and actually visit somewhere and have a great time.