Hair New Era

When I woke up yesterday morning and looked outside, I saw this:


We had had one of the coldest nights - remember, this is California, so this is not our typical weather, even in winter. There are only a few days when the frost is as beautiful as this morning and of course, I had to take pictures.











There is a big tub filled with water in our yard. Of course there was a sheet of ice on the surface. The Geek and Kaefer started to play around with that, lifting out a few sheets since they couldn't take the whole thing.

Today we went to Bodega Head, hoping to see some whales. There were days when we never saw any whales and other days when we saw many. Today falls in the second category.

So this is the middle of January - I remember this to be winter - right at the Pacific Ocean. It is supposed to be cold and very windy. Instead, the sun is shining and there is almost no wind. Unbelievable...


I spent some time taking pictures of the waves that thunder against the rocks at the shore. I love the mist that hovers above the waves before they break. Seagulls were sitting on a huge rock right in front of me, others were noisily flying around.


Apart from the waves at the shore, the ocean was like a blanket which made watching for whales super easy. You just watch for spouts - when you've discovered one, you focus in with your binoculars and actually see real whales.

About two miles out there was an entire pod of whales, very likely humpbacks, playing around. A little bit further south we discovered another big whale who traveled south - probably a gray whale.


Everybody - there was quite a crowd - was excited, either looking through their binoculars or taking pictures.


The whale watching volunteers who are at Bodega Head every weekend from January through April (whale migration time) and sometimes even during the week if there are many whales, were happy to tell everyone about the whales and answer any question that would arise. They had some interesting stuff on their display table, like this vertebrae of a juvenile gray whale.





Afterwards we went to the "Sandpiper" in Bodega Bay, our favorite restaurant there. Tonight I opted for the Fisherman's Crab Stew - messy but oh so yummy...

My dear blogging friends,

Thank you so much for your lovely wishes for my birthday!! It was such a lovely surprise and so much joy to come back from my weekend trip and find all these nice comments.


I think with all these good wishes and encouragement I should be able to fulfill my birthday wish for this year - and beyond. To be honest, I feel all warm and fuzzy inside, because of you.


And if you wonder where I spent my birthday - we went to Yosemite National Park. We always call it "the national park in our backyard" because it's only a five hours drive over there, a piece of cake. We love this place with all our heart, and spending a winter weekend there is simple the cherry on top! We started this tradition several years ago, when I said I don't really need any presents for my birthday, but would love to spend the long weekend in the snow instead (how convenient that my birthday always is so close to the Martin Luther King weekend and therefore gives us the gift of an additional day off!). We missed it only once so far!

I will tell you more about this wonderful weekend in one of my future posts.

Here in coastal California we don't have too much snow... well, actually none.

But I love the snow - most aspects of it. Not the driving, shoveling... but the beauty of it. And whenever I have the opportunity I take winter pictures with snow or frost. So I came up with the idea to have a little series of winter photos here on my blog, an A-Z - starting today.

Every morning you should find a new winter picture until we reach the letter Z. This is quite a challenge for me since I have to find the appropriate words - you know, if I can't come up with one in English I will put the German word instead. After all, Germany has lots of snow, and many of these pictures were taken there.

Enjoy - perhaps while drinking some lovely hot chocolate.

Photo found on Pretty Pieces blog

Bleck. I just heard we're supposed to be getting more snow - starting as a mix this afternoon and going through Saturday night. Spring? Bare legs? What was I talking about?? Guess I'll have my tights a bit longer...

Now that spring is coming, bare legs will be back. I'm going to miss my fall and winter tights. :(


Photo by Ellen von Unwerth, as seen on dress design decor


Photo by Corrie Bond, as seen on delight by design

When I was a kid, I thought of tights as scratchy, confining tubes of death...maybe because they came out of a plastic L'egg. Last year I recently rediscovered tights and my world changed. Skirts all year round? No problem! No worries of cottage cheese peeking out? Hurray! Not receiving comments about my palest-legs-ever? Bonus!

Don't get me wrong - spring is my favorite and I love a good short - but I am going to mourn my season of not worrying about self-tanner, shaving or cellulite.

Goodbye, tights, it was great while it lasted. See you next fall.

(Who am I kidding? Winter will be here for another two months. I wore tights and a skirt on Saturday. I still have plenty of time. But I keep seeing catalogs with bare-legged girls in Milan. Damn you, J. Crew!)

Hand-painted watercolor card by Anna Fraser, as seen on design is mine.

It rained all day yesterday and it's still raining this morning. It seemed kind of dreamy and relaxing as we went to sleep with the soft sound of it last night but I doubt it will seem as sweet when I have to head out of the house this morning and into it. Wish I could stay in bed today. Ah well, I guess this rain is better than another monster snow storm, right?

Is it raining where you are?

In an effort to trick myself into thinking we're not still in the dead of winter (with likely at least another two months to go), I've been salivating over fresh fruit, light layers and delicious drinks.

Yesterday was another snow day here, so B and I made smoothies for brunch (from frozen fruit chunks, since you'd be hard-pressed to find fresh mango around here right now), but I'm drooling over this drink recipe posted on Design*Sponge last week:

Doesn't it look delicious? (If not totally out of season...)

Created by wardrobe stylist Talitha and shared with us by Tec and Chelsea Petaja (he, an amazing photographer; she, an artist and educator), "Magic Juice" looks light, refreshing and perfect for a summer day....or just for pretending it's summer.

Here's the run-down on how to make it:

Ingredients (makes two drinks):
6 hulled strawberries
1 peeled orange
5-7 mint leaves
1/4 peeled cucumber
4-6 oz gin, depending on taste
8 oz fresh lemonade

Methodology:
Dice, then muddle fruits and mint
Pour gin into fruit mixture and let sit for 10-15 minutes
Strain over lemonade and ice
Garnish with fruit slice or mint leaf

I might crank up the heat in our house, put on some shorts (and perhaps some self-tanner - don't want to blind myself with those pale, pale legs), kick back with one of these bevs, and pretend like there's not actually still 39" of snow on the ground.

Photo by Dewey Nicks, via Habitually Chic

I'm done posting about the snow after this, I promise (welllll, I might have to take that back in a few days, since we're supposed to be getting more snow on Tuesday/Wednesday), but remember the uber-amber-alert snow warnings we got on Friday? It came. Here in Annapolis, we got 33 inches of the powdery stuff, and in some parts of Maryland it was up to 38 inches. Yikes!

It took us three solid hours of shoveling on Saturday to get B's Outback out of our parking spot. The first 30 minutes of that time might have been slightly wasted since we don't own a shovel (yes, B dug with a camping hoe/mini-shovel contraption and I used a combo of ice scraper, ice sweeper and...stick. Yes, stick). Thank goodness our neighbor took pity on me with my silly stick-shoveling and lent us his shovel. The work was much more productive after that. :) [Stop judging about the stick shoveling! It's not our fault! Every store in town was sold out of both firewood and shovels by Thursday evening! Marylanders are very afraid of snow!]

Anyway, all the hard work was well worth it, because with B's all-wheel drive, we were able to make it safely and fairly easily to a bar on Saturday night to hang out with friends, and head out to another friend's house to watch the Super Bowl yesterday. Too bad when we got home last night, some giant SUV had taken our hard-earned shoveled parking spot! Technically we can have people towed for that (since the spot is reserved for us), but we were feeling charitable (and tired) so we let them stay for the night. But if you are the owner of a green SUV monstrosity parked in a spot that is not your own, somewhere in Annapolis, and you're still there today, watch out - I have a stick-shovel and am not afraid to wield it! (Kidding.)

Did you all get snowed in? Did you have fun? We made snow angels like in the photo and had a blast enjoying the "snowpocalypse" of 2010. Hope you got to enjoy the weather too!

Photo from yes and yes

Emergency! Have you heard?!?! It's the snowpocalypse! They're predicting 24" for Maryland over the next few days, starting tomorrow at 10am. We're being advised to "shelter in place" tomorrow. Therefore, RUN - do not walk - to your nearest grocery store and buy the jumbo pack of TP, all the milk you can carry, copious canned goods, and maybe some chips...ASAP!

Can you tell I'm kidding?

I love that people are freaking out about this. Haven't we already gotten snow like 14 times already this winter? I'm pretty sure we'll all make it out alive. I might even go sledding tomorrow. Or have a snowy brunch:

Photo by Emerson of EmersonMade

Okay, just kidding, I won't be dining dans la neige anytime soon - I hate the cold - but I will be enjoying the snow day(s). Tomorrow morning I'm stocking up on firewood and bevs, and hopefully we'll have a nice, relaxing weekend at the homestead - and be able to make it out in time for the Super Bowl on Sunday!

At the very least, hopefully they'll close your workplaces midday and you'll all get to go home early for a slightly extended weekend. Woohoo! Hope you have a good snow day!

I'm sure you must be entirely sick of hearing me say this by now, but it snowed here last night. Again. I think just the fact that we live in Maryland - not Alaska, not Vermont - keeps me so surprised each time we get dumped with the cold white stuff. This is at least our fifth snow this season!

Anyway, I hope all this frosty precipitation didn't mess up your morning commute. On a chilly day like today, all I can seem to think of is cuddling up in bed, or sitting by a fireplace drinking hot tea, or taking a really warm shower. Wow, that all sounded so old-lady-ish, didn't it?

While this bathtub fits in nicely with the aforementioned winter hibernation tactics, there's nothing elderly about it. In fact, it would be great for kids. I mean, who wouldn't want a porthole in their bathtub?:

The Porthole Bathtub by Water Monopoly, as seen on Beach Bungalow 8

As described on their website: "The porthole bath is an original French double ended bath with two portholes cut into the side. It makes a wonderful piece for children's bathrooms, or it can be used to create a bathroom with a nautical theme. The bath can also be supplied without portholes, and has a variety of different feet available."

But why wouldn't you want fun portholes?

(Oh wait, unless you don't want someone to walk in and get a lovely view of your saddlebags all splayed out. Ew. Why do I think of these things?? Let's keep this tub for the kids only for now, I suppose.)

I think this cute blue tub is the only thing this ideal bathroom is missing.

I completely forgot that today - February 2nd - is Groundhog Day. Happy Groundhog Day to you!

Don't you kind of miss elementary school, where we celebrated every holiday and got to do a special project for each one? I remember February always seemed jam-packed with special activities, since it held Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, and Presidents Day (and my birthday!). I miss being instructed to do crafts on a weekly basis!

Anyway - lucky us - this morning at sunrise, Punxsatawney Phil prognosticated that winter will be for six more weeks. Ugh. But that was really no big surprise anyway, right?

Hope your February is going well so far. Bundle up and enjoy our (at least) six more weeks of hibernation! (And tonight's premiere of Lost!!!)