Year 29: Trip to the Antiques Faire (Irony Intended)

I can clearly remember turning 11 and thinking, "Holy crud balls, I'm old." I haven't really liked my birthday ever since. But, this year, something happened. I decided to celebrate, really celebrate, getting older (29, boo-yah!) After all, what's the POINT (you'll see the pun in a minute) of getting older if you're not going to offer up a high-five to being alive? Plus, the Alameda POINT Antiques Faire fatefully happened to coincide with my birthday this year. So, two car loads of amazing ladies made a 6 am wake up call (that's 6 am in the morning) and journeyed all the way up to Alameda for some shopping, eating, and treasure finding. Look at these awesome early risers!

 The fair is exclusively for things over twenty years old...but they still let Lo in :)

 I was so excited to get to spend the day with KD (a bestie since college days)!

I couldn't stop taking pictures of all these amazing finds...

 

 I'm still kicking myself for not buying this button

 Look what KD bought.

 This could be a piece of modern poetry:

 I was posing with this and feeling like a total dork, when a guy shouted, "You look like her!"

 And I was like, "Happy Birthday to me!"

Sponges & Silver

 Look what JKL spotted...

Confession: I have never met a hat that I didn't want on my head

I don't even know what these are, but I WANT them

 Lo and behold, Lo bought a ring!

 

 When I have a huge loft (or am living under a bridge), I am buying this Hollywood Video sign and putting it on one big white wall...

 Lunch break, where in we eat EVERYTHING! Roberta (on the right) was such a doll! Not only was she our antique show guide & driver, she also told me, "You are going to have an incredible year. 29 is the best." LOVE HER.

 Post lunch pow-wow to decide where to go next

I bought myself a necklace as a present. I lurve it.

 We'd been eying these popsicles all day. JKL treated me to a sea salted dark chocolate from Pop Nation...it was like the Audrey Hepburn of fudgsicles and I mean that in a good way!

My incredible Auntie Anne got me the best present ever...this cookie from Feel Good Bakery which was insane and wall to wall with walnuts :)

 Still, can't believe I'm 29. I'm practically an antique, but I've always liked antiques. So here's to 29, something I can definitely celebrate.

We Didn't Start the Fire: Butt Lake 2012

There are certain places in this world that are special and if you're lucky, really lucky, you get to know these places, spend time with them, see them as so much more than a dot on a map. Butt Lake is one of those places for a lot of people. I've written about it before (Essential Butt Rules of Camping & How to Be Camping Chic) but every summer for the past fifty years my family of friends has traveled to Butt Lake to spend two magical weeks together.

I always joke that I want all my nearest and dearest to live on the same street and for two weeks out of the year I get my wish. I get to wake up next door to my cousins. I get to see friends I've known since before I was a redhead :) I get to have breakfast with my grandpa, joke with my uncles, and make dinner with a troop of "aunts." But, most importantly, when I'm at the lake I get to be with a roving pack of the most lovable wackadoos it's ever been my pleasure to get into countless shenanigans with.

This year was a very different Butt Lake because of the Chips fire and no, to quote the song, we didn't start the fire. We were evacuated from our campgrounds in early August and as we drove away we hoped that our Butt Lake would stay un-charbroiled. Unfortunately, recent reports say that our home away from home was not so lucky. When I heard the news, I'll be honest- I cried. My heart broke for the people of Chester (the nearby town) and it broke for what has been lost. But, then I realized something. It's not really the lake that I go for (don't get me wrong, it's beautiful and I love it), but that's not what makes it special. It's the people and the memories that make it magic and hey, magic always has a way of making a comeback. So, no matter what, our wild rumpus will continue- crazy hats, inner tubes, and all. Here's to Butt Lake 2013.