Girl Friends, Costumes and Writing

 Sue came over and helped me sort through all my costumes. I don't really dress up for Halloween. That ship has sailed, but I did keep something for the Renaissance Fair. I also kept a beautiful mask in case I ever get to Mardi Gras. I hear Mardi Gras can be really disgusting because people get so drunk and vomit in the street, so "wear shoes that can be tossed."

I have rekindled my female relationships. My favorite bartender said she's up for just about anything. I keep finding the coolest little things out in Arizona to do. Now she is a bit of a recluse like me, so I'm going to try for something on the quiet side. Maybe a paint night? Or a craft night.

I have a nurse that said she would take me out paddleboarding. I have no balance, but I think that would be such a cool thing to do. So yep! She's my adventure buddy. I think hiking, camping, paddleboarding and maybe bike rides with her.

I have a girl friend who said she would do anything DIY with me. I want to try the new plushie taxidermy.... No folks, no REAL animals involved on this one. You take a plush toy and cut the head off and glue it to a really pretty board and make it all fancy. It's a little creepy but for a date night, it might be right up some of us Goth chicks lane. She also loves Dinosaurs and I just found a super cool event in Arizona that I want to go to so I'm taking her with me. I hope she doesn't mind that I'll be a little childish.... 

The High Priestess and I are travelers. She took me to her favorite spoke in Sedona and it was NOT disappointing! We wrote so much and had such a great time. I can't wait to do more trips with her.

My mom always says, "Find really good female friends to do things with."

So back to my downsizing. I just got 5 bags of clothes/costumes out of the room. I threw 3 bags of trash out  of the apartment. Our place is looking really good. I'm glad that I'm finally doing this. I don't know where I really want to head to next. Maybe Oregon? 

Writing Update:

I posted two chapters up online. A chapter on one and a chapter on another. I'm getting really good reviews. I can't believe how far I've come. One story is almost done. I think maybe another couple of chapters and I can put that baby to rest. The other one might have another 20 chapters to go. I really hate leaving things unfinished. 

K.B.C. I'm trying to get these two main characters into a bath house together.... I wish I could just jump to that part, but I'm dragging my feet and I think I'm really scared. I have rewritten these four chapters over and over. If I get to the bath house scene, then I'm going to have to move forward and it's blank up in my skull. 

D.P. I have three point of views on this one. Two alpha point of views and the third is my alpha turned omega. I am really impressed with how well this is coming out. I have two super aggressive, possessive alphas that I'm a little unsure how to balance because they are constantly at each other's throats. The thing is, one made a snide comment and just rereading, it almost feels extremely personal. I didn't mean for it to be as personal as it was, so now I'm wondering, "do I work this in, or do I cut it out?" 

Hospital of Emotions, High Priestess Commune and Writing

Hospital of Emotions was amazing. I kept getting advertisements and I kept passing them as quickly as possible because I wanted the experience of not knowing what to expect. I was NOT disappointed. These artists really captured the moods they were trying to convey. Some of those rooms really just cut straight to the heart strings while others were whismy and playful. 

Every room was fantastic. Each artist left a story.

The one room that really drew me in because (maybe) it's something a little personal to me, was the room where you can wear headphones and listen to someone going through a seizure. You're looking at the art and listening. The feeling is still lingering even as the fine details of the room starts to fade and blend with my every day. I keep recalling. Keep going back, but it's only a memory....

We went out for Mexican food and drinks, afterwards. It's nice that everything is within walking distance so if you want to have drinks, you can just walk home. 

I'm downsizing. It hurts. So many great memories to try and squeeze into a box. The Priestess and I have been talking about making a commune. That would be so nice. Work all day and at night sit on the porch and watch the sunset. I found an old church that's pretty reasonable. Eight rooms so eight of us have space. 

Oh speaking of places to move; the house old Jeepers Creepers house burnt down. I told this artist that I had a room for her to paint and she said NOPE on that. I thought her reaction was so funny. Honestly though, she said that movie scared her so badly and she wants nothing to do with that old school house. 

I have just discovered that all my teas taste fantastic cold! I like to think I'm tasting something that the faeries enjoy. Faeries probably enjoy tea a lot considering it's brewed from plants. How more fae can you get? 

Writing Update:

K.B.C. I have my werewolf and my faerie walking out of battle and I'm not sure who is crazier. Would my fae be the crazy one? The romance might be stirring to soon. I want to note that in this chapter my werewolf has surprised me. 

D.P. This is wonderful! I love the pacing now on this. I have the chapter starting with my omega and ending with one of the two alphas that are going to be the main love interest. However, I am so excited that they actually already know each other and they might not like each other. I do need to clean up the conversation a little because it does touch ever so slightly on something I'm not too sure about. 

Tourist Season, Wine Tastings and Writing

We had the best weekend! We took Mozart to Solvang and I went to my favorite tasting room and bought two bottles of red and Sue bought me this horror icon bookbag that says, "I'd Kill for Coffee" which is absolutely perfect! The Scream Mask is gaining some traction in popularity and I'm here for it!

I managed to take many photos for the tourists who needed an extra hand with group photos, which is one of my favorite things too do. I love tourists and seeing the world through their eyes. Maybe because I haven't really been to many new places, so to see the same location through someone else's eyes makes it new again. 

That said! Everything was in bloom. 

We had lunch and then went to another winery. We were going to bring our expert some chocolate, but found out that she doesn't work weekends any more. So boo! Sue thinks she'll cancel that membership now because she doesn't like driving it. Two tasting and then Sue got a glass of wine at both places that she didn't want to drink so I was feeling pretty darn good drinking it for her. Not drunk, just humming with a buzz.

We're thinking about going to Big Bear for a few days. I'm excited about that because I've never been and it's going to be so pretty. Can't decide if this is something we should take Mozart to. It would be nice to walk the trails with him. It's not like he knows he's 15 and should be slowing down. He's blissfully unaware of how he's aged. 

My favorite Bartender went out for the weekend too and she tasted oils for the first time. She had such a good time that she said she picked up oils for everyone at the commune.... me included! Goddess, what an incredibly wonderful gift. She's a lot like me. We're only 4 months apart. I'm the oldest. She looked stunning for her outting. I can't exactly describe her, she's just so classic. 

Writing Update:

I'm now staring at blank pages for both K.B.C. and D.P. 

I don't think I wrote myself into a corner, but this is really hard. I have chapters to push through on so I've gone to a few that I've probably been neglecting like N.F. and V.C. 

That said, I'm really going to sit down this week and get more done! 

Beach Home, Candy Shops and Writing

We went to Venture for the weekend. The commune told us to go out on the water, but we ended up going to Main and spending the entire day with Mozart in his little buggy. We met a couple who had a little poodle and we talked for while. They volunteer for most of the events up there and said that the Winter Wine Fest is really fun. I think we're going to have to go!

We love that beach house because it looks out on the water. It's really peaceful and everything is gorgeous. 

I did spend the day with Sue as well. She loves this little candy store and I sort of really like it too. I got two rootbeers, knowing that the place is a little pricy, but when we looked up the price of a pack.... $44.99 for one brand and $34.99 for the other. Yep, I guess I can afford to splurge on 1 rootbeer at a time on occassion, but I can't buy a pack of these rootbeers. 

We went into a refill shop and I got the bars of shampoo and conditioner. I really like these a lot. Ann said that she likes liquid shampoo, and I was a huge believer in the liquid too, but I can't get enough liquid no matter what to sud in my hair. The bars do sud so I like them a little better. Plus it's less waste because you get the bars in a little paper baggy. 

We came back home after our adventure and I thought it would be another long week, but Steven got the house he was looking at and is starting his own commune. And my favorite bartender said she would meet us at the Olive Oil tasting room in Arizona when we come back out. I managed to get a few more people to agree to it. I hope we can do this as a group. I really love Olive Oil taste rooms. 

I just finished a audio book! Freaking loved the story so much! I usually only listen to a story for about an one hour a day so I can continue with the things I need to do, like write. Nope! I didn't do anything for 9 hours straight just listening to this story. Honestly, people called all day and I had to keep pausing, but I got through the story and it was amazing.

Now I'm looking for another story and everything has a long wait list. I think I found something though.

I tried listening to tarot history and how to read my cards that I have. I had one book that was excellent, but the next two books were a little too whimsy. I do like the idea behind what the two books were getting at, but it just also wasn't really me. I wanted to hear about each card, the symbolism and the breathtaking art. So back to the drawing board on what I can find. 

Writing Update:

D.P. I've been working a lot on this one story. I'm still at chapter two / draft three but I really like where this is going. I like the history behind the characters. I need a nickname for a character who was a grubby little kid and now he's an adult, but his nickname might have stuck.... What can I name him though? 

K.B.C.  I have a plan, but I'm also a little chaotic and unorganized so those plans may change as I go. 

Beers, Swimsuits and Writing

We got up early to drive to Arizona. 

By the time we got there, Ann was getting ready to show some houses to Steven and Blanche. They invited us along and Emory loves looking at homes so he said yes. The houses all had wonderful kitchens which really excites him. Plus we have a LOT of kitchen things.

The trip was so much fun. We went to the Scottsdale commune and boy, everyone was there! My favorite bartender showed up with her boyfriend. She made a vegan version of the cowboy caviar, which everyone kept grabbing.  She made food for everyone's tastes. One of the people present was about to have a birthday so she had made a really delicious pie too, but it went so fast. 

It was HOT in Arizona. We brought our swimsuits, but we were running the whole time, so we didn't get a chance to swim. Emory had a lot of beers and I had two bottles of wine, but not in the same day, lol. We had a little wine here and there and only at night when we were sleeping over.  

I think this might be Mozart's last trip to Arizona. I think all that excitement is getting too much for him. Emory says he wants to be buried with all our dogs. I told him that would probably be about 30 lbs of dust, but he is okay with it. We really love our fur babies.

On our way back to California, we stopped and got date shakes. I was going to get vanilla so I could share a few licks with Mozart, but then I remembered how delicious the coffee date shake tasted so no sharing with Mozart. He did get a lot of treats though. and he wanted to sit in my lap so it was a little crowded, but not too bad.

I got tickets to the art show at Hospital of Emotions. We're going in the middle of June, so I'm so excited about that. Who would have thought I'd walk straight into a hospital without a struggle, but I really want to see this show. I hear that each room is decorated by an artist, but that the rooms are exactly as they'd been left at this abandoned hospital. I would like some history on the hospital itself and then each artist. I'm so excited. 

Sue and I went for dinner at our favorite restaurant. It was nice to show her pictures of my weekend in Arizona. I saw most of my nieces and nephews so I'm pretty happy. I saw my neighbor who went to my standup and he took a reserved sign from his table! I love it! He's awesome. I am so happy I got to see him for a hot minute.

I'm not kidding. We went to 5 homes, two of which were communes. It's nice feeling so much love. 

Writing Update:

K.B.C. : I'm at chapter 3 on this rewrite. I really like that it's from one point of view now. It just feels right this way. I do think that my main character will have more moments that will be a surprise to him and the audience. I'm having a good time writing this story.