HelloAgain

The magic of Moss Landing

If you were to Google Moss Landing, you would find in Wikipedia some useful information regarding its location: Monterey County, California, United States.  You would also learn that Moss Landing is located on the Pajaro Valley Consolidated Railroad 15 miles (24 km) north-northeast of Monterey. I am certain that you would also find lots of other stuff that I will not bother to repeat here.  What I can tell you, however, that Wikipedia doesn't yet, is that Moss Landing is filled with true magic; the kind that you can only experience in your best day-dreaming scenes.  

Moss Landing is a town that while it might be small in size, it certainly is huge in art, history and soul.  It is filled with a million atmospheric whispers of peace and joy, hidden in almost every corner. Art galleries, great food in some of the best restaurants in the area, antique shops, spa destinations and even fabulous coffee (move over Starbucks).  When driving into that direction, whether you are going there from the south or from the north, you will find the scenery a gift from God.  I often think that somehow the clouds manage to look prettier there, on clear days.  And on foggy mornings, there is even more magic in the air.  If you like to take pictures, this is a tiny paradise of sorts. And if you like to paint, this is heaven on earth.

This year, my daughter returned to her first love in art (oil painting) and Moss Landing was, in part, to blame (the inspiration and dreamy atmosphere, of course).  But perhaps the most important reason for her renewed love for the art, was thanks to Moss Landing artist, and instructor, Marv Anderson.  Mr. Anderson has a gift for turning local landscapes into dream-like pathways to heaven.  His realistic clouds, and majestic backroads on canvas, invite you to imagine yourself walking into those same remote fields that were once explored by John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr.  Those same backroads where Steinbeck found inspiration for his own writings so many decades ago.    

Moss Landing, and all of its magic, always offer an open invitation to stop by for a visit.  If you are anything like me, you will not be disappointed.  In fact, you might just become a regular visitor and a new fan!

 

 

 

The amazing world of a four year old pirate

Life’s pretty good, and why wouldn’t it be? I’m a pirate, after all.
- Johnny Depp.

Well, Mr. Depp, you must be right.  Life is pretty good.  It would be even better for you if you were turning four and you looked this cute in a pirate costume!  

We are so lucky to have this precious little boy in our lives today.  From the moment he came into our family, he changed everything!  And he continues to do so every single day.  He has a family that completely adores him and wishes that the joy of his many-birthday-celebrations this week will continue to fill him with glee and happiness.

Happy birthday, sweet Jayden, from the proudest auntie in the universe, the most loving cousin on earth and the most insanely-adoring uncle ever.

 

One of my favorite adventures

One of my favorite type of weekend adventures involves a trip to the museum.  Any type of museum for that matter!  History, art, photography; all those things that we love so much, all housed together in one extra-fun place.  What is not to love?  Last weekend, we visited the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History (MAH) and the weekend before that, we went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).  Both visits were filled with the things we expected: inspiration, reflection and some pretty-fun perspectives!  Very different type of exhibits in each place, but both experiences equally inspiring.  

*All the pictures in this post were from the Santa Cruz museum.  A few photos from LACMA were included in my earlier post of April 2nd.

Spring and Easter greetings

Marching into March with a little iPhone-photography

It's a favorite quote kind of day.

"There is no black-and-white situation.  It's all part of life.  Highs, lows, middles."

-Van Morrison.

And one I love to remind my daughter from time to time; this one is one of my own quotes: 

Merry Christmas and happy holidays

Scrapbooking anyone?

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Let's do a little scrapbook talk today.

I certainly have not been scrapbooking as much as I would love to.  However, I have maintained my faithful commitment to record my daily life through the camera lens (I would certainly never entertain the idea of stopping my favorite hobby!).  And, I have also been printing a hand-full of photos every month so that I can keep up with the family albums.  For which I love the simplicity -and specially the chronicity- of Becky Higgins' Project Life albums.  I love that all I really need is photos and words, and a few little things to add here and there.  Absolutely perfect for busy people. And I appreciate all the inspiration out there when it comes to ideas on how to keep things fresh and fun.

One of the most significant models of inspiration in the scrapbooking world (year after year) continues to be Ali Edwards.  Her products, digital or not, never fail to be the perfect little extra touch I need to finish my albums.  Her stamps and her new Technique Tuesday cards (perfect for Project Life albums) are simply fantastic!

And my top three places where I like to order my pictures from are:

1. Persnickety prints because I just love that you can print your photos in so many different sizes (including 4x4, 5x5, 3x4 and so on).  Plus, I love the quality of their prints, and I absolutely adore how the pack and ship each order.  They seem to put such great care in each box.  I just love service like that. 

2. Shutterfly because I love their photo books.  They are my go to place whenever I want to order a photo book for family and friends.  And sometimes I use Snapfish for photo books, too.  

3. Whenever I need quick prints of 4x6 photos I always order from Costco because I can download photos from anywhere (including directly from my phone), and I can pick them up in the following hour after the order is placed.  

Daily gratitude

Having a Thanksgiving holiday is a blessing.  

And, who doesn't just love having an extra excuse to openly show our gratitude on a special day? Of course we all do.  Specially when there is good food, and even pumpkin pie to celebrate with!

But the act of Thanksgiving is certainly something I like to celebrate every day (morning, afternoon and evening), not just on one day or one month, of the year.   

This is why I come in here to say THANK YOU, again, to all my friends and blog visitors for continuing to stop by this space.  Thank you for everyone of your visits despite my many months of brief postings this year (life happens and the hobbies sometimes must take a break).  

I wish you all a wonderfully magical week, month and rest of the year!  May your every day be filled with the joys of love, happiness and the beautiful life of your dreams.  May the spark of happy children's faces fill your hears with true happiness and the special moments of ordinary life continue to enrich your existence. I'll leave you with some of the recent sightings that have inspired my soul.  Little everyday moments that brought big smiles to my face.  

Hi there, November, how did you make it here so quick?

Life keeps moving along a little too fast around here.  The blur of every day life is almost hard to see. If you blink a little too long, you miss it altogether!  But with all the stuff going on in the East Coast of our country, it is hard not to put things into perspective, and to take the time to reflect on how quick life can change.  

My heart and prayers have been with so many people that have been affected by this terrible tragedy.  I pray that the recovering efforts will move at fast speeds and that everyone who lives in that area will soon get back to their normal every day life.