on the road and in the sky

okay, i'll admit it -- i am terrible at vacationing.
i don't know how to not work! my "work" is what i love doing, so when i came out here with absolutely no stitching supplies, i kind of knew that it wouldn't last -- and i was right.
just a few days into the trip, i found myself at joann fabrics, purchasing aida, needle, and floss. (i did bring my favourite hoop with me -- just in case...) and i started work on this piece:


i had a poster hanging in my bedroom when i was in 6th or 7th grade (really? it came out in 1986?!!! sheesh, that was a long time ago...) with a photo of "ferris" lounging and this quote printed at the bottom. i'm pretty sure this was the quote i had on my myspace page when that was going on. i think it's still my favourite quote on my fb page, too. so, it's only natural that i finally, after a year or so of thinking about it, put it in stitches. obviously, it's not finished yet...

just three days into the trip, i called home and asked b to pretty please put together a box of supplies and work things to send to me out here. pathetic, right?


but -- there is reason to this! i would have been one thing if i were sticking to the original plan and i was just going to be away for two weeks. but upon arriving, i learned that there was a plan in place to have me go to japan.


japan?!!! what the what?! yes - i'm super psyched. it was a bit of an unexpected twist and i've been freaking out about being away from home and work for so long, but really, this may never happen again! i've got an opportunity to see a far-away totally foreign land and i'm going for it!
in the meantime, though, i've got some more days in CA, and here are just two of the things i like best here:


i call this "california toast." it was my favourite breakfast while i was living here and i've enjoyed it a few times already this week. a piece of toast, smeared with a quarter of an avocado, squirted with a wedge of lemon, and sprinkled with sea salt. yeah, it's delicious. of course, i could make and eat this at home on the east coast, but it somehow doesnt seem the same....especially when the lemons come from a tree just feet away in the front yard:


which is another one of my favourite things about out here; the flowers and citrus trees in almost every front and back yard.
i've been cutting these roses (which smell incredible!) for us to have fresh flowers on the table all week. this morning, as i was doing so, a hummingbird almost buzzed my ear off!
exciting stuff, eh? now i'm off to do something i wanted to do while i was living here but never got to - i'm making it happen today; taking a tour of the gamble house.
have a great weekend, friends! xo.