Tiki Dish Towel

Picture of the Day for 7/31/2013. I was at the store last night and saw this Tiki dish towel on sale. HAD to have it. I love all things tacky Tiki. Makes me smile.

Space Shuttle Necklace

Picture of the Day for 7/30/2013. My niece Chantal likes to taunt me with the fact that she owns space shuttle jewelry, but I don't. (Is this even normal? What do most families talk about?) Well, that has all changed now. When I was in Long Beach, CA a couple of weeks ago, I found this antique-looking space shuttle necklace at a darling vintage store. Trust me to spot a space shuttle necklace tucked away in the dark recesses of a store. 




And this is even better than your run-of-the mill space shuttle jewelry. On the back of the pendant is a Saturn V rocket. How cool is that?! I'll tell you how cool. Much cooler than measly space shuttle earrings! 

Mammogram and McDonald's

Picture of the Day for 7/29/2013. Went to St. Mark's hospital for a mammogram this morning (just part of my routine physical).




Oh look at that- there's a McDonald's right across the street. Of course I had to reward myself for completing this important preventive screening by eating breakfast there. 

The Return of Hostess Products

Picture of the Day for 7/28/2013. I'm probably like a lot of the population- I never really craved Hostess products until the company went belly-up. Then panic set in. Wait a minute! I must have a Twinkie NOW! Even though it had been years and years and years since I had a Twinkie. Of course there were no Twinkies to be found at that point. Then despair set in. 

No need for despair! Hostess products have returned. And I have purchased them. And I have consumed them. Phew. 

More Sewing Patterns I'll Never Use

Picture of the Day for 7/27/2013. So here are some more sewing patterns I bought today to add to my collection of "sewing patterns I'll never use." It's not that I don't want to use them. It's that I'm just being realistic based on my sewing history.

Ugly Necklace

Picture of the Day for 7/26/2013. I've had my eye on this necklace from Macy's for about a week now. Not because I like it, but because there's something magnificent about its ugliness and gaudiness. I had to buy it. At least I only paid $12.

Gaggle of Missionaries

Picture of the Day for 7/25/2013. I followed a gaggle of Mormon missionaries bicycling their way through the Fashion Place Mall parking lot. I'm sure they wondered why the crazy lady in the red PT Cruiser was following them so closely. It was because I thought the sight was so cute I needed to get a photo of it. 

Gay Aliens

Picture of the Day for 7/24/2013. Today is Pioneer Day in Utah. The day we celebrate the arrival of the Mormon pioneers in the Salt Lake valley in 1847. This day has special significance to me since I'm descended from those hardy pioneers. Brigham Young's older brother John is my great-great-great-grandfather. I should be devoting a blog entry to Pioneer Day, but instead I'm going to talk about gay aliens. I was browsing the New Age section in Barnes & Noble (a particular guilty pleasure of mine) tonight when I saw the book Grey Aliens. I misread signs and titles all the time so I read it as Gay Aliens. I'm kind of disappointed that wasn't really the book title as I was so delighted at the thought of gay aliens roaming the universe.

Cousin Shellie

Picture of the Day for 7/23/2013. I accompanied my sister, Robynne, and nephew, Rob, to Mr. Mac- THE place where future Mormon missionaries go to buy their suits, ties, shirts, and shoes. 





We were browsing the tie section in the back of the shop when my cousin Shellie walked out of the alterations room. What a reunion! And what a surprise! We had no idea she worked there. It seems like the only time I see my cousins is at funerals, so it was nice to see her in a "happy" place. I suspect she'll be the one doing the alterations on Rob's new black and gray missionary suits. 

Doing the Right Thing

Picture of the Day for 7/22/2013. Had my first physical in 3 years. You might be alarmed by this, but this is significant progress since before 2010 I hadn't had a physical in over 20 years. My track record is getting better...

The Supersizers Eat

Picture of the Day for 7/21/2013. My nieces, Renee and Corinne, introduced me to The Supersizers Eat, a BBC show that follows two people who spend a week at a time living, dressing, and eating from a particular time in history- French Revolution, Medieval, Ancient Rome, The Roaring Twenties, etc. We watched the Medieval episode tonight and there were some pretty nasty dishes they had to eat. The fish in a sugar sauce seemed particularly nasty. Renee and Corinne said they this would be their dream gig. Not me. I love trying new foods and I love a wide variety of cuisines. I'm just not a big fan of meat so eating "weird" meat dishes would do me in. 

Help Me Identify This Tree

Picture of the Day for 7/20/2013. I was driving past my neighbor's house when I noticed they have the most interesting flowering tree with fuzzy blooms. Have you ever seen anything like it? If you know what type of tree this is, please let me know!

Side note- when I walked over to my neighbor's house to take a picture of the tree, of course everyone in the house choose that exact moment to walk out of the house. Perfectly bad timing. I'm sure they were wondering what I was doing lurking by the house. 

Girls' Day Out

Picture of the Day for 7/19/2013. My buddies and I have just turned 50 which means it's colonoscopy time for all of us. Oh joy. One of them had her colonoscopy today so my friends and I decided to make a whole day of it. She had her procedure in the morning and afterward we:

1-Went out to breakfast.

2-Went to a movie.

3-Went shopping at a new vintage shop in my neighborhood that I really like. I was the designated driver so my friends basically had no choice about this activity. I just informed them we were going to that store.

4-Visited the Irish Setter who was getting groomed at the dog grooming place next door to the vintage shop. The dog was very happy for the attention. Here's Mary with the dog.



5-Shopped the sidewalk sale at Foothill Village.

After I dropped off my friends, I met my niece Chantal for dinner at the Canyon Inn where her husband Rob was performing with his 80's cover band, Hot Reagan. We stayed to listen until about 10:30 pm. 



It was fun and long day!

Time for Pruning

Picture of the Day for 7/18/2013. I seem to be compelled to bring down the property values in my neighborhood. I've decided it's my little hobby. I've finally called my landscaper to come trim the weeds that have taken over my asphalt driveway and lawn.

Chain Mail Update

Picture of the Day for 7/17/2013. I'm sure you were just dying for a chain mail update. My nephew Rob has made a lot of progress making chain mail. 

HOWEVER, I'm not seeing a lot of progress on the bracelet I've requested. I even demonstrated to Rob how fabulous a chain mail bracelet would look on me. Just saying.

Arne's Royal Hawaiian Motel

Picture of the Day for 7/16/2013. Headed back to Utah and stopped for gas in Baker, CA- a tiny, tiny, tiny town 90 miles southwest of Las Vegas, NV. From the gas station I thought I spied a sign for a "royal Hungarian" motel which I was compelled to investigate in order to answer the age-old question, "what does a royal Hungarian motel look like?" It turns out it was Arne's Royal Hawaiian Motel. Even better! Normally you don't associate the name Arne with anything Hawaiian. Apparently, most tourists didn't either since the place was derelict and abandoned. I googled the motel and it was in business as of 2010- just barely. The motel had received the most scathing and wretched reviews on TripAdvisor.com I've ever seen. Wonder what Arne's up to now. I'm kind of hoping he has plans to open up a royal Hungarian motel. I'd stay there. 

Space Shuttle Endeavor

Picture of the Day for 7/15/2013. Visited the California Science Center to see the space shuttle Endeavor. This hangar is only its temporary home. Eventually, the shuttle will be displayed vertically with tiered walkways around the vehicle. Even in a temporary display, the shuttle was an impressive sight.

Whale Watching

Picture of the Day for 7/14/2013. I went on a 2-1/2 hour whale-watching cruise off the coast of Newport Beach, CA. A crew member on the boat said it was the best expedition they've had in more than a year. It was pretty spectacular. We sailed through a large pod of dolphins leaping and playing by our boat. That would have been sufficiently cool, but we were lucky enough to encounter a blue whale that we were able to follow for about an hour. The whale would surface three times to get air and then do a deep dive for two minutes before reappearing. 

Michelle Merrille Collins

Picture of the Day for 7/13/2013. I got a close look at the fine print on my exhibitor badge for the speech therapy conference I'm attending. Apparently, I have a new name- Michelle Merrille Collins. Merrill is spelled incorrectly and it appears I'm now the polygamous wife of William Collins (husband to my sister Robynne Collins). I guess that's appropriate since we're from Utah. 





Since this blog entry is about the speech therapy conference, I thought I'd throw in a picture of our booth. We had a primo spot- right at the entrance to the exhibit hall. We were the first booth people saw as they entered.

Visiting the Port of Long Beach and the Queen Mary

Picture of the Day for 7/12/2013. Our speech therapy conference ended at 5:00 p.m. today so we had the whole evening to explore Long Beach. I drove in a loop past the Port of Long Beach's docks several times. This was fine with Robynne until I started taking pictures while driving- an activity she does not approve of as long as she's a passenger in the car. I think I have my dad's engineering soul. I was totally fascinated by the stevedores and the hundreds of cargo containers stacked on top of each other and the extremely steep bridge you drive over to get to the docks. You should check out this website for interesting facts about the port: http://www.polb.com/about/facts.asp

Afterward, we ate dinner at the Promenade Cafe aboard the Queen Mary where I had the most divine macaroni and cheese I've ever eaten.