One More Year !!!

 This January 27th, I turned 64 years old. That means one more year until I can retire!!! The thing I dislike the most about working is the getting up early part. I hate getting up early. So, we will see how I feel once I have the option to retire or cut back drastically.

Anyway, another emotion that a birthday in the semi-elderly brings is an examination of the ravages of aging. I decided to combat that by getting out all of my beauty devices. The first one was a fad from a few years back. It's called the Glo Pro.

This thing has a rotating head with a million little prongs sticking out of it. Then it has an infrared light that beams out onto your skin as you roll the head over your face. The idea is that the device makes tiny pinholes in your skin, thereby allowing better penetration of your facial products to absorb more completely. I am not sure what the infrared light does.

The second one is an airbrush device. I use it to spray fragrance, Neutrogena sesame oil, and hyaluronic acid onto my face and neck. Then it has to be cleaned with alcohol. It has this little metal cup and a larger plastic cup to fill with the various products.

Lastly, my Clarisonic Mia. It is a vibrating brush that allows you to more thoroughly clean your face. The brush doesn't rotate, it only vibrates.

I have been using all three, and I got my Botox redone, so this is about as youthful as I can look. I have been getting the best results from using the hyaluronic acid and Retin-A on my neck. The dry wrinkly skin there looks a lot better, so I will keep going with it.

My coworkers got me this plant - it has tulips, hyacinths and daffodils. 

We also got a bunch of Egyptian prints from Mimi's garage. They had been hanging in Doc's office. Since he closed down, they have been stored in the garage and when Mimi cleaned it out, she found them. That wall is quite the gallery now.

Doc and I took a little trip to celebrate my birthday. We went to a town called Julian. It's located in eastern San Diego County, in the Cuyamaca mountains. My family used to go there when I was a child, and I wanted to go back, forty some years later. But the first stop was in a tiny town called Santa Ysabel.

The main attraction in Santa Ysabel is the road that turns to Warner Springs and Lake Henshaw. The other main attraction is Dudley's Bakery. The bakery has been there since 1963, just about when my family started to go there.

Inside, they have racks and racks of baked goods - bread, cake, pastries, pies, strudels, and danish. They also sell honey, syrup, and home decor. We got an apple strudel, a loaf of Prairie Squaw bread, some cinnamon raisin bread, and a date nut raisin loaf. We left them in the car overnight, since it would get as cold as a refrigerator overnight.

This quaint map shows the relationship between Santa Ysabel and Julian. The fifteen-mile distance takes you through the town of Wynola, then into Julian.

If you take the other road north, you go to Lake Henshaw, and eventually Palomar Mountain.

It took about 2 hours to get from Huntington Beach to Julian. Our first stop was the Julian Book House.

Here's Doc going in. We didn't get anything there. Prices were tourist level high.

Then we went to the Julian Library. We love to visit the library book sales in every town or city we go to. They had a beautiful setup, with a nice, clean book sale. Great prices as well. We did get a few things there. We saw the same couple in the library as were in the bookstore.

Then we had lunch at Soup N' Such. Doc had a giant hamburger, and I had a BLT with cream of tomato soup. It was all delicious.

Then we checked into our hotel. This is how I signed the guest book.

This is the breakfast room and tearoom. It's a bed and breakfast - you get afternoon tea and morning breakfast with your room. The breakfast was delicious - granola with berries, eggs florentine, sliced melon, yogurt with blueberries, orange juice and Dudley's date bread. Highly recommend this hotel.

This is the parlor. To the left is a black pot-bellied stove.

This is the second parlor. The hotel is so authentic and quiet. No television or radio. But it does have Wi-fi so you can watch entertainment on your personal devices.

It was originally called the Hotel Robinson and was opened in 1897 to service the people who came to Julian to look for gold. A couple, former slaves, opened the inn to serve the miners.

It sits on Main Street, so you have to park out on the street. But it's so quiet, especially on a Thursday, that parking was no problem.

This is a look down Main Street. Lots of gift shops, specialty shops, pie shops, cafes, and a saloon.

This is a look up to the other side of Main Street. The library is up this way, as is the triple use school grounds - elementary, middle, and high school.

Julian is a town that was established for the gold miners. Those who didn't strike stayed for the climate and the farming. It became a hub for apple farming. I talked to a nice lady in the library who told us not to come during the Apple Festival in September. She said that there is an hour-long line of cars waiting to get into the one-street town for the festival. No thanks.

Here are a few more views of Main Street.

Soup N' Such is in this green building.

These views look down Main Street, away from the hotel.

I bought this hot mitt. It explains how I feel about housework.

I also got two coffee samplers - four pots from each packet - and a new note pad with a fox on the front.

I got two things at the Julian Cider House. One was blackberry syrup, and one was Clover and Cherry Blossom honey.

This view looks down toward the bookstore, the pie shop, and the cemetery. We got a traditional apple pie on the way out of town.

This is the cemetery. Doc requested that I not go up there, although I love cemeteries. 

I spent a lovely afternoon shopping at the various retailers, and then a relaxing night in our authentic Victorian room. The room was $150, including tea and breakfast. It was peaceful.

On the way back home, we went back to Dudley's. Doc ate the strudel and understood why Dudley's is world famous. We got two more strudels, a raspberry vanilla cake, and some assorted danish. They were all half price, since they were day-old. 

Then we stopped in the town of Ramona. Here are a couple views of their Main Street.

This mural was on the side of one of the antique shops.

We got home, happy and relaxed. I made fish tacos for lunch.

So that's the other stuff. Now onto the outfits. On January 17th, I wore an outfit that was entirely composed of items from JC Penney. The scuba knit Mondrian inspired skirt is from Nicole Miller, and the brown lurex turtleneck is from their Worthington line. 

The costume necklaces are from Nordstrom, and the shorter one is brown and rose gold diamond.

I was on a JC Penney kick, so on January 18th, I wore a two-piece suit from Worthington. I wore this suit a lot in 2000 - 2003. It has a waiter style jacket and gaucho pants.

The chiffon blouse is also Worthington. It was a bit tight across the bust, so I am donating it.

On January 19th, I wore the slacks that I got in our New Year's Day thrift run, along with a deep forest green blouse from Macy's. It's such a pretty blouse, and I had not gotten to wear it yet this year.

So sparkly!! 

It poured rain on January 20th. I wore grey corduroy jeans from Old Navy, along with a lurex accented waterfall cardigan from White House Black Market.

On Monday, January 23rd, I wore some knit slacks from NY and Company, along with a grey henley from INC.

I wore a cashmere drape top from Kenneth Cole on top. I got it in Ramona at the thrifts there.

I also wore an infinity scarf and some silver jewelry with this. 

On January 24th, I wore a knit dress that I got in Washington DC a few years ago.  It is a heavy Santana type knit.

Here is a close up of the intarsia pattern on this heavy knit dress. 

My last day before our Julian trip saw mw wearing tan Express slacks, along with a cardigan from Charter Club, and a leather embellished top from Once and Again

I wore a Paloma Picasso belt and some jewelry from the Taste of Charlotte, NC. 

Back to work on Monday, January 30th. I wore one of my favorite pair of pants - it is Mossimo, from Target, and is burgundy red with hot pink flecks in a tweedy pattern. They are a traditional trouser style.

Om top, I wore a top from H&M. It is hot pink satin, and is polyester, so it can be machine washed. It looks like silk.

It has a basket weave bodice, puffed bracelet sleeves. and looks so plush.

On Friday 27, and Saturday 28 January, the Salvation Army had a $2 for all clothing sale. I went to get Doc pants and shirts, as well as goodies for me. I will show my finds as I wear them, because I got fifteen items, and only about six were for Doc.

The first item is a Calvin Klein sweater dress. It is black and has bands of what was called space knit. It's a marled knit with multiple colors, very distinctive and pretty. Two dollars!!

I wore a necklace of gold tone and cabochon gems - my coworker called it a "Cleopatra Collar". The usual black and gold belt and bracelets complete my costume.

On Wednesday, February 1st, another item from the $2 sale. These are Editor slacks from Express. They are grey with black waistband, trim, and back pockets. I wore them with an Ann Taylor sweater with a big bow trim, and no necklace.

Yesterday, I wore my pseudo-Chanel dress. It is really from H&M, and I got it at Eco-Town for $5. Eco-Town is a recycling shop in Fountain Valley, and I have gotten a few great buys there. 

I wore it with the usual suspects- Vatican Lire, Hermes CDC, Black and gold cute stuff.

On top, A beautiful vintage jacket from Bullock's Pasadena. Bullock's was a high-end store that I loved all through the 1990's. They were a force from 1960- 1995. 

Today, my MIL, Mimi, took us for a belated birthday lunch at Maggiano's. Then we went to an unsuccessful trip to get her an Apple watch. We need to upgrade the phone or get an older watch. We were driving by the Salvation Army, so we stopped in. We all got a few items. Mimi was so happy.

I wore this cute peasant dress with no label. I wore my suede platform booties, and brown tights.

So thar's about it for now!! We are going to an estate sale tomorrow, and an antique clearance on Sunday. I also want to get my hair trimmed and shaped.  I will keep you appraised of my shenanigans over the weekend.