The Girl With The Orange Hubcaps

A couple of years ago, E and I attended a Scion owners' event that was really fun and sent us home with lots of goodies for our cars. I won a really nice set of rims, which sat in the garage for over a year while I hemmed and hawed over whose car to put them on (they fit both). I finally decided to give them to E since his car needs to look nice for his drive-in movies. I didn't mind as to me, while a car can definitely be an extension of someone's personality, it is primarily utilitarian.

When the Scion brand first hit the market in '03, they campaigned as being the cars ideal for personlization. Again, that was never really my thing, but I enjoyed looking at the stuff other folks did to theirs whenever we attended gatherings. There used to be a lot of nifty events, but things changed. There were design changes in '08 that I'm not overly fond of and just looked at the 2010 xB, which is not attractive at all. But, I still love my xA and E's first generation xB.

So, what in the world is this all about? Orange hubcaps? What. Well, when I was leaning toward giving up the rims, E suggested I could so something funky such as painting my hubcaps orange. Feeling a little guilty owning a Scion that I never modded, I thought it might be a fun thing to do. We had extra hubcaps so figured if it didn't work out it would be no big deal. Eventually, we found some spray paint I liked--"pumpkin orange"--and E finished them up for my birthday. If you know me at all, you know I love orange. I've gotten several compliments, as well as a few snide comments, but whatever...I like 'em. Now maybe I'll get around to putting on the spoiler that I also got for free.

Happiest (Birthday) Place on Earth

I took advantage of the free birthday admission to Disneyland yesterday. I really hope anyone who can has done this or will if your birth anniversary falls in the latter part of the year. Since we couldn't really swing buying E a ticket when we'll be buying our annual ones for Thanksgiving, I got my friend, Jenn, to agree to brave the heat for a few hours since she has a pass. And since we hadn't hung out in ages and thought it would be a fun way to get together!


Since I go to Disneyland in November every year, I get to experience the wondrous Christmas decor, but had never seen how they do it up for Halloween, which is actually my favorite holiday. It is AMAZING. If you know me at all, you know I love, love, love pumpkins and the color orange. Both were everywhere! I'm going to try to post more photos soon, very soon.


It was lovely spending time with Jenn until she had to go and pick up her kids. She was happy to ride a couple of things that she just can't do with the youngsters. Being a frequent visitor, she also had a lot of insider tips, like a good, shady place with lots of open tables for lunch and what gift shop had G-Force merchandise. I had to splurge on at least one gift for myself! : )

Once Jenn left, I spent several hours there alone, which I thought might be kind of weird. I actually had a great time, riding a couple of rides, such as my favorite Indiana Jones, again and walking around taking photos without making companions wait around for me to get the perfect shot. I stayed for the special Halloween theme pyrotechnics show, which was pretty much the standard high quality Disney fireworks, but with lots more, like projection, actual fire and Zero the ghost dog flying around near the Castle (you may have seen Tinkerbell there!). Amazing!

So, if you do go, make sure you wear your birthday button proudly. All of the cast members say "Happy Birthday" to you (I'm pretty sure it's required of them), as well as lots of strangers, especially others celebrating the day too. There were TONS of October 1st babies in attendance, which makes sense. Count back to New Year's Eve. Uh huh.

Hooking Lessons

No, I wasnt' hanging out on Sunset Blvd. this weekend learning about the oldest profession. It was quite a busy weekend with the highlight being the Basic Crochet & Amigurumi workshop I took. I recently bought a kit to make this cute little chipmunk (lower left of photo) and then realized I needed to learn hooking basics first. I've been trying to teach myself to crochet with an old school book and it just wasn't working out. I'm either a bad student or a bad teacher! Probably a bit of both.

Well, I certainly know more than I did before my class. I'm by no means an expert, but I can at least understand the patterns and have high hopes for crafting "Chippy Chip." I do tend to be a slow learner when it comes to motor skills (which makes it hilarious that I'm in the profession I'm in!), so I got a lot of individual attention. Most of the students finished their bats by the end of the workshop yesterday. I had to complete mine at home, but I was determined to finish. His bottom half is tapered because of some difficulty I initially had with the counting and placing the stitch marker. I got the hang of it though and am pleased with the upper two-thirds.

Once I had the finished product, I was indeed a happy hooker!

Faulkner Farm

Santa Paula, California

Hopelessly Addicted To Tote Bags

My tote bag addiction really is a disease. We were innocently entering Ikea yesterday to scope out some flooring options and what do I see but an adorable ORANGE tote for only $4.99. I hemmed and hawed a bit and decided that no, I don't need it. I mean I just got the exceptional vinyl sock monkey tote, as well as another one with naughty chihuahuas.

I'm not sure what it is. I thought the issue was with purses and bags in general, but I've been consistently carrying the same tokidoki bag since December. But I continue to collect and rotate use of tote bags.*

So, after gathering our flooring info, we headed toward the exit and E suggested I run back and get the bag. He knows me. He knows I'd regret it, bother him about it, and go back only to find it not longer in existence. So, I made a beeline (as much as you can do that in the Swedish maze of a store) to get my precious. I had it in my line of sight and I thought I heard someone talking about me. I glance over, not bothering to wipe the drool from my mouth, to see a co-worker and her husband. He was the one saying, "Don't we know her?" Her=that crazed woman with the glazed look in her eyes. I think I had a very incoherent conversation about the glory of the orange tote. We ended on my friend remarking how much shorter I look outside of work. OH well, no worries because I got the bag!

So, yeah, it's cute and surprisingly sturdy and well-crafted for five bucks. But, THIS is the one I'm really wanting right now. Maybe it will go on sale.

*Shhh...don't tell Ren that I can't even find the bag she made for me. I know it is around though...probably among the heaps of stuff in my closet.

Supermarket Orange

I have a friend who has gotten scolded for taken photos in a grocery store. I felt compelled to test the waters myself and got some shot of orange items in one of the supermarkets I frequent. Luckily, there were few employees around and I did not get busted.