Free Shipping and a Griffith Park Outing

Free shipping technically starts tomorrow, but it's been on the website all weekend.  Hope everyone is having a great weekend.   The weather has been pretty good here in SoCal.

Well, we decided to take Cam to Griffith Park this Sunday.  We've been to the zoo before, but we did some of the other activities that are located throughout the park.  (Who knew?)  We went for a mile train ride and a pony ride near the front of the park.  He wasn't scared of the ponies in fact he was singing away while riding on one.  Then, we headed for their (fast) merry go round and had a picnic on the grass area.  (I was getting dizzy watching that thing go round and round.)  Next up was the Travel Town Train museum.  Another mini train ride followed by going into some real old time trains.  (He loved it!)  Best thing of all, free parking & free admission to everything!  (You do have to pay for the rides and merry go round.)

What are you doing this weekend?

I am currently trying to rework the website a bit.  Getting rid of items that we don't have any more.  (Like clip holders and some of our older ornaments.)  Hope to make it a little easier to navigate...

Speaking of navigating, it is Fleet Week in San Pedro.  Sounds like a great outing, getting to walk aboard a Destoryer and an Aircraft Carrier for free!  We thought about taking Cam down there, but the kids have to be 8 years old to board the ships... Boo!  Maybe we'll take him to the beach.  Our weekends are numbered as show season is only a month away.  (Show season = goodbye weekends) 

Summer Special - Free Shipping

This summer has been really hot around the US.  Here in SoCal it has been pretty mild so far.  I think we've had only two days in the 90's, which is unusual.  We will be offering free regular shipping for the month of August (and the remainder of July).  Use Priority Mail, though, if you need your order in a hurry.

Football is back... Basketball is probably going away for a year (at least)... and Baseball is Baseball.  (My/Our Angels continue to play okay, but what can you do when you win 2 out of 3 and continue to lose ground in the standings?)  Did you watch the Women's World Cup soccer tourney?  I was very amazed at the US and their unbelievable late game wins.  However, it was heartwarming to see Japan win the tourney as their entire country needed that after the disasters earlier this year!

Summer Vacation

Looks like our next show is in September, giving us a month and a half to build up stock on our new items and ornaments.  (I'll post pictures of our new ornaments once we finalize them.)  The new ornaments do feature more handmade clay by Cynthia!

Anybody else watch the World Series of Poker Live coverage.  I loved it!  (They didn't show you player hole cards until after the hand was over.)  You got to see how the pros play real poker as you try to guess what hand each player is holding.  (Plus you got to see every hand!)  Even pros take bad beats... I thought it was just me!

Pasadena Obon and Shave Ice

This weekend is the Pasadena Obon at the Buddhist Church in Pasadena.  We won't be there because of some family commitments, but go there and enjoy the great food.  (Especially the Chow Mein)  Shave ice never hurts when the temperatures are in the upper 80's.  (or in the 90's in the gym!)

Speaking of shave ice, we did get a chance to go to the new "Get Shaved" shop in Torrance.  A long line, but it only took fifteen minutes to order... and then a 45 minute wait to get the shaved ice!  (I saw high school friend, customers, and relatives while waiting.)   The shave ice was super fine and it was great with ice cream on the bottom!

Did you Survive Carmageddon?

This weekend, the 405 was closed from the 10 to the 101.  We stayed away from anywhere north of us on the freeways.  (Looks like most people did the same.) We watched it on television.  (It was like a countdown to New Years!) 

And then, did you see the car chase on Saturday night?  With everyone staying off the freeways, the driver had clear freeways to lead the police around on.  (He did a complete tour of the SoCal freeway system.)  Unfortunately for us, he drove around for 3 1/2 hours (of which, we watched the last 2 hours) and he finally ran out of gas in the Grapevine pass.  The helicopters could not go into the Grapevine because of darkness, so we didn't get to watch the conclusion! Boo!

Pasadena Obon and Sneaky Verizon

We are not going to be able to make it to the Pasadena Obon this year.  Some family obligations have taken a priority.  (I'll change the website tomorrow)  I just realized that we've been doing the Pasadena Obon for a long time now.  Close to 10 years!

I got my iPhone with the unlimited data plan in late April, mainly for work as I run all of our credit cards through it.  In late June, rumor had it that Verizon was ending their unlimited data plans and would now start charging a tiered plan on usage starting July 7th.  (We went to Best Buy to confirm it, but they had no idea what we were talking about.)  There was nothing in the news about it until July 5th!  Only those that had grandfathered in the unlimited data plan before July 7th could have that plan for life.  Well, good or bad, we got an iPhone for my wife and my best friend.  (and now we all have unlimited data for life...) 

Venice JCC and Angels Game Recap

The Venice JCC Arts and Crafts show, last Saturday, was a little slower than usual.  However,  it was nice to see a lot of the vendors that we haven't seen in months.  I think our summer vacation, (aka time to get to work!) begins with the Winter season only 2 months away.

We went to the Angels/Mariners game on Friday.  Great game!  Lots of Rally Monkey segments!  Angels tie the game in the 7th and win in with a walk off HR by Mark Trumbo in the bottom of the 9th!  The place was going crazy!  Follow that up with a Friday night Fireworks show!  Oh yeah!  And I didn't even mention the free Angels backpack!

Venice JCC Craft Show

We will be at the Venice JCC Arts and Craft Show this Saturday from 9am to 3pm at the Venice JCC.  They'll have food and shade for you there...  We'll have lots of sale items and our new journals. 

I just finished watching the Voice on NBC.  It was an interesting show.  (not sure it was better than American Idol.)  In the end, the two (pretty) finalists were the ones who prevailed.  (Maybe they should've kept all the finalists hidden until the finale.)  Christina Aguilera (trying to overcome her botched National Anthem and divorce) came across looking ditsy and selfish... not good at all.  However, Blake Shelton was the big winner.  He took his contestants under his wings and treated them like they were his kids. 

Happy 4th of July Weekend & New Sales Tax

Hope everyone has a safe, fun 4th of July weekend.  We will be Closed on Monday and Tuesday of next week.  Our next show will be on the 9th in Venice/Los Angeles.  Starting today, there is a new sales tax for us (who live in California) and it actually went down 1%!  (But how long until they bump it right back up?)

My/our Angels are playing a lot better as of late.  They finally made it back to .500!  (Even though they have 3 regulars in their lineup that hit like pitchers...)  I might actually get to go to a game this year... next Friday night against the Mariners.