There's No Place Like Home!

Wearing a vintage dress and jewelry, with Jessica Simpson shoes.

Hellooo everyone! I'm glad to be back on blogland! I've missed you all; bloggers and real0-life friends alike! California was great, but then again, there's no place like home. I don't even know where to begin in my retelling of the past few week's events, so be prepared for a mish-mashed ramble, lol. Then again, I think all that you read on my blog is a mish-mashed ramble, so what's new about that?

We got up around 2 in the morning on Wednesday to catch our flight in Baltimore, Maryland. Jeez oh man, was I in for a surprise! An entire class of first-year Navy Cadetes was on our flight the entire trip! Though it kind of sucked in the end, as my mom insited that our family all sit together. No cute Navy Cadet next to me...Oh well, at least the scenery was enjoyable!

Friday was the family reunion. It was fun hanging out with our cousins and cousins-in-laws, and I found myself eating 7 slices of pizza. I hadn't had pizza for a VERY long time! Oh, and before that, on Thursday, I think, or possibly Wednesday afternoon, our aunties M and R gave me and my sisters our belated Christmas and birthday presents. They are both SO great at picking out presents! Auntie R gave me an adorable stuffed hedgehog for Christmas (I named him Bramleberry), and this luminiscent, shining pink and gold sparkling brooch for my Sweet 16 birthday. If you've ever read The Silver Chair, by C. S. Lewis, you will find that the brooch is much akin to the liquid rubies described in the lands of Byzm. Auntie M gave me an exquisite blown glass purple and gold perfume bottle for Christmas, and the most wonderous gold clutch for my Sweet 16. It's very exotic, with purple stones and gold and silver embroidery! I can't wait to show you all pictures, but my sister has to download her camera stuff onto the computer first, so it might take a couple of days. It was so nice to be surprised with the little gifties. I love presents! =D Thank you dear Aunties!

Anyway, I will touch upon the highlights of the trip, and skip the less exciting days. We went to the old Spanish Mission, which was increadibly boring, but hey, we got some great photos in the garden! Oh, and don't tell anyone, but I STOLE a pearl necklace there! Lol, it was actually a roseary that someone had left on a statue, but I thought it was pretty and hey, the person had left it there, so I didn't feel TOO bad. We also went to the Presidieo later on in our trip, which was even more boring, but we had a very nice picnic there, and my sis was able to get some great pictures. Later on that day, we went to Old Towne, where I bought some gifts for my friends and this lovely gold leaf trim I plan to use on an Elvish cape. I also got this HUGE hot pink Mexican flower at a gift shop. I've always wanted one, and was so happy! The sweet lady who made and sold the flowers gave me and my sisters discounts, which was so nice. =)

Oh, and my two youngest siblings, J and L, went to Disneyland. Me and my sister M had already gone last year, when we had flown our by ourselves, so it was only fair that J and L go by themselves. They seemed to have a great time, and mom brought M a Tinkerbell neckalce back and me a tiny glass slipper.

We also went to my Auntie M's friends youth group at her church. It was so great to be able to connect with the friends we had made last year, and everyone was so warm and welcoming! Oh, and conradulations H, on your graduation! I'm sure you'll make a FABULOUS artist!

Oh, and early on in the trip, our lovely cousin-in-law, E, did all three of we girl's hair in the most eleborate beautiful hairstyles! Each "do" fitted our personality, while still flatteirng the shape of our face. She was so sweet, and let us each choose a hair clip when we went to Albertson's for bobby pins. I chose a lovely silver dragonfly clip, and am finding many way to wear it-as a ring as a neckalce. Speaking of cousins-in-law, it was great to meet our cousin's girlfriend, T. She was very nice and sweet, and got along beatifully with my lil' bro, L.

OK, down to my favorite part of the trip: the thrifting! We briefly stopped by a Goodwill early on in the trip, with my lovely Auntie C. I got this wonderful black romper, off the shoudler but with straps, very 80's and a very tennis-esque floral romper wtih a pink and green print and a peacock-feather purse, and white Go-Go 60's boots. Salvation Army finds included, a Marie Antoinette poster, a floral umbrella (yay! finally) a teensy swimsuit-esque blue Katy Perry-like romper, and a pair of classic brown Mary Janes. We went to Goodwill a second time, where I got a pair of rust-colored Mary Janes. One day, my mom took me and my Auntie E out thrifting. It was surprising, as I only bought one thing, but it was worth it in the end. It was a lovely velevety pink and purple and gold brocade 80's dress with a 50's sillouette for a mere 5 bucks! We went to Goodwill for a 3rd time, where I got an overall-style floral romper (I had seen it before, decided not to get it, and finally made the right descision the 3rd trip to Goodwill), a pair of lovley glass teardrop earrings, that look JUST like the ones in the painting "Girl With a Pearl Earring", and a 1920's-esque Art Deco brooch, and a floral tape mesurer. We went to Goodwill on Tuesday, the day before we left, for a quick look-through, and I got this lovley black sequin top with gold beaded bow details (it's so great, since most sequin tops are bulky, but this one hangs just right!) a blue and red and magenta print dress, that needs a little shortening, and two lovely vintage clutches, one black and gold, and the other black with a gold chain strap. Actually the black and gold one had a chain strap but I thought it looked better as a clutch and the other one looked better with a strap, so with a little improvision, I was able to work the two purses out to their best advantages.

I loved seeing all my lovely relatives, yaking, and chatting away to our heart's content. It was an amazing trip, one that I'll never forget!

OK, it's pretty lame that I have PA-taken pics up on this post, but M hasn't uploaded anything, so I might have to wait a few days. I'll be taking a while to get back to your lovely comments, but be sure that I'll do my best to reply to them ASAP!

Mwah! Mwah!
~Adela