What I've been doing on my summer vacation

I thought the lavender was beautiful.

I've been having a relaxing summer, though Will (as always) is working hard in the hospital. In his free time, we've been exploring Stanford and the South Bay. One day we went to the Rodin Sculpture Garden and a cactus garden on campus.


I've also been developing my (near-absent) homemaking skills. I made strawberry ice cream from scratch (using strawberries from our CSA share).

Will approved of the ice cream

I've also been sewing. So far, I have made these pillowcases, a wrap skirt (that I will post pictures of once I figure out how to keep it closed) and a toiletries bag. It's been really fun to be making things, even though I will never be as talented as my Mom and Grandma were in their heyday!

Sorry, I couldn't get this picture to turn around.

Close-up of the trim. I guess I was in a paisley mood when I went to the fabric store!

We also took a quick (but fraught with travel troubles) trip to NYC for Will's cousin Paul's wedding to the lovely Allison. We forgot our camera, but suffice it to say they looked handsome/beautiful and madly in love (so, in short, a perfect wedding!).

What we found on our drive to California

We made the drive to California in two parts, the second being from Reno to Oakland. Will was itching to go see Lake Tahoe so we drove down and stopped in at Squaw Valley. There was a national MG convention going on, and Will insisted on taking some pictures of the cars (and posing with the Olympic rings). We hope to get up to Tahoe for some skiing this winter (I still need a lot of work on that front).

So much to say.

I have two times when I find it especially hard to blog: when there is too much to say and when there is nothing to say. Right now, we're definitely in the former category. If I wanted to I could talk about:

• The packing, the endless packing
• The U-Haul fiasco
• My parents and I packing the truck (without Will or any other help, thanks to the Wasatch Back Relay) in a Utah summer rain shower
• The lovely condo across from temple square we stayed in over the weekend while our house was in a U-Haul truck
• The beautiful, relaxing Father's Day we spent together (and the delectable brunch at the Grand America)
• Our two-day caravan drive to the Bay Area (with a quick stop in Lake Tahoe to satisfy Will's curiosity)
• The Stanford housing fiasco
• The unpacking, the endless unpacking
• A bike theft, two parking tickets
• The delectable vine-ripened strawberries in the CSA box we got today

But I think I'll just say that we're here in California, it is wonderful and exciting (and new for one of us) and we are very grateful (especially for helpful family members)!