Happy Find

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happy finds from LA

Oh how I love fabric!!! Look at the goodies I found:

Look at the yummy Kokka fabric!!! Sooooooo cute!

I was so excited to see they had Amy Schimler, "On A Whim" fabric again (it's the owl print on top). Man... I have been looking for this for a while! Also, you see the bottom fabric in pink and the same design in light blue? The shop had TONS of designer fabrics on sale for $5 per yard! YES, $5 PER YARD!!!

So I'm finishing up on a couple of projects and already started cutting the new fabric. 

This one is a new design (I'm so excited!) I found this fabric at a local shop in the discontinued section. Fun-fun-fun!!!

cut-cut-cut...

I got a date with my sewing machine! See you soon!!!

road trip: LA

Hello! Did you have a lovely weekend? Mine was extra lovely! I was able to plan a little road trip to my favorite shopping, stomping ground. Destination: LA Fabric District! I tell you, I'm like a kid in a candy shop! Blocks and blocks of fabric shops, filled with hidden treasures, where you can find goodies and haggle price. 

You need auto upholstery? How about faux fur in hot pink tiger stripe? You need it-they got it! And the people... oh, the people! All walks of life is up there. Only in LA! I love it!!! 

But LA is not complete without visiting little Tokyo for the best ramen in town. A little whole in the wall, so little that if you blink, you just might miss it driving by. If you go, plan on waiting a while. There's always a line. Don't get discouraged. Wait. It is worth it, trust me!!! Daikokuya is the name of the establishment, and once you step inside, it's another world... another place... it's like you step into Japan.

My sister's first time coming with us (in the back seat). She's hooked.

 

First stop, Daikokuya!!!

These are considered small bowls. Regular size can feed a village. The sausages are soooo yummy! 

Once our tummies were full, it was time to shop!!!

Now entering the fabric district...

Store after store of hidden treasures!

Here's my absolute, most favorite shop in the world, Michael Levine. It's a Joann's on steroids! So huge that they had to open another shop just for it's interior fabrics across street. Now the only sucky thing here is that you can't haggle price, but their selection...OMG... you want designer fabrics? Joel Dewberry? Amy Butler? Robert Kaufman? Kokka? Nani Iro? They got it.

Michael was able to take a quick shot before getting reprimanded. There I am in the corner watching my stash get bigger and bigger and bigger...

So after spending a good three hours. It was time to head back home. BUT WAIT! One more stop back to little Tokyo for a sweet treat..

Oh what luck! There was a festival going on in Tokyo Mall. Vendors were outside selling various japanese goodies, ladies walking around in kimonos and live music.

Japanese goodies, ROCKS!!!

Aaaaahhh... time for mochi ice cream!!!

Mmmmmm... yummy mochi.... ice cream wrapped in sweet rice flour. Heaven!

I love how the Japanese package their stuff.

Okay... NOW it's time to go home...

Bye, LA! Until next time...

flower fields

I lived in San Diego all my life and finally visited the Carlsbad Flower Fields. Absolutely beautiful. 

If you ever come to San Diego in the spring or if you already live here and haven't been, it is a definite MUST see. 

a lovely day for a hike

Went geocaching again (yay!). Needed to get out, relax, clear my thoughts and just hang out with my crew. 

Mike made the Perez breakfast special... mmm! Got fuel-now let's go!!!

My brother's family came to join us (geocaching virgins). They loved it.

Hello Mr. Ladybug... the males have spots, right?

This is a tough one. Second time back and still couldn't find it!

Mike leading the pack.

Hung out at the Old Mission Dam for a snack and headed back home. We found two new caches, but we couldn't retrieve our cache due to "muggles". Funny thing, of all places, our cache is in a secluded area and two people decided to meditate in that location. Well... we're just gonna have to come back another day... oh darn.

The trees are watching you

A while back, I was listening to the radio and they were talking about a website called Faces in Places, heard of it? It is a website where people upload pics of just about anything (cars, houses, signs, etc...) that has a face on it. So, I never thought much of it until my family and I went Geocaching the other day. We were at a "location" where I looked up at the tree and there, smiling right back at me was a face! It was then I remembered that website and took a snapshot. As you can see, the tree happily obliged. Check out this website, it is hilarious!  

Can you see it?! He's smiling at you!

secret society

Did you know there are hidden "treasures" all over San Diego? All over the world for that matter! Yes, REAL hidden treasures! There's a secret society that is worldwide. It is so huge and yet, they remain illusive. Just about anyone can be part of this society, your neighbor, a friend, even your child's best friend could be one! Curious? Why yes, I am part of this secret society... Hi... I'm Venus and I am a GEOCACHER.

"Geocaching" is modern treasure hunting, using GPS receivers to locate hidden caches (treasures). What you do is log onto this website, download coordinates and go hunt! There are treasures everywhere, literally! And the treasures vary in size, from a large container as big as a military ammo box filled with little trinkets, to as small as a flat metal card holder, only big enough for a small pencil and a sign in log. Some treasures are easy to find and others are down right nasty. It is VERY important that you do not draw attention to your hunting as you don't want to attract any "muggles" (muggles are people who are not geocachers), for fear they might steal or destroy the treasures. If you take a treasure, you must leave a treasure. That's just about it. It's a lot of fun! My daughters love hunting. They're modern day pirates in search of booty!

We went today to Mission Trails, San Diego, one of our favorite hunting grounds. We found a few and left a new geocache called, yup, you guessed it, "happy find". I even made a little pin cushion flower zipper pull for the first geocacher to find. Here are pics from todays hunt. 

Can you see it?

Arrrr! Found some booty!

Havin' some fun!

Hey, a hitchhiker!

Be part of  the secret society... be a geocacher!

Weekly Haunt

Mmmmm...nothin' like yummy ramen in my tummy!!! Quite possibly the BEST ramen in San Diego, Santouka is located in the food court of Mitsuwa Market. This is the real deal! I crave this stuff. 

All done!