Today we have had the perfect day. We slept in just a little with no place special to go. That was wonderful and rare for a Saturday. We worked around the house and yard a little, doing things that needed to be done but nothing too strenuous or dirty.
Jim went to to pick up all the Christmas containers we had in our storage units. So now I can put the Christmas decorations to bed. As long as I am done by next weekend when we are having company...no biggie. Last year seemed to stress me out so much when it was time to put things away but this year I am working on being really laid back about it. I just decided it is too much work to just have it up a few weeks and besides, all the red just seems to brighten the gray days of January.
How long would you leave yours up if you didn't feel the social pressure to get it down? I realized how much pressure we put on ourselves because of what people will think. I don't think anyone really cares, do you? I asked a couple of friends and they assured me they did not care how long I leave my decorations up. What a relief...just kidding! But you get my point, right?
We could have worked ourselves into a frenzy all day long but I suggested we take a drive to Occidental, a fun little town about an hour and 40 minutes north west of us just near Bodega Bay. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the drive on this bright and sunny afternoon. We had dinner at The Union Hotel which has been a place we have been many times since our engagement party in 1968.
After we got engaged we felt it was the "grown up thing to do" to take our brothers and our parents and Jim's grandparents to dinner there. I can still remember that we had 17 people and the bill including tip was $65.00. A bundle in those days but only about 20 dollars more than our bill today! Good Grief!
It was so pretty there and as you can see
Beautiful little red church!
This is Main Street and about all there is to Occidental.
The Hotel
The Clock That Doesn't Work
The Funky Dining Room that has not changed one bit in 40 years!
If you are with a big group you are lucky and getone of these on your table!
A four foot tall candelabra!
Now that is classy in a zany kind of way!
It is a fun place and so nostalgic. We hadn't been there in years. The food use to be excellent but was not as good today. We had a moment of silence for the chef that must have died and the new one that is still in training. It wasn't bad, just not extraordinary. We let our GPS do all the navigating and I just have to say I love her! We call her Susan and she does an excellent job of getting us everywhere we want to go with no hassles. Love it.
At day's end the Christmas stuff is still up~but we had a wonderfully memorable day with no stress.
10 comments:
You are so right Bon...I was very stressed this holiay but then I thought, "I'm leaving my Christmas things up until I'm ready to take them down". We've had company over many times this week and when they walk in and see the tree lit up and spinning, they are so surprised and they (the wives) tell me that they wish they still had their stuff up as well! I said before that I would put things away on the 15th and I'm sticking to it!
I love the pictures of the trip you and Jim made...(bowing my head in silence for the dead chef). The town looks so charming. I was laughing when you said you named your GPS..we call ours Julieta and sometimes I just want to slap her silly. Since S.A. is constantly doing construction work on the freeways, exits are blocked or no longer there and she'll say, "turn right" and I'll be darned, there is no right! She sure loves to re-configure things as well. Crazy lady
Have a splendid Sunday,
Deanna :)
You are right it was a gorgeous day yesterday. I was out working in the yard. All our blogger friends with tons of snow are probably shaking their heads at us enjoying such gorgeous weather. We have been to Occidental before. And Bodega Bay. I was just thinking that I want to take a drive there. Would have been funny if we had done that yesterday like you did. Wonder if we would have run into each other? Hope today is just as nice for you.
Yeah, I can relate, all our decorations are still out. I may start a countdown to see how many days after Christmas they stay up. What a delightful, romantic place to eat. Too bad the food wasn't as good. What a wonderful Saturday----relaxing, enjoyable, with some romance.
That does sound like a wonderful day....We had a wonderful evening together--well, better for me than for Torrey. We went out to dinner and then went to Winco! Torrey was "done" within about the first 35 seconds, so it really tortured him for me to wander down the aisles comparing prices. :) Many grocery bags later, we only spent $81, so it was worth the torture, I'm pretty sure!
I love Occidental! We have eaten at the Union Hotel. Good food and good memories. We stayed at the Occidental Inn. They have fun rooms with "themes".l
I would have kept the Christmas stuff up til the end of January, but Tom likes to get it put away. So now the house is empty, I always get sad taking it down.
Love that town, never been to CA, but those pictures are cute! Glad you had a perfect day!
Hi hun! I just was publishing some messages and I read yours and thought I hit publish but I must have hit reject because I went back and wanted to re-read it and I'll be darned if it wasn't on there! I didn't finish reading it either darn it! I know it said something about beans in the soup. I am a big nerd!
Deanna :(
Okay...nevermind! Disregard last comment! I found it. It was on the post underneath the new one I just made. OMG...you are really going to think I'm a big Dorkette!
Hanging head in shame,
Deanna :0
I had to come back and tell you that as I was fixing to leave your blog, I happened to glance over to the right and read, 'I wore a mumu to church today'. I had to see what that was about. I read it to my husband and we both got a good giggle out if it. She is such a beauty that she could wear a potato sack and I'm sure no one would notice.
Deanna :P
What a fun day! I am having my own sort of day like that today. I got the boys off to school, cleaned the house- then put my PJ's back on and watched a movie. I just ate lunch and now I am blogging. Thanks for teaching me that days like this could be so good for the soul!
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