Lifepoint Adventure Grant Mother Daughter Mini-Vacay!

My daughter Lauren and I just returned from an exciting mother daughter mini-vacay in San Francisco thanks to Picky Bars Lifepoint Adventure Grant! We can't thank Picky Bars enough for our awesome trip and I'd love to tell you all the details!

We won a trip from Picky Bars as a mother daughter "foodie" mini vacation. Our trip started with a stop at The Station for a cold brew (Lauren) and pour over (Pam).

We booked a "foodie" tour of North Beach with an agency. The tour guide was simply that - a very friendly tour guide. I thought he was a real chef but found out quickly it was just a costume. After 45 minutes of San Francisco history, we decided we would prefer to do our own food tour and aborted the mission. We wouldn't book that Zozi tour again. 

Since we love coffee, our next stop was another coffee shop for coffee and lunch! We went to Revielle. Our lunch was great!

My daughter Lauren recently got engaged to a wonderful man, Seth. So - we went dress shopping. It was tons of fun - and found out we didn't care for any of the dresses! We headed back to the hotel for our wine and cheese plate.

Yum! What was waiting for us at the hotel? Picky Bars!! YESSSS! Thank you for the wonderful gift box!!!!

If you haven't tried Picky Bars, you must! We buy ours at Trader Joes or our local running store in Folsom. I bought my daughter Lauren her first box of Picky Bars a few years ago for a Christmas present!

We researched Farm to Table restaurants in San Francisco and decided we would go to Boulevard. The executive chef is Nancy Oakes and the food was AMAZING!! We started off with Maryland Chesapeake Bay Soft Shell Crab - Pan Sauteed with Sweet Red Prawns,  Panzanella,  Lemon & Whole Grain Mustard Aioli. It was delicious!

I ordered Spanish Octopus with  lemongrass & kaffir lime chili jam, pan fried rice & squid ‘noodles’, and hearts of palm & celtuce.

I also had a hibiscus moscow mule. On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped by Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream - oh yes. I had Blue Bottle Coffee Ice Cream with Bourbon Vanilla Sauce! We bought matching tee-shirts. (smile)

We spent the night at the Omni Hotel - - very friendly staff!

Saturday morning we checked out and headed to Sur La Table for a cooking class called "Spectacular Summer Brunch" with Chef Erika Mooney. It was tons of fun learning new techniques. We cooked New England Crab Cake Eggs Benedict with Old Bay Hollandaise; Crispy Bacon, Leek and Potato Hash with Chive Creme Fraiche; and Lemon-Blackberry Mini Bundt Cakes. 

Of course, we had to test out the local coffee so we went to Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters. 

Right next door was Lovely Bride. We scheduled a visit and stopped by for some bridal dress shopping. Our final adventure was a stop at Bi-Rite Market. We heard about their fabulous ice cream but found that we were just too stuffed to try any!

So, once again, a BIG thank you to Picky Bars for the wonderful vacation. This was a first "mother-daughter" vacation. We are both busy people and it was so nice to get away and spend some time together before Lauren gets married. We will always cherish these memories!

0

Air BnB

Have you ever stayed at an Air BnB? We just celebrated our 29th anniversary and booked this photographer's studio apt. for our stay in Ft. Bragg. Our hosts were wonderful and gave such attention to detail. It was spotless, close to down, and cheaper than a hotel. Plus, they gave us fresh plums from their trees, organic cream in the refrigerator, and even makeup remover cloths in the restroom. I found that I would much prefer to stay here over a hotel. I realize the photo doesn't show too much - but it was a very pretty home...and unique! We took our mountain bikes and spent the days riding in the Jackson Demonstration Forest - so beautiful!! 

Click here to find an Air BnB for your next trip almost ANYWHERE!

0

Mason Jar Class Jobs - Monday Made It!

Welcome to another Monday Made It! Thank you, Tara, for hosting this great link up!!

I'm excited about my first project this week! I have always used store-bought job charts. But, I love mason jars and decided to create my own theme for job charts this year. It's a little different - but I really like how it turned out!!

I found a clip art of a mason jar and wrote the jobs on each. Then I cut them out and cut a slit in the top of each...

Next, I went to Dollar Tree and purchased 2 stems of flowers for a total of $2! I cut them apart and will use them for student names. I have dry erase tape and envision putting the tape off the stems and writing the names of students on each. 

That's all I got done this week!! I'm on vacation at the ocean! Yessss.

3

Monday Made it! - July 18

Welcome to Another Monday Made It!

Thanks once again to Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for hosting Monday Made It! We share a love of God, teaching, and making things!

I saw so many posts for creating a Close Reading Toolbox. Thanks to Create Share Teach, she offers a FREEBIE of her adorable toolbox. All I had to do was print them out and assemble the kits! You can get her freebie HERE.  I found the plastic boxes on sale at Michael's for 40% off so they were a little over $1.00 each. I decided to use ModgePodge to get the pictures to stay on the boxes.

I decided to make 10 for groups of 3 students. Inside are bookmarks with close reading tips, pencils, highlighters, and sticky notes. I need to go to Dollar Tree to get magnifiers. 

Do your students sign a social contract? As I sat watching Dual Survival one night, I felt like doodling so I decided to draw a social contract tree. I used Tombow markers and paper. I looked up a font I liked on DaFont so that I could try to copy it with my pen! I will have students place their thumbprint to "sign" the contract. Then I hope to frame it!

I'm sorry I don't have a ton of pictures of this one! I invested in a Silhouette Mint Stamp Maker! I got a great deal on it during Amazon Prime Day on the 12th. I wanted to use it to make stamps for school - plus my daughter just got engaged on the 12th - her birthday! I figure it will come in handy! Her fiancee set up a beautiful breakfast table for her...

Pretty, right?! He's a keeper. :)

And, she blessed me by asking me to be her matron of honor. Such a surprise!

For her birthday and upcoming wedding, I bought her the Erin Condren wedding planner. So pretty!! 

The Rose Gold pattern is BEAUTIFUL and I almost wish I got it for my teacher planner - but I do love mine...

Did you know that on Erin Condren you can type in a "style" and everything that coordinates will show up? I typed in "Rose Gold" and found some beautiful coordinates for Lauren's wedding planner. This beautiful tray has inserts so you can change them out for the season! I love this one that matches:

Or these clip boards! 

Wow! Love!! Click any pictures for my referral link. Once you sign up you get an extra $10 off with your first purchase. 

Oh - back to the Mint!  I designed my first stamp using their software. It was really, really easy! I'm not too thrilled with the choice of colors I put on the stamp so when those colors wear out (after about 50 uses!) I will put on new colors. I also smeared the sample (sad face) but you get an idea!

My Made It #4 didn't really make it! I fully intended to work on my classroom this week and get all my boards up. That just didn't happen. I am working at a new school this year and wanted to move everything out of my attic and extra bedroom to the classroom. I won't bore you with all the details, but it comes down to being told I am in 2 different rooms. So until I know for sure, I won't be putting anything up. I did take pictures of the one that I hope I am in!

Pretty view, isn't it! Both rooms are on the 3rd floor.

9