Santa Cruz in a Day

I convinced some friends of mine to take a mini vacation with me over the weekend. I wanted to stay a night or two but that wasn’t in the cards for them. So, we took a two hour drive to Santa Cruz California. I was reluctant at first because I myself LOVE driving up the night before, having a great dinner, staying in a fabulous hotel and waking up at my leisure in the destination of my choice. So the idea of driving 2 hours up and back in the same day on top of a long day of activities was kind of stressing me out. Oh and the memory of driving up hwy 17 with only two lanes and no shoulder as we approach that one part of the curvy road where the huge tress on each side of us reach up over the top of the cars hold hand and block out all the sun was still haunting me and didn’t help!

I decided to suck it up and be a good sport. So, I invited a good friend to share the drive with me. I am an early bird while he is a night owl so it was perfect. I drove in the morning while he slept in the back seat and on the way back he drove. I pre-bought all day ride passes at Costco, packed some snacks and drinks and picked some fruit off the tree.

The trip was very affordable I only spent $30 on gas, $12 parking, $27 on one all day ride pass and four attraction tickets for Chris (split the cost of Costco pack with my son’s friends mom), $ 22 on food on the boardwalk, and $20 at Safeway the night before. My friend took care of our breakfast, my dinner and a few ride tickets.

Santa Cruz Diner where The Guy ate

Waiting for our food and reading trivial pursuit cards @ table

Chris's surfs up omelette

So for a little over $100 we took a very mini-vacation with good friends, got lots of exercise, watched some adorable sea lions, ate at the Santa Cruz Diner and had a great time!!! Oh and to my surprise and satisfaction, HWY 17 had been widened and cleared so the trip was pleasant and vomit free. I will definitely head back to Santa Cruz very soon!! I just may consider doing another day trip to some other great place before school starts as well. Ideas anyone?

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Update Old or Used Cloths: Removing Sweater Fuzzies

As you know from previous posts, I buy used cloths at garage sales. I also like to host clothing swaps (Naked Lady Parties) from time to time and I get great hand-me-downs from my wonderful friends. Needless to say, I am getting pretty good at giving old cloths a new life!!

I have two great sweaters that were passed on to me from a dear friend. Yes, this is the same friend that gave me that great skirt.

Here's how I got rid of the fuzzies and made these sweaters look great and more importantly wearable again :)

First I tried using masking tape. This usually works for most fabrics but as you can see it did little damage to my armpit fuzzie problem on this wool sweater.

It looks better but still plenty of little balls around the arm pits.

So next I took a disposable razor to it. I sweep it along the fabric, basically "trimming" off the fuzzies.

Then I went over it with a lint roller to pick up the residue.

Much Better!!! Here is a before and after …

Birds of a feather flock togather: Helping teens pick good friends

As a kid I always remember my parent’s saying “Birds of a feather flock together” or “If your friends jump off a cliff are you going to do it?” I dreaded these conversations. I would never jump off a cliff unless there was water underneath it, I am not an idiot! I am not sure what they said after these opening clichés because I think I just tuned them out. I’m sure it was a bunch of great stuff, my parents are pretty awesome but again, I didn’t hear it. I do however remember them talking to me about the importance of picking “good” friends, which is what I think they were trying to get at with those terrible clichés. Many adults in my parent’s generation emphasized the importance of hanging out with kids from “good families”. Back then a good family was a Mom, a Dad and kids from those same two parents that went to church.

As an older child and teeneager I can remember adults around me whispering “they got divorced” or “those aren’t really his kids that’s why they are so bad”. I don&…

It's a "Do the best you can with what you got!" kind of Christmas!!

I have been a very bad girl this year and have not posted in weeks!!! I will post Christmas day for my big "Journey to Milfhood's weight-loss challenge" reveal with a before and after photo. You can find out on Tuesday if I meet my goal or not.

Life continues to be cRaZy but good. I am blessed to be in one piece, to have my gorgeous sons and to have a job that is sometimes hectic but always fun and rewarding.

Chris asked for a BIG ticket item this year....a LAPTOP. At first he wanted an ipad but then he decided a good laptop, with windows 8 of course, would be better so he could use it for homework as well as gaming. This would put a pretty big dent in my Christmas budget!!I do not charge things for Christmas. I figure if I cannot pay cash for it, I cannot afford it. I started this at about 25 because I did not want to be $40,000 in debt like many in the baby boomer generation. It works well for me because it also helps me prioritize and budget well for the holidays.

We…

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