Visit to the SF bay area

Just came home from a wonderful visit to the San Francisco Bay area, where I'm originally from.  It's always good to go home and visit with my sister and brother-in-law.

From the moment my plane touched down, I was on the go.  Thursday went shopping at Daiso -- Japan where everything is from Japan and cost $1.50.  Bought a lot of art supplies and found some unique things too.  On Friday went to the Pleasanton Rubber stamping and scrapbook expo.  This is something my sister and I do each year.  As usual I spent way too much money on supplies I wanted, but didn't need.  I bought lots of rubber stamps by Judith, Spellbinder dies, lots of embellishments for card, a envelope score board which has a neat feature of rounding the corners.  We bought so much stuff that we had to make two trips to the car.

On Saturday we spent the day in San Francisco.  First stop was Flax Art and Design store.  This place  is huge.  It has a really cool selection of handmade paper, drawing and painting supplies, a book section, a fine pen department, blank book section, stencils, and much, much more.  I bought a couple of odd size watercolor pads, 3 Lamy converters, waterproof black ink, and some handmade paper.

After the art store we drove down to the Marina for lunch.  My favorite Italian restaurant has changed.  Now catering to 20 something.  Really loud and noisy.

The whole purpose of the trip to SF was to go to the art store and see the "Jersey Boys".  I wasn't sure what to expect because up until a few months ago I really never had heard of them under the name of Jersey Boys.  Well the musical was fabulous.  I am so glad my sister shared her tickets with me.

Afterwards we headed out to Pier 39 for dinner at the Fog Harbor Seafood Restaurant.  We had a wonderful view of the SF bay.  Was a great day, went home tired.

On Sunday we went to the cemetery to visit my parents.  We usually go to clean their headstones and bring flowers.  Hard to believe my father and my mother have been gone 16 years.  Rather disappointed that my nephew and nieces don't bother to visit their grandparents, especially since their father lived and was supported by my parents.  They would usually stay at my parents house every weekend and my parents were rather generous with their home, time, and money.   Their behavior is just one of those things I have to release and bless with love.

I'm always amazed how much San Jose has changed.  We spent the afternoon at Santana Row in Santa Clara shopping.  I've been wanting to go to this MaiDo which is a rather cool Japanese stationary store.  I was on a mission to see what the Midori Travelers Notebook looked like and what accessories I could buy to put in the notebook.  They have an online store where you can buy the same products, but much cheaper and they offer free shipping. 
 

On Monday I flew home.  My dog kids were so happy to see their momma, greeting me with kisses. I missed them and my husband too!