On Our Own

Walt and I were left all on our own today. It's strange to be all on our own in Santa Barbara without spending a day in the convalescent hospital. We were kind of at 6s and 7s. But we managed to find a way to fill the day.

First, we took part in a very sad event.

The other Borders downtown had closed months ago, but now this one, near Alice Nan and Joe's house was closing. Me. A book store. A sale. It was predictable, but I did get a lot of things I can use and probably would not have bought otherwise.

After that we went to Playa Azul, a restaurant Tom had recommended to me 3 years ago, as a good place for crab enchiladas. And it was. We got there around 2 and sat on the veranda in the warm Santa Barbara air (sorry, all you guys who got another blast of winter today!)

Downtown Santa Barbara is really very lovely. Most of the buildings are in the old Spanish style, with the white walls and adobe tile for the roofs. I saw postcards labeling it the "red tile city." Now, in the spring, we were surrounded by gorgeous bougainvillea bushes as well.

We stopped at Michael's craft store on the way home and let's say that they probably won't be closing any time soon because I left a lot of contributions in their coffers!

Then home for naps for the two of us and then after a chat with Tom, we were invited to dinner at their house. Bri wanted me to hold ALL of her toys and got very impatient if I put any of them down.

Brianna remembered her "trick" from when we were here last and did her Grandpa impression.

Finally, she showed off her brand new big girl's bed, with the mini canopy and (you can't see them in the picture) butterflies and Tinker Bell stenciled on the walls. I couldn't get a good photo because she was busy covering up all of her stuffed animals to protect them from the dinosaur.

We left shortly after dinner. There is a birthday party tomorrow for about 30 adults and 8 kids and it had already been a long day for Laurel. We didn't want to get in her way!

By the time we got back to Alice Nan's, Uncle Norm was here, so the family will all be together again at Bri's party tomorrow.