12.30.11 ... next to last day. oh. wow.

here is my creation for today. ev went to the post office and brought back this envelope which, as you can see, i repurposed and sent along. the hawaiian note pad page is at least 13 years old. one of my favorite ever friends gave it to me. it has a magnetic back so you can put it on your fridge. but i hate to use them because i don't want to deplete them. as i am in a hotel room with limited - to put it mildly - resources i gave in and used one, albeit chopped up. still fun, eh? recycling not only saves the earth, it adds character to life. be sure to check back in tomorrow night for the final post. i can't believe i am completing this challenge.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.29.11 ... world's best pastrami

took the long way a couple of weeks ago and spied langer's restaurant and delicatessen. loved the look of it so we googled it and learned it has a history and rabid following so we promised scout we'd bring her there as part of her christmas present. we were going to go on christmas eve but the car overheated so we had to turn back. very similar to dorothy, toto, tin man, cowardly lion and scarecrow. but we made it on tuesday and it is no lie. this sandwich is beyond description. 

i cannot believe we moved to a place where it is in relatively close proximity to us. 

poor scout has another cold already. meanwhile, mr. chippy is showing some signs of improvement and we are thrilled. he has even made a few grumbly noises as he sleeps which is manna from heaven to us as this point. we have been worrying ourselves sick over him. but i think we are doing somethings right because he looks to be making a slow, but steady recovery from whatever caused his problems.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.28.11 ... los angeles building

i just really like this building.

i bet it has some tales to tell and then some.

i love looking out the window here that's for sure.

it was such a glorious day, too. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.27.11 ... beach scenes ii

the sky was so blue.

evan was teaching scout the physics of skipping rocks and look at the bird in flight in this photo. i didn't know it was there until i went through these here.

yesterday i shared scout's drip castle and here is ev's.

scout as the sun begins to set.

we can't believe that we can stand on the beach watching a sunset. it is a magical time.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.26.11 ... at a santa barbara beach

oh my golly this is the first time all year that i forgot to post at night! and here i took dozens of photos at the beach yesterday and was excited to have them for my post. blame it on ratatouille. we were watching it and i fell asleep. time is very strange when you are in a hotel between residences for over three weeks. we at dinner at 10 pm. yesterday morning the clerk wished me luck on my house hunting and i responded that i think i should be looking for a drug habit instead. at any rate, here are a few of my photos and i will post more this evening. maybe i will make one of those photo collages. evan and scout had fun burying their feet in the sand.

i love the composition and lighting of this photo.

the late afternoon light was so beautiful for photography.

building drip castles in a rivulet.

will show you evan's tonight. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.25.11 ... christmas time is here, happiness and cheer

we had a lovely day today. it was wonderful taking a day off from searching for a home. we turned our hotel room into a peacefully festive environment. it was just right for us. here is one example of our creative gift wrapping/card making soiree last night. we took over the common room for our packaging blitz.

scout's brilliant packaging perfectly matched what was inside. i go through band aids like an elephant goes through peanuts. and now i shall do it in style.

last night's post included a night time photo of our little make do set up. here it is after we'd opened most of the gifts. we couldn't reach the tub with scout's miniature silver tree but we were thrilled to find mr. snowman and scout's purple strand of lights that is usually entwined in her headboard.

are you a fan of delicious flavors? and psych? we are. isn't scout clever with the pineapple present? and it smells great, too. we'll get ev working on cutting it up soon. that should be interesting given he'll only have plastic knives! i just told ev and he said: that's going to be exciting. indeed.

we had a yankee swap. our mission was to find two gifts valued under $5 for the swap. scout chose this one of mine first. it was calling to her since last night. can you guess what it holds? she was very pleased that she'd chosen it. not much of a hint. just a fact.

here you see all of our hard, but fun, work. these are our packages en toto last night out on the common room table before we gathered them up and brought them back to our room for mr. snowman to watch over all night. i hope your christmas or hanukkah was a happy one. can you believe that there are just six short days left for my daily creative posts before i reach my goal. wow. by the way, do not pay attention to the dates on the blog because it is still set for central time and i can't find the setting. but rest assured these are all posted before midnight here in sunny california. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.24.11 ... merry christmas

we had a wonderfully fun excursion hunting last minute for super inexpensive little gifts. and look how pretty our holiday spirit is. no one can take away your spirit. hotel room or no.

also, here is scout's latest sidewalk freebee find. can you believe someone was just giving this huge, unused portfolio away? wow. it is nice.

now she is set as far as keeping artowrk clean and handy.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.23.11 ... a sunset

i asked scout to take this photo using her iphone. it is the view off a balcony of an apartment we are considering. definitely the main draw of that candidate. can you believe it is almost christmas eve? i cannot.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.22.11 ... today was a good day

we got our first mail at the post office (general delivery) and two out of the three were christmas cards! what? lovely. and it seems we are getting somewhere. we have a good lead on a place and ev got a call and an interview so that was cool. we met very nice people all day long. we even met a woman in the rest room who was enchanted by our discussion regarding being a gloomy gus. she'd never heard the expression and loved it. now if mr. chippy would feel better we'd be dancing a jig. he shows signs of mild improvement we think. holding good thoughts. hope your evening is lovely.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.21.11 ... odd

it's been an odd adventure in so many ways. but we are persevering. and how are you all doing? hope to have some good news tomorrow night. odd or even. :)

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.20.11 ... creative writing . looking for scout

today we brainstormed some scout stuff. none of us are feeling well and it was an activity we need to work on so it was a good day to do that. i chose this photo because it seems representative of our current state of searching. it's all just around the river bend. hope your day was beautiful.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.19.11 ... a little touch of holiday

i decorated an envelope today in a really nifty way but, sadly, i did not snap any photos. so here is one from a while ago. i have this bracelet to list on etsy and i forgot all about it. anyway, since i am in a hotel room here is a spot of holiday from me to me and you too. hope your day was a good one. we had a nice day and feel like we're closer to a new home. just a feeling.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.18.11 ... funny (to me) sign

we get a kick out of the fact that this street is called 'the old road'. when i called a store one day the recorded message robot said the address was number, number , number, number the old road. maybe you just have to hear it for yourself but it cracks me up.

how was your weekend? we're still looking for a place to live and ev and scout have colds.  scout much worse for the wear this evening. but our hopes are high. and so is our faith and belief. 

how is yours, this week?

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.17.11 ... genius is as genius does

today i needed to prepare a package in a challenging way. i always make a little cardstock card for my magnets and attach them with a tape roll. being as we are living in a hotel and my magnets are in the storage unit, i had to figure out a way to pre- prepare the package here and retrieve the magnets and attach them at the storage barn. i was stumped for about a half a minute when i spied the stamp backing and then i knew i had the perfect carry all. the tape was safely held until i needed it. then it easily removed from the backing onto the card and i put it all together. i love the whole thing. hope your day was lovely.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.16.11 ... bits and pieces

i prepared another six packages for the mail today and should have taken some photos of my little creative touches but i was too rushed. but here is something you may recognize from former posts. my patchwork old chambray shirt which scout has taken a shine to and borrows on occasion. it seems like an allegory for our journey here. snippets of l a fabric are floating about around us. some brighter than others, some frayed, some colorful, some barely hanging on any longer. any day now they will all come together into a mosaic of practically perfect in every way patterns and we will begin our homestead phase. here's to a happy weekend for all of us.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.15.11 ... burritos on the road

we spent most of today searching for a place to live once again. nothing confirmed but we met many nice people today and we know the right place is just around the corner. speaking of just around the river bend...can you believe that i have just 16 more posts until i reach my creative challenge goal of all 365 days of this year. wow. that is boggling my mind. i hope i can do it. please keep holding the good thoughts for us and our house and job searches.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.14.11 ... scout

it's been a week alrighty. no place to call home yet but we still enjoy some quiet moments. i shot these the other day.

i really love them.

and scout.

and california but i would like someone to rent us a sweet little place. is that too much to ask?

i think not. send good thoughts dear readers.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.13.11 ... recycled bookmarks in a hotel room

today we had about a dozen or more packages to mail out. my orders since we left home have been adding up. so we went to the storage barn and rifled through my etsy tubs and located everything and got them ALL out this afternoon! scout had two as well. i made these two bookmarks for two of my orders. i think they came out quite sweet and hope the recipients will love them.

still no home but we forge ahead and had a nice day all the same. we can only control what we can control. hold good thoughts for us, please, dear friends.

the images are from a vintage reader.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.12.11 ... pasadena

i took this photo on saturday. we were in pasadena looking at a rental prospect and chanced upon an indian restaurant while walking to a salad place. we're so happy we decided to switch midstream. anyway, this general store is across the street and i love the look of it so i took a ton of photos hoping at least one would work. this is the only one that did. the traffic was crazy and the cars were constantly in my way. i did do a lot of creative things today as i am finally preparing all of my december sold orders for the post office. but it was raining and too dark to get photos of all my cleverly cute packages. oh well such is life on the road. 

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.11.11 ... patra's . dino and scout

so today we got around to visiting patra's where jamie oliver and his food revolution filmed last year. dino is as lovely in person as he is on the small screen. we really enjoyed chatting with him. everyone working there is happy and friendly and the food is outstanding. here is scout's revolution burger.

beautiful and delicious.

we may have found a nice place to live on a month to month basis. we will sleep with our fingers crossed and with luck i will have happy news tomorrow night.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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12.10.11 ... really here now

first of all, i insisted scout get a photo of this adorable gate that was nearby the budget truck rental return building. and secondly, below you can see the fruits of evan's hard labor and how he managed to store and organize all of our belongings into the storage barn. now we are truly in l a ! :) these were taken yesterday morning.

this is so amazing. he did this in a matter of hours. crazy talk. now all we need is a place to live. keep those fingers crossed please.

sweet dreams, everyone. thanks for stopping by. until tomorrow. happiness to you. from me. with heart. ox joon

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