One of my favorite art galleries is passed often in our busy travels. On Tuesday, we decided we had time to stop and ogle art.

The Sebastopol Center for the Arts (SebArts) hosts an Annual Member Show, a dynamic exhibition featuring favorite works by its member artists. This showcase captures the creativity of the local arts community, displaying diverse personal pieces.
I invite you to take a pictorial stroll through the gallery with us. Did you find a favorite piece?
Diverse and interesting!

Steve and I want to wish you the Happiest of Holidays. Here's to a 2026 that is unforgettable (in a good way).

I just finished an amazing debut novel written by my friend, Karen's niece. Jessica Guerrieri has created a work that, while difficult at times to read, was impossible to put down.

The story is about Leah O'Connor, a mother of three who feels lost in her life and struggles with alcoholism as an escape from the pressures of motherhood and a strained relationship with her mother-in-law. The book explores themes of motherhood, identity, female friendship, and addiction, following Leah as she unravels and must confront her choices and seek help from her sister-in-law, Amy, and the O'Connor family. It's a work of literary women's fiction, praised for its raw honesty and relatable portrayal of the struggles women face.

Jessica's says of her writing, "So no, I don’t think fiction is a lesser truth. I think it’s the bravest one. We tell stories not to escape life—but to survive it. To make something of the weight. To transform grief into something we can carry. Something we can even, someday, set down. And then, maybe, we hand it to someone else. Maybe they hear their truth in our voice. And maybe, for a moment, they feel a little less alone. Fiction doesn’t hide the truth—it metabolizes it into something we can stomach. Something that prepares us for what we’re meant to survive." Wow.

When I saw this on Facebook, I knew I had to go. "Join Old Lyfe Alpacas for our last Open House at our Washoe Valley location!" It was free, welcoming, and incredibly joyful.

Since it is said, "A picture is worth a thousand words", these images should adequately express how fun our day was. I took over 70 photos and I really wanted to share them all. I 🩷 Alpacas.

Our local ski resort, Heavenly Mountain Resort, turns 70. It opened with one chairlift, and one heck of a view of Lake Tahoe, in December 1955.

"Seventy years, two states of terrain, four base areas, and many capital investments later, we're still in awe of these views and the crew we get to share them with. This winter, rally your friends, put on your party pants (err, snow pants), and get ready for nonstop fun, killer views, and moments that you'll want to cheers to as we get ready to celebrate the electric social and scenic atmosphere that makes Heavenly, well, Heavenly."
In honor of this milestone, I thought I'd reshare my only time skiing there (I blogged it right after moving here). It was in 1982, the 27th year of its operating.
My college boyfriend, at that time, was a huge skier and had a friend who lived here.  A 24-hour snowfall of 67 inches set a new California record, and he wanted to be in it.  I was a novice to the sport but I had all the equipment and the darling ski garb.
On the last run of the last day on Heavenly, I swooshed right and my left ski chose not to follow the rest of me!  The result was a spiral fracture and a "broken bone club" membership.
I was well cared for during my extended stay at Barton Memorial.  It was an event I will never forget and not the best introduction to Tahoe, but an interesting stroll down memory lane. It's hard to believe that is the one and only time I skied Heavenly... 43 years ago.

Steve and I have never done an overnight in Reno, Nevada. When Bob and Jenny suggested we all go to "The Biggest Little City in the World". We were in!

A little bit about our home for the night. The Eldorado Hotel-Casino (1973) was the first hotel-casino to be constructed north of the railroad tracks on Virginia Street. Because the railroad then ran above ground, and because the existing casino district was on their south side, many voiced doubts that the Eldorado could succeed. But it beat the odds, and in 1978, the Eldorado expanded. Another major expansion, in 1985, brought a new 20,000-square foot casino floor stretching the length of the entire block, while a new hotel tower brought the number of rooms to 811. The 500-seat showroom, which opened in 1997, was our ultimate destination.