Daisies and Spiderwebs

I've been looking forward to this since the last time I was in California....Winchester House! I went the last time I was in California, and I loved it so much that I couldn't wait to go back!!! Having been on the tour before I actually remembered some of the things on the tour (weird, I know! I usually remember next to nothing!). But, it was still so amazing. No photography was allowed in the house, but I got some outside pictures. If you're ever in the San Jose area or just California at all, for the love of Pete you MUST go see Winchester House. (Plus, Winchester...Supernatural...yes.)

When Sarah Winchester's husband died, she inherited tons of money which she eventually used to finance the building of the house. Apparently a psychic in Boston told her to build a house continuously to confuse/appease the spirits of those who were killed with the Winchester rifle. So she bought an 8 room farmhouse and just remodeled and added on to it 24/7 until the day she died. She spend over 5 million dollars on the house. It really is a beautiful house and it's really bizarre. There are doors to nowhere, doors that open to several story drops, windows on the inside, stairs that go nowhere, and lots of other weird things. She loved daisies, spiders, and the number 13--these appear throughout the house. The design of the house is so weird and apparently she met with spirits everday and got the design plans from them for the next day. Ahh! There's so much more, but you'll have to go and see for your self. Or...watch this clip perhaps (...with the wacko psychic at the end)? This clip might be better...yeah, this one's definitely better. Way better.

We ended up going on the behind the scenes tour as well, which was super fun! Then we drove out to Muir Woods for a few minutes. Well, we wanted to stay longer, but due to a ...wrong turn...we ended up getting there right before they closed the park. But, it was so beautiful! That was another place I went to last trip, and I even tried to get a similar picture to one I got last time. Kind of like I did with the gorilla in RFC. I'm surprised we made it to Muir Woods though because I saw a sign that said Muir Woods --> but the GPS said to go the other way. But, it turns out I was right all along! We almost ran out of gas...and the wrong turn put us a wee bit behind schedule. Just so y'all know, I am absolutely horrible with directions. I have no sense of direction whatsoever. So, the fact that I was right when the GPS was wrong is just ...amazing. I will never forget this. Ever.

Day's not over yet :p We were tired after that, but we decided to head back out to Fisherman's Wharf to eat 'cause it's close-ish to our hotel. We ended up eating at Boudin Sourdough. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl? Yes! 

Well...get ready for a ton of pictures. Hey, we went to Winchester House and Muir Woods in the same day.

Awesome hardhats for the behind the scenes tour!

Don't Blink

Blink and you're dead

Dress - INC (Thrifted) // Cardigan - New York & Company (Thrifted) // Jacket - Forever21 // Tights - George // Shoes - Faded Glory

Thanks for reading! You can check out my first trip here. Here's the link to my sister's blog. And here's the link (finally!) to the conference my dad spoke at. And his bio. Well, I hope y'all have a wonderful day!

Favorite Daughter of the Speaker

So...today was the day my dad spoke at the conference. I'm so proud of him just for being accepted to speak, but the fact that it went so well was just amazing! Several people told him that he was the best speaker there. I went with him to the conference for moral support. I think he did a marvelous job! I can't tell you what he spoke about because...well I don't know what it was. Well it was something about multicore. But that's the extent of my knowledge. I know that makes me sounds kind of dumb...but ya know, it's just not my area of expertise. Yes, I was there. And yes, I did listen to the entire thing because I love my dad. But, I still I don't know...even after sitting through 5 more hours of similar topics from other speakers. Yes. 5 hours. I am seriously the best daughter ever for sitting through that. Anyways, to get into the conference I had to have a badge. And since I don't really work for those companies my title was "Favorite Daughter of the Speaker." Yeah, that was officially printed on my badge. The guy who organized the conference even took a picture of it!

Well, after that it was really late, but we still went to Fisherman's wharf. Well, we stood in front of it at least...it was so late we really only had time to eat then leave. We're supposed to go back later in the week 'cause the wharf is pretty awesome! Anways, we ate at Rainforest Cafe!!! Woo!!! I love RFC so much. And it's the same one I went to my last California trip. I also ate the exact same thing. I could have tried something different, but mushroom ravioli in lobster sauce is pretty hard to beat! We were all pretty tired after that, especially dad, so we walked around a few minutes before we left. I felt bad that I was really not comfortable driving in California 'cause dad really was super tired. To help keep him awake we ended up singing every Weird Al song we knew. Yeah, we're a weird (awesome) family. We started singing 'cause my dad made some comment about The Who and I just burst into song "I haven't been in a crowd like this since I went to see the Who!" You know you have those moments where everything reminds you of a song!

And one last note. I am finally wearing a dress as a skirt. I actually haven't worn this dress on the blog before, but I was dying to wear this outfit to the pier. And I've always wanted to do the dress as a skirt thing...I think it turned out pretty great! And I am so loving weird crazy mixed prints and patterns rights now! I'll probably look back at these pictures one day and just wonder what I was thinking...but ya know, I was happy today with this outfit so it's cool.

No wait...one more last note! So...FanimeCon is this weekend! How did I not know this? I mean I guess I live in Ohio so I don't really pay attention to out of state and like west coast cons...but seriously it's like a few miles from my hotel! And this weekend!!! It makes me so sad that I have neither a costume with me or a ticket to go :( Or money to buy either. I only found out 'cause my dad and sister saw a bunch of signs while they were jogging. And then dad drove me through the city so I could see the signs too. One day...one day I will come back and go to FanimeCon!!!!

 Soo...there's no zoom on my camera. But, that's my dad speaking slightly to the left and slightly above center. Really far in the distance.

Yup, my conference badge! It's official. Favorite Daughter of the Speaker!

A FanimeCon sign!

Trolley!!

Fisherman's Wharf!

Two years ago at the exact same place!

Wow...her expression is just a bit disturbing

A three story tall RFC! Yes!

Sourdough bread animals

A giant bread crocodile

These masks are kind of cool...but look how they hung them? Through the eye holes? Kind of creepy!

Best hat ever!

Shirt - Thrifted // Dress - Monteu // Belt - Thrifted // Tights - George // Cardigan - New York and Company (Thrifted) // Sunglasses - Charlotte Russe // Jacket - Forever21 // Shoes - Faded Glory 

Even though I guess you can't even really see what I'm wearing...

Whoooa overload of crappy pictures! But hey, it's vacation. And I'm probably gonna have to retake outfit pictures later anyway because I'm not really getting any good ones. Anyways, read about my first trip here. Here's the link to my sister's blog. And here's the link (finally!) to the conference my dad spoke at. And his bio. Well, thanks for reading and I hope y'all have a wonderful day!

King Crab

It was a rather slow day today. We slept in, Dad went late to the first day of the conference, and Laura and I stayed the hotel room and just chilled most of the day. Later Dad dropped me off at Target while he and Laura went running. They had an amazing clearance section! I found a great navy knit cardigan.

Even though we didn't really do much today, it was still really fun! We ate out at The Boiling Crab. I haven't really had crab before and I finally got to taste king crab. It's something I've always wanted to do, but my mom doesn't like seafood. So, I don't get to eat it at home and we never go out to get sea food. Anyways...it was pretty amazing! It's too bad it was so expensive 'cause it was really tasty. The restaurant was really fun as well. We had no plates or silverware--it was messy, but fun! They basically just threw everything on the table and we used our hands to eat it. We had to wear bibs to try to keep us clean and the table had a paper tablecloth so they could just scoop it up with all the trash. Anyways...if you live anywhere near a Boiling Crab, I really recommend that you go! Oh, we got to try some Calamari too. It was pretty awesome. But not as great as the king crab!

Yay for awesome pictures again. I didn't know if I'd get Laura to take a picture of my or not, so I just did an awesome mirror picture haha.

Isn't she adorable? I bought her these colored jeans. Finally! She kept saying she wouldn't wear them, but they look great on her :)

Laura's calamari that really looked like a Gandalf hat!

Shirt - Land's End (Thrifted) // Belt - Cato's (Came with a dress) // Skirt - Thrifted // Shoes - Faded Glory // Tights - George // Cardigan - New York and Company - Thrifted // Jacket - Thrifted

Laura :  Shirt - Hollister (Thrifted) // Pants - Thrifted (Levi's ....maybe?) // Shoes - Walmart // Jacket - Thrifted

I feel like there's so much going on in my outfit and it's another one that I would not have worn last year. But, I do love it. As it got colder I kept adding layers. First the cardigan, then the tights, and finally the jacket. I do like the outfit a lot more with the added layers. Funny, 'cause it's getting closer to summer and I want to wear more layers! You can't tell in the pictures, but the tights are polka dot. So there's a bit of mixed prints here as well. Oh, and sorry we're back to cell phone pix. My mom wanted the camera at home so I'm on cell phone again. I also don't have my tripod with me. Tomorrow Laura's supposed to get some good pix for her blog...so we'll see!

Well, thanks for reading! Read about my first trip here. Here's the link to my sister's blog. And here's the link (finally!) to the conference my dad's speaking at. And his bio. Well, I hope y'all have a wonderful day!

California or Bust!

So I'm currently in Minnesota...the connecting flight to California is really delayed so I have time to spare. I finished writing when I got to the hotel. If this is your first time stopping by my blog, I left today for a short trip in California with my dad and my sister, Laura.

I got outfit pictures yesterday, but I put off packing until the very last minute possible and ending not being able to find the camera to upload the pictures. No worries, the camera is not technically lost, I just don't know where my mom put it after she used it. I'm disappointed though because the pictures turned out pretty amazing. And it involved me trying to avoid a heinous poison ivy patch that just happened to be in spectacular lighting.  Oh well, I'll post them when I get back!

Anyways, I literally did not pack until the last minute and I ended up getting zero sleep. And since my dad stayed up pretty late too I ended up driving my dad to work in the morning. Good thing too 'cause he slept the whole time and I was really wide awake. Weird, I know! But sometimes when I'm really sleep deprived, I'm more awake?  That didn't last long 'cause as soon as I got to Rockwell (where my dad works) I fell sleep in a really (not) comfortable chair for a couple of hours.

We made a quick stop at Walmart for some plane snacks, headphones, and ...a belt. Well, the flight from Cleveland to Minnesota (Honestly, I'm not positive what city...I'll check later. But I really don't feel like it now.) was pretty uneventful and actually left on time. Our next flight, however, keeps getting delayed more though. Hey, we'll get into Cali pretty late, but at least we had time to eat! We stopped at this awesome restaurant called Bonfire and I had bacon and blue cheese burger. Amazing. That's all I can say. It was just that good! And...now I'm just chillin' in the airport waiting to board the last plane.

I was done writing, but when I got back to the gate, it turns out that the plane was delayed yet again. And...there's a guy doing yoga in the corner. Yes, I'm serious. I would love to take a picture for you, but I would feel a little too much like a creeper! The plane's now supposed to leave in 15 minutes...so we'll see...

The flight ended up being delayed again and we got into San Francisco really late (like around 2 or 3 AM body time?). And for some reason we're in the handicap room in the Hampton Inn. It's very....weird because the coat rack is only two feet from the floor so my dresses and dad's shirts are all dragging on the floor. And the shower head is only about 4 feet high and only sprays straight out...so needless to say it's a little weird. The hotel doesn't appear to be that full so I don't get why we're in this room instead of someone who actually needs it... Oh well, the room's clean at least (except the air conditioning smells like foot?)! Anyways, that's basically it for Monday!

I call this the "she should not be wearing yoga pants" face

Waiting in the Cleveland airport

Finally on the plane...and I don't know how to explain this weird shift in the pictures. It's really bugging me, but I don't feel like trying to fix it 'cause I want to watch TV instead :p Hey, I'm on vacation! At least the pictures are all the same width.

At Bonfire. The bar in the background had this really cool mosaic and you can kind of see it behind their heads. The lighting in the pictures is really what the restaurant looked like. It was a really comfortable atmosphere. 

This pictures does not even begin to capture how amazing that sunset was!

Aaaaand the pictures are suddenly back to normal.

Laura loves these moving walkways. It makes her feel like a superhero.

Waiting for a rental car.

Shirt - Forever21 (Thrifted) // Cardigan - Mossimo (Thrifted) // Jacket - Forever21 // Shorts - Faded Glory // Tights - George // Shoes - Maurices // Sunglasses - Charlotte Russe (Except they're not in any pictures?)

Laura's wearing :  Shirt - Thrifted // Plaid Shirt - American Eagle (Thrifted) // Jeans - I'm guessing JCPenney's ('cause that tends to be where she gets her jeans...) // Shoes - Faded Glory // Sunglasses - Charlotte Russe

My dad's probly got thrifted stuff on :p

Well so far the trip has been awesome. Sorry for so many pictures! Read about my first trip here. Here's the link to my sister's blog. And here's the link (finally!) to the conference my dad's speaking at. And his bio. Well, thanks for reading and I hope y'all have a wonderful day!

A Busy Weekend

Shirt - Thrifted // Skirt - H&M (Thrifted) // Belt - Thrifted // Shoes - Walmart

I'm thinking this is going to be a short post...But often when I think that I end up writing a lot. Nope, today is going to be a really short post! I had such a long busy day that I barely got away to take pictures for a few minutes. We spent all day getting the inside and outside of the house looking good for a party we're having tomorrow. On top of that I finally got my horse looking decent...ish. He still need a bath, but at least I finally stopped putting off trimming his hooves. I love my horse, but I really do hate farrier work! Maybe I'll post of pic of him for y'all to see now that he's looking good :) Later I stayed up half the night making a Mjolnir cake for my brother (his birthday was Friday, but he wanted his cake on Sunday). It's not my finest work, but I think it turned out alright! And that's it! Time to get some sleep...and maybe watch some Supernatural.

Tomorrow I leave for my California trip! Read about my first trip here! Thanks for reading and I hope y'all have a great day!

Happy Birthday, M!

Dress - Cocomo via Walmart // Shirt - American Heritage Girls Leader Shirt // Shoes - Maurices

You're going to see a lot of birthday posts in the next several weeks! Out of the 10 people in my family, the majority of birthdays are from May 17-June 16. And as the cake decorator of the family (well, my dad's pretty good too...but I kind of took over when he got too busy) I have, well, a lot of work to do. And 'cause the cakes are supposed to be surprises I have to do them at night when everyone else is asleep! Now that I think about it, it's funny that I remember being tired during the last several cakes I made...it's weird 'cause I'm usually very awake at night. Anyways, back to my original point. Which was... .... .... Oh yeah. My brother's birthday is today. M just turned 14 today! We adopted him from Ukraine just last fall and he fits into our family so well :) Happy Birthday to my awesome brother, M!

My brother is an active boy scout, which is awesome anyway but is more impressive when you consider that he has had to learn a lot of English over the past year and is still learning more every day! My brothers are in boy scouts and my sisters are in an organization called American Heritage Girls. Or AHG for short. That's why I'm in my awesome, oversized polo today. I think I may have said this in my About Me, but I'm too lazy to click on the link to check...anyways, I'm a Junior Leader for AHG (I can't be an official leader until I'm 21) and, although I've been a little MIA this year due to school, I went to tonight's meeting. I started helping out last year, and I was asked to be a junior leader because basically I was already helping a lot, but this way it was official...and I got this great shirt :/ As you can see, it's not really a great shirt, but I've recently found some cute ways to wear it without it looking too awful! So yeah, this isn't one of my favorite outfits, but the shirt was a necessity today, and I like the way I wore it :)

Counting down the days 'til my California trip! I leave Monday morning! Read about my first trip here! Hope y'all have a great day and thanks for reading :)