 It is Sunday, June 4th, 8 o'clock in the morning, I think. We're headed to the airport. I hinted last week that there was something going on. We're headed to California, my home state. Bob has to work. We're gonna do some visiting. Not worried about telling you all this because by the time you see this, we'll be back. But anyway, we're waiting for our driver. Uber, Lyft, one of those. A driver. We've never called our own driver. It's always been somebody calling for us, so this is the first, but I'm sure it'll be fine. We're competent adults most of the time. All right, I'll be back. And it's safely in California. Checked into the hotel and all that jazz. We are headed down actually to our old house and old neighborhood and gonna go take a quick look around and we're gonna go meet some friends for dinner. Actually, see their new house first and then meet them for dinner. So anyway, I'll show you what I can. I'll be back. It'll be a part. It'll be a part. I don't live at the old house anymore so I can show you whatever I want about it because it's not my house. But yeah. It's a house. It's a house. Don't be a creep though. All right, I'll be back. I'm sure every you guys, but if we see another one, I'll try. We just saw a bridge. A bridge. Did I care that? Yeah. A bridge covered in so much graffiti that the only way you knew it was a bridge was because it was floating over the highway. Very colorful. Very colorful. We also should have been filming for idiots in cars. Let's just say we found somebody on the freeway in front of us who couldn't make it up. Their mind went late to be in it. Which exit to take? Which exit to take. I don't think they were drinking and driving. I just think they were driving stupidly and lost. But I guess you never know. I'll be back. This is the last time I looked at a Google image of the house. They hadn't changed the dang thing. Now, does Google just have the same old picture? They put a new roof on there with solar panels. Yeah. And they did that. And that was in the Google picture. But the planner pots and stuff and the color of the house was also the same. And we left for them. Yeah. We should have took them with us, but that's okay. Yeah, we should have. We did buy new ones in our own success list. Why is it green? Oh my God, it looks like they painted the tiles green. Oh, hi. That's ugly. Why would you paint it green? Yep. Well, some of these houses were overgrown when we lived here, so that hasn't changed at all. Yeah, but it looks the same, dear. Yeah. Except it's a little bit grown. The trees are a little bit bigger. Butchers are bigger. Grass is taller. Let me go down to San Teresa. Okay. Free cabinet. No. I don't think it fits in a suitcase. No, I don't think it fits in a suitcase. No. Coyote Valley, South San Jose. Somewhere down here is a really great walking park that we used to like to go to. And yes, it's always brown. It's never green. It's California. It's kind of dark. It's kind of dark, dear. We're headed back to the hotel for a really great dinner with our friends, Shelley and John. It was so good to see them and their house that they bought like during COVID, which we hadn't seen yet. Oh my God, you guys, it's beautiful. Anyway, the old neighborhood has changed a bit. But I mean, that's to be expected, I think. Anyway, tomorrow is a work day for Mr. Bob. A hangout, maybe go shopping day for me. And then we're gonna head out to visit more friends when he gets off work. So I'll take you with me where I can. I'm on the hunt for a few specific things. So we'll see if we have a little bit of better luck finding them here for a decent price than in Oregon. I kind of doubt it, but we'll see. I also got a shopping list request from the daughter for Daiso, so that's a thing. All right, I'll be back, guys. Here's a little bit on the frizzy side today, but we are in San Jose. I am on Alamedin Expressway at the Joanne fabrics here in San Jose. I forgot there's a savers right next door. Now we have limited time this morning because I'm supposed to meet Bob back in Fremont for lunch. And I kind of wanna go to Daiso today, but we'll see how it plans out. I need to head back towards Fremont like no later than 11 o'clock. So I've got a couple of hours down here. We have Joanne's in Oregon, I mean, we do, but there's a kind of fabric that I've been looking at online. They don't have in my store and they never have in my store, a linen, 100% linen. So they do supposedly have some of it here. I do have a coupon. So while I love thrifting and buying used things and upcycling them into new things, linen's hard to find. And if they have this linen here and I like the quality, I think I'm just gonna get it here and use the coupon. I'll have to pay sales tax, which we don't have in Oregon, but you know, anyway. All right, so we're gonna see about doing that. And then if I wanna go to savers, they don't open for like an hour. That's a long time. So I'm more than likely gonna drive over to Daiso and do thrifting on a different day, but we'll see. I'll be back. Okay, I got some white linen. I can dye it whatever color I want. So white's a good choice. Nobody ever has like lots of fun colors in stock. My hair, yeah, it's been windy. Anyway, but I found some white and I got what I could afford. I did have a bunch of coupons, so that helped. And I found some scrapbook stuff for Grantsons scrapbook that I haven't seen at my local Joans. I had some of the same stuff, but then they had some different things. So now we're gonna head over to Daiso and then head back to the hotel. We'll do thrifting a different day. If I do thrifting it all while I'm here, I don't know, but we'll find out. We're gonna play it by ear. I don't do that well, but we're gonna play with it. All right, I'll be back. Okay, we have a few minutes before Daiso opens. So I'm gonna go to the Asian market that's also in the same shopping center, grab a couple of food things that I want, actually see if they have a restroom, and then we'll go shopping in Daiso. Now, I'm gonna shoot what I can, but I don't have a camera person. It's just me, and I need to pick up some specific things. So I'll show what I can, maybe a quick overview, and then we'll do a haul later. I'll be back. Geez, it's windy. Daiso opens in like five minutes. I was able to find some ice coffee and cookies, junk food, things I shouldn't be eating, but things I do eat when I'm traveling. So I got some snacks and some iced coffee, actually Hawaiian iced coffee, which I really love for back at the hotel room. And now we'll just wait and see when Daiso opens. There's a few things both the girls have asked me to look for, so I will. I don't really need anything. Does that mean I won't buy anything? No, that's not what that means. And then we will head back to the hotel room. And hey, you guys, if you've been watching my channel for a while, you know, I don't like to like do hauls because I don't wanna brag about what I have and make you feel like you have to go buy stuff, but I love a good bargain. I love thrifting, and I go to places like Daiso, which is a Japanese dollar store and Dollar Tree looking for tools, out-of-the-box tools I can use for my abstract painting. Sometimes I find something for my sewing projects, but mostly that. So let me show you what I got, and I picked up a few things for the kids that were requested, but let me show you what I got for me. Yeah, let's do that. So from Daiso, I got some stickers. Daiso is a really great place to get journaling stickers, scrapbooking stickers. I put them in my daily journals, and also I'm working on a scrapbook for Junior, our grandson, and they have all different kinds, and I really enjoy buying them there. The price is good, and the styles are different than what you see at like Jo-Ann's and everything. I know what you're thinking. This is like a cleaning brush. That's not what I'm gonna use it for. Abstract painting marks. This one too, and I have a pegboard on my sewing desk wall, and I have a bin on the wall that holds some symbols and things, and I keep knocking into it because it sticks out too far, and when I was at Daiso, I found these. I only got two of them, but I'm thinking they might work really well, and I can either use a clip or drill another hole in the other side and use a hook, but I think these might work really well. Stored solution I didn't know I needed. I also got one of these. I know it's Switchcase, but I saw it and I thought, I wonder if it would make a good travel art case. I don't really need another travel art case, God forbid, but you know, might be interesting, so we will maybe try that and do a travel art case video if you all want. I also got some linen and Joann's. I found, see, linen. I found some scrapbooking stuff I hadn't seen at my Joann's, some papers, and a few stickers, and, yeah, seeing a few stickers. And anything else? Oh, when I was at Walmart getting supplies that we forgot, I found these, this Waverly print cotton. It was really cheap. This is a one yard bundle. I got two of them. They didn't make a cute blouse or a dress or a skirt or something. Yeah. All right. That's it for the minute. I have to put everything away. I'll be back. We're gonna do this a little quick because honestly, clouds are rolling in and it's a little cold and I'm in a tank top. I feel like I'm back in Portland, but I'm not. I'm in San Jose, at the San Jose Masonic Center for those that don't know. There we go. My husband is a Freemason and he, there's a meeting tonight and there was a stated dinner. And so we went to dinner and he's gonna go to his meeting. I'm gonna read a book while he's doing that and probably walk around and take some pictures because it's what I do. And yeah, beautiful sunset's happening and it's all good. It was good to see a bunch of other guys and I was the only wife at the dinner, which is different, but that's all right. Anyway, all right. I'll be back. It's about nine, sorry, 8.52 a.m. Tuesday, June 6th. iPads, nice to me. I already took Bob to work this morning to the office. He didn't wanna walk. It's a little chilly outside. And had breakfast and all of that stuff. I am going to be going to visit a couple of thrift shops here in town that we don't have in Oregon. So I don't know if I'm gonna find anything. I'm not looking for a whole bunch of stuff. There are a few things I haven't been able to find in Oregon. So if I do find them, that would be great. But we'll see. I also need to pick myself up with a few groceries because I'm pretty much just having a chill day at the hotel here tomorrow. I'm not gonna have the car. Bob's doing work stuff all day. So I'm gonna try to pick myself up some groceries while I can. So that's the thing. Right now though, it's just not even nine o'clock yet. Nothing opens until 10. So no, I'm just gonna relax for the minute. We're gonna go visit with people after work today and go have dinner with my son-in-law's parents actually. They live in Los Gatos. So we're gonna go have dinner at their house. And yeah, it's all good. I don't like driving in California traffic, but I knew that already because you know, hello, California native right here. Anyway, I'll be back. I made a basic rookie mistake. I'm from California. I actually know better. It's raining. I'm also from Portland. So, and I didn't bring any coats or sweaters or, yeah. So one of the stops this morning will be to rectify that. But in the meantime, I'm at Hope Thrift here in Fremont and Blackhaw Road, blah, Blackhaw Road. Anyway, I'll let you know how it is. I'm gonna put you in my pocket and yeah, not film anything, but I'll let you know what I think. I'll be back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I did all that and it wasn't on. Anyway, Hope Thrift. I will include a link down in the video description for their website. They don't have a lot of locations, but if you're near one, go check it out. I really liked this one in Fremont, California. And I found some brand new white leg, white linen pants, never worn with the tags on them that are perfect to remake. They're like a lot too big for me. I might make a pair of pants out of them. I might make something else. I don't know yet, but they are really cute. And a couple of t-shirts to do an experiment with that I wanna try that were real cheap, three bucks each that were in good condition. And a couple of uncut sewing patterns. One t-shirt I'm gonna wear just as is, but also like khaki green, avocado green, sweater with some pretty lace on the top that's very thin and drapey and way too big for me, but would be really cute worn over at tank top and bike shorts. So, and all of it was like 20 bucks. That's cheap for California, especially that's cheap. All right, on to the next. I'll be back. So Goodwill was cool. I found three things I really liked. It was more of a petite Goodwill though, where they have mostly designer stuff. Things aren't individually tagged, like everything on this rack is 10 bucks kind of thing, which is fine. You can still find bargains there, which I did. I found two blouse, well, a blouse and a sweater. Oh, where as is, their name brand blouses. And also some yarn. It's a good thing I brought an extra suitcase. And that Bob has room in his. Cause yeah. Anyway, I'm gonna go to Daiso and there's a couple of things I couldn't find at the other Daiso. I'm gonna look and see if they have. Plus, there's a safe way here. I need to pick up some food. There's also a Starbucks. I might need coffee. I'll be back guys. There I am. These linen pants, they're huge. They're a size, there are lane Bryant pants and there are two, I'm sorry, a 28. They were originally, the tag is still on here, $54.95. I paid $8.99 minus my senior discount stuff. I mean, look at all that. Now, they're linen blend. They're linen rayon, which is fine about half and half. I mean, just looking at them, I already have ideas on how to like, remake them into something else. That's a nice big piece of linen. And at least part of it will make a great pair of pants. At the same shop, I found two t-shirts that I think I want to split in half from neck to hem and then sew the two mismatched halves back together. So this is one and this is the other one. We'll see, because I kind of like both of them as is. So we'll see if I actually do that. I found this top, which will be really cute as is with my khaki linen pants. I just got, and that's lucky brand. So I know that was a lot more expensive than the $3 I paid for it. This is the sweater, you guys. Look at this, it is gonna be big on me because it's a 2X, but I mean, it is so cute. And then two untucked patterns. Oops, still factory folded. This is a great basic top jacket and pair of pants. And this one's a cute wrap dress. And then at Goodwill, the yarn I couldn't resist. I mean, you guys, all three of them were, there was three bucks, which is that yarn, it's a lying brand yarn that's more expensive for one. It might be $3 for one or $4 for one. Probably more than that, I'm probably underestimating that. Then I found this shirt, which is Lauren Conrad. This was, I think, $6.99, I just saw that. Yep, $6.99. And this little sweater was $9.99. And this is Aunt Taylor Loft. How cute is that? It's a little cardigan. I did get a white sweater because of course I forgot one and it's cold here, but this is linen. It's 100% linen sweater. It's more than I usually pay for stuff at the moment, but I think that was a pretty good buy. It's less than it would have been normally. And then of course I got a bunch of stuff at Daiso. I wasn't sure I was gonna find anything, but I found myself some more stickers I didn't see at the other one. I found a bunch of cat stuff I was looking for for one of the girls and some crazy snacks for the one son-in-law who never wants anything. And then I also bought myself some food for lunch today and then tomorrow. Anyway, it was a pretty good shopping day. I'll be back. We're just getting back to the hotel. We had a really nice dinner with our son-in-law's parents in Los Gavis at their beautiful house up in the hills. And a really nice drive through the mountains and past Lexington Reservoir. If you're seeing this clip, you saw that clip. So anyway, it is very full of water. Anyway, now we're exhausted and we need to get to bed because he's gotta get to work tomorrow and all that stuff. Oh, dark 30. Oh, dark 30, yeah. What do I gotta do tomorrow? Take him to work. Maybe go shopping again? I mean, I'll be back. 100 feet, turn right onto Fremont Boulevard. Anyway, I wasn't supposed to have the car this morning, but I do. And I'm gonna be meeting Bob and a friend of ours for lunch and then he's gonna take the car. Since I have the car and I've got a couple hours before then we are gonna go to St. Vincent de Paul. I wasn't gonna go, but there is one here in the area. I don't have to go far. I mean, I already have a pretty full, thank goodness I did bring an extra folding bag. I always do bring one, but yeah. All right, I'll be back. Okay guys, I am back at the hotel room having some thing to drink and using the restroom before I go meet Bob and our friend for lunch. The St. Vincent de Paul up here in Fremont, California. Gigantic, oh my God. Depending on what you're looking for, I still think Hope Thrift was my favorite. They have a lot of clothing and a really good selection. It was very well organized, but St. Vincent de Paul is a good second runner up. They had a huge craft department, a lot of sewing patterns, 50 cents each, 50 cents. If you've priced them at the fabric store recently, you know what a bargain that is. Anyway, I started off with for 50 cents getting a children's book for our grandson for his library. Yes, he's only eight weeks. We're already adding to the library. That's not the first book I've gotten. And then I got five sewing patterns that were also each 50 cents. All factory uncut and things I can make work or basics so that I don't have to draft patterns, which I know how to do, but is a pain in the neck. And then I've been looking for a white men's shirt for a long time to upcycle. I found first a green one, which I just left as is and is in my closet. Then I found a pink one and I did upcycle that one. I'll put it here. I've been looking for a white one to do something with and I haven't been able to find one and I've had terrible luck. I found one today. And it was $8.99, which is a little more than I would usually like to spend, but it's in pretty good condition. And it looks like it's a designer brand name, but I've never heard of it before. Charles, Charles, somebody. Charles, maybe somebody knows. Anyway, I think it had one little light coffee spot. On the front, was it this one that had the coffee spot or was it the other one? I don't remember, but I mean, it is a U-shirt. No, maybe it was the other one. This one looks fine. Anyway, plain white men's shirt. It's a big size, so that'll work perfect for what I want. So anyway, I'm done shopping this trip now. I'm gonna have to figure out how to get all this in my suitcase on Friday, so it's gonna be a thing. Anyway, I'm gonna sit and watch some YouTube videos while I wait to hear where we're going for lunch because I don't have any idea. I'll let you know. I'll be back. Bob dropped me out from lunch. That was really good. We went to a Hawaiian place. I'm super full and I'm less worried about having extra food. I have to toss out. That's perfectly good because I'm seeing my cousin tomorrow and Bob's coworkers keep giving him food, some of which we can't take home. That's okay. She lives here. I'm gonna bring it to her house tomorrow. I think that's brilliant. Meanwhile, before I go upstairs, I'm gonna take a couple of pictures. I'm gonna go upstairs, sit and do a little painting and share some of the photos with the patrons and supporters, watch some YouTube and just chill and relax. I think that sounds like a plan. I'll be back. Guys, it is 7.30 a.m. on Thursday. Is it the 8th, I think? Yeah, June 8th. I got Bob off to work. We had breakfast together, which is what we've been doing every day that we've been here. Got my outfit of the day on, which is a, hold on. Can we, yeah, there we go. Thrifted white dress just below the knee. I've got my flat tennis shoes on. Gonna sit and have the rest of my coffee this morning. Diddle around on my tablet and then I'm gonna go meet, be meeting family. My dad's side of the family. We're gonna be having a lunch thing. And I get to see my cousin's new house. I can't wait. And then later on tonight after Bob gets off work, we're having dinner with a friend. So, yeah. Almost done with his week and time to go home, but that's okay. Oh, and by the way, I just found a white men's shirt to upcycle when I was out thrifting yesterday. And guess what? It fits Mr. Bob perfectly. It was a brand new men's shirt. So, yeah, I don't get to upcycle that shirt. Why am I not surprised? He said he probably has an old one in his closet I can have that he'll replace that one with. I don't know. We'll see. I'll get that. I'll be back. We're back in the car. It was a really great visit with my aunt and cousins and aunt cousin. She's like 11 years older than me. Anyway, she's kind of more like an older sister. Anyway, Nancy, Annette, Tracy, Olivia, Teresa. You know, I love you. It was a really great visit. And oh my gosh, Teresa and Clay's new house is just beautiful. Now I'm sitting in downtown San Jose because GPS says it's best to go this way to get on 880 to head back to the airport which I need to do before 430 and I have like a seven minute window. We'll see. Cause I need to check in for my flight tomorrow, so. All right, I'll be back. I'm waiting in the parking lot of my husband's company and he'll be out in a few minutes. And then we are gonna go get some lunch and we're headed home to Oregon. I managed to pack everything I bought in suitcases that we can make at work which is a fricking miracle and that two suitcases are under 50 pounds. Another miracle. We do have one extra carry-on bag but I had two coming and he only had one. So now he's gonna have two. All right. California is a beautiful place to visit. There's some great things to see and do places to go shopping, places to eat. But yeah, I don't wanna live here anymore. I miss some people but that's it. Anyway, all right. I have a million ideas for paintings when we get back and of course sewing projects cause that's gonna be a permanent thing now. Anyway, I need to finish my coffee. I had to go buy some Starbucks. I'm tired of hotel coffee. Yeah, I'll be back. We have time on our way to the airport. We had lunch with some of Bob's coworkers. That was really great. Really nice group of people. And yes, I was the only one there that wasn't in the tech business but you know. We are now, we have extra time. So we are driving. We're in Santa Clara. I used to rent a room here and we're gonna go buy there and see if I can recognize anything. But I can tell you right now everything looks completely different. There were a lot of construction over here. Yeah, there's a lot of, there used to be a lot of open space. Yeah, hang a lot of open space over here and some of this was not here but now like with this building, there's just so much building going on. So much new. I mean. On the left side here, there's Levi's Stadium where the 49ers play. Yeah, is Great America Park where you're still here? All the street? Great America is right next to it. Yeah. So I lived here for a few years when I met Mr. Bob and yeah. Took the bus to work every day because I didn't, I have a car. So that was a thing. Anyway, I don't recognize any of it so far. So I'll keep you all posted. There's Levi's Stadium. Yeah. Home of the San Francisco 49ers and there's their playing field right over here. Sanctions where they practice. Oh, nice. They're off today. I hope so, because there's nobody out there so they're supposed to be practicing then. Somebody messed up. Yeah, none of this was here, you guys. In fact, Levi's Stadium was part of the Great America Parkway amusement park parking lot. When I lived here, it wasn't, there wasn't, yeah. Holy cow. The conventions. Yeah, there's Great America and Mr. Bob. And there's the convention center and that was here when I was here. Yep. But those hotels were not here. There were no hotels over here to stay at. This is Great America Parkway. You used to be able to go into the parking lots of all of these buildings here. Some of these weren't here. They were a lot smaller and you could park your car. People in the neighborhood would come over here and park their cars, have a tailgater in the parking lot. While we waited for Great America to set off fourth of July fireworks for fourth of July. Yep. They'd get there at about seven o'clock, party and then around nine o'clock the fireworks would go off for about 15, 20 minutes. Yeah, it's not anymore. But not anymore. It's all different now. Yeah. Hey you guys, this is the mobile home park I used to live in, rent a room in. I didn't have the whole mobile home. It's a long story, we won't get into it right now. But anyway, I was about 17, 18 years old until I was about 22, 23, when Mr. Bob and I moved in together and. It's down here at K Street. Yeah, and there's the parking lot. Yep, there it is. Yeah, it is. And ours was not that one. It was this one that's gray now. Move the flag. Yeah, this is it. This is it. This is the spot. That was it, 448. Yeah. Wow. That's the. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I've mixed feelings about that. You guys, it's a long story. Maybe someday I'll get into it, but it's a long story. Maybe with the therapist. Yeah, maybe with the therapist. It is kind of a therapy story. So anyway. Yeah. Nothing you turn and go around, go back. That mobile home that's there is not the one I lived in. That's a new one, by the way. That was a lot nicer. Yeah. The one I lived in looked more like that one. But it was not as well kept. It was pretty bad. What did Mr. Bob call it earlier off camera? A shithole. You really shouldn't say that, Derek. Well, they're going to demonetize me. I swear on my channel anyway. Okay, well, okay, it was a shithole. I didn't use the F word. No. Because I could set F as a shithole. Yep, we used to park our cars right here. Right in here. It was really fun the day that Mr. Bob went out of town and left his little stick shift Toyota Celica at my house to keep an eye on it. And it was in the driveway and I had to move it across the street into the parking lot. You guys see how far that is? It's like from there to there. Took me half an hour, because I don't drive a stick shift. And it ended up, I think I burned out his clutch. Yep. So there's that. Lessons learned. Yeah. All right, off to the airport. We'll see you back in Oregon. We're in a car again. Are you surprised? You're always in a car. I know. We are back in Oregon. Yay. Traveling and visiting is nice, but it's always nice to get home. I did spend the morning doing a lot of laundry because one of the things I forgot to do before we left was laundry. So we had all the travel clothes, plus what was already in there. So it's a lot. Watered the plants, do some chores. Mr. Bob was able to go to cars for coffee this morning and show it. Sorry, cars and coffee in Sherwood. They had a mo party. There's a mo party. Okay. A lot of mo parties. So yeah, that was good for him. And we both, more importantly, got a really good night's sleep. Now we're out to go run some errands. We have almost no groceries in the house and all of that stuff. So we need to go get that done. So we're gonna go do that and I'll be back. So I have my hat on because my hair looks horrible and I'm still in my pajamas because I forgot to close a vlog last night and it's Sunday morning. You put your long one off last night at eight o'clock. Yeah, that. I was busy crocheting this new hat, which if you are watching the vlog to this far, you've seen the clips of me doing that anyway. Cause it's, you know, middle of summer-ish and I'm making winter clothes. I don't know. Anyway, I'm gonna start off this morning by cutting Mr. Bob's hair and doing a few chores, but that's for next week's vlog. I hope you guys have enjoyed the kind of weirdness of this vlog, some travel footage and all that stuff. If you have any questions, comments or concerns, leave it down below. We will get back to our regular Artie life content this next vlog, but anyway, like, share and subscribe. I'd appreciate that. Any relevant links will be down in the video description and I answer every single comment, so please leave one. And if you want to have ready access to me and my art and what I'm doing on the regular and patterns and videos, become a patron or a supporter. They not only have our own private Facebook chat, but they have their own private YouTube channel. So there's that. Yeah. All right, that's it for now. I'm gonna cut Mr. Bob's hair. I'll see you all next week. Go out and have a good day. Have a good week. Do something nice for yourself because you deserve it and I'll see you later. Bye guys.