A Celebration

It has been exciting to travel the Internet and meet so many bloggers last month! I spent many hours, like many of you, reading so many wonderful blogs and making new acquaintances. I found that the event left little time for creativity and household chores(o.k. so I really didn't mind about that).

Life was so hectic that I didn't have time to post a new entry before my wonderful trip to San Francisco.
I had intended to post a new entry while I was there, however time just rushed by and I found that I was on board the airplane returning to Phoenix before I had a chance.
While I was away I signed in to begin a post...and I discovered that it was my 200th post!

To celebrate this event I have some goodies selected during my trip to share with you!

San Francisco is a great place to find your creative muse. There are so many exhibits, galleries and parks to explore which are all visual delights!
I was very happy that my daughter was with me for our visit to Chinatown. As my daughter and I walked up and down the streets full of grocery items she remarked how it reminded her of her trip to China.

We had so much fun, we went to many little shops to look at all the clothes, jewelry, and housewares. I had to pick up a few things to create art with, it was hard to resist all the treasures available, so I picked up some playing cards, tiny coin bracelets and red coin envelopes, if you look at the photo I have selected some of these treasures to share.

For lunch we left the orient and took a trip to what's known as little Italy for the Bay Area specialty.... Gilroy Garlic!
We ate at The Stinking Rose for a full garlic fare, including the ice cream which is served for dessert. We consumed part of the 3,000 pounds of garlic this restaurant serves monthly. It was delicious.

It was back to exploring after this great lunch, and while in town Gabrielle had to experience Japantown with their unique shops. So we jumped in the car and drove up and down the streets until we arrived at our destination.
There are so many shops with so many fun and interesting items to look at. However I wanted to go to my favorites to pick up some Japanese products I don't like to be without! The Kinokuniya Stationary and Gift Store is a must. They have some wonderful blank books, journals, planners as well as cards, postcards and washi papers. They have pencils and pens and gel pens with so many choices colors. And they have a cute area with lots of little items which are all cute! The reviews for this store are fun to read, too!
After spending a small fortune we headed to the Kinokuniya Bookstore. The Japanese have such interesting books. I have fallen in love with many of their books, magazines and their manga. I left this store with one craft book, complete with patterns, of course its all in Japanese! Then I introduced Gabrielle to the Daiso. It's a Japanese style dollar like store with all kinds of merchandise. I picked up, among several things, these little containers made to store cigarettes, they are the perfect size to store a collection of ATC's!

When we were ready to go home, we purchased a treat to share from Cafe Hana, which looked as gorgeous as it was delicious! What a fabulous day!

We spent the next two days outdoors at the Golden Gate Park. It is a great place with many attractions such as the Bison Paddock, the Tulip Garden with a large windmill, The Botanical Gardens, with plants from all over the world and the most beautiful Japanese Tea Garden.

Before we left to go back to the airport, we went to Menlo Park to look at some shops! There was a great shop with handbags and gift items. I purchased the most stunning umbrella with the Eiffel Tower printed on it and with it, a lovely sheet of handmade paper to share by Midori, it's so pretty, I could not resist!

Our final stop was the Penzy's Spice Shop. It's a great place to shop for any spices that you may need , as they are the finest! The shop is wonderful, if you haven't been and there is one in your area, you must go, I highly recommend it- you won't be disappointed! I am so thrilled that one of the goodies is a jar of Arizona Dreaming spice and the cookbook, so you can whip up the most delicious dishes.

Please take the time to leave a comment with your contact information or better, become a follower, so I can contact you if you are the winner of the San Francisco 200th Post.

Among your "goodies will be: I jar of Arizona Dreaming Spice with cookbook, ATC container, Midori Eiffel Tower paper, Chinese coin envelope, Strand of Chinese coins, Japanese glue, Japanese printed tape, Chinese playing cards, Japanese postcards, and some Asian newspaper and the Stanford Course Description Catalog (Love to use this for altered paper or for recycled text). A winner will be chosen at random on March 20th.

I love to read your comments!