Very busy day in Vallejo (unusually so for a Sunday) but before hours of resting by the pool with the dogs, we did the Vallejo Garden Tour and was able to make a pit-stop at the Mare Island dock for this first annual event, a Bay Area Butterfly Festival. It was very well attended and I’m so proud of my friend Shani Simmons for helping to organize this with a team of dedicated nature fans!
Shea Grove and Greg Haretos are shown here with me as we took a bathroom break to stop by and show our support.
Another amazing tour of many Vallejo gardens. It was nice to relax by the pool afterward at my good friends’ house, but I made sure to tackle all ten! I am so glad Shea and Greg were able to join me in the adventures. It was also wonderful to run into Monique Louvigny, Don Osborne, Kevin Zimmer, Brenda Crawford and her wife Tonya, Ward Stewart, Jim Sotiros, Kristen Hannum-Gregory, power siblings David and Helen Cates, Nancy Bennett, and others while out and about (and I’m sure others I’ll recall later).
Pictures that Shea and Greg took:
Audrey THREE?!? Here in Glen Cove (Vallejo) this family noticed that out of this agave plant, a huge “arm” was extended like a dragon which rested on the branches of the tree in front of it. It first started growing in their front yard in December 2023, and has since bloomed, for the bloom to now rest on another branch. How cool is that?
Genius! The homeowner at this Vallejo Garden Tour location constructed this simple but completely animal-proof raised bed protectors that are like a car hood. Super lightweight and easy to open when one needs to work under the (transparent) hood, yet unreachable by the critters that run about.
In these pictures I’m digging the architecture of the optometrist’s office. There were some frustrating days this week, but when I heard they were making an exception to take back my distance glasses and upgrade them to transition lenses for only $75, the week wasn’t a total loss. Not being able to see distances and read my phone without touching my face/glasses has made traveling, driving, and any excursion out of the house, much more of a challenge these past few months after having to replace the glasses I lost in the fire.
This was a must-see. I spent hours there with another advocate from the Tobacco End Game Summit. We paid particular attention to the slave trade and its use of enslaved people for tobacco. I also loved the Afro-Futurism section that I told my daughter about. The building itself is gorgeous in the background in the one picture.
Had a fantastic experience here in Washington DC for the Tobacco End Game Summit. I found my people from every corner of the USA and from several other countries trying to save lives by fighting an industry that has the PRIVILEGE to PEDDLE POISON. Where is the outrage at 8 MILLION preventable deaths a year?
I took a few other days here in DC to see museums and I got a start by going to the National Gallery. What a gem, and what a reminder of how beautifully this French-inspired city was laid out. I was so reminded of wonderful times in Paris when I sat in the drizzle on the National Mall. I saw incredible works and experienced zen in the halls of this most gorgeous building as well. I’m sure the pictures won’t do it justice.
Americans have so much to be proud of in our society with the right context put to the art of our culture, and that was very clear in the depictions of black and indigenous Americans, even though the gallery was very heavily European-influenced. Reading the fine print and discovering what is behind art history reveals so much. I hope to see a variety of museums while I’m here.
Our neighbors have two grand pianos and are both pianists. They serenaded us with live music at their traditional New Year’s Day Open House (the first one since Covid).
For the first time, Shando and I attended the Grand Victorian Homes Tour, although there are some exceptions to that specific style among the fabulous houses and structures on the tour. The Naval Chapel on Mare Island was one of them, and there were a few mixtures of Craftsman and Mid-Century Modern which were very appropriately included. It was great hanging out with friends who had a similar interest and who were willing to walk the downtown area to see more than a half-dozen of the homes participating. We ended up at the wine tasting place on Mare Island where the last two structures were located. Regrettably, due to it being so close to the winter solstice, it got dark after the first few hours, so we did not take in the full view of many of the homes, but knowing the city better now, I can imagine what some of the views would be on a regular basis, including the amazing sunsets from many vantage points. As with the Garden Tour that happens each May, I loved getting decorating ideas and talking about utilitarian things with other geeks of that nature.
I’m also glad that the funds for this event go to a good cause, and furthering cultural awareness in Vallejo.
Here are some of the details that we loved. In the mid-century modern house, there was an Audrey Hepburn room and a Marilyn Monroe room with their own xmas trees. The Audrey one has her costume for Breakfast at Tiffany’s if you look closely.:
Shando and I combined our footage from our perspective of this year’s Madhatter Holiday parade. We handed out candy as elves with Santa’s sleigh again, which is a major joy, making our way down to the Vallejo Ferry Building area for the official Vallejo xmas tree lighting. I was disheartened by how the rain started (while not even forecast) on our way to the event, but for the most part it held back and we were able to enjoy a relatively warm and eventually dry night for the majority of the evening.
Obligatory pre-parade group shot
Our friend Lisa can be a real Grinch!
Lots of our same friends from last year were on hand to be elves again. Shando was a lot more prepared with his costume, although there were plenty of Caucasian elf earpieces at our disposal and some other extraneous accessories we could have borrowed.
We helped load the candy for handing out in the back of the sleigh even with some of the volunteers from earlier today with the HSNBevent, not to mention Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Shando and I struggled to make use of his elf shoe coverings, but they were not conducive to being easily slipped on. I had a brainstorm to put them over my socks and then use these sandals so that I could sort of simulate them and at least get the bells to work. I eventually took out the red pointy trim over my white jeans so it looked a bit better, but I’m proud we got to use this part of his costume in at least this way:
Shando and I are also visible in this video, together with a bunch of the other elves:
