My Weekly Smile; Nov. 15, 2021 Family Fun!

On By DianaIn Living life, weekly smile
  • Pismo beach, California!

Welcome to my weekly smile post. I am back from a super fun weekend visiting my daughter who lives 3 1/2 hours north in Orcutt, Ca. She is currently a Major in the Space Force and she is stationed at Vandenberg Space Force Base. They have officially changed the name of the base and so here is to a new era of a new branch of our military. We visited Pismo beach and had the best ever cinnamon rolls which I have shared before since we often go there when we visit. The place is called Old West Cinnamon Rolls and oh my, they are so delicious and every time we sit down at the pier to eat them I forget to take a photo of them. Haha, trust me, they are to die for!! 😀

We then went shopping at a local mall as it was recently my youngest sons birthday. Oh, I forgot to mention he came up with me to visit as he hasn’t seen my daughter’s house she is leasing and he hasn’t met her kitty, Evie! He is bad about shopping and buying himself clothes and so we went to Macy’s and they had great sale’s and he got the pants he needed and a new belt. I found a pair of shoes with memory foam that I was looking for at a great price and my daughter ended up buying 2 pair of shoes. A totally fun day! I am always smiling when I can spend time with my family.

I took this through the front window of the car when we came up on the light at this intersection! I thought it so cool!
My son meets Evie, my daughter’s kitty!

Evie is such a friendly cat. I am so incredibly happy my daughter found her and was able to adopt her as she cuddles and plays. She is such a wonderful pet and friend for her and its so fun to visit as she sits on all of our laps and treats us like family! For those of you who don’t have cats, some cats can be really scared or do not like strangers. Then when you visit they just hide under the bed! Haha, we have 2 cats and one of them is like what I described. She will hide until the strange people have gone, but thankfully she will come out if you spend the night. Then she realizes she doesn’t need to be that scared. I just LOVE Evie! ❤

Funny story, my daughter is taking piano lessons. She took lessons as a youngster following in my footsteps as I took lessons for many years (which I followed in my father’s footsteps as he was almost a concert pianist!). I am so proud that she is back taking lessons again. She has a wonderful piano teacher who put together a recital with all of her students. I was so excited and told my daughter I wanted to attend. She said it is a Sunday night and that she didn’t really want me there because she thought that would make her even more nervous. It turns out our visit up there was from Saturday thru to Monday and what a coincidence the recital was this last Sunday evening! We were able to attend, she didn’t mind and even though she was nervous she performed well. Here is a half a minute snippet and a photo at the recital. She played a Chopin Nocturne, one I was not familiar with but it is beautiful.

I’m so proud of my daughter and the teacher is nearby to turn the page for her so she doesn’t have to stop playing the piece.

This teacher explained how this was a casual recital and that it is good to have casual performances to work out the nerves and to have fun with the pieces you play. We are all so hard on ourselves when we perform and I was so pleased to see how encouraging this piano teacher was with all her students. There were many children, I think more boys than girls playing and a handful of adults as well. It was such a joy to see and hear them all! I am SMILING! 😀

This is just a 30 second snippet. I thought it was a beautiful piece but then I just LOVE Chopin and can play many Nocturnes and Preludes. She is doing great and I’ve already said but will say it again, I am so proud of her and for her getting out there and performing this piece. She struggles fitting in all the practice needed since she does work full-time.

I wanted to mention that the gentlemen you can see his head in the video brought the really nice camera and recorded the whole recital. He also played in the recital and takes lessons with his very young son and daughter. They will edit the video and then send to all the students. I think that is so COOL!! Another huge smile on my face today! 😀

I started a new project, cross-stitch which I haven’t done in some years! Can you guess what I am making?

On to my last subject, my new craft project. You know I share my crochet projects and I make a ton of crochet things from blankets to crochet animals. After I finished the baby blanket and mailed it off to the Mom who absolutely loved it thankfully, I decided to pick up my cross-stitch. This piece I am working on is the third project in a book of four. They are called Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. I am working on Fall, and you can just make out the beginnings of a barn! I will share photos as I go, and my next blog post I will share the other ones I have completed. I wanted to end with this sunset photo and ask you, what makes you smile?

The sunset from last night! We didn’t stop and I just took a quick photo and I thought it’s worth sharing.

I hope you all have a wonderful week. I can’t believe Thanksgiving is just over a week away! The time just flies by but I am enjoying each day to it’s fullest. Keep smiling! 😀

Happy Smiling Mom,

~Diana ❤

21 thoughts on “My Weekly Smile; Nov. 15, 2021 Family Fun!”

  1. What a nice visit in California. I love that your daughter is playing the piano. I think playing a musical instrument is a wonderful way to let stress go. I don’t play but I used to sing. Both my kids played piano . I know what you are saying about cats. Our daughter has two .One is very social and the other one is quite shy. Thanks for sharing your California trip!

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    1. Thank you so much for visiting and am so happy you enjoyed my smiles for this week. Playing an instrument is a wonderful way to let stress go and I know my daughter is enjoying it so much. You make me smile Anne! Thank you! 😀

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  3. So many things to smile about! I remember you speaking about the cinnamon rolls before. It really is a sign that they are good when they disappear before you remember to take a photo 🙂 I think it’s wonderful that your daughter is taking up piano lessons. Personally I did not enjoying playing the piano, but I am still grateful that I did for many years. I am encouraging my daughter to try instruments, hoping that she will find one that she enjoys. At the moment she isn’t very interested, and I would never force her. She did enjoy the harmonica when she was little, she used to bring her harmonica everywhere. I hope you are enjoying a great new week my friend ❤

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    1. Thank you so much Maria! One of these visits I’m going to remember to take that photo before we eat those cinnamon rolls. It truly says how good they are!! 🤣 I didn’t know you took piano lessons, it may not be for everyone but I’m happy she’s taking lessons. I agree, it will be great if your daughter can find an instrument she will enjoy. If not that’s okay too, there are so many to choose from! That’s so cute she took the harmonica everywhere when she was little. ❤️ I hope you have a great week, mine is starting out so nicely. So good to have you visit here my sweet friend!! 🥰

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  5. So many things to smile about Diana and how wonderful you were able to attend your daughter’s recital too! 🎶 It’s lovely she’s playing the piano again and so cool that the entire recital was recorded. Wishing you a happy new week and please give sweet Chloe and Murphy a big pat from us all 🤗🧡🐴 xxx

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    1. Thank you so very much Xenia. It was such a joy to attend her recital. She is more and more in a happier place in her life which in turn makes me happy! Wishing you a wonderful week and I’ll give Miss Chloe and Murphy a big pat, you are so sweet!! 🤩❤️🐴🐾💞

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    1. AWW, thank you Anne!! Do you go by Anne? Or Anne Marie? I do not know how I fit everything in sometimes, haha! I do like to stay busy and it’s so fun to share!! I’m happy to make you smile!! Thanks for visiting! 😀

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  8. So many things to smile about, Diana. I’m happy for you and your family. Thank you for sharing your updates and photos with us. A big pat from me to Chloe and Murphy. Have a wonderful weekend!

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    1. Thank you so much Natalie!! I just linked up for my coffee share this weekend. I’m so happy you enjoyed my smile post, and I’m so truly thankful for you and everyone’s kind, caring comments. Means so much to me and I’ll give Chloe and Murphy a big pat from you!! Have a wonderful weekend! ❤️

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