Miscellaneous

Lantern Fest at the Fernley 95A Speedway

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Releasing lanterns into the night sky. Photo from http://www.thelanternfest.com

Releasing lanterns into the night sky.
Photo from http://www.thelanternfest.com

Did you know that Reno will be hosting The Lantern Fest at the Fernley 95A Speedway on Friday October 16th and Saturday October 17th?

Do you even have a clue what a Lantern Fest event even is?

Well let me tell you —- a Lantern Fest is where thousands of people come together with lanterns in hand for an extraordinary night… There is music, dancing, s’mores and then what everyone came for — to release their lanterns into the night sky!!

To learn more about the lanterns please go to: About Lantern Fest

If you want to purchase tickets for this event go to Reno Lantern Fest to get your tickets for Friday October 16th since the show on Saturday the 17th is now SOLD OUT!! Save an additional 10% off with Promo Code smtownliving2015 at http://goo.gl/SevQ6d !!

With your Lantern Pass, you will receive a wristband granting you entrance to the event, a Lantern, a marker, a lighter, and a s’mores kit (with enough supplies to make 4 s’mores). Kids 3 and under are free, ages 4 to 15 will need to register with a “$5 kids pass”, they will receive entrance to the event as well as a mini flashlight.

It should be an unforgettable night regardless if you are on a date or going with the family!

To be enter in a drawing for 2 (two) free admission tickets to the Lantern Fest in Reno click here!

Location of the Lantern Fest
Fernley 95A Speedway
1965 Highway 95A
Reno, NV

I injured my finger on Wednesday

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On Wednesday I noticed the kids had moved my husband’s weights around on the back porch where he keeps his weight bench and weights. It looked iffy like someone could possibly get hurt so I decided I was going to tidy up and move the weights where they needed to be placed. As I was moving the weight bench a dumb bell that had 20 lb weights on each side some how rolled off the porch and in the process smashing my finger and split it open. So just the one side of the 20 lb weight smashed my finger wide open! AND it took forever to stop the bleeding. For the longest time my finger just killed me and was totally throbbing.

I have had a bazillion clothes to fold between then and now and it has been a really slow process of getting everything folded. A challenge to say the least. Using the mouse hurts… and texting is getting better. My husband thinks I possibly needed stitches and that my finger probably had been broken as well.

Don’t get me wrong, my finger still hurts. But I am doing a lot more. I have a rubber finger protector covering my finger so I can wash my hands and basically wash dishes without feeling like the bandage will get soaked or gross from something.

12019143_10206212338761412_1019077949_oThen I went to the store and got some fancy jewelry since I kept banging my finger on stuff. Now I feel A LOT better.

2 days later and I still can’t touch my finger. It hurts even with the slightest touch. So for now I am really babying it. I still can understand how I did this with that damn 20 lb weight!!

Empty Bowls Project: Making an impact on hunger

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Carson City Empty Bowls

Making a bowl for Carson City Empty Bowls

So my daughter has been participating in the Empty Bowls project here in our town. We actually have two Empty Bowls Projects, one in the county we live in and then another in the next town over.

My daughter’s Girl Scout Troop painted bowls for one and then actually made and painted bowls for the other.

If you don’t know what the Empty Bowls Project is, well in a nut shell it is an international movement to help end hunger. Empty Bowls allows participating individuals or groups to paint and/or create bowls which are donated to later be used in serving a simple meal with in at a fundraiser dinner.

If you are interested in learning more about Empty Bowls you can check out Douglas County Empty Bowls or Empty Bowls Carson City on Facebook.

I am so proud that we have been involved in this project. My daughter will come full circle when she will be attending the 2nd annual Douglas County Empty Bowls’ event on Sunday, October 4th. This particlular event’s proceeds will benefit the Carson Valley Community Food Closet here in the town we live in.

Douglas County Empty Bowls Project

Painting pre-made bowls for the Douglas County Empty Bowls Project

Douglas County Empty Bowls 2nd Annual Dinner Fundraiser
Info: Benefits the Carson Valley Community Food Closet
Date: Sunday, October 4th
Time: 4:00-7:00 PM
Location: Carson Valley United Methodist Church in Gardnerville, Nevada
Please include the following links as our contact information:
Website: http://www.carsonvalleycommunityfoodcloset.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Douglas-County-Empty-Bowls/359499057590089
Email: admin@carsonvalleycommunityfoodcloset.org
Check out the calendar and see if there is an Empty Bowls Project in your town: http://www.emptybowls.net/calendar-2/action~posterboard/page_offset~-1/time_limit~1448224199

Our summer has come to an end…..

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Summer is officially coming to an end. While I am sad, my kids are actually glad to be back at school which gives me more time to catch up things I have neglected over the last few months.

But seriously (sniff, sniff) summer went by way too fast!!

My kids were out of school just 3 days when we headed to Seacliff Beach in Aptos, CA. I love, love, love the beach!! Living 6-hours away from the ocean we get out there maybe once or twice a year if we are lucky. And this year we were lucky and were able to actually go twice – once in June and then again in August!!

Seacliff Beach, Aptos, CA.

The second time we were at Seacliff — it was AMAZING!! My mother, kids and I had such an extraordinary time at Seacliff State Beach today thanks to my cousins and their kiddos. It was an awesome adventure that included Whales, Dolphins, Seals, and Otters galore! I felt like a kid squealing at the site of the whales. This sighting was MORE EXCITING than when we paid to whale watch in Maui back in April. Oh my gosh it was just jaw dropping and ALL A FREE NATURE SHOW for all at the beach.

Seacliff Beach, Aptos, CA. - Whale sighting

Seacliff Beach, Aptos, CA. -- Dolphins

Seacliff Beach, Aptos, CA.
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Yeah Mama rocks!

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Sometimes an afternoon snack on a 90°+ day warrants a gluten free cone stuffed with black cherry ice cream topped with mint chocolate chip and then finally topped with rocky road ice cream. Yeah mama rocks!

Ice Cream in a Gluten Free Cone

Back in the Bay Area

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The kids and I are back in the Bay Area for some fun in the sun before the kids head back to school in a few weeks. We will be in town for a couple of weeks and are going to try and have as much fun as we can.

We arrived on Monday and have been just relaxing since. My parents have a pool so the kids have been having pool days every day since we have been here and loving every minute.

I will have to squeeze in a beach day, though, cause you can’t travel to the Bay Area and not go to the Beach. That would just be sacrilege otherwise.

Tonight my mother, daughter and I are attending a bridal shower at my aunt’s home for her daughter-in-law to be. My cousin is getting married next month and we were included in on the festivities to help celebrate the union. I hadn’t been to a Bridal Shower in years and thought it was quite fun shopping yesterday for gifts. I really hope she likes what we got her.

My mom and I are taking the kids to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo tomorrow (Friday) and I am kinda excited since none of us have ever been there before. I noticed on the map they have a butterfly habitat… now that totally got my attention and I can’t wait to see that!

If you have been to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom before, what would you recommend seeing for an 8, 6 and 4 year old?

Then a week from Saturday my brother is having a 40th birthday party that I will get to see many family members and a lot of friends that I don’t normally see due to me living in Nevada. So I can’t wait to see everyone. My husband will be driving up to attend the party as well and then as a family we will be driving back home together the next day.

Nevertheless… I am gonna try to have as much fun as we can while we are here. Will post photos later!

Getting lost sucks!

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So I have had an exhausting few days. On Sunday my daughter had to be taken to Girl Scout Camp which felt like I was driving to Timbuktu! It was over 3 hours drive time to get there.

I drove through Tahoe originally there and then drove home through Reno. Since my daughter was only there for 3 days, 2 nights it meant I had to do that awful drive twice in 3 days!!

My daughter had to be picked up from Camp between 10:30 & 11:00am on Tuesday.

Since the Reno drive was nicer coming home I decided to go that way, instead, when I had to go back and pick up my daughter.

My mom and I hit the road around 7:15am. Stopped and filled up the car. Drove about 2 hours to Portola, CA made a bathroom stop and then jumped back into the car for what I thought would be another hour arriving at the Camp around 10:30am.  WRONG!!!

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My Washington DC journey…..

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I had a fun time in Washington D.C. despite the humidity and down pours of rain. Even though this was my 4th time in D.C. this was actually my first time staying over. The rest of my visits were just day trips with family. I was looking forward to all the things my husband and I were going to do over the course of 11 days.

We originally, during the conference, stayed at a hotel in D.C.’s Chinatown for the first 6 nights and then when the conference was over went to a vacation house for the next 3 nights with several of our friends. Then we stayed one night in Alexandria at another hotel closer to the airport the night before we flew back home.

While we were in DC we were able to visit several of the Smithsonian Museums, which included the American Art Museum, National Museum of Natural History, and the The National Zoo. We were able to see many of the Monuments around the National Mall as well.

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Where not to eat in Alexandria, VA

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Last night we took the ferry ride to Alexandria, VA and thought we would be able to visit all the cute little shops. Well how mistaken were we. It started to rain and rain and rain and then rained even some more! I had to buy an overpriced umbrella to stay somewhat dry even though my shoes and socks were a different soggy story.

Two places down from where I purchased my umbrella was Pizzeria Paradiso. Our friends took refuge there because 1. our friends were hungry and 2. since being indoors kept you warm and dry. Nevertheless, we decided it was a very good idea especially since our phones all went off alerting us of flash floods in the area till 11:30pm.

I ordered a nice hot cup of tea to warm up with when I noticed on Pizzeria Paradiso’s menu it stated they had homemade gluten free 9” crust for an extra $2. Not pre-made, cool!!!  Now that really sounded great and prompted us to place an order for their Blanca Pizza which consisted of White Sauce, Roasted Cherry Tomatos, Baby Arugula, Basil, and Speck (very thinly sliced smoked prosciutto). I asked for them to put the Speck on only 1/2 the pizza since my husband is allergic to msg and sodium nitrates.

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Eating Gluten Free in the Chinatown district of Washington D.C.

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Eating out with a gluten allergy or intolerance can be totally challenging and that is putting it mildly. Let’s just say I am a research queen before I even leave for a trip just so I can find where my best options will lead me. I usually search the internet for local restaurants that serve gluten free entrees as well as which ones are walking distance from my hotel.

The first leg of our trip we stayed in the Chinatown district of Washington D.C. until July 2nd. The following restaurants were in this area and walking distance from our hotel.

$ = $10 & under
$$ = $11-$20
$$$ = $21-$30
$$$$ = $31-above

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