Charlotte Bird trunk show and dinner at Sammy's 09-22-12

I took Corky back to his house this morning and drove from there to San Diego.  I've had such good driving experiences on the I-5 lately that I came to expect it would always be that way - two hours driving time, or sometimes a little less.  Once even 1 hour and 45 minutes.  I guess today was payback because it took about 2 hours and 40 minutes.  The traffic was extremely heavy and I wondered if I would drive the entire distance in third gear.  Stop and go almost the entire distance and my mileage showed it with 19.4mpg (coming home it was 24mpg).  This morning I considered just turning around and calling VAM to say I couldn't make it, but the northbound traffic appeared to be even more clogged up than the southbound.  
And I am so glad that I didn't turn back because it was lovely seeing a special trunk show of Charlotte Bird's wonderful quilts and reconnecting with some of my favorite VAM members who I see infrequently. 

 
In the middle is the very talented Charlotte Bird, artist of the day; to her left is Phyllis Morrow, board member and longtime volunteer; and on the right of the photo is Patti Sevier, past president and volunteer.  I didn't realize I would also have in the photo, but in the office on the far left - the back of Beth Smith, museum director; Lisa Yoder, part-time employee and Beth's right-hand woman, and between them you can just make out Judy Warren-Tippets, board member and volunteer. 

 

This the Charlotte Bird quilt in the current exhibit at VAM.  I succumbed to temptation and purchased two of the piece she had displayed in her trunk show, one of them is Lichen #4.  I'll post them soon.  Several other Charlotte quilts tempted me, but it seems I have been going way over on my acquisitions budget and need to stop being so impulsive.

After the museum closed and we had enjoyed a nice visit, Beth and I went to Sammy's for dinner.  This Sammy's is located in the Liberty Station complex ( very near to TJoe's)  and we have eaten there previously.  That time we didn't have room for dessert and have talked since about going back to try the Yummy Honey Cheese Pizza, so we did.  We were somewhat disappointed - it was good, but not "YUMMY".  The menu reads: "Mild sheep’s milk cheese, organic oregano, orange blossom honey".  There was too little honey, so it was mostly the special feta cheese, which was not melted, and a very thin crust - like matzos.  We can now remove it from our mental list of desserts we long to try. 

 
Beth had the Greek Salad and a sangria.  It was good, but heavy on the pepprochinis.

 
I had the chopped chicken salad (not a very lovely presentation) which was good, but doesn't hold a candle to the chopped chicken salad served by California Pizza Kitchen.  I drank water. 
And then I drove home, arriving a little before ten o'clock and ready to go to bed.  Tomorrow is a rest day!

Lunch at Sammy's in San Diego 05-22-12

The drive to Visions Art Museum in San Diego was only one hour and thirty-five minutes this morning.  Astounding.  On the way, the radio announcer was talking about how there is less traffic congestion since there are more unemployed people - who are not driving to and from work.  He also quoted a survey that says the worst traffic in the USA is in Honolulu where commuters spent 58 hours a year idling on the road.  Los Angeles is in second place - 53 hours.  San Diego is nineteenth.  Why do we live here? - the weather makes it all worthwhile, although it was quite foggy right along the coast and I could not see the ocean at all.

I enjoyed closely examining the current exhibit at VAM, "Secrets & Stories: An invitational of artists who tell a story or reveal a secret."  Nine artists have two or three quilts each and they all use different techniques, materials and imagery.  The exhibit runs until July 22 - go if you can, it is very good. 
www.visionsartmuseum.org

 
Naturally, sustenance was required and a new "Sammy's" is located in the shopping area near Starbuck's.  I have eaten at a number of different locations of this San Diego original - it is a woodfired pizza restaurant and one of these times I will have a pizza, but there are so many other offerings that I need to try.  Above is Beth's shrimp corn chowder, which I sampled and found it is just as delicious as when I have ordered it in the past. 

 
I ordered one of the small plates - "Oak Roasted Asparagus Romano, prosciutto, evoo, and  balsamic vinegar". I am a bit of a Philistine and had to ask: evoo? = extra virgin olive oil.  The asparagus was about a half an inch in diameter (which friend Mary says is the very best) and cooked "al dente".  It was good, but I still like the tender little shoots. 

  
We both ordered "Mini Duck Tacos: Feta, tomato, cabbage, tomato-cilantro sauce".  In the middle, under the cabbage and tomatoes was a scoop of soft cream cheese which I thought
added to the "mouth texture".

  

A very nice presentation of six tiny tacos and delicious!  We admired the dessert menu and were tempted by this offering:   "Yummy Honey Cheese Pizza - Mild milk cheese from Macedonia, fresh organic oregano, orange blossom".  But by the time we had finished our plates, we decided we needed to try it some other time.  Also, it would have added $12 to our bill - for one serving!  Must be the trip to Macedonia for the cheese!

 
The building is a great barn of a place, but they had added these "sail shades" to cut down the noise and they work rather well.  I did ask the wait person to turn down the music - thought it would be nice to talk and be able to hear each other!
The trip home in traffic was two and a half hours, including a pit stop in San Juan Capistrano.  

Flower Fields @ Carlsbad 05-08-09

[Sorry, the top two pictures will not enlarge - don't know the cause.]

After stopping yesterday for lunch at Sammy's I continued north to stop at the Flower Fields at Carlsbad. The exit off the I-5 is Palomar Airport Road, which I am very familiar with since that is also the exit for the outlet mall (including Crate & Barrel where they sell Marimekko fabric). I had a quick glimpse of the fields on the way south so I knew there were blossoms. But it is getting to the end of the season, go now if you want to see the display.In the foreground is Armstrong Nursery which apparently has no connection to the Flower Fields. The Jacaranda trees in the foreground are showing tiny leaves, but the flowers will come on before the leaves are full out.

The buildings beyond the fields are a conference center - the flowers bloom right up to the property line.

Rides are available on these stake bed trailers, towed by REAL tractors, and go all around and through the fields. I loved the colorful clothing on the Indian lady in the foreground - she almost outshines the flowers.

I took this image from quite a distance so it is not very clear. I had hoped to get behind it so I could include the walker that was tied onto the back of the trailer. Anyone can go, despite disabilities.

If you drive through the parking lot and follow the "Additional Parking" signs you will see this huge flower flag. I don't know what they used for the blue - no Ranunculus that color. See the pickup truck on the right? That fellow finally drove down to the fence and hollered at me, "Is anything wrong?" "No, I'm just taking pictures." And he drove back up the hill. I wonder what he thought I was doing walking around the in the dirt parking area.

School groups come in buses and have this special gate - best to keep them corralled, eh?

When they pass through the gate, this is their view of the fields.


Here is the URL for the Flower Fields:
http://www.theflowerfields.com/index.html

You might also enjoy this flower display in Brussels:
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/45149,features,brussels-in-bloom

Lunch 05-07-09

I drove to San Diego today to pick up a quilt that I purchased at the Visions 2008 exhibit. Although the exhibit came down March 1st, I have been in and out of town, so I asked them to hold it for me to pick up. I didn't realize it would be two months! Now that I have it I will show it at the first meeting of the Surfside Quilters Guild on May 12th at 10am (San Clemente Presbyterian Church). I am presenting "Old and New: Quilts from the Thomas Contemporary Quilt Collection" for their inaugural program. I have also recently received the two quilts I bought at the Quilt National opening in May 2007 - they have been traveling with other quilts from the same venue.

The Gallery has a very nice exhibit of Elizabeth Busch's quilts. I've always admired her work, but others have purchased the quilts that I liked the most before I had a chance. There are several in this exhibit that I covet, but now I don't have the funds - bummer! I'll keep trying.

On my way home on I-5 I exited on Del Mar Heights Road and had lunch at Sammy's Pizza in the shopping center. As I sat reading the menu I discovered that there is a Sammy's at Liberty Center - where the Visions Art Quilt Gallery is located! Next time. Anyway, I have always been amused by this little shelf of grass as part of Sammy's decor, but feel it is lacking a focus. So, today I added a focus - if you go there look to see if they have removed it. I really wanted a bird, but couldn't find anything of the right size. However, real frogs do hop around in the grass.

I should have taken a picture immediately because lunch hour hadn't started and there weren't that many customers. By the time I was ready to take the picture all the tables were full. I told the guys at the table below this that I wanted a picture of the beaded lamps. Well, I couldn't tell them I wanted to take a picture of the frog, could I?