Long Time Gone: California Girl

Looking west out my hotel window

The second half of my journey west was a whole week in lovely Silicon Valley, CA. The weather was super nice, and I made myself go out in it as much as possible, but mostly I was inside the hotel and convention center that were my home from Wednesday to Wednesday. From Thursday till Sunday I was teaching at Stitches West, one of my regular conferences. It was great as always. Familiar yet fresh and filled with happy reunions with friends and the professional pursuit I love most of all: teaching. The folks I've met who are fellow-teachers have become some of my truest friends, and because our time together is brief and concentrated, we've managed to get to know each other pretty well over the years. It was a pleasure to spend time with all of them.

After the knitting expo was over, some of us stayed on to get some work done and take further classes. I did some photo work for two other teachers and continued working on a sample job that was also for one of my friends there.

Landscaping outside the hotel. 

This camelia was the size of my head. There
was a hedge of them in full bloom outside the
hotel. 

One social highlight of the weekend was a shoe party with
some of my fave pals. This purchase was the result. 

Trying out my panorama feature while out for delish Indian
food. This is Edie, Cindy, Beth and Sarah. Love them!

Thanks to this nifty arrangement found in
about half the seats in the San Jose airport,
I was not doomed to sit on the ground to
make sure my devices were charged.  

Over San Fran. I could SEE the
Golden Gate Bridge,
but because of the thickness and angle of the
airplane window, I could not get it in the frame. 

It was of course refreshing to have so much time to myself, but it also feels a little strange yet. I realize when I'm away what a distraction my actual house can be from getting certain things done. In another environment, I have no trouble getting up and exercising, or spending hours at a time finishing a photo shoot. When I'm home, I jump from thing to thing because I can see around me all the parts of my life, and it's sometimes hard to prioritize. I talk myself out of exercising because I didn't get the dishes done the night before. I go in spurts of work because I look up and notice that I REALLY need to vacuum or that I forgot to mail that package.

I've been working on rethinking our little office area on the lower floor, and trying to make that room a work-centered, distraction-free zone, but it's challenging because I like to do so many different things, and the office/studio has distractions of its own. Mostly I have a renewed (yet again) desire to make the space more empty, more restful for the eye, so that everything is not out in view and I can pick and choose what to at any given time, rather than feel compelled to do things.

Overall, it was indeed a long time to be gone, but every day was full of joy, renewal and fun, and I'm grateful I had the means and opportunity to take such a luxurious and special trip!