Red

Lammas came and went over the weekend, and so I took the Red blanket out of hiding and put it on our bed. M was away, so he couldn't complain -- not that I would have listened anyway. Autumn is coming. I can feel it and if I feel like celebrating a bit earlier than some, so be it.

Saturday morning I got up early, left the house around 5:30 AM and drove to Solana Beach to catch the train. We had weekend plans in Santa Barbara, but work kept M in Thousand Oaks until late Friday and it didn't make sense for him to drive to San Diego to get me so we could drive back to Santa Barbara the next day. He picked me up at the train station in Camarillo and we went adventuring from there.

State St. was packed with some sort of bicycling street fair, which had inspired local authorities to temporarily outlaw left turns. Armed only with mobile google maps and our keen sense of direction (Water = West), we attempted to find a gas station. This only took an hour. Shh, no laughing.

Since the wedding was still 4 hours away, M and I journeyed north to Solvang where we had a Danish lunch (mmm, Medisterpolse), collected danishes for the following breakfast, and ducked in and out of little shops along Copenhagen.

We stepped into Mandolina's tasting room just long enough to see if the 2007 Malvasia Blanca was any better than the 2006 (which Mom reported as disappointing). I was quite pleased to find the '07 is tasty, and that they didn't charge me for tasting just one wine. (And that the clerk gave us a significant discount!) If we do go chicken & fish for reception entrees, I may just get a case of this -- provided the corkage fee isn't awful -- and be done with it. Bonus: It has a musical instrument on the label.

M got a new ring (featuring a triskele), and I found a little pewter faerie with red/silver wings. She's perched on my desk at home right now, looking something between delicate and dangerous.

After the wedding, we spent the night in Thousand Oaks (eeriely close to a customer site) and did our best not to talk about work. M took me through the winding ridges of the Santa Monica mountains on our way home, which made the all-too-familiar drive feel lighter, and less like a grind. I picked up my car in Solana Beach, and we made it home in time to catch up on our chores and meet friends online for a rather successful game.

There's a million things we didn't get done this weekend, but I'm starting to accept that there will always be a million things left to do. Life's to-do list goes on forever, and a few key things get done with regularity while the rest sorts itself in as-needed on more or less a first come, first serve or emergency basis. It was nice to run away for the weekend, pretend to be in a far away place, point and giggle at things, make memories and enjoy our time together a bit more fully.