And now for something completely different!

The N.Cal Renaissance Faire started this past weekend, so we went down for a day, which was nice. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, lots of sun without being hugely hot, and breezy. Still warm, don't get me wrong--there was a guy running around the place in full plate mail, and oy, I can imagine how hot he must have been.

They've changed the layout of the place, so the walkways are a lot wider, which makes a huge difference. They've also got a lot of canvas shading, and the way it's set up takes advantage of the trees, which helps keep things cool.

I refrained, somehow, from spending TOO much money, though Brett bought me a few things. A beautiful wooden mug from Goodly Woods, made out of this gorgeous, orange/rusty colored wood from Africa, which just doesn't do it justice. I forget the name of it right now. Also some natural soaps and a bottle of lotion with scents built around holidays--Yule, Samhain, etc. Very nice stuff.

And, for myself, I bought a beautiful print from Nancy Chien-Eriksen that...well. I wish I could find a picture of it on her website, because words won't do it justice. I can't even quote the verse on it, but Brett showed it to me and it made me tear up, so you know. I go back in a couple of weeks to pick up the larger version, since that's what I asked for.

The woman (Grace, I think her name is) who carves candles was there again, and I may just finally learn how to do that, which will be really cool. I asked, at least, and she seemed good with the idea, so we'll see. Mind you, I don't have the equipment to do it at home, but maybe someday. And it'd still be neat to learn a new and fun skill, something that I can use to increase business with eventually.

We saw Moonie, which is always good--congratulations to him and his wife, they had a new addition to the family 3 weeks ago. Broon, also, is a new parent--had a daughter in June, yay for both of them!

And, in other news, I am officially back on program today comma dammit. Of course, I didn't haul my ass out of bed to go exercise this morning, but I think I may start doing that when I get home. I'm also going to try and eat earlier in the evening, to see if that helps.

My mom also gave me some great yoga stuff to try out, both to help strengthen my lower back, and to help correct my posture, which is terrible--all these years on the computer, you know. But I really love the way I feel after I finish, especially if I've managed to do as I'm supposed to and monitor my breathing the whole time.

For those of you waiting on CDs from the Blogathon, those should be coming here any time now. I need to rework the order, and then I should be finished.

And, for those truly interested, I've now finished 3 of the 50 pieces that I'm writing for the 50lyricsfanfic challenge on LJ. You can find links to them over here.