A Day Of Falconry

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Did you know that you can now take a falconry class (it used to not be available to the general public)?

Well, you can.

And I did.

In November, I found a coupon that was half price for a falconry class. I was intrigued. So, I purchased a spot in the class for each person in my family.

I knew I wanted to do it over spring break. The excursion is run by West Coast Sky Falconry out of Alpine, California (near San Diego). We got to do this amazing event two weeks ago.

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When we arrived at the falconry class, they had three birds on low perches. The class of ten people was taught by the nicest falconers, Kirk and Denise.

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They started the hour long class by teaching us some cool facts about hawks. We were going to be working with a Harris Hawk. I thought we would be working with a falcon, but it turns out the term falconry can be applied to any raptor. The Harris Hawk is ideal for falconry training, because it lives in a group. This is very rare for a raptor bird. Because of this, the Harris Hawk is used to anticipating the body language of others. The one we were privileged to meet that day was named, “Steam.” He looked huge, but weighed only two pounds.

We also learned that hawks tend to fly only fifteen to twenty minutes a day, so if you see one circling the sky, it is a rare moment. Now that I know this, it feels more special to me when I see the beautiful creatures in the sky.

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We took turns having Steam fly onto all of our gloves. It was one of the coolest things I have ever experienced. My son was terrified and asked if he had to do it. To which I replied, “yep.” Because that is the kind of mom I am. And because I knew if he always let fear win, he would never know the joy of success.

He loved it.

I mean, he loved it.

We all did.

If you have any classes like this near you, I highly recommend it. The class that we did was for ages seven and up. My friend did this with her family on another day, too. They all could not believe how amazing the experience was.

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If you chose to, you could do tricks with the hawk. That was a bit more than my heart could take. But my husband threw food into the air for the hawk. And both of my children had the hawk walk quickly up to their foot and take food off of it.

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At the end, we were able to pose over the beautiful valley and take pictures of Steam, the hawk, on our arm.

It was such a joyous moment. It was made even better by Kirk and Denise, who answered every question we had for them with passion and love for their birds.

During the summer, they also offer courses at the Torrey Pines location. I imagine that would make for gorgeous pictures.

I would love to do this again. It was educational. It was exhilarating. It was interesting.

I cannot say enough good things about it. What a fun way to spend quality time with a loved one that does not involve sitting or crowds.

Have you ever done this? Had you heard of it before? Aren’t those hawks beautiful?

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I am enamored.

With a bird.

Just don’t tell my husband.

Stylin’ The Torsade Dress

A few weeks ago, Anthropologie’s Torsade Dress* popped back for me for $30. And I pounced on it. I had been waiting for it for this price because $98 was just too much for me. Unfortunately when it came, it reeked of garlic. This is a mystery I would not like to examine further. This might seem gross. But it was an easy fix with a quick wash in the washing machine. Although if I had to guess, I would say the dress was worn previously by some awesome female vampire hunter. This makes the dress more special. Sadly its special garlic powers washed out of the dress and thankfully I was able to wear it.

But now am weak against vampires. Oi.

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Here is the dress as it is. Without playing with it. This is actually the way a vampire hunter would wear it except my accessory would be a wooden stake. I just wanted to give you that visual.

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* Pairing the dress with different colored bottoms will momentarily confuse the vampires in order for you to get away.

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I thought it would be fun to pair it with rain boots even if this outfit will probably never make it to my reality with California’s drought. I think the teal matches well. I would love to have the opportunity to wear this.

I also hope any vampires near me are having their own drought as well.

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My favorite way I paired it was using it as a top. I have been wanting a floral top with some pink in it to pair with my red and white striped skirt. But I did not want to pay for one. And I am not sure the exact shirt I had in my head exists in reality. Then I happened to see these two pieces next to each other and I could not wait to try it!

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Or you could use the dress as a skirt. This is perfect for those chilly nights when you need to arm yourself with more than just garlic.

Do you own this dress? A floral dress? What is your favorite way to style it?

* This is the link to the dress, but it is sold out. However a brick and mortar store might still have it if you call customer service. I cannot, however, guarantee that your dress will have any anti-vampire properties. Sorry about that.

** This has not been proven. If you happen to see a vampire, I doubt that the way in which you style this dress would be enough to scare them away. Well, unless you covered the dress in mirrors. But I think I would rather take my chances with the beasts.

* P.S. I shared this on The Pleated Poppy!

The Time I Met A Fairy Tale

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I am about to tell you a tale.

It is up to you to decide what to make of it.

Everything in this story is true.

And for the past seventeen years there have been moments where I have questioned the validity of my memory. Thankfully, it has remained the same after all of these long years. However, it does not make the story any less strange:

When I was nineteen I worked as a hostess at a little steak restaurant in town. The owners were a really cool laid-back couple in their thirties. Every girl that worked in the joint had a crush on the owner. We’ll just call him Derek*. He had long dark wavy hair that caressed the collar of his button-down cowboy shirt (the type of buttons that snap… And unsnap quickly, if you get my drift), a Brad Pitt smile, brown gleaming eyes, the sexiest whisper of a voice, and he wore his jeans well. Sorry for all of the sordid details. I wanted to get the details right for the story’s sake, of course.

Well, actually, Derek had nothing to do with the story, but I thought it would be fun to throw him in. For my your dreams tonight. It will make the story I am telling a little less disturbing.

You’re welcome.

So, there I was. At the hostess counter. The restaurant was extremely busy. The bar was full. We were operating on a short staff. We had an hour and a half wait. And us two hostesses were being swarmed with customers. Hungry customers, who after ten minutes into their hour and a half wait, would be coming up to us demanding to know where they were on the list. This wouldn’t be so bad if just one person did it, but it seemed that many folks parading around under the title of “adult” were terrible at time management.

And would come up every ten minutes to check our magic list. Because time must work differently on it.

This is why we always gave a wait time longer than we expected it to be. And, beside each name, the time we had given them to expect to wait was written.

That’s a little hostess trick I’m givin’ ya. And my second gift in this post.

Again, you’re welcome.

I might have also been slightly irritated that the white crayon I had been whittling with a steak knife had had to be put away to deal with the crowd. And also why today, there is one less whittler and one less crayon sculpture in the world.

This is where my gifts to you end.

Somehow, in the midst of all of this, in through the crowd, stalked a short little old man.

He is the center of our story.

He was as real as you and me.

He had a long white beard. A face full of leathered wrinkles. A large hawk nose. Beady little eyes. And a scowl larger than the whole of his entire body.

He also could not have been taller than five feet. In my memory he was as tall as the bottom of my rib cage, but that seems entirely impossible. And so for you I say, “under five feet.” In my head I say, “as tall as my rib cage.” You may choose to believe whichever you choose. It is just a small part of the story. He was not a “little person” as we know them today. He was just a very short…Very grumpy…Very odd little old imp man.

He came up to the hostess booth and asked me how long the wait would be. I asked him if he was by himself (this is because parties of one are quicker to seat). He was.

I told him his wait would be an hour.

Then I asked him for his name.

And he told me.

And I stared at him.

I asked him again.

And he told me.

And I laughed.

I could not believe it. It was the best joke of the night.

The little old man’s cheeks flushed red with anger. In my memory, he stomped his wee feet. But this is the part I think I might have exaggerated. For this story’s sake, though, we will say he stomped his feet in a mad little rage. He asked me why I was laughing.

And this is what I said, “Your name. Why, that can’t possibly be your name!”

He just stared at me. And stared at me. Until I picked up my pen.

“Okay. How do you spell that?” I inquired. It was at this point I began to suspect he was quite serious. And it was at this point I began to wonder if the air in the restaurant had been drugged.

“R-U-M-P-E-L-S-T-I-L-T-S-K-I-N,” he sharply spelled out, all the while giving me a stare that would have shriveled straw.

“Okay, Rumpelstiltskin. I will call you when your table is ready.”

The little old man stalked off towards the bar.

Our hostess desk continued to be bombarded. And I put the strange man out of my head for a time.

Until his name was the next to he called.

“Rumplestiltskin, your table is ready.”

No answer.

Snickers from the impatient crowd.

Two more times I called his name and two more times there was no answer.

For the last time, I said, “Final call for Rumplestiltskin. Rumplestiltskin, this is your final call.”

I never imagined that those words would be uttered from my lips.

I really never imagined any of the situation would have have occurred to me.

And that it would indeed be not an imagination.

Rumplestiltskin never did answer my call.

Maybe he had heard we had a magic list at that hostess desk and he was disappointed to learn the truth of it.

I think he left, because he was upset that he told me his name.

Either that, or the fact, that I cannot spin straw.

But it is definitely one of those two.

There really is no other explanation.

My having laughed at the poor man being entirely out of the mix.

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* Derek is the only part of this story that is made up. The name, that is. The man, well, he was oh so real.

Sweet dreams.

P.S. This absurd and 100% true account was written for The Daily Post’s Weekly Writing Challenge: Power Of Names.

Handira Blanket Winner and Things I’m Craving

The winner of the Anthropologie Handira Blanket is Melinda. Congratulations! I will ship it out to you on Tuesday.

I loved reading about each of your peaceful places. It was so wonderful to have that imagery in my head. Thank you for that! It made my week entirely better. You are all so awesome. I just appreciate you so much. I want to hug you right now!

Next month is my one year blog anniversary! I am very excited about it! So, tune in on the tenth of next month for that one! I cannot wait! I have tried to make it special. : )

Thank you for all of your support and kindness. You make each one of my days happier. Fuller. More complete.

Things I’m Craving:

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This month, I spent so much money on the Lace Study Dress, that my budget was primarily used up. I told myself I could not purchase anything unless it was $20 or under. Unfortunately, I am great at finding $20 and under. I managed to score some excellent popbacks. I got the Corca sweater for $20, the Illusione Top for $10 and the Lace Peplum Hoodie for $20. Three pieces for less than $50! Retail price for all three was $384.

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I found this jacket that looks incredibly similar to the jacket I coveted on Elsie from A Beautiful Mess in November. Except hers sold out at $66. I was really sad I missed out on it and have been thinking about it for months. Then I found it. Sort of. I found mine last week at Forever 21. Cost after 30% off sale? $21! I will post a picture with it styled soon. I may or may not hold my dog in the process, stand in my dining room, and have my hair in a messy bun atop my head. Is that too stalkery creepy awesome?

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I am coveting nothing at Anthropologie right now. I do not know what is going on, but I am not in love with any of the spring items that have come out (except for the Lace Study Dress I caress nightly). Although, if I could afford it, this beautiful lamp from last year would be coming home to me.

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I cannot afford this jacket from Free People, but I think it is rad (a word I seem to be using a lot lately).

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What I have been lusting after our books. I bought “Fan Girl,” “The Magician’s Elephant,” and “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore.” I finished the first two and I am halfway through the third.

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Because I absolutely adored “The Magician’s Elephant,” I also purchased “Flora and Ulysses” to read to my family this week.

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And “Attachments.” Although, I think this author is brilliant, I do not care for her abrupt endings in the other two books I have read by her. I am hoping this one is different.

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On Valentine’s Day, I made these brown sugar cakes for my family from this recipe. I will not be creating a full post about them. But if you like macadamia nuts, you will like the cake. If not (like my kids and myself, you probably will not). My husband loves macadamia nuts and loved it. Which is why I made it for my Valentine. : )

I am kind of burnt out on shopping. I picked up some coated Paige Denim Pants for 81% off at Nordstrom Rack and a tribal maxi cardigan from Forever 21 for $17 recently. I also couponed my butt off on Saturday and saved over 50% at the grocery store and got two loaves of french bread for .45 cents each in the process! Stick a fork in me, I’m done.

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Also, I had to share what I came across on Friday night. I was turning all of the lights off in the house. I am a night owl. I am always the last person to bed. I was on my way to my bedroom when I heard a loud snort. That snort could only be coming from one thing. Ollie. But I looked around the floor and could not see him. I turned on the lights. And there he was. In my Corrigan chair. He was so ashamed at being caught where he knew he was not supposed to be, he would not look at me. I called his name numerous times. Nope. If he can’t see me, I can’t see him. Right? After these pictures were taken, I had to move him. You can imagine the snorts of indignation this produced!

Poor guy.

What are you craving this month? Are you excited or nonchalant about the stores’ spring items trickling in? Do you just want to crawl into a chair and not be seen? I can kind of see the appeal in that.

Snort.