Today was a leisurely day of nothing in particular. The only solid plans Mr. W and I had was to attend a friend and coworker’s artist’s boutique show in Laguna Beach. I bought a packet of stickers from her, a citrus-scented room diffuser from someone who made her own perfumes and bath products, and a beautiful earth-toned string of pearls for my mom from a jeweler craftswoman. Here’s me with the artist Jax.

Since we were in Laguna Beach, we decided to wander and enjoy the sunny day. We window-shopped around the beach stores and ended up at The Cliff, a beachside restaurant, for an early dinner. Here’s our seat.

The restaurant seating borders some small boutique shops, where I bought a pretty blue cat-eye toe ring. Mr. W says that I actually have a very hippy philosophy and make a great hippy. I begged to differ, claiming I’m too conservative. He started ticking off my hippy traits. I’m all for protecting the environment, I’m shunning red meat, I’m anti-big-business — I stopped him here and confessed I recently bought something at WalMart. But I do now have a toe ring. We window-shopped our way back to the car, and decided to find me a rash guard for our Tahiti trip, just so I don’t get completely burned to a crisp while snorkeling. The local shops surprisingly didn’t offer much selection, if any, and we decided instead to drive to REI. Turned out, REI was closed early. I suggested Sports Authority, where we found a slightly better selection and I bought a blue Body Glove long-sleeved rash guard. I also saw some athletic two-piece swimsuits, and I’d been looking for something supportive and flat to fit underneath the rash guard, so I got a new bikini as well. Talk about spending a lot of money without planning to.

On the drive home, Mr. W was tapping out the rhythm of the song we were listening to on my knee, and he said rather suddenly, “You know…I’m the happiest right now that I can remember ever being in my entire life.”
I sheepishly closed my cell phone, on which I was checking email. “Right now? Like, in this car?”
“No,” he said. “In like the past year. And I’ve been alive a loooong time, so this must have something to do with you.” He patted my knee playfully.
“Wow.” I blinked. “That’s the nicest thing that anyone’s ever said to me.” And then something else occurred to me. “But you have a horrible memory, so that doesn’t mean anything,” I said as I popped my cell phone back open again. Mr. W laughed good-naturedly.

But really, I think that comment even beats the last nicest-thing-anyone’s-said-to-me. Yup, life’s pretty good. The only thing that could make it better would be if I dropped those laaaaast few pounds until my goal (which is 118 lbs) before vacation. I dumped weight like crazy when I started a little over a month ago, and it’s slowed down dramatically. I’ve gotta stop making stuff like this for dinner:
Before…tomato sauce, organic mushrooms, organic baby spinach, cheddar cheese, parmigiano reggiano cheese, black olives, minced garlic, sitting on some dough.

After…last night’s homemade dinner with a crispy crust!!

I think I’m gonna have tea for dinner.