photo by Faith

My sister Beth and I flew to AZ recently to see to the care of my father. He had been admitted to the hospital and we had to figure out long term care for him, set up a living will, and find a home for him  for when he was discharged.  Finding all the resources and information for all we needed to know, proved to be quite a task. I thought this information might be helpful to pass along in case any of you are going through similar circumstances.

We received some good information from the Pima Council on Aging there in Tucson.

Here in Washington you can go to http://www.state.gov/m/dghr/flo/c23141.htm

And let me just say that although it was traumatic and challenging, it still seemed like the right thing to do.  We were estranged from my father for most of our years and weren’t quite sure how it all would play out.

I’m happy to say that although traumatic and stressful, I’m happy that we have done everything possible to see that he is cared for and safe and know that he is loved.

I’m including pics from our  time there in AZ. Some of you know my sister Beth Haggett who lived here in Tri-cites for lots of years and now lives in Utah.

We stayed with my wonderful friends Robin & Roger  Pettit who opened their home to us, so we wouldn’t have to pay for hotel.

And we were able to see my brother Randy  who lives in Tucson (who has a different father) and who we don’t get to see very often!

I thought Tucson, AZ was beautiful, I would have taken more photos but didn’t have time for much site seeing.

We’ve played for lots of their events and they are always a huge success!

Those people know how to put on a good party I’ll tell ya!

They always have a HUGE turnout with tons of people. It’s no surprise why! They always have great food, drinks,and incredible deals on lawn, garden and household decor!

The theme last night was beetles and they were all dressed in costume complete with bug outfits for the servers!

It was a great time! I didn’t get many pics of the main area cause we were out in a different area playing music. But, I did get a few pics so check it out!

I guess all their events are Invite Only But, I think she invites everyone on their mailing list! So I would definitely try to get on their mailing list if I were you!

(Photo By Stacy Lee)

Last weekend was my Grandson Kevin’s 1st birthday. The party was held at The Mid Columbia Gymnastics Academy indoor playground. It was the perfect place to throw a party for little ones. Especially active little boys! The Academy also boasts several different activities for ages 18 months to 6 years. Fun was had by all. Happy Birthday Kevin!

We were there for lunch and greeted by the sweetest woman who I later found out was named Beth.

It’s a family owned and operated restaurant and we were welcomed and waited on as if we were family.

We even got to go back to the kitchen where all the magic happens…and say hello to the cook “Mel” who is also the husband of Beth.

We then met the namesake “Maggie” who is their teen age daughter and also works in the restaurant. She was a sweet hard working young gal who was learning the ropes of restauranteur!

The food was fabulous! The decor, inviting and comfortable.

They told me that all the food is made fresh to order by scratch.

We were served a  home made bread loaf with butter that had just been baked just two hours before with our salads and it was scrumptious! And the  house made blue cheese dressing was to die for!

Tony had home made spaghetti with garlic bread and it was wonderful!

I understand they have daily specials and they also feature a different local wine each day.

The food was incredible and the service couldn’t have been any better.

They were definitely going the extra mile for their customers!

Check out the place next time you are in Prosser! Or better yet, make it a special trip!

Maggies Place is located at :

306 7th Street

Prosser, WA 99350

509-781-6068

509-788-0209

It’s worth it!

Ulta Beauty is offically open in Tri-Cities. The Grand opening continues today. Some of the exciting events you can enjoy are:

• Complimentary bareMinerals makeovers
• Behind the scenes look at the hottest products for the season from Smashbox
• Beauty tips from Benefit
• Complimentary skin and hair consultations from THE SALON at ULTA to help each guest receive customized services and product recommendations

• Four free gifts when you sign up for the ULTA Beauty loyalty program, or show your current loyalty card

Not to mention over 20,000 of the best beauty, fragrance,hair,and skin care products. The store even boasts it’s own Redkin Salon, and a dermalogica skin care center offering 20 minute facials for $20 on a walk in basis.

A very nice addition to the Tri-Cities. You’ll find Ulta at Columbia Center Mall next to Toy’s R US.

Ladies be careful you could spend a lot of $$ here. I spent a few $$ on make up from  Urban Decay.

I have to admit it was one of my favorite remotes EVER!

I’m always excited by fashion and design. Being a regular clothes horse I am always looking for new pieces to place in my closet!

Red carpet designs have their place however, I always have my eye out for clothes that are made for real women’s bodies! Lizzie Parker from NBC’s reality competition series “Fashion Star” is a designer who creates clothes for today’s woman.

This morning 98.3 THE KEY had the pleasure of speaking with Lizzie Parker. She was down to earth and delightful. Check out our interview.

Lizzie is a Michigan native currently living and doing business out of Issaquah’s Gilman Village. She is a proud mother of two, lover of English Bulldogs, and admireror of Dave Grohl from the Foo Fighters.

Check out the fashionable and functional designs of Lizzie Parker.

Not often do we have a weekend off to get away and relax! So my boyfriend Tony and I eagerly anticipated a wonderful adventure to relish some fresh air,peace, quiet and tranquility away from the hustle and bustle of our busy life!  We were envisioning  a beautiful display of open range land, glorious weather, peaceful horse rides…etc.

Okay, that was NOT the scenario of this weekend! (laughing out loud)

We had planned our first camping adventure of 2012 with our horses, Galeron, Duece and our newest little Lady Liberty. (She’s the baby I recently adopted) We hoped for a ride like we’d had and LOVED last summer at Potholes resevoir and figured this time, we’d  spend the night!  We knew it would be cold so we even borrowed a generator to heat up an oil heater inside our sleeping area in our new horse trailer (over the gooseneck).

Of course no camping trip would be complete without spending half a day and way too much money shopping for all the things you THINK will be the last time you’ll buy them (to justify the purchases) and making sure you’ve got everything needed to ensure the perfect experience! (see photos)

I’d practiced trailering the baby a number of times to make sure she would load/unload easilyand calmly and we took a few trial drives days before departure with all the horses in the new horse trailer to get them all used to it. And all looked fine! (see video)

We stopped so I could check on the horses about half way into the trip…to my complete dismay…Deuce, (who normally trailers perfectly) had apparently decided he was NOT happy in the new slant load and had gone ballistic! He had scraped the hair off his nose and had a bloddy spot on his head. I was HORRIFIED! I watched as he reared and kicked and wanted OUT! I  knew we needed to get some where to unload FAST, so we jumped back in the truck to get to the nearest place to unload.

The blood and scrapes were superficial, but the fact that he was that uncomfortable, made both Tony and I miserably sick to our stomach!

Thankful that Dueces’ injuries were not serious, we set up for the night..and thought we could enjoy our evening…but realized we couldn’t high line there, so had to tie the horses to the trailer for the night. We’d never tied them to the trailer all night before, so we  found ourselves staring out the window checking them every 5 minutes to make sure they were ok. So we didn’t sleep all night!

Tired the follwing day, we cut our ride short and headed home only after a little riding.

We took out all the horse dividers in the trailer and they all rode peacefully home. So, we had a good laugh at the fact that we just spent all this money on a fancy horse trailer with all the padded dividers for NOTHING! Cause we would’ve spent half the money on a plain stock trailer!

We feel thankful that all the horses are okay and we learned a few things…Like the generator is WAY tool loud! (So we won’t be buying one of those!  (oh yea…NEVER forget the salt and pepper!) And definitely bring MORE chocolate!!

I loved the trip, even though it wasn’t perfect, because I got to stare at the sunset and listen to the birds and see the bright stars in the night sky! And have some timewith my wonderful boyfriend. And all in all, I figure, an adventure is just that! An adventure! 

The event was held at Casa Vino in Richland. The place was packed! It’s been quite awhile since this combination of Cafe Blanco played so everyone came out!

Eddie Manzanares and Cafe Blanco still play around town and are very good. It’s a different group now. But It brings back fond memories for me, because Tony & I met when he was in that group and I was lead singer for The SHADES. He’d catch my gigs when he could and I’d go to his. One time, Eddie played a whole set without Tony playing so we could slow dance to all the romantic music!

They all got together to have some fun for this reunion and it was a blast! The group back then was Eddie Manzaneras, Jay Almiguir, Jp Benitz, and Rebecca Rodriquez.(Becca sounds just like Selena)

It was a fun time! Wished I would have gotten video on my phone but I did get a few pics!

The Tri-City Herald Reports: About 1,500 people turned out at the Red Lion Hanford House in Richland today to see Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul.

Doors were supposed to open at 11 a.m. for the rally, but the room already was nearly full by 10:30 a.m. Supporters of the Texas congressman filled every chair in the hotel’s main ballroom, which has a capacity of about 650 people, lined aisles and walls, and spilled out into the hotel lobby and hallways.

At one point, a fire marshal instructed the campaign to thin out the crowd in the ballroom so people can get through the aisles in case of an emergency.

Supporters waved Ron Paul signs and chanted slogans like “Ron Paul stand tall” and “End the Fed” while waiting for Paul to arrive, and a cheer rippled through the room as campaign staffers announced he had landed at the Pasco airport.

Paul spoke for about 45 minutes on a central theme of returning to the rights and principles in the U.S. Constitution, which he said he believes is the best way to ensure freedom, peace and prosperity for Americans.

He stopped to give a shortened version of his speech to the people outside before leaving for events in Idaho and Spokane later today.

Photo by Faith Martin

Last night, my boyfriend and I were starving…and decided to pop in to Texas Roadhouse to grab a bite! Well, that obviously was NOT something we could accomplish! The place was packed! Have you been there?

It looked cool inside, and smelled sooo good from outside! I really was excited to try it out! But, as soon as I walked in…I could tell it would be quite a wait.

The sitting area was wall to wall with about 30 people waiting ahead of us. I snapped a few pics…hope that was okay.

But, I wanted to ask…Is it worth the wait? Apparently lots of people are eating there…Let me know what you think!

Photo https://www.facebook.com/profile.ph

If you haven’t had a chance to check out Casa Vino lately…You should! We play there about once a month and there is a different band of live music every Friday and Saturday.  It used to feel cramped and crowded. But, The owner Andy, recently expanded the venue  and it is soo cool!

I wish I would have taken some pics of the expansion. It was packed on Sat night when we played and we had a blast! My friend Laura snapped a few  pics of us getting ready to start our first set, with my phone so I’ve included those.

Andy had a huge room constructed on to the wine bar for dancing now and there is plently of seating! And in the works, is an upstairs outside patio!

In the summertime, the huge bay door opens to the outside main level patio and it’s perfect for dining and listening to all the live music. Plus, you won’t find a better tasting Italian Panini!! Yum! Oh and did I mention they have wine? Check it out sometime! Keene Rd, Richland.

If you’re into winter sports: skiing, boarding, snow shoeing or snowmobiling look no further than White Pass. It is by far one of the best ski hills around and it only takes 2hrs. to drive there. White Pass has 43 trails and averages 350 inches of snow per year. There are 8 lifts on the mountain to get you to your favorite trail. Adult lift tickets are $58 for full day and $44 for half day. Kids 7-12 and seniors 65-72 are $ 37 for full day and $30 half day.

If you’ve never skiied or boarded no worries White Pass has a great learning center with all sorts of packages to fit your needs. I just took a lesson last week and I’ve been skiing for a few years. If you have little one’s they have child care and a pee wee ski program. And a free ski check when you’re hanging at the lodge.

 There is on mountain lodging at the White Pass Village Inn and  down the hill in the nearby town of Packwood you’ll find some great cabins or motels.

White pass is my favorite because there is something for everyone and it’s relatively close.

At an interactive art installation for the Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane, artist Yayoi Kusama created a fully white environment (a blank canvas) where over the course of two weeks children who visited were given thousands of colored dot stickers and were invited to collaborate in the transformation of the space.  The installation, entitled The Obliteration Room is part of Kusama’s Look Now, See Forever exhibition that runs through March 12 in Brisbane.

[Pictures via stuart addelsee, sccart, and heybubbles, Story from Poppytalk.blogspot.com]

Photo by Faith Martin

Is it just me? Or is the Tri-Cities FINALLY getting some interesting places to dine?  We used to have to choose from just a couple restaurants in town, but it seems we are movin’ up in the world when it comes to casual and fine dining!

Last night Tony & I went to the “Soft Grand Opening” of the new Kennewick City Grill (Hwy 395, formerly Fat Olives)

JD Nolan’s Dad “Tiny”  and his family own the restaurant  along with the “Fat Olives” restaurant in Richland. They decided to change up the menu at the Kennewick location to something a bit different and rename it.  And I like what I see!

You can find them on facebook too!

They’ve done some remodeling,  added a cocktail bar area and spruced up the place with interesting decor and paintings.

We dined on some scrumptious beef bites for appetizers which had warm blue cheese sauce and pita points and Wowza!  AWESOME! I highly recommend those! Then I ate a HUGE Chicken Sandwhich, called the “Californian” complete with avocado. Tony had Rib eye steak! Our server Katie was amazing! All of it was excellent!

You can find all your favorites entrees;   Pasta, Rib-eye, Bone in Pork , Grilled Chicken, Baby Back Ribs etc. Or salads, sandwiches, and burgers. The Onion Rings were to die for! Everything we ate was wonderful!

I’m not much of a drinker, but I had an X-rated Lemon drop and boy was it tasty! I however, chose NOT to be the one driving home after that one!

JD says: “We have two “Happy”  Happy Hours  from 2-5pm and again from 9pm-close with awesome drink and food specials!” And then he named off a lot of really great deals which I can’t remember! Point is…Cool place! Great friendly people! And excellent food! Go check it out when you get a chance! And say hi to Jd, Tiny, & Katie for me!

Photo by Soliddreamadventure.com

My oldest son Nick who lives in Seattle, writes a blog about different things. He shared this with me and I found it facinating! And wanted to share it. “Bike the Globe With A Purpose, Soliddream’s Adventure”

I would love to think I was capable of such a thing, but I believe after watching the video that I am NOT capable of putting my energy into something like that at least not right now!

I find myself amazed at extraordinary people that can accomplish such feats with a purpose of altruism.

I’m impressed at the dedication and the determination it must take to do such an adventure.

The photography is amazing! My son is a brilliant writer and the video gives quite a glimpse of what it must really feel like to be taking this journey! Check it out! I know we have Bicycle Clubs here in Tri-Cities. I wonder what kinds of adventures they go on. Please share if you know and post your comment or reply below.

I grew up in Santa Cruz CA and we had lots of fog and rainy days and I craved the sunshine like no other!

Most of what I love to do in life happens to be outside! So it just makes it miserable to have to endure cold weather! Luckily in the Tri-Cities we get more sunshine than most!

But, I have found that no matter what the weather is like, If I will bundle up and go do what I love ANYWAY, I end up having a great time!

Now, I have to say that I have the most amazing friends and boyfriend whom will also brave the cold to go and have fun with me!  And I love that about them SOOO much!

These pictures are of our horse ride on Sunday.

My friend Nadia, was a listener who contacted me one day when I was “on the air” and asked if I’d like to ride with her.

My horse Galeron and I met her that day after work, and we’ve been friends ever since! That was about 8 years ago! She and I have enjoyed a so many great horse adventures over the years and I feel so blessed to have her in my life!

She rides Cisco A beautiful Kieger Mustang.

And the other pictures are of my wonderful boyfriend Tony and his horse Duece! We have just begun our adventures together riding for the past year or so and he’s really enjoying it!

Nadia made hot chocolate for us all and had Christmas bells for us to put on our horses as we paraded down the trail on our merry way!

I tried to get them to sing Christmas Carols with me…but, they weren’t hot on that idea!

It was a great time anyway! And always is when I get out and do what I love in spite of poopy cold  weather!

https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/247082922025537/

I know times are tough for lots of people right now, which is why I so appreciate organizations and people who will put the word out about pets of all kinds that need QUALITY homes with people that can afford to feed and care for them.

I saw this Guardian Angels Horse Rescue on Facebook and wanted to pass along the info. If you scroll down you can see the many horses that are in need of care. Angie is the gal who posted the rescues. Call her at 509-380-3209

PLEASE don’t even THINK about adopting a horse unless you know you can afford to give it feed, vet care, and attention!

The weekly winner receives a Family Four Pack of lift tickets to Bluewood. On Jan. 2, one of the four winning families will win a private family lesson!

Each week we’re looking for a different theme.

Dec. 4-10: Awkward family portraits in ski gear.

Dec. 11-17: Funny ski outfits

Dec. 18-24: Funniest wipe-outs

Dec. 25-31: Funniest shots from the bunny hill

Bluewood is open this weekend. Visit www.bluewood.com for details for find the resort on Facebook.com.

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