The Lodge at Blue Lakes

For the past years, my husband and I have been driving by Clearlake Oaks everytime we camp at Fort Bragg. I’ve always wanted to stay in one of those cabins or motels by the lake. So, last weekend, we decided to go. We decided to book a room at The Lodge at Blue Lakes because of all the positive reviews that we read. Hmmm…this might become our weekend getaway. I was very excited and have this great expectations about the place. Here’s what I have to say about the place. I will be as fair as possible with my review.

The Lodge at Blue Lakes is located in the town of Upper Lake Ca. It is in a picturesque setting, on the banks of a small lake. There are a lot of boating opportunities, including paddleboats, kayaks and pontoons. A nice bonus is that paying guests get an hour a day of free boating.   It is isolated, so there is a lot of quiet. We were able to negotiate a much lower rate in January. You need to, a lot of the amenities are shut down in the winter. The tradeoff is that very few people are there at that time of the year so we have the place all to ourselves. In summer, you might enjoy this place a little more with so much outdoor activities to do.

The Lodge is a clean place, but just an average motel. You are paying for the views and the atmosphere. The rooms are small, although the bathrooms are large. A nice touch is that  a continental breakfast is brought to your door in the morning. Direct TV and HD flat screens, lots of channels. Don’t pay extra for the room jacuzzi, it only can hold one person. The motel can handle weddings, they have a hall, but I was not impressed enough with management to ever think about it.

Click here and see if the place suits you.

THE VIEW

bbb

bbbb

bbb

THE ROOM

bbb

bbb

bbb

bbb

bbb

it’s all about the booties

Approximately 130 miles away from home, here in a romantic resort in Clear Lake, Lake, CA. It’s a perfect day to just sit back, relax and enjoy a cup of tea with dear hubby.

I will be writing a review about the resort where we stayed in on my next post. Today,  is all about fashion…Here, I’m showing one of my favorite pair of boots that I got as a gift for Christmas. What I love about this pair is it’s comfy and warm without looking too bulky.

Plaid shirt: via Macy’s

Blazer: thrifted via Crossroads

Jeans: Guess

Boots: Guess

Bag: Calvin Klein

Sunnies: Nine West

Coat: thrifted via Crossroads

post holiday…

Gift cards and gift certificates may not be the most personalized gifts one can receive for Christmas or birthdays but they are probably one of a few practical ones. I personally love receiving them. I do appreciate any types of gifts but sometimes when people don’t know what you really want, they end up sitting in the closet unused.

A couple of my favorite gifts  last Christmas  were gift certificates from Crossroads Trading Co. and Village Hat Shop. Since I’ve been bombarded with so much work during the holidays  I didn’t get the chance to spend them until yesterday. So, as soon as I got the time…off I went to Crossroads. This place buys and sells used clothing. They are a few steps higher than goodwill stores and there are plenty of fashionable clothes and accessories to choose from if you have the time and patience to look for them.

One of the four items I found is this coat for $15.00.  ↓

Today, I drove down to Old Sac to visit Village Hat Shop hoping to find the hat that I’ve been wanting to purchase (posted here). Unfortunately, it was no longer available. I was like a mad dog trying on one cool hat to another. Finally, this red hat seemed too hot for me to resist. ↓

It still feels like christmas to me…running around…shopping… without spending anything! I’m a happy camper! I’m that easy to please

gloomy sunday

With the tragedy that just happened in my hometown/ country, I felt so gloomy today. I went out to brunch and watched The Descendants with hubby to ease the blues. The movie was simple but with great acting, it kept my interest. Didn’t feel like putting on something fun, so I put on a Tulle coat over a long sleeve plaid shirt and a pair of jeggings. A pair of bold earrings I bought from Shasta city a few months ago gave the outfit a little pizzazz.

What I’m wearing:

coat: Tulle via Nordstrom

jeggings: Avon

boots: Nine West

plaid shirt: via macys

bag: coach

earrings: from a souvenir shop in Shasta City, CA

when mother nature strikes

It has been a sad couple of days. I just found out that my hometown, Cagayan de Oro in Philippines was badly devastated by Typhoon Sendong. I never realized the severity of the damage it caused until some friends shared several photos. To date, there are over 500 confirmed dead and the number is growing. I am thankful that my family and relatives are all safe although some of them were flooded and lost all of their belongings. Safety is most important among other things, that I am so thankful about; however, my heart goes out to the people who lost their love ones. When mother nature strikes there’s not much we can do. Below are some of the photos my friends shared.

This first photo below was taken in Iligan City, another neighboring city 1.5 hours away from Cagayan de Oro, also badly flooded.

One Hundred Seventeen people confirmed dead in Cagayan de Oro alone

vintage Joseph Magnin coat

A few years ago my stepmother-in-law handed me down her old Joseph Magnin suede coat. It’s been lurking in my closet, never been used. I love vintage clothing on other people but I never really ventured that side of fashion (yet). I am open and I’m willing to try it. So, I was organizing my closet and I found this coat I forgot I have. I wore it today and I still don’t know what to think of it. You’ll be the judge.

I think the collar is very interesting.

in holiday mode

I am still working on my christmas decorating around the house but the tree is finally up. I wanted a small tree ‘cos I didn’t want to deal with a lot of pine needles and hauling around a big tree is a pain but what the heck it’s only once a year. So I picked up a 6.5 foot  from Walmart. Hubby played some christmas music while I hung the ornaments on. This is my favorite time of the year and there’s something about christmas that makes me feel so happy except from the traffic and hustle and bustle that came with it It’s all good…that’s what makes it exciting I guess.

Every year we go to our favorite store in town called Mix Bag to get a couple of christmas ornaments. We have yet to do that this year. They have the coolest ornaments I’ve seen and so many to choose from. My three kitties each have their own ornament that represents them based on their personalities. I have their pictures posted on my older post, here.

My tree. I got most of the ornaments at the Dollar Tree.

This is Atchee’s (my oldest cat) ornament. She’s such a diva ↓

This is Mcqueen’s, he’s the only male cat. He has the greatest temper but likes to be up on anything with heights. ↓

This is Gizmo’s, my youngest kitty. I call her Gimmo just cos it sounds cute like her. She loves attention, purrs loud, and hyperactive. She also loves to climb up the tree and play with the ornaments. ↓

Last but not the least is Bud. Bud passed away last year. He lived for 17 years. We still put his ornament hanging to live with his memories. We miss him so much. ↓

You might think I’m crazy doing this but my husband and I love our kitties so much like our own babies. We include them in almost everything we do for holidays.

I hope everyone have a safe and happy holidays!

floral

It’s one of my close friends,  Cathy’s birthday a week ago but because it’s always hard to find time that works for everybody, we didn’t get to celebrate it ’til yesterday. We had lunch at Il Fornaio Italian Restaurant and did our post black friday shopping at the Galleria Mall. One of my friends just love to play a photographer every time we go out and here’s some pictures of me she took and what I wore.

I got this blue floral dress at Macy’s for $10.00! It’s so feminine and I love it’s sheer chiffon fabric.

This is the blazer I got at a thrift store for $5.00 which was shown here

I was wearing:

dress: Macy’s ($10.00)

blazer: thrifted ($5.00)

boots: Franco Sarto via Nordstrom Rack

bag: Deux Lux via Marshalls ( previously shown here)

ring: TJ Maxx

necklace: Evangelines

knee socks: Ross

countless blessings

November 24^th, 2:00 PM, Collins Lake recreation area, Marysville, CA. It wasn’t a typical place to be on thanks giving day but, there I was in a cold rainy evening with family and friends in front of a campfire enjoying each others company, our little chat and our turkey dinner with a fusion of German and Filipino cuisine. Being in a calm, captivating place at that very moment with wonderful people was a lot to be grateful for.

What we focus on, we empower and enlarge. Good multiplies when focused upon. Negativity multiplies when focused upon. The choice is ours: Which do we want more of?

JULIA CAMERON, Blessings

 If we can only draw our focus away from things that we didn’t have, to what we have, it is when we realize the countless blessings that we have to be thankful for. Sure, the economy affected everybody. I have never known so many people who lost their jobs and homes my entire life until today. It is sad and terrifying. I know, because I was once one of those people. As a self- proclaimed worrywart I worry about almost anything. I sometimes spend sleepless nights worrying about the possibilities of not being able to maintain the lifestyle that I have- which by the way, the same as most average Americans have- somebody who works hard to pay her bills and being able to maintain and run a typical average household.

This is how I cope…maintaining my optimism. Let me tell you, sometimes it’s not that easy to do. There are times when I get scared about what could happen to our country- the economy might get worse. It is when I start taking a look of the things I own, the family and friends around me, and where I’m at (literally). Then I think about the pictures I see and reports I read or hear about many others who basically have nothing, lost everything or people in a war zone who are suffering. I always come to a realization that I am luckier than the estimated 1.7 billion people who are living in poverty today. By that, I mean, people who luck the basic human needs such as shelter, water, food, and clothing. I think about those who are living in chaos their entire life yet they still manage to wear smile on their faces.

I still have a roof over my head, clothing, food on the table, my health, and most importantly I am surrounded with people I love. Life itself is a gift. Your perception about life changes how you live and appreciate the simple things around you. There are indeed a lot of things to be thankful for. You don’t need to look for them; they’re just around you needed to be seen and appreciated.

inspired by nature

Picked up my keys…drove up to the mountains

If I didn’t, I would have missed these….

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under
trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky is by no means a waste of time.
                                                                              – J. Lubbuck

Donner Lake

How easy and simple it is to live enjoyably when the simple,
interminable blue of the sky,with its long wisps of white
clouds, become a pleasant thing to behold, a thing of
beauty that thrills you every time you care to look skyward.
                                                                                       -John Schindler

Along I-80 between Sacramento, CA and Reno, NV

There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains
of nature – the assurance that dawn comes after night,and
spring after the winter.
                                                                           – Rachel Carson
The Sense of Wonder

The landscape belongs to the person who looks at it.
                                                                       - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Delight in the beauty that surrounds you.

Stop every now and then.  Just stop and enjoy.  Take a deep
breath.  Relax and take in the abundance of life.

Discovering this idyllic place, we find ourselves filled with a
yearning to linger here, where time stands still and beauty
overwhelms.