Welcome to Chaos !!

It was destination IKEA today for some comfort food. I spent several hours last night watching Swedish TV and missing Sweden. So the best remedy I could think of was a visit to IKEA. I got the vegetable balls for me and the meatballs for Chhaya. If you present the IKEA family card at the restaurant you get a free coffee with refills (påtår in Swedish).



I ❤ Sweden.



The view from the IKEA parking lot. It was windy today and the temperature dropped.



Chhaya devoured the meatballs.



Tomorrow night the Victoria's Secret fashion show airs on TV, this year it was held in Shanghai. I LOVE the Victoria's Secret fashion show! The girls, the outfits.....love it! I have to watch it. They had the Miss Universe contest here in Vegas the other night, that doesn't interest me at all although when I was a kid I would watch it but now I find it kind of lame. Beauty competitions feel so outdated.....the girls are trying to come off as caring and selfless (yeah right) when they answer the "deep" questions when in the end all that matters is the parading around in a bikini and getting that crown.
Back to the Victoria's Secret models.....I really like Bella Hadid. Her body, long limbs, flat stomach, nice waist. And I like her face. Yes, I know she had surgery on her face but even I that is natural would consider going to Bella's surgeon. The nose and lips are gorgeous. So....should Bella take The Weeknd back? I think they were cute together....so perhaps she should. If he truly realizes what he lost and understands what he had when they were together. Selena and Justin should be a couple, besides Bella is so much prettier than Selena and I suspect more mentally sane. Yes....I sound like a teenager now but I really like Bella.
Oh.....and the Prince Harry and Meghan Markle engagement? I think they make a GREAT couple! They look happy, so congratulations!
What else.....it's a month left to my birthday. And I need to go to bed now. Tired.

So destination Vegas for a while.....as usual I have been very busy since I arrived in town.
Let's see....A spectacular display of colors sunset right past Beatty.....I wish I could had stopped and watched it and taken more and better pics but I was in traffic.



When I woke up the next day I got my latte from Madhouse Coffee and the Las Vegas Weekly to see what's going on in town. Since I got here it's been record heat. 80 degrees at the end of November is hot for Vegas.



Yesterday I met up with my cafe crew and had Thanksgiving with them. Here I am with Emily (the owner) and Stacy (the manager). My girls. I miss them.





Chef Gabi was not with us but she baked a delicious apple pie that I was very happy to gobble down, I sent her this pic thanking her for her talents in the kitchen.





I had one drink and some sparkly wine, so I felt very funny and tipsy. A selfie with some lime made a lot of sense.



And tonight I had dinner with my friend Theresa at Grimaldi's. We both love Margherita pizza so we had one each.



It's getting late and I am taking Chhaya on a walk around the neighborhood. Then sleep.
Busy day tomorrow again.

Welcome to Nevada.....yes I am in Nevada, took a little trip. It's late and I will sleep soon.
My right ear and the right side of my throat hurt when I swallow. I drove through a small town called Denio. It's on the border of Oregon and Nevada, the Nevada side. People live there (in Denio), I don't know what they do there but people live in all kinds of places. I guess I could live isolated far away from everything if I lived on a very large farm/ranch of some sort with many animals that I could occupy myself with. And internet. And a twice yearly trip to NYC and some other big city to break up the farm life. If no animals and internet I would have to escape. Now it's sleep time......I have not reached my destination yet. Continuing the journey tomorrow.

Sunday today.....woke up a bit too early. Fell back asleep again with Chhaya cuddled up close to me. I loooove sleeping together with her.
Then I went and got a latte of course, read up on the latest news and met Desi at the gym so we could move around bit and not be stagnant. I really wasn't in the mood to move anything today so I had to really force myself and I felt cranky about doing cardio for a few minutes but afterwards I was happy that I did drag myself to the gym.
Then I did errands and got food. Normal Sunday stuff. Decided to try an ice cream called Turkish Coffee. Very coffee tasting.



Can you believe Christmas is around the corner? And 2018? 2017 is coming to an end.

I got up early today, it was still dark out. When I got breakfast the sun was out and the window was slowly thawing up at the place I got my poached egg croissant from.....still no snow outside though.



Returned home, ate my breakfast in bed and went back to sleep. When I woke up it was after 2 and I had anxiety. Not because it was after 2, just because and why I don't know. I felt uneasy for several hours, it is just a gnawing feeling inside.....difficult to describe. I figured I needed comfort food today so dinner consisted of soup and mashed potatoes with gravy. Now it is early evening and dark out. I feel a bit better. I think. Still not feeling like my normal self. I hope tomorrow will be better. I am going to the gym tomorrow and doing a bunch of errands, that will keep me busy.

My intention was to write this blog months ago.....but I didn't because of bla bla bla (excuses, lazy, procrastination etc), so here it is. No more excuses and I am not doing anything tonight anyways. 11 pm is approaching, Chhaya is sleeping and I will be up for at least three more hours. And before I get lost in music videos and dreams....here it is.
So back in March of this year I was working as a barista at a cafe in Vegas. One day I took my coworkers to China Ranch and the mud baths in Tecopa. A great adventure to take people on. And a few days after that I returned with my friend Diane. Everybody loved it - of course.
I am a great tour guide.
Here are the pics. I have several blogs about China Ranch and Tecopa mud baths.
Both located in California.
When I went with my cafe crew it was six of us. It takes about 2 hours or so to drive to China Ranch from Vegas. So if you want to do this day trip, follow my directions to get the most out of it if you only have a day.
Start with going to China Ranch so you can see the place in the daytime, go on a hike (I do the Slot Canyon hike), visit the gift shop, perhaps eat any food that you bring with you or have a date shake from the gift shop, that I believe closes at 5 pm.



After China Ranch you can stop at Death Valley Brewing in Tecopa for a bite to eat and/or a beer. They have a large selection on tap. Make sure to check that they are open first.





Then you can head for the mud baths right outside Tecopa. I like to catch the sunset there.
In our group of six only Stacy joined me in the muddy warm water, yes it was cold and windy but so what. Stacy is from Australia so she is not afraid of anything. My kind of girl.





After the mud baths it is nice and also good idea to rinse off and soak in a hot spring, so drive back to Tecopa and go to Delight's Hot Springs Resort. They have four indoor pools, one of them has an open roof and you can stargaze. I recommend that. There is also an outside area that is very peaceful and relaxing.....it's nice to sit there and cool off in between soaking in the pools.





This is a great road trip adventure. Only smiles and good memories afterwards.