Going to Grandma's House

My grandmother will be 90 years old this year. I haven't seen her in three years. I figured it was time to pay her a visit. I was quite shocked at how much she had aged in those three years. It was very sad. I really need to visit her more often.

My mom and I planned this trip several months ago. My grandmother lives about four and a half hours from me. So, scheduling a trip takes planning. I took the Greyhound to my mother's home on Thursday afternoon. On Friday morning, her and I left for my grandmother's. On the way, we got a bit hungry. As many times as I have been to Nevada, I have never explored Truckee, CA. This time, my mom and I did a bit of exploring. We stopped in downtown Truckee for a hearty lunch. Across the street, to my delight, was an old gas station that was converted to a real estate company. They were careful to keep the aesthetic of the building, only changing the garage doors. They even had the original gas pumps. I just had to take photos.

Sadly, the next day, these glasses broke. I spent the rest of the weekend squinting.

When we were about a half an hour away from my grandmother's home, we stopped in Reno to shop at an antique store. I found a very cute pastel quilted dress from the 1950s that is super comfy. I didn't spend a lot of time in the store since I was only looking for clothing, and there wasn't much. After that  we headed back on the road to my grandmother's. We spent the evening with my uncles and my grandmother eating bbq'd tri-tip and chicken. I don't get grilled meats often, since there isn't much room in San Francisco to have a bbq. So, dinner was quite a treat for me. 

The next day was quite windy and was playing havoc on my dress collars (they kept hitting me in my red painted lips). But, I didn't want to miss the opportunity to shop in the one thrift store in town. I found a coat pattern from 1958, and several old cook booklets - dating from 1940 to 1955. 

Being the only grandchild on my mother's side, I get all the important things. The last time I saw my grandmother, she gave me her wedding ring, which I cherish. This time she gave me her watch, which still works. My grandfather always bought my grandmother nice gifts when he got in trouble with her. The watch came after he spent the night in jail for getting intoxicated. When he was released, he took her to the jewelry store to buy a watch.

 I was also able to go through all of my grandmother's photos, which I had never done before (I don't know why), and hope to be able to post some of those on this blog soon.

It was then time to go back to my mother's house. We stopped in Reno again to visit another antique store that I couldn't find the day prior. I had previously visited this store the last time I was in Reno. They had tons of vintage clothing at the time, but sadly not any more. I did, however, get the most fabulous 1940s dark green hat. After that we hit another thrift store where I found a spring yellow hat with white flowers. It was getting late, so we stopped shopping, and headed back to my home town.

Sunday morning was the day that I headed back to San Francisco. Before we left Sacramento, CA, I talked my mom into going to two more thrift stores. The first one I found an adorable 1950s green night gown. At the second one I found an old 1972 Jim Beam bottle in jade green. Though not as old as I typically buy, I couldn't let this bottle go. It was so pretty. To sweeten the deal, the cashier gave it to me for 50% off. I think that green was the color of my weekend. 

In case you haven't notice, my hair is a little different too. Until Washington, D.C. can figure out what to do with the budget, we will be furloughing twice a month. With the cut in my pay, I've had to figure out what I could live without. One of those things is my hair. My stylist stripped as much of the color out of my hair as he could, and dyed it a few shades darker than my natural. The goal is to gradually let my hair grow out to it's natural color. Usually my hair can take a lot of abuse, but I have reached the point of what my hair can take (I had stripped it less than a year ago to shoot the extra scenes for our film - then went back dark). You will probably see me wear a lot of scarves like the ones above as I try to hide the fact that I no longer wash  my hair daily. I am still learning how to style them, but am enjoying the challenge. 

Even though this was a fast trip, I enjoyed spending time with my family and shopping. This will probably be my last big shopping trip for a while. I am glad that I had was able to go out with a bang.