Jingle Bash - Crafts Fair and More!

Click Here for More Info

Sit Down to Stand Up For Kids! OCT 13 - Dallas

Little Chairs for a Big Cause is a fun event being put on by Etsy Dallas to help raise funds for the Dallas Children's Advocacy Center (DCAC),

Small chairs handmade by David Patton of Ferrochie and creatively decorated by Etsy Dallas artists will be auctioned.   Guest can also enjoy free food, drinks, and music. Admission is free, but voluntary charitable donations will be accepted at the door.


WHEN:  October 13th from 6:30 - 9:00pm
WHERE:  The Blue Room at South Side on Lamar (1409 S. Lamar, Dallas TX)

FREE Events in Texas

Looking for something to do this summer?  Try the following free events!


July 24
Free Admittance to the Ladybird Wildflower Center in Austin, TX

July 31
Paint a Thomas Train in Austin, TX  (must reserve a free ticket)

August 8
Free Museum Day at the Mayborn Children's Museum in Waco, TX

Now Through August 30th
Get a Free Ticket to McKenna Children's Museum in exchange for school supply donations to the Communities in Schools of South Central Texas.

ANYTIME
Find more free events in Austin at Free Fun in Austin!

If you know of more free events going on in Texas (or California) please let me know and I'll post them!

Go to Museums and Gardens for Free!

Want to visit a museum for free?  There's lots of California and Texas museums and gardens offering free admission in May!

• Admission is free  the Mayborn Children's Museum in Waco, TX on May 1, 2011.  (I really recommend this one...you can spend the whole day there and not see everything there is to see!  The pictures above are from there.)
  
  
• Free Museum Day lists days you can visit museums for free.  Currently their list includes museums in these California Cities:  Los Angelos, San Diego, and San Francisco.
  
  
• Today is the last day to enter for a 4 pack of Tickets to Sea Life Aquarium in Carlsbad, CA (plus get a $50 Froots gift card).  Only 8 people have entered this!
  
  
• Get free admission to local gardens May 6. They have gardens from all over the country.

A Few More Days To Earn Money for Cameron Park Zoo - And a Coupon!

Big photos is still donating $1 to Cameron Park Zoo for everyone who registers at the new Cameron Park Zoo Photo Site through April 22nd! Plus you can get $5 off photo books with coupon code HOLSM! What's especially cool about these photo books is that you can use zoo animal photos provided by Cameron park alongside your own photos...so if you didn't get a really great shot of that Rhino or Leopard you can use theirs right next to a pic of your smiling kiddo.

About Me

Hi, and welcome to Texifornia...the blog for Californians in Texas and Texans in California!  Which one am I?  Read on...

I was born in California. Until I was 10 I lived on a big, yellow, converted Navy launch named SNAFU  (since this is a family friendly blog we'll just describe that acronym like my parents did:  Situation Normal All Fowled Up). Here it is....

...and there's me.  It was a unique life:  the biggest swimming pool on earth right out our back door, but also very little living space, a sailor's sway that I took with me to class, and quite a bit of isolation.  My mom got sick of it eventually just about two minutes after I was born...but it took years to convince my dad to sell the boat, and then more years to actually find someone to buy it.  I don't know whatever happened to the boat I grew up on.  Would love to know, if anyone's seen a boat like this chugging along somewhere. 

So, then we moved to the mountains (my parents didn't care for big cities)....

Twin Peaks, specifically  (yep...same name as that TV show.  Different city though)!  We loved living up right in the middle of all that beauty.

Then I went to college, met and fell in love, and followed the man who would become my husband to Texas...where there are no mountains (um, at least not the 5,000 ft high mountains like the ones I had lived in)  and the oceans were brown (Galvaston) and summers are 110 degrees (at least)!   Needless to say, I was homesick!  And so, Texifornia.com started...a little site for Californians from Texas, and Texans from California.

This blog started out mostly as a place to post news for Texifornians, and I still do that, but it's become more a place to post photos, share about places I've been, talk about my crazy gardening "techniques", and share about our backyard wildlife. 

I've been in Texas over ten years now and have learned to love a lot about it...the wildflowers, the sunsets, the slower pace of living!  I still miss California sometimes, but I'd miss Texas too if I left (except for the allergies and that 100 degree heat!).

(UPDATE:   In August 2017 I moved back to California and am currently living in San Diego.  I DO miss the dear people I got to know in Texas, but not the heat or the allergies!)

Well, wherever you're blogging from, glad you're passing through!  And if you happen to be a Texifornian yourself, I'd love to add your blog to my blogroll and maybe interview you on the blog, so please let me know!

(Me at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin...

beautiful place if you ever get a chance to visit!)

May God Bless your Day!

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This post was originally written for the The Ultimate Blog Party, a huge blog hop put on by 5 Minutes for Mom.

The Tsunami in California

Though it's nothing compared to what happened in Japan, California was also hit by the Tsunami.  I don't believe homes on land were affected (I could be wrong about that) but some people who lived aboard their boats lost their homes.

As someone who grew up living aboard, the news story above saddened me.  Here's a clip from it if you have trouble watching video: 

Time and opportunity are two commodities that once lost, we do not usually get back. For Jody Connolly of Santa Cruz, they are the difference between calling a particular 30-foot boat "home" or a total loss.

"If I had known that it was going to be more than a foot tsunami, which was being predicted through the news and the Weather Channel, I would have easily taken my boat out to sea," he said.

Connolly says they had ten hours warning, but no one in Santa Cruz harbor expected tsunami surges like the ones that hit last Friday.

I contacted the Santa Cruz chamber of commerce, and found out that they are taking donations for people who lost the boats they lived on.  The Red cross in Santa Cruz is collecting donations both for local relief efforts and for Japan.

Donations of cash or checks made payable to either “BFCU for American Red Cross Japan Relief Fund” or “BFCU for American Red Cross Santa Cruz Relief Fund” can be made:

• In person at any Bay Federal Credit Union Branch
• By mail, addressed to:
  

  Bay Federal Credit Union,
  Attention: Tsunami Relief
  3333 Clares Street
  Capitola, CA 95010 

• Online at www.bayfed.com. 

If you want to volunteer to help with clean-up you can contact:

http://www.saveourshores.org/

Phone: (831) 462-5660

Dallas Blogger's Meetup

This isn't something I'm going to...but thought I'd pass the word on about the Dallas Bloggers Meet-up to any other bloggers who might be interested....

An Idea...Traveling the World by Blog

Hello all! Happy New Year if you're visiting from Asia! I've been enjoying participating in One World One Heart the last few days, and am sad to learn that this will be the last year that Lisa Swifka will be holding this event. This is my second year to participate, and I've enjoyed it so much. (You can click here to see my One World post for this year.)

I thought this might be a good time to share an idea that's been germinating since last years event. I thought it would be cool to try something similar, maybe in summer, that focused on the places we live and love. A blogging event where we share about where we live, or where we used to live, or someplace else we've been...and offer a small souvenir from there (wouldn't have to be something big...something like a postcard would do).

I would like some help though. Of course, I'll need people to participate and people to help me get the word out. If you think you might be interested, please leave your e-mail or blog url below so I can be in contact with you, or e-mail me at ecarian at yahoo dot com

Also, My dad is not in good health, and I know I could be called back to California at any time if something happens with his situation. So, I would like to partner with someone else who could possibly take over if need be.

Blog Party at My Other Blog! You're Invited!

Hi! I'm having a blog party at Scribbleprints (one of my other blogs) to celebrate reaching 100 followers!  That's my shop blog, where I share about all the cool funny and artsy things I'm designing and selling through CafePress and Zazzle.   I hope you'll all stop by.  I have games and giveaways and free coloring pages!  

The giveaways are pretty easy to win too, since there aren't a lot of people entered (some of the giveaways NO ONE has entered).  Here's a few of the fun "party favors" you can win...

CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE PARTY

My World Tuesday - Lego Castle Adventure

My World One of my favorite places to take the kids here in Waco is the Mayborn Museum. This summer (through September 5th) they have a Lego Castle Adventures Exhibit. Here's some pictures of my kids exploring it...

 My littlest loved the lego castle.  

One of his favorite things was jumping off the thrown.

The wall and thrown were not made of "real" legos, 

but that stained glass window behind it was...

...as was this knight AND the tapestry behind him.

 My two older boys spent most of their time making their own lego creations.

They had some giant sized blocks for little ones to play with too.

I suggest bringing hand sanitizer...some of these were pretty grimy. 

My littlest (age 2) got bored of this exhibit after about an hour...but my older kids (who both love Legos) could have stayed there building all day. But even without this exhibit the Mayborn has plenty of fun things to keep your children fascinated all day.

Free Museum Tickets and More July 16 - 18

Target is sponsoring free admission to various arts and cultural museums and events around the country July 16 through 18.  Visit the link below to see what's available near you...

Arts and Wonder Free Family Event

MAY 9: The Easiest Food Drive EVER!

Stamp Out Hunger is easiest food drive ever! Seriously, you don't have to take the food anywhere but your mailbox--and the post office will pick it up for you for free! How easy is that!

This is also a great time to do some spring cleaning of your cabinets. Do you know that canned food, and boxed food, expires? Yes, it does. So, take a look in your cabinets...check the expiration dates on that food, and ask yourself, am I really going to use this before it expires? If you don't think you will, why not toss it in a box and put it by your mailbox May 8? (And if it's already expired, toss it out, for your own safety).

Blog Party Time!

It's here! The 5 Minutes For Mom 2010 Ultimate Blog Party is here. It's a chance to meet a lot of other moms, have fun, and maybe win some prizes too. So sit down, have a piece of frog cakeand some Texifornia Vulture Breath Chili and enjoy yourself!

INTRODUCTIONS
Let me introduce myself! I'm Gale. I was born in California but moved to Texas a little over 10 years ago. I started Texifornia when I was still reeling from homesickness and culture shock! It's mainly a place for Texans in California and Californians in Texas to laugh and share our experiences--but anyone is welcome, wherever you're from!

PARTY FAVORS
There's lots of prizes at the 5 Minutes For Mom Ultimate Blog Party! Here's the ones I want to win most!

1. A Be My Guest certificate ($250 value) for one lucky winner, (2 night stay for a family of four) at any Hilton Garden Inn from bloggin2noggin.
2. $50 via paypal by MomDot
3. A Box of Sees Candies being offered by Lamp Unto My Feet. Yep, that's right, SEE'S CANDIES! My favorite candy which they don't have out here in Texas! Miss See's so! She's also offering another box you can win on here blog here!

Here's my other faves: USC 17, USC 15, USC 3, USC 8, USC 60, USC 11, US58, US112, US73, US74 US87, US104, USC 9, USC 25, US88, US113, US114, US107, USC 32, US8, US88, US52, USC 44, USC 40, US37,US11, US49, US61, USC 63, US66, USC 38, US9, USC 57, USC 16, US26, US102, INTL 11, INTL 14, INTL 10, INTL 16, INTL 15, INTL 3, INTL 8

TEXAS/CALIFORNIA PARTY SPOTS
As I stumble on Ultimate Blog Party Bloggers from California and Texas, I'll add links here so my Texan and Californian readers can find some "folks" near them.

TEXANS

• Texas Coupon Chicks
• Texas Monkey
  

CALIFORNIANS

• The Mommy Trade

TEXIFORNIANS

• When California Meets Texas
  

PARTY GAMES
Wanna join in some fun blog party games? They're a fun lil' way to get to know each other!

• Something in Common Game


• Texifornian This or That

CONVERSATIONS
Please leave a comment and share where you come from, and where you've been! Whether you're a Texifornian or a New Yorksylvanian or Hawaiian who's never been stateside, I hope you'll join in and have fun!

Magic Carpet Giveaway

WINNER CHOSEN - CONGRATS MELISSA

---

Hello and welcome to Texifornia! If you're coming here by carpet ride you may be wondering what strange place the magic carpet has brought you! Let me introduce myself and show you around a little.

I am a mother of three little boys who moved to Texas from California long before any of those three little boys were born. I was homesick as crazy at first, and had a lot of trouble with the culture shock....which is how Texifornia came about.

Texifornia is a little spot I created for Californians in Texas (like me) and Texans in California. It's a place where you can find news, humor and other tid-bits about California and Texas (and especially anything that relates to BOTH states) and meet other Texifornians. This blog is just part of it...there's graphics and jokes and more on the main site.

So, from wherever around the world today, Hello and welcome to Texifornia! And, now...on the the giveaway:

I am giving away one of the following (your choice):

A Post Card from From Texas (From Me)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dominicspics/ CC BY 2.0

No, this isn't the actual one you'll get. It's a picture I found on Flicr and doctored up (with permission - love Creative Commons!). The real one I haven't bought yet, but it will most likely have one of the following on it: Wildflowers, The Texas State Flag, A Cowboy and a Sunset, or Cows (specifically Long Horns). Note also that my real handwriting looks better...that's mousedrawn and blurred to look like pencil using the Gimp. Cool huh!

...or you could have:
A Free Coupon for a Large Tea at Bush's Chicken

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevharb/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Again, I didn't have a picture of the coupon, so here's a picture of tea...ICED TEA of course, for anyone who lives outside of Texas and therefor might think the tea was hot. In Texas, you can order tea when it's 20 degrees out and it will come served with ice unless you specify otherwise. I don't think Bush's Chicken even serves hot tea. But, anyways, Bush's Chicken can't be found worldwide, which is why I'm giving everyone a choice between that and the post-card. If anyone wonders, Bush's chicken was started by a football player named Keith Bush...and as far as I know has nothing to do with the former presidents George Bush (Jr. or Sr.). It was however, started in the town I'm living in, Waco, TX...which is practically shouting distance from Crawford, TX, where former President George W. Bush still lives.


I know these aren't big prizes, but the main idea of the of the One World One Heart Giveways is to explore and meet some fun people around the world...the giveaways are just a good excuse to do that.

TO ENTER
Leave a comment below saying where you're from, where you are now, and where you've been in between! Or, if you rather (and this would make my day) make up a crazy word for where you've lived (for instance, I'm a Texifornian...you might be an Carolinayorker, or a Canadimarican, or you might be from Oklahio.) Make sure to leave an e-mail where I can contact you ( myemail at hotmail dot com is a good way to do it to avoid spam-bots ). And if you happen to have a blog or website, please leave your link so I can visit! After all, this whole things is about exploring! You can let me know whether you wanted the tea or the post-card after you win.

RULES
Anyone can participate, worldwide. Giveaway ends the last day of February 14th (formerly I had said the 31st, but there is no Feb 31st, and as it turns out we are supposed to announce all these on the 15th, which is a little detail I missed. Thanks Birgit of Swapping Howdies for pointing that out. Honestly, it wasn't a sneaky way to make this giveaway go on forever, just me being my absentminded self. ) Winner will be chosen the by random number generator (or, if there are less than ten entries, by my son picking a number out of a hat). The winner forfeits their prize if they don't provide a working e-mail or if they don't respond to my e-mail within 1 week.

MY OTHER GIVEAWAYS
Here are some other giveaways on my blogs you might be interested in (not all of these are OWOH giveaways, so read rules carefully and watch for hoops - easy hoops, I promise!):

• Large Scribbleprint Magnet (At Scribbleprints - OWOH #953) - 2/14
  
• Poetry Magnet & Honey Shea Soap (At Scribbleprints) - 2/14
• Shamrock Giveaway (At Scribbleprints) - 3/3
  

Cake Wrecks Book Tour !!!

Jen Yates of Cake Wrecks, which is possibly the most hilarious blog on the internet, recently wrote a book by the same name, and her book tour is passing through both California and Texas, giving me a perfect excuse to share about it here. Now, if you have never visited Cake Wrecks, you must. First time I visited I stayed up till 1:00 in the morning laughing so hard I cried. On her blog, she shares pictures of professional cakes that go horribly wrong (and a few Sunday Sweets that go amazingly right). The photos themselves are funny on their own, but it's her commentary that will make you fall out of your chair.

Anyways, here's when she's be visiting our parts of the world:

California:
Petaluma (9/28/09)
San Francisco (9/28/09)

Texas:
Dallas (10/3/09)
Austin (10/4/09)


.