What a blast! It is no secret that I truly love California- the more as a couple of really dear friends live in and close to San Francisco. It was a bit crazy doing this tour before CHA – but it was WELL worth it :)

We had some fun shopping and strolling through different neighborhoods

dreaming of living there and taking photos of street art. One day we will be there…or in New York…or not- LOL

Love those fishies and the black, white and orange colors

and hanging out with friends

Then we headed to San Jose where I taught 3 classes at the Scrapbook Island. Such an awesome store and an extra huge classroom. I loved it and had a great time. Here are some girls :) It was wonderful seeing Emi, Erin and Christine then later again at CHA – I missed Laurie there though.

A special thanks goes out to the Scrapbook Island staff who did a tremendous job helping me before and during the classes and also to Christine Delgadillo - who is not only an extraordinary teacher but also a wonderful helper!! Thank you girls!

I was turned into a 49er fan this day- and was telling all I like that Smith guy in the team (they have three of them- LOL). I’m not sure my hubs is happy about it…he is a Giant’s fan ;)

We went to the Death Valley National Park – and it rained -which blew my mind- LOL -but it was somehow fun to see. I mean- it never crossed my mind that it could actually RAIN in the desert but of course, dummie!

Amazing landscape – Artist Drive with different colored rocks- I think this was my favorite of the Death Valley National Park.

Badwater – stunning! And somehow the bad weather made for some really beautiful sceneries.

We drove a lot and sometimes….to fast….AHEM – here in Germany we have radar and you get a “nice” picture in your mail and a message with the ticket about your speeding. I only knew the cops get out the car thing from American Movies – my husband found it quite funny that I was so excited about this – he hadn’t had a speeding ticket since we live in Germany- all I say is AUTOBAHN – I guess he got spoiled. Well – it was a pretty expensive excitement and for the rest of the trip we behaved!

Ghost towns – pretty cool. It is so surreal – having those buildings in the middle of nowhere.

Loved those sand dunes at the Death Valley

It always baffles me in America when you are at a place like this and every couple of miles everything looks totally different.

Are you still here? Well…hang in there…LOL – more photos from my trip tomorrow- and yes – CHA photos are coming too – but those are coming last ….I like it in order…hey- I’m a Kraut ;)

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Due to popular demand and getting lot’s of emails asking about it, I decided to reopen theÜber*Media PanPastel Online Workshop earlier again. So as of now you can sign up again for this 6 week-long extensive workshop. It starts tomorrow on February 5th, 2012 – you have access to the classroom till July 31st, 2012- Check it out here .

Nat