A Little Zumba, A Little Writing...

I had such a great time speaking at The Oaks Spa over the weekend.  My memories of The Oaks date back to when I was 16 or so and my mom took me for a weekend getaway. I've written about it before. After the first lunch I escaped the premises and ran across to grab a burrito - i.e. normal food. Now, I treasure the meals there - all super duper healthy and measured out calorically. (is that a word?) They are not drool-inducing, but they are very, very good. 

I gave a talk, and conducted three writing exercises, my favorites from the various courses I teach. They yielded excellent writing samples, and unlike the college students, the spa students were anxious to read out loud. 

Speaking at the spa (there really were people there, I swear)

My mom and our new friend, Frances

When I wasn't speaking, I was dancing, yogaing, hula-hooping, zumba-ing, stretching and sleeping. Happily, I'll be back at the end of March, doing it all over again.

Oh, Hi, Ojai!

Last week I was feeling nudgy, stuck, overwhelmed and uninspired. I had so much to do, write two lectures, finish reading a book, write two midterms, edit my novel, submit my play, deal with my new website, and I couldn't find the energy to do any of it from home. I have my usual writing spots - The Writers Guild Library, various coffee shops, hotels and the like, but I knew I needed, really needed, a getaway.

That's when I decided I wanted to go to Ojai.

Ojai. Sigh.

Lovely Ojai: only an hour and a half from L.A. and yet it feels like you are on vacation far, far away.

I found a wonderful coffee shop on Yelp, got a cheap but funky hotel on a website, and crossed almost everything off my 'to do' list. I loved every second of it.

 Colorful coffee house, great coffee, too.

 I got a lot done, I swear.

 C'mon. How can you not love a hotel that provides a record player AND a Crystal Gayle record?

Took a long, long walk around the neighborhood - even found and returned a lost dog. Wish I'd taken a picture, but it all happened so fast...you'll just have to believe me.  

 Mailboxes of Ojai.

Maybe my fav used bookstore in the world - Bart's Books - located in a home and outside of the home. Just spectacular. I browsed for an hour before hitting a new coffeeshop to finish the final projects...

New coffeeshop. It was over 100 degrees that day, so I chose to sit inside with the air conditioning. I drank lots of iced coffee and tea drinks before finishing stuff and heading back to L.A.

Do you ever take staycations?