Salon de Maria Blog

The Southern California Coast is a very beautiful place and as many times as I've wanted to leave San Diego, the gorgeous weather and the beaches keep me here.  Sure, San Diego real estate isn't the most affordable in the world, but it's so worth it. 

During the 80's I lived in a small town in Central California called Lemoore. My dad and stepmom live there right now and just about every month I go to visit them.  Because of my aversion to L.A. traffic, I prefer to take the Amtrak train when I go to visit Lemoore.  It's just so much more relaxing to take the train.  I can read a book and do my writing...take a nap...or just enjoy the scenery. 

During a recent trip on the train, I decided to film little clips of the scenery to share with those of you who have never been here and want to see what the Southern California Coast looks like. Most of these clips are in the Del Mar and Oceanside areas. I put all the clips together and created this short video...

If you ever visit San Diego and want to visit Orange County or L.A., but you don't feel like driving, I highly recommend taking the train. The trip takes about 2 hours and 45 minutes - about the same amount of time if you would have driven a car.

By the way, I invite you to check out all the other videos I created for YouTube. If you have an account at YouTube, let's be friends! Visit: www.youtube.com/user/salondemaria

Posted by Maria Palma at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today my creative energy was urging me to make greeting cards and since the holidays are around the corner, I decided to work on handcrafted holiday greeting cards.

It actually felt good to focus my energy elsewhere besides writing! I really got into a creative zone where I was feeling as if I was on cloud 9 - "La La Land". I listened to inspiring talk shows on BlogTalkRadio.com while churning out greeting card after greeting card. One of my favorites is this one pictured here with the little reindeer.

All of my greeting cards are available at my online greeting card shop. I also added a couple new birthday cards as well.

In my opinion, there's nothing more life fulfilling than being able to get into that creative zone and just to do what you love. As I write up this post, my boyfriend says to me, "You're glowing..." Whatever I'm doing - whether it's making jewelry, greeting cards, or writing, I really and truly enjoy every minute of it. I'm happy...and it shows!

Posted by Maria Palma at 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When I was in high school I was a bit of a social butterfly.  I was involved in sports (mainly volleyball and basketball) and student government, plus other extra curricular activities.

So, it's no wonder why I'm all over the online social networking scene.  Yes, I am the internet!

I invite you to connect with me via any of the social networking sites listed in this post over at one of my blogs...and if you do connect with me, send me a message or a shout out so I can add you as a friend too.

Posted by Maria Palma at 01:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The last time I voted in a U.S. election was back in 1992 when Bill Clinton won the presidency.  I remember that day because I had just turned 18 that year and was very excited about being able to vote ;)

I failed to vote in elections following that year because I for whatever reason I didn't feel very inspired to vote.  Until now.  In the most historic election in U.S. history, I voted because I was full of hope.  I was inspired!  For the first time in 16 years I felt that my vote would count.  I wanted to put out those good vibes.  For the first time in weeks I actually got up early (7:30 a.m. is early for me!) to go vote. 

Oh, change is all good!

To document this historic day, I took a few pictures...

It's been awhile since I've stepped into a Starbucks, but I received an email from them saying that they were giving away free cups of coffee to people who voted.  Even though I've been trying to cut down on coffee, I couldn't resist.  This Starbucks in Lemon Grove, CA was busier than usual...



I picked up this little "newspaper" called GOOD, a website and magazine doing good things...



It was a rainy day on election day...The first rainy day in San Diego in months...

And yes, I wore my "I Voted!" sticker all day...

Posted by Maria Palma at 09:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)