Have to Show Off The Sign I Made

While the East Coast is having a Polar Vortex, California is unseasonably warm.  Perfect for  a backyard movie party.

I wanted a cool movie marquee but individual lighted letters are expensive at $100 each.  Spelling out MOVIE would've blown through my budget for the entire party.  So I set out to make my own out of foam core.  Got as far as the arrow, which took 80 mins (not including drying time in between each coat of paint)  Cutting out the shape was laborious but bearable. It was the holes for the bulbs that killed me.  So I scrapped the individual letter idea and went with a rectangle sign with MOVIE printed in red.  The end result turned out quite nice for the total time spent.  I hope the nice weather holds up through the weekend.  

Throw your own BackYard Movie Party by asking guests to bring a folding chair and blanket.  Rent a popcorn machine, put out hot dogs, nachos, candy and you're good to go!  We already had a projector but you can rent a complete Outdoor Movie  kit at any AV rental place.

VW Camper, more than just for camping

What to do with kids over Winter Break if you're not a skier.  When the days are short and the nights are l o n g.  There are only so many hours I can play Mario Kart.  And can I ask - when do you start to lose your ability to be good at video games as an adult? I could've sworn I was decent at Double Dash.  But now I can't beat a six year old to save my life.

If you want to take a break from video games, get in your van or SUV and find a drive in.  I prefer parking backwards and leaving the rear hatch open.

That's City Camper Boy's head peaking out of "Frosty." 

Mr. City Camper and I were toasty in our red sleeping bag.

The best part about a Drive In is you can bring all the snacks you want! A bucket of  chicken and biscuits from KFC and a bag of Pirate Booty and you're good to go. 

Happy New Year!

Last sunset of 2013

A few years ago my mother in law took the entire family to Kauai. We had brunch on New Year's Day at the St. Regis Princeville over looking the ocean. I want to say it was Hanalei Beach. Ever since then, I resolved to start the new year on the beach.  I have not been successful until this year. We went camping on Dec 31st. And woke up to this:

View from van window.

Meet Molly : My New VW Camper Van

Well, we got rid of Moby because we just didn't use her enough.  But then Molly fell into my lap.  She was a regular passenger van that belonged to my mother in law.  When she finally bought a smaller hybrid, I harassed her on a weekly basis about letting me have the Van.  She finally obliged - either from pure exhaustion or because I am her favorite daughter in law. She only has one son, so do the math :)

At first I only took out the second row captain chairs and installed a small sleeping platform which utilized the rear bench seat as part of the sleeping area.  After our road test to Oregon, I found it to be OK, not great.

So then I took out the rear bench and put in another sleeping platform.  Now it can fit a 6' 1" adult plus a 5' person sleeping in a "L" formation comfortably.  

I received a quote for $2500 for custom pullout sleeping platform.  No doubt it would've been awesome but I kept finding things I would rather spend $2500 on.  I decided to try my hand at putting together this  rig with some bed legs from IKEA and 3/4" maple plywood.  There is 11.5" of clearance, which gives me plenty of storage underneath.  The cushions are from Cushion Pros, they  can make any size you want.  The prices are very reasonable.  In fact, they were so much cheaper than some of the other places, I was nervous about quality.  My worries were unfounded and their customer service is top notch.  

Check out the blue box underneath.  It is the Holy Grail of storage bins.  The All Access Rubbermaid container comes in three sizes and has a clear door on the SIDE so you can access your stuff without having to pull out the box. Brilliant.  I use the SMALL size.  Which fits perfectly under the sleeping platform and can hold 4 sweaters, 4 pants, underwear and swim suits.

Cashmere & Wine : Space Saving Products

This collapsible wine flask from GSI ($10) is a must have.  Not only can it store an entire bottle of wine using 50% less space, you can fly under the radar when consuming alcohol on the beach.  Note that City Girl Camping does not condone illegal drinking *cough* *cough*.

Check out the side by side comparison:

With approximately 1.5 inches width left in the cooler, I was able to pack it without any problems. 

 

My second space saving tip for the day is cashmere.  This miracle material not only feels splendid next to your skin, it is the perfect temperature regulator.  I can wear the thinnest sweater and it will keep me as warm (if not warmer) than any bulky cotton sweater.  I promise you, it is worth every cent. Pro tip: Bloomingdales, Neiman Marcus and Barney's all put their cashmere on sale starting three weeks prior to Xmas. I buy a whole year's worth of sweaters during this window.

Look at the difference between three cashmere sweaters vs. one cable cotton sweater.

Thanksgiving Beachside = LOVE.