My wonderful mom wants to treat our family 2 adults, 2 children to a family vacation. She of course will be coming along, but can’t walk that much (heart condition) and refuses a wheelchair. Any ideas where she can watch the kids having a blast but won’t tire her out? She can’t handle elevation, so Tahoe is out.

Me and my friends were planning on taking a trip to california in june. But were not sure what city to go to.

We were thinking either las vegas, los angeles, or san fransisco. But those are the only major places we know.

Where should we go?

This is probably quite odd, but I’m googling looking for pictures or advice as to what color sofas to put in a room!? I was hoping to find some pictures that would give me the answer, and am now resorting to finding if I can find someone on a blog that can give me some advice?! I would appreciate if you can direct me to the right place or help me yourself! 

We are US expats moving to the Netherlands & having to furnish the house (our stuff is back home in storage!) Fortunately, there is an ikea down the road that makes it affordable & pretty easy. I love this one page in their new catalog, where the couches are gray & chairs are white: http://www.ikea.com/nl/nl/catalog/categories/departments/living_room/tools/livingroom_rooms_ideas#/20121_lirs09a_01

But the floors in the room are a golden oak with two walls of red brick & a back wall of windows trimmed in redwood stain. It’s the golden oak floors that make me think I need to go brown…in which case there is dark brown, khaki, and of course a natural color (but wouldn’t that get really dirty?!)

Here is a link to the ikea sofa color choices (we can specify a 3 person sofa & then either a 2 person sofa or 2 chairs, so can mix up colors): http://www.ikea.com/nl/nl/catalog/products/S29875859/

When I see pictures online, I see black & white on floors like this. Most of the house will be black/white/gray, so one brown room might seem odd? what do you think? Help please!

Me and my fiance are going ot get married at his church in Redwood City. We are looking for a small affordable, but nive looking reception hall for the after party. We will have at most 40 people at the party. This is my firsttime looking into this kind of stuff, so if someone has prior experiance then I would love some helpfull advice.

I want to try out one of those retreats where you meditate, do yoga, eat and sleep for 1 week without any talking, books, phone or tv. Integration of energy work or a sweat lodge experience would be a bonus. Any recommendations?

I’d most prefer a location in Northern California (because I’m considering relocating there) or a paradise beach town (so it’s closer to a traditional vacation).

We have 10 year old twins and we live in Ontario, Canada. We would like to take a vacation to California, so we’re thinking of driving there either this summer or next. The reasons I chose California are because our family is interested in movies/TV and also because it’s a little different than the usual "Florida" trip that everyone around here seems to take. I am just wondering which city we should stay in and which attractions we should check out. Also, any recommendations on good hotels would be helpful too!

I’m booking a hotel room in NY for March 27th through March 31st. The hotel we are interested in is Hilton Garden Inn on Time Square which is currently 9 for those dates. Yesterday, through a mistake in putting in the dates, I saw that if we booked the same hotel room from today through Monday, it’s only 1 a night!

Is it that February is slower than March so the prices are cheaper in NY? Or, is it better to book a hotel room two days before your trip to really find great deals?
Oh I see…well we have reserved La Quinta Inn Manhattan for 0 a night. We don’t have to pay until check out so I think I’m going to keep my reservation and a couple of days before we leave, I’ll check out the prices again to see if any have dropped.

Thanks!

Japan Nuclear Disaster Update 30: It was, is, and will be worse than you thought [Greg Laden’s Blog]
Perhaps the most interesting single thing on the table in today’s update is the revelation that at least one of Fukushima’s reactors suffered sufficient damage from the earthquake that hit the region … prior to the tsunami … to have likely gone out of control or melted down. This is hard to assess because the tsunami caused so much additional damage as to obscure earlier damage, and because …
Read more on ScienceBlogs

Boys U9 All-Stars represent Paso Robles with a positive attitude
Paso Robles has a fantastic group of boys who love to play baseball while representing our city in a positive manner. The Paso Robles Boys U9 All-Stars team played their first game Saturday, July 2 against Los Altos, a town located on the San Francisco Penninsula.
Read more on Paso Robles Press

Local news briefs
‘Tokyo Tramps’ at Winnekenni Castle The Winnekenni Castle lawn will be the setting for some lively summer music by The Tokyo Tramps on Sunday, July 17, at 2 p.m. Contestants for the International Blues Challenge 2011 in Memphis, the Tokyo Tramps have been on the Boston music scene for 10 years. These three Japanese musicians play American blues in their own unmistakable style. The concert will …
Read more on The Haverhill Gazette

Photos among man’s talents
At age 74, Daniel Ryan does not leave himself much time for sitting around his Columbia home. He’s an avid amateur photographer and will have 23 pictures on display at the Mother Lode Fair in Sonora, which begins today and goes through Sunday. A retired history teacher, he focuses on Civil War history as a hobby, attending roundtable discussions on that epic time of American history and learning …
Read more on The Union Democrat

I’m starting as a freshman this fall and I’m feeling anxious about the choice I made to attend. What do you think of Humboldt and the area. I’m from LA, and although I do love being in the outdoors and camping etc, it’s still different from the outdoors I’m used to.