Two of my favorite things arrived in the mail yesterday:
• My box of Aveda Comforting Tea Bags;
• My first issue of W Magazine.

This means I’m more than ready for fall’s arrival.

Join me in wishing my sister, Katie, a very happy birthday. Today, she turns 23!

Send Katie your birthday wishes to katielynntownley@yahoo.com.

These photos were taken on Labor Day at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif.

Me and Katie outside the famous castle as you enter the park.

Me, Katie and her boyfriend, Matt, taking a train ride.

Katie and Matt outside the Disneyland castle.

Katie on the carousel, our first ride of the day.

Katie and Matt on the carousel.

The three of us on the Buzz Lightyear ride. (Check out my horrible score at the time this photo was taken.)

We were surprised that Jessie from “A Toy Story” 2 stopped by for this photo.

Matt enjoying ice cream at the end of our day at Disneyland.

For anyone looking for beautiful hair or a soothing cup of warm tea, try these two products I learned about from my sister last weekend in California.

Join me in wishing my cousin, Renee, a very happy birthday. She turns 27 today.

For the next three months, she and I are the same age — kind of.

Come Dec. 6, I turn 28.

Egad. I’m getting old.

I have returned from visiting my sister, Katie, in warm, sunny California a little tanner than when I left.

We did some fabulous shopping, eating and drinking the past few days.

The entire trip was lovely, as documented in these photos.

Katie and me at breakfast at the Sugar Shack in Huntington Beach.

Katie and me at the pier overlooking Huntington Beach.

Enjoying a Ketel One and cranberry cocktail. (I love how it matches my new dress.)

Katie smiling for the camera before dinner. (She’s a little tipsy from just one vodka tonic.)

We’ve had a few libations. Can you tell?

Doing one of the things I love most: eating pasta.

Savoring the first few sips of a perfect after-dinner cocktail: Red Bull and vodka.

After dinner and drinks in downtown Fullerton, stuffed and tipsy and still in love with my new dress.

More photos coming soon…

I found the perfect dress yesterday at a Forever 21 at The Grove in Los Angeles.

It sings of Lucille Ball and Audrey Hepburn and is just plain gorgeous. I can’t wait to wear it out on the town, be it LA, Omaha or beyond.

My Apple tattoo is referenced in an article in today’s Omaha World-Herald about The Apple Store coming to Omaha.

There you have it: my 15 minutes of fame reduced to a sentence.

My longtime friend (and fellow writer) Tony wrote his first story for Bloomberg News in Chicago earlier this week. The story, “Soybean disease hits Texas,” was picked up by the Houston Chronicle.

Tony, I’m so very proud of you!

My, how far you’ve come since our days at The Gateway.

While clicking through various Web sites earlier today, I learned that the ever brilliant David Sedaris is coming to Omaha in October.

Excited? Absolutely!