Painting Pottery

   

Fall is fantastic - cool weather, glassy ocean, pumpkin pies, tourists gone and kids in school. But fall can also be cold and gloomy, the days are shorter with darkness creeping around earlier and earlier, and at our house we're already penny-pinching in preparation for Christmas. (Whoever decided it would be a good idea to give gifts to everyone you know on the same day??)
Longer nights and colder weather mean there are not the myriad of free outdoor activities as during the summer. But with picnic season over, I decided to hunt for other budget friendly ways to spend our evenings. I saw on our refrigerator an old yellowed coupon to paint pottery at a place near downtown San Clemente called Fired Up. I wasn't sure what we would be getting ourselves into, but we decided to try it out on a chilly day this last weekend.
Although I had walked by numerous times, I'd never been into Fired Up, and Jordi had never painted pottery at all. I was pleasantly surprised by the homey nature of the place - in fact the charming Spanish-style bungalow actually used to be a house, which just adds to the warm ambiance. With rooms full of pottery and tables, Fired Up welcomes groups of kids painting away an afternoon, couples with their pumpkin latte's busy picking colors for their new mugs, or groups of ladies with their glasses of wine, creating the perfect soap dish. You can spend $5 - $40, depending on what you choose to paint. But once you have paid that fee, you are free to paint for as long, and however many times  you want. Jordi and I decided to paint a $25 vase, he painted one side, I painted the other. We aren't quite done though, so we'll go back this weekend to continue painting, extending our affordable date into a free one :)
Whether low key or high class, painting in the cute house-turned-studio is relaxing and fun, and a perfect  thing to do on a cold day or night!