To commemorate my 55th birthday I’ve compiled a list of 55 memories from 55 years. Well, actually only 54 years since I just turned 55 today! I had to omit many for being too incriminating, or just too personal to share here. 😉
They are not at all in any order, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and they are all the experiences that make me, me!
Living on Palomar Mountain
The Radiohead concert in Santa Barbara with Shannon that started the relationship with my husband
My first Grateful Dead concert, life changing
Having my first painting accepted into a juried art gallery
Summers camping at the beach in San Elijo, 1975-1988
My first real kiss
Jumping off the cliff, passing out mid air, and landing on my back, the rescue, and the painful aftermath.
The crash that totaled my 1969 Karmann Ghia
Living on the streets at 13 years old
Going down to Tijuana with friends, bar hopping till dawn and somehow not getting arrested or killed. Too many times.
Camping in the Joshua Tree desert under the stars because we forgot the tent poles
Our wedding day 5/29/10
Honeymoon hikes in Zion
The four months I spent in the mental hospital
Breaking into an abandoned house in the ghost town of Jerome, AZ
Flying over San Diego in a 2 seat airplane
Parasailing over the cliffs of Del Mar
White water rafting the Poudre River and nearly dying after being ejected from the raft
Watching my father die 7/7/96
Watching my mom die 12/9/24
Getting matching tattoos with my best friend
The day I sold my first painting
Finding my mom lying in a pool of blood, screaming
The first time I ate sushi with my friend Alina, I’ve been hooked ever since
Spending my 30th birthday in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Watching a steel pole from a swing set go through my friend’s head while we were playing. It narrowly missed his brain and he survived
Stealing a car, throwing a raging adult party while my parents were on a cruise, I was 12
Dying my hair black in the bathroom of a movie theater the first day I ran away from home when I was 13
The day Shady Grove died 10/13/24
The time I accidentally got on the wrong 8-seater airplane during a layover in Seattle and was stranded in a tiny airport in Idaho with only hunters
Cracking my head open at a concert, the band stopped so the paramedics could get me off the floor. I still see the scar across my forehead every day
The time I almost got married, but called it off the night before
Attending a polo match in Santa Barbara with all the local elite followed by an amazing dinner alfresco
My first real art show with my friend Xavier
Going to car shows with my dad
The first Street Scene music festival I attended with my husband, the line up was amazing in 2008
Riding my horse with my pack of dogs for hours and miles in the countryside
The Mother/Daughter Art Show I did with my Mom
My first time in New York with my mom, aunt and uncle
Seeing David Bowie for the first time in Los Angeles
Playing in the snow in Idyllwild for the first time with my husband, Fireball
Getting food poisoning on our very first weekend getaway together, both of us, one bathroom, 4 days of hell
Taking the train up to Santa Barbara for the first time to visit my cousin
Almost being kidnapped in Mexico on horseback when I was 11
Summers at my grandpas ranch, living off the land
Finding all the presents wrapped hiding in the motorhome, from Santa when I was 6
Seeing The Cure from the front row on my 14th birthday while frying on acid
Hanging out with my dad in the garage while he was building one of his cars
Baking my first sourdough bread
Being forced to rock repel on a school mountain trip, terrifying and satisfying
The time I went into anaphylactic shock at the allergist office, my first Epi stab
My first real mosh pit Knights of Columbus punk show, 1985
Getting caught in a riptide and carried out to sea on my boogie board when I was 9
Seeing LCD Soundsystem in Pomona on the last day of our honeymoon with Shannon
The first time I met my husbands family for Thanksgiving, they made me feel like family
Thank you for reading!😊
Tiffany Arp-Daleo Artwork 
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