Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Lovely Rose

For Laura and her family...



Thinking of your lovely, one-of-a-kind Aunt Rose.


Love,




Photo courtesy of Pinterst.

Whatever Wednesdays: Vacation-Ready Condo

I think it's hilarious that due to recent developments (eheh boyfriend troubles, moving, etc.), my San Diego condo turned into my very own Vacation Home! Holler! Never thought I'd own a Vacation Home...and before I even own a regular home? I'm a baller :)

Thought I'd share with you the finalized version of the Vacation Home (I hope you read this like I am with a Oprah Winfrey voice, and if you haven't been then I highly recommend rereading the first paragraph...it's super fun).


OK, now with a Bob Barker voice: Brand new kitchen! (Appliances, that is. Aren't they beau-ti-ful?) Also, a view of the dinette.




The bedroom. Good lord that duna is lumpy.


Are you feeling the France beachy vibe?




The living room. Love this hand-me-down couch. On the right, you can't see the leaning book shelf unit that Suzie gifted me, along with a small house worth of goodies. Thanks, Suze!!




Another shot of the living room looking into the kitchen. Bedroom and bathroom are down the hall to the right. Dinette is to the left.




Bathroom. I think this may be one of my favorite parts of the apartment. I just love all the white with the dark accents of the mirror and small, square shelves.





Love,





Photos courtesy of ME! :)

Monday, May 23, 2011

Family Mantra

A new mantra for my family ;)






Love,




Photo courtesy of Pinterest.

PS. Jen and I watched "Ramona and Beezus" over the weekend, and we're both embarrassed to say we had to hold back tears MULTIPLE times. Get through the first five minutes and you'll love it.


Monday Musings: Weekend Warrior

I spent a fantastic weekend with my sister and her two babes this weekend in Stamford, Connecticut. Ever on the hunt for Stars Hollow, Jen, the girls, and I drove to nearby towns to walk around the main streets, check out the shops, and generally wear the girls out for their naps. It was lovely.



We visited downtown Stamford, Darien, and New Canaan, and by far my favorite was New Canaan. The houses around the area were old New Englandy types, the main street was bustling with energy, and the people were super friendly (doesn't hurt to tote around two adorable, matching little girls to get people to smile). The only thing New Canaan lacked, in my humble opinion, was a true bakery with things like homemade granola bars and loaves of bread. Oh well!


The girls are a joy to be around, but also exhausting. Visiting wore me out...I can't even imagine living with them full-time! Go Jen and Lou for being super twin parents!!! So, when the babes went down for sleep, Jen and I (Lou was away for a boys' weekend) brought out the adult beverages and spent a great amount of time catching up.


It's so lovely to live close to my family. It makes it so much more apparent that California was just too far away to miss all of this. Oh, the crazy things we do in our youth, eh? ;)


Overall, it was a fabulous weekend spent with one of my favorite people in the world, and I can't wait until the next time that I see them all.


Unfortunately, leaving Connecticut and coming back to Maryland was a bit overwhelming. Real life--car troubles, friend concerns, money problems--hit me in the face full force. I can safely say, even after all the stress that went into getting my condo ready to rent and packing all the crap in my car, this is definitely the worst part about moving. I feel completely helpless sometimes with how unsure I feel about my new "old" life. Will my job work out? Will my social life fall into place? Will I be able to get a new car AND move into an apartment? Will I start dating soon? It makes a person go a little nutty after a while. Luckily, though, I have a mom who is willing to listen to my concerns, and know when it's time to put aside the real-life topics to drink wine.


Man, my family rocks!


Happy Monday :)



Love,

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Rando

I added a few people to the automatic distro list. You didn't ask me to; I just thought you might be interested. But please let me know if you'd rather I take you back off, since it affects you more than me. My feelings will not be hurt!

Travel Tuesdays: Backyard Barbecue

My "roommates" (aka parents) and I decided last night to throw a low-key backyard BBQ for Memorial Day weekend. I'm hoping the turnout goes well, and, just like my comfort food house warming, I'm trying really hard not to overwhelm myself with minute details that ONLY I WILL NOTICE. (That was for my benefit, not yours.) So, I thought we'd travel to the backyard--it really can become quite a different place if you put a tiny bit of effort into it--for a few pictures of some of the summer entertaining things that I'm loving right now. Can't hurt to get some inspiration, right?


1. Love everything about this photo. It looks so fresh and easy.

2. Hilarious 1950s photo of a croquet BBQ. Love the nostalgia.




3. Sometimes it's not WHAT you serve but HOW you serve it.




4. Red, white, and blue for the Memorial Day weekend.




5. Wouldn't you just swoon over these cupcakes?!





6. Watermelon dispenser. I wonder how hard this one is, but I'm sure it'd be a show stopper.






7. Easy rosemary potato kebabs.



Also, stumbled upon this fab-u-lous Web site and wanted to share: http://www.hostessblog.com.


Love,




Photos courtesy of pinterest.com: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Clothing Swap: Spring BBQ


Spring BBQ

Spring BBQ by schizik featuring striped tops



Striped top
$16 - kohls.com




Buckle jacket
$30 - delias.com




Old navy pants
$40 - oldnavy.gap.com




Forever21 peep toe shoes
$25 - forever21.com




Monet glam jewelry
$8 - monet.com




John Lewis Women wrap scarve
14 GBP - johnlewis.com



Clothing Swap: Working It

I made this idea board on polyvore.com for an (approximate) outfit I wore to work last week. I was particularly proud of the color combo; usually I'm very boring when it comes to mixing the colors of my clothes, and, although I know this isn't going to blow anyone's mind, I thought it was pretty chic and spring. What do you think? PS. I plan on making more of these to try to be more creative with my clothing. Any opinions if I should share them on here? PPS. My goal is to get these entire outfits (excluding my major purses like this one) below $100 a pop.
Spring Make It Work



Spring Make It Work by schizik featuring bow pumps







Rue21 t shirt
$11 - rue21.com







H&M wide leg linen pants
25 GBP - hm.com







Bow pumps
$23 - payless.com







Hobo suede hobo handbag
$50 - landsend.com







Old Navy beaded bib necklace
$9.99 - oldnavy.gap.com

A Case of the Mondays


I'm having one of those dreary Mondays. I hate those Mondays. The kind where it feels like nothing goes quite right, but it's also not wrong enough to get really down about it. (Sometimes I just want to wallow, but today's troubles aren't really wallow-worthy.) These are the days when I would rather be cuddled up in a blanket, sipping a cafe mocha, reading a great book...



Doesn't that picture just make you melt? Happy Monday :)


Love,






Photo courtesy of pinterest.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Travel Tuesdays: The Mission at San Juan Capistrano

Today, I'm happy to have a schedule set up for my li'l ol' blog. I learned last night that a friend of mine from college who I haven't spoken to in a few years died over the weekend. And, since I don't have too much positive to say, having the serene pictures of the Mission at San Juan Capistrano for today's Travel Tuesday seems to be just perfect timing. Rest in peace, Timmy. And for everyone else, please don't ever drive drunk...maybe if Timmy hadn't gotten hit by a drunk driver, he would have had the chance to visit San Juan Capistrano some day too.





Light a candle for loved ones at the mission's chapel.




Love this simple idea. I could see these painted all over a child's room used to rotate artwork from school.




Southern California really knows how to do the whole covered walkway thing. That's Etta the Jetta parked at the end of the walk.





Bronze horse commemorating those who helped to build the mission, if I remember correctly. Suzie was my travel companion this day...can you confirm?






Koi pond with waterfall in the middle of the interior courtyard.





Hungry fishies.








With Much Love,






Photos courtesy of me :)

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Everyday Inspiration: San Juan Capistrano Antiques

Suzie and I drove up to San Juan Capistrano months ago, and I'm just now putting this up on the blog. Shame on me! I'll post the pictures from our travel for the next installment of Travel Tuesdays ;) In the meantime, I feel like it's time to get these babies up on the net!

We went for the swallows at the mission, but since it was raining we missed...well, the swallows. I guess swallows like the wet weather about as much as me. Since we stayed inside most of the day, we hit up the nearby antique mall for some inspiration for our condos.

The antique store was huge. Like over-the-top, I-need-a-snack-halfway-through huge. I'm so happy we made it through the whole thing because in the far corner was this little flea market area with designer ware. This one "store" had the cutest DIY decor ideas. Please send pics if you decide to make any of your own!



I love the idea of having a positive message tattooed to my mirror...or my scale ;)


Also, love the simplicity of the framed music in the upper left-hand corner of this pic. Imagine all the things you could do with this: music from your wedding, words from your favorite book.





This is so simple: Paint the lid from a left-over glass jar with chalkboard paint. You could use this in the kitchen for "flour," "sugar," and "rice," just to name a few options. I could see My Sweet Savannah just loving this one!




More music (with twine this time) wrapped around a simple candle. I just love the mix of the natural twine with the polished silver.





Wrapped plates. Chalkboard frame. What's not to love about highlighting the everyday?





LOOOOOVE the cow-covered seat.




The next two pics are from our window shopping at the store next to the antiques place. We both died over the mix of color and black and white. It's a bit hard to see through the glass, but these combos give such a great girly feeling to the rooms.








(Can you see my reflection in the photo? ;) )





Love,





Photos courtesy of me ;)