Team Up Thursday | Where You Live

Joanne and I are literally a world apart separated by a great body of water. But we both have one thing in common, that vast ocean so near to where we live. For me, the best thing about coming home is getting to the rise of the hill and seeing the ocean spread out before me. It has a calming effect on me and I am at peace once more.

I love the pod of dolphins in Joanne's photos, it's amazing to be on the ocean whale watching and become the "watched" when dolphins arrive on the scene. Such playful creatures.
My picture is from the International Boardwalk at the local pier. we used to walk down there quite regularly, but now that it's a bit further with our move, we haven't made the walk so much. The boardwalk area was once part of a casino/auditorium and bath house/saltwater plunge in the early 20th Century. Similar to the famous Sutro Baths in San Francisco. People would ride the Red Cars down from downtown Los Angeles for a vacation or to just stay for the weekend.  You wouldn't know the history of our small city today just by looking at it. It has changed drastically in the last 40 years.


We've been under a marine layer for the past month with 60 degree weather. Yesterday we finally woke up to sunshine! We are all feeling the lightness of the sunshine in our spirits - we've been waiting for summer to arrive on our sandy shore. Time to hit the beach!

Visit Megan and Melody to see more Team Up diptychs!

Team Up Thursday | Celebration

We were invited to a party that my husband works every Fourth of July. Really nice people.

Really nice house!

REALLY nice back yard with pool AND water slide. Water. slide. Like - water park water slide.

A really nice day.

This week's Team Up Thursday diptych. Joanne on top mine on the bottom. I love Joanne's picture with the confetti shooting out - perfect timing.


Happy Friday!

Crafty Tuesday | Inspiration Chair

I came home this afternoon and found this on my front lawn...waiting for garbage day to arrive. It's not much to look at - at first glance...

But it quickly called out to me with visions of what could be, bright fabric, maybe new paint, a big field to plop it in for a photo shoot or maybe just a day at the beach.  I envisioned it all and walked inside, frustrated that we no longer have the room to add "found" treasures like this. (I had looked long and hard for a chair similar to this for the guest room in our old house.)


Seriously, how could I possibly leave it for such doom? (better yet - for someone else to grab up and give new life to it. For. FREE.)

You just can't find chairs like this For. FREE! I went in the house to start dinner then grabbed Harrison to go test it out. I just HAD to take a picture of it, test it, you know. It's the thrifter/photographer in me.

 Oh my gosh, don't you just love it!?
Harrison loved it. (he's acting in this picture)
He immediately wanted to keep it; but really, we don't have room!

Then I started fantasizing again. I couldn't stop myself...worse case scenario - I still give it away.
Best case scenario - I eventually do something like this to it:

Look at all that Anthropologie loveliness. Oh, the possibilities!

It was time to go back inside to finish making dinner, I needed to let it go.
"But what about the chair, mommy?"

"We leave it where we found it, someone will probably pick it up."

"But I want to keep it!" Harrison was adamant {I secretly agreed}, "We can put it on our grass rug in our patio!". He sat on it in the front yard to "protect" it.

The G.I.D. went outside to get Harrison and came back in with the chair. {secretly did the happy dance; but still not sure where to put large chair}



So now we have this too-big chair in our too-small home... and I feel so inspired by it!


Time to get crafty.

Finally.

Along with finishing the bunting banner for Harrison, I have also wanted to make a felt pencil roll.
[the pencil rolls are inspired by Soule Mama's book the Creative Family]

First we made one for a friend because his birthday was rapidly approaching. I decided to sew his name on with felt. It came out great (no pictures though)! Then we made Harrison's; he decorated it with some shapes and insisted on his name, too.

Only his name has eight letters and his friend's name only has four. But I obliged because frankly, I LOVE personalized and monogrammed things. He helped with sewing the first two.

 I loved these so much that I decided to make a couple more for a set of twins Harrison is friends with at school. Harrison insisted that the pencil roll for the girl had to have pink flowers because she likes pink, so he picked out a fabric and I proceeded to cut her name out and sew on the roll - that wasn't as easy as it seemed. I'm not a seamstress and it's not like sewing felt; but with a few more gray hairs and a breathing break - I got the job done! (hopefully they liked them...)

 Harrison took his pencil roll out for a test run on Fathers Day when we went out to dinner. Yup, it was perfect to have at the table while waiting for food to arrive. I'll be packing it for our trip to South Dakota later this summer.

And if that isn't enough, I whipped out one more bunting flag banner this week for a birthday party Harrison has on Saturday, I admit - I like this one better than Harrison's! I planned to personalize it but got so excited about getting the flags all cut out that I sewed them right away! Luckily, I didn't sew the tops and I could get my hand in there.

 Let me tell you - I am NOT a hand-sewer. No way, no how! It didn't relax me one bit. But I love the outcome all the same! (Too bad I don't have the light and yard of the old house to show these off in!)

Now I'll head over to Carrie's to see what craftiness she was up to this week!

Team Up Thursday | Chaos.

I came home to find a tornado had apparently gone through his room today. I caught him on camera just as he was jumping on the bed (from that dresser???). He has permission to jump on his bed (when company isn't over) but not from the dresser to the bed! He also hasn't watched any TV in over a week. Why?

He doesn't want to clean up the toys in his room. And now there is only more...

All I said was, "when you clean up this pile, you can watch a show." That was last Tuesday.

Mine on the left, Joanne on the right.


So the floor is a bit messy; but it had been so peaceful here, we've listened to lots of different music and he has spent a lot of time playing, reading and creating. He hasn't asked once to watch a show.


That's how it should be.

Crafty Tuesday | Revving Up for Summer

So we downsized and we no longer have a quaint backyard with Adirondack Chairs that we can cozy up in on warm summer evenings as we sip warm tea or cool beers.

Then again, we didn't do that often because spiders liked to congregate in our backyard. (including the Black Widow that hitched a ride to our new home via sand toy - bad idea for that gal!) I am SO done with Orb spider season! I think we've all been traumatized enough by the little buggers!)

But we make due with change and I quite like our cozy deck. So to celebrate summer I finally got around to making the hanging tea lights out of baby food jars that I've wanted to do from some time.

 Instead of hanging in the lemon tree (with the thorns and spiders) they hang from the deck above.

 I can't wait to light them in the evenings when the sun has set and it's still warm outside.

We embellished them with beads and little bells that I had in my craft supplies and then curled the wires.

I also made candle holders out of Mason and jelly jars for the table, Harrison helped me put pebbles and sand inside and then I put colorful citronella candles in them. Again, I can't wait for the right evening to light them up.

I just feel more relaxed thinking of our deck as it has already become an extension of our home. It may be a deck but we have already had meals out there and watched the sun go down and planted and painted and played.

Bring on Summer!

Now go check out the awesome crafting my girl Carrie has done this week. I'll give you a hint... I love me some chalkboard paint!

I'm so COOL

There I was, at an annual Gala seated with an array of people, taking pictures, enjoying the evening, and listening to the honorees speeches when I glance around my table and observe the guests tapping away at their phones. Not just my table,  people at others tables were also tapping away as each honoree stepped up to the podium and poured out their hearts in appreciation.

Hello!

Welcome to the age of social media.

At the time my little Samsung, [no blue tooth, no speaker phone, "no app for that"] flip-phone just couldn't contend with these "big boys"; but last weekend that all changed when I upgraded to a new phone (mainly so people could actually hear me when I was talking).

No, not a Blackberry, or Droid, or even an iPhone.

Just another Samsung - a touch screen model with Internet capability, camera and video, blue-tooth and a keyboard that I can actually text with!

I call it my little "iPhone wannabe".

I can TEXT, folks!

GET OUT!

And so I did. And then I could check my emails on my phone; and Facebook; and update my Twitter account! and then...and then... I STOPPED!

Oh. My. Gosh, I got sucked in! I mean really, I have been in it for some time - buying on line, finding the latest, greatest fads for consumers, building community, researching, learning, discovering new music, movies, people; but the reality and speed of where we are heading in this age is... unbelievable.

Check this out.  Maybe you've seen it, maybe not, but it's worth the view. 


(keep in mind that this video is already a year old.) 




Crazy, eh?


Honestly, I'm just giddy to no longer be "text challenged".
I've got enough challenges!





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