Beach Day

On Monday my friend Shannon and her son Trevor took Matthew and I to the beach. This was no easy task. Every summer Shannon tries to get me to go to the beach, and every summer I blather on about the smell, the crowds, the drive, the bother, and last but most definitely not least - one of the banes of my existence - the SAND. Yes I, who was raised at the beach until I was 14, have had enough sand to last a lifetime. It's hot. It's grainy. It's hard to walk on. Things live in it. It finds it's way into everything. I hate it. But Matthew is my one and only son who actually likes the beach, and Shannon never gives up. Plus, she knows how much I loathe the heat here, and she knows I love dolphins, so she had a few plusses up her sleeve to lure me in. She even told me my Ruffles would taste better at the beach. Hmmm
Here we are! Yes, I brought my camera so I could document to one and all that I was actually here, sitting at the beach, with a smile on my face, and my feet in the sand...... AND the earth kept rotating! Shannon is a good friend and a good sport. Most of my friends have given up on me over the years, but not Shannon. She bought an umbrella and everything :)
There go Trevor and Matthew - they had a blast! It was a beautiful day - 74 lovely degrees. We went up the coast to Carpenteria, which is north of Ventura, and south of Santa Barbara. No dolphin sightings, but we still had a great time talking and watching the boys.
That's them way out there on that big float. Now, by the looks of things you'd think we had the beach to ourselves. Well, think again - just a few other people decided to come join us.......
Surprise! Here's what it looked like if I turned to my right. Oh yeah. Seriously, right? Sheesh!
Here are our guys after hours of coastline fun :) We had a great time and want to thank Shannon & Trevor for making it such a terrific day for us!

off to the beach

At the beach today!

Where it's not three thousand, four hundred and seventy five degrees!

Happy Monday!

Mo Neat Stuff!

Must. Get. To. IKEA. I saw this lamp shade on the Farm Chicks blog and went nutsy fagen over it. I've been meaning to get to IKEA for some paper napkins I want to use for a project (yes really). But are you even KIDDING me? Now I simply MUST get there to acquire one of these adorable folksy shades!
Love, love, love my new little journal from Ness! Ness has both a blog: the Best Nesst, and an Etsy store. I've had my eye on her happy, useful creations for a while now. Journals, notebooks, address books, pregnancy journals, to-do lists, cards, book plates... really nice items - all with great paper selections, laminated covers, pertinent biblical quotes, awesome free-hand embellishment, and optional personalization. Check it out!

Okay, STOP it already. Are these not the CUTEST address labels on earth??? I'm on cute overload. I ordered them from Chele's Treasures from - where else but Etsy - and can hardly wait for them to arrive!!! She had a lot to choose from and the best prices of all the labels I looked at. And I looked at a LOT!

TGIF EVERYONE!

Neat Stuff!

Wahooo! Opening mail and packages that arrived while we were out of town has been a real treat - actually, it's been a little like Christmas around here, at least for me!

Look at this awesome pillow my precious friend Lauren made just for me!
It immediately found it's way into my favorite ancient rocking chair, which was in desperate need of color! Look how it cheers it up instantly! Yay!
Lauren and I go waaaaay back... all the way to junior high! So she truly is one of my oldest and dearest friends :) And she is an amazing seamstress and quilter - very, very talented.
I told Lauren how much I *loved* the fabric she chose, especially all the turquoise. She said it reminded her of all our countless hours of swimming together in the pool. Light bulb moment! No wonder I love turquoise so much!

Look at my Luna being so peaceful by my PEACE pillow :)

Thank you Lauren - I love you xoxoxo

More goodies! This time from Etsy! (remember this blog post?) Look how carefully packaged it came... with a lovely thank you note and everything - so thoughtful.
My BURST from box 64 studios is here! Oh joy and rapture!
She uses paper from all over the world - it turned out just beautiful... wowww :)
And she added some of her hand-folded flowers - aren't they so pretty?

Thrilled... thrilled... thrilled :)

But wait! There's more! My hand made wool flower brooch from pinksparrow arrived as well - complete with it's vintage button center. Remember when I featured her recently on my blog? Well, how adorable is it!!! And because she's a doll, she sent a sweet little flower pin along with it - how thoughtful was that!

I'm a pretty happy girl right now :)

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!

HOME!

We're HOME from our 4th of July family reunion! This is the adorable sign Davy's friends Liam & Emily & girlfriend Valerie had waiting for us on our white board - too cute :) Val took special care of my dogs (thank you Val!!!) and I am so grateful to her and Liam & Emily for staying here and hanging out :)

We had a fun holiday reunion with my husbands *wonderful* relatives in northern Utah. It is always a joy to see them, as they are such warm, welcoming, loving people. And I got to see my beloved cousin Shell for a split second also ;) But you know how it is - always such a comfort to return to your own home and familiar surroundings. I am exhausted and can hardly wait to sleep in my own bed tonight! Make that momentarily - LOL

Stay tuned though: I have NEAT STUFF coming up right around the corner!

Happy 4th!

Say what you will..... I'm still a strong believer that we have an awful lot to be thankful for. I realize that the United States is in need of a great deal of help. The list is almost endless. Times are scary. But the world as a whole..... is even more frightening right now than I have words for. I am a realist. But I also lean towards optimism. I do believe that there is still much good out there, and that the good outweighs the bad. I believe we are privileged to live in a land that is truly blessed, especially when compared with the rest of the world. I am very grateful to be celebrating Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness this 4th of July weekend. I wish the same for all of you :)

Colorful & Quirky

I've been having such fun with my photo shoots lately! A few of these pics are older photos I've reworked, and the rest are new. I'm trying to get ready to launch several more notecard sets into my Etsy store, along with 5x7 and 8x10 photos suitable for framing. As most of you know, color is the love of my life, and too much is never enough :) It's been fun to stretch myself to see how creative I can be and what I can come up with. So enjoy this quirky little taste of things to come - these and many more will be in my Etsy store ASAP - most likely next week sometime...