Sipping & Seeing

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure to co-host at my home a sip & see (post pregnancy baby shower) for a dear friend of mine.  The whole thing was lovely, the food was delicious, and snuggling with an adorable newborn was a welcomed treat. 

I take no credit for the amazing food and decor.  My only real work was getting the house and myself semi decent for a dozen ladies to enjoy their afternoon.  Amy T. and Summer Block, you gals are amazing and I will co-host (and eat all your goodies [Amy T. made FROM SCRATCH macarons!!] and appreciate your decor taste) alongside you anytime!

Be still, my heart

I'm wishing you and your loved ones a lovely day of snuggles and giggles and coy little glances too.
Happy valentine's day!

(Much Belated) Cheers to You and Yours!

I sip some tea.
I listen to some John Lee.
Two and a half weeks in and I'm finally settling into 2013.  :)

{Chasing}

{Indulging}

{Cherishing}

{Celebrating}

{Treasure Hunting}

Cheers to another great year!

Giving thanks for leftovers

I know it's a little late for thanksgiving leftover recipes, but these were too good (and too easy!) not to share.

Crescent rolls make great savory pockets for leftover turkey, veggies, stuffing, etc. 
I chopped all the leftover goodies I had into little cubes.
Added a tablespoon of cream cheese to bind it all together.
Mixed it all up.
Spooned it onto the dough.
Folded away.
Brushed lightly with an egg wash.
Baked according to crescent roll instructions until golden brown.
Ate delicious "turkey pies" (as Miller called them) for the next few days!

For some sweet leftover crescent rolls goodies...
I mixed a tablespoon each of cream cheese and goat cheese
Spread the cheese mixture onto the rolled out crescent roll (pressing together the perforations).
Spread a top layer of leftover stirred cranberry sauces (homemade and canned).
Rolled up and cut into pinwheels.
Baked according to crescent roll instructions until golden brown.
These were gone in a matter of hours.  :)

I hope you had as many lovely leftover treats and memories as we did!

 

Enjoying the moments

I've spent the last month soaking up a lot of moments.  Choosing my free time to write, nap, snuggle, play, and occasionally pick up around our little home.

I often read so many other blogs and websites to find inspiration, but lately I was feeling overwhelmed that so many other people were somehow doing "it" [life] so much better than me.  I immediately pulled myself away from the computer screen to allow myself some distance from that envy.  Distance to spend on myself and my family and our great community of friends.

As always, I am refreshed!

I hope you'll enjoy these moments from our annual San Luis Opisbo trip as much as we did!

Monday Motivators

“We both touched wood on the cafe table and the waiter came to see what it was we wanted. But what we wanted he, nor anyone else, nor knocking on wood or on marble, as this cafe table-top was, could ever bring us. But we did not know it that night and we were very happy.” - Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

I forget what I want a lot of the time.
A feeling on the tip of my tongue of finding myself needed.
Finding myself important.
Finding myself memorable.

Stories of loss and tragedy leave me feeling useless and guilty and superficial.  In just a few words I can spiral.  

And then a few blurry Halloween pictures melt all of that needy, guilty forgetfulness away.
I am needed.
I am important.
I am memorable.

I am lucky.

Sharing these pictures and sharing my little blog is me constantly knocking on wood.  These moments, even the blurry ones, even the useless and guilty and superficial ones, ground my shaking fearful feet.

Thanks for being an audience.  Thanks for sharing blurry moments with me.

Monday Motivators

“Saturday morning was come, and all the summer world was bright and fresh, and brimming with life. There was a song in every heart; and if the heart was young, the music issued at the lips. There was cheer in every face and a spring in every step. The locust-trees were in bloom, and the fragrance of the blossoms filled the air. Cardiff Hill, beyond the village and above, it was green with vegetation, and it lay just far enough away to seem a Delectable Land, dreamy, reposeful, and inviting.”  - Mark Twain, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

May all your adventures be dreamy, reposeful, and inviting too.  Even if it's not summer.  And even if the adventure sometimes seems rather small.

Octoberfesting

It may still be flip flop weather here in Southern California, but that's not stopping us from celebrating a great Autumn season.

How's your celebrating coming along?

(Midweek) Motivators

I'm still playing catch up with life and therefore this blog. 
But it's better late than never to share how we celebrated our now almost 14 month old's birthday.

Learning

Miller started preschool a few weeks ago.  Even though leaving him in the morning is still a rough few minutes for him, when I pick him up at lunch he has nothing but proud smiles and stories to tell me about his day.

{"My backpack's too heavy!"}

The beginning of a school year was always so special to me.  I moved around quite a bit growing up (13 different schools before graduating high school!), and a new school was an exciting time to meet new friends and refresh myself. 

I sure hope my kids have that same collective giddiness and those same nostalgic memories to look forward to (and look back on) each fall.

{1987 Fisher Price Discovery Map via Artsefrtse's Attic}

{1979 Muppets Lunch Box via Proud Rufus Trading Co.}

{Vintage Nautical Book Bag via Scarlet Fury}

{Vintage Peanuts Pencil Case via Soft Focus Vintage}

{Vintage Playschool Children's Desk via Alsredesign Vintage}

{Vintage Houndstooth Sport Coat via Udaskids}

{3 Ring Binders via TheFrontHouse}

Big.

*This is something I wrote awhile back that I submitted to a short essay contest.  Although it wasn't used for that, I feel it's perfect to share with you all this mother's day weekend.  We're still deep in moving prep and hopes to finally FINALLY! close escrow.  Mixed with everyday life and work schedules, I'll continue to be a bit MIA these next few weeks as things (hopefully?) begin to settle back into place.  Have a wonderful weekend yourself, enjoying all your own blessings!


I hate to do dishes.  Tedious and mindless.  Hands numbing.  Pruning.  But we do them.  Everyday.  That little window of joy, of satisfaction I feel glancing at the empty counter once it’s done, is decadent. 

Mothering is like that sometimes.  Mindless and decadent…

I’m currently listening to my two kids whisper back and forth to each other in the other room.  They should have been asleep hours ago.  Instead, thanks to my upstairs neighbors’ dinner guests, I hear my eight month old loudly “AHHH, BAAA, BPPPFFFFTTT, AHHHH” over to her two and a half year old brother.  She’s only met with loud “SHHHHHHHHHHH”s and an occasional grumpy sigh. 

I am blessed and I don’t know how to thank for it. 

I watched TREE OF LIFE this week.  Intense, pretentious, and lovely.  I’ve been haunted by it since.  It hit the piece of me that feels I am so small.  So so so small.  Sometimes so empty.  I get foggy.  And mindless.  And before I know it, I’m numb.  Lost in what feels like the day to day battle of tedious moments.  Just survive.

A text from my husband on a far away weekend trip.  The spitty shushes from the other room.  The shared dishes from a filling meal.  Suddenly I’m whole again. 

Big.  Bigger than I know how to hold.  Bigger than I know how to live. 

I am blessed and I know enough to thank for it.