Around here...

We haven't been up to much lately. A walk to the beach here and a sunset walk there. We are slowly easing into summer and don't have many plans for the upcoming months. I imagine we will spend most of our summer here at home. While that isn't overly exciting I'm going to try and make it as fun as possible for the kids. I'd love to be going on a vacation but sometimes that isn't in the cards (or the bank account). Hopefully by the end of summer I will have acquired a fun list of things to do at home that are inexpensive. We'll see!

Here are some recent pictures-



I made a mango banana sorbet last week and added a nut/date topping. It was yummy! I made little mini sorbet bites for the kids.





We went down to Balboa with my mom to see the lobster crabs that had invaded the beach.




Shane was very interested in these guys.

Thankfully the June gloom seems to ending and the sun is back out in morning which is very nice! It helps keep me motivated. Well, I have a house to clean, dishes that need washing and laundry to fold so I'll be seeing ya later!

♥ anne

PS- don't forget about my big sale! 60% off with coupon code "SUMMERSUN"!!! Come see if there's something with your name on it! You can enter my shop HERE.

California Home Book

Today I got this great home decor book from the library for $.25! Check out some of these great homes. If you'd like to see all the photos head over to my Pinterest board here.

♥ anne

Bookshelves

This post needs lots of exclamations points!!!! because we finally have shelves! Most of our books have been in boxes in the garage for many years because we've had nowhere to put them but not anymore!

Now they have a beautiful new home thanks to $40 and my husband. I couldn't be more pleased with the end result and this new addition to our home was just what I needed to inspire me to get the rest of the house in order.

And now that we have the space, I won't feel guilty about bringing more books into the house.

I know there are a couple more boxes in the garage so I'll be adding more books to the shelves in the next few days but this is how it looks as of now.

Why didn't we do this years ago?

One of my goals for the new year is to read more and I think I'm going to be way more successful than last year. I started Sweet Thursday the other night so I'm off to a good start! What books are you reading?

♥ anne

Here And Now

I decided my baby carrier needed a little "flair"! I saw a gal on Instagram add patches to hers and had to copy! I thrifted a bunch of Boy Scout patches a while back and added a couple of those and then sewed a scapular on as well.

Tonight's sunset was epic! I was at church for Confession and when I walked out I was greeted with this gorgeous sight. It was just what I needed after an emotionally exhausting day.

Ruben taking his harmonica holder for a spin :)

Standing at the sink after dishes. I think I may grow roots there.

Tomorrow I'll be gearing up for Thanksgiving and celebrating Alex becoming a teen! I have two teenagers now :0

♥ anne

HOT

It's hot. A couple songs immediately come to mind- Hot Hot Hot by Buster Poindexter, which I am listening to now and laughing out loud! I was on the dance team in high school (I know. It's hard to imagine if you know me) and we did a dance to this song that was all at once absolutely ridiculous but incredibly fun. My friend Ellen and I were usually laughing through the routine so when I hear the song I can't help but smile :) The other song that comes to mind is the one that says, "It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes". I don't know who sings it and I'm too hot and lazy to look but AMEN! It's a sweat party up in here!

Margaret has worn nothing but a diaper for too many days to count now and frankly I'm jealous. Thankfully we have a community pool because that's the only cool place to go. So, if you don't hear from me for a few days it's because I melted.

♥ anne

Patio progress

Last October the construction began on our complex. All the siding was replaced, new roofs, new paint and much more. The process was long (about 6 months to complete our building) and frustrating but was thankfully completed right before Maggie was born. It was SO badly needed! With the beach weather much of the wood was rotting, paint was coming off and overall the buildings looked really bad.

After the scaffolding finally came down I was so excited to get my patio back. As we started bringing things back out and putting them where they use to sit, Ruben and I looked at each other and both agreed that everything looked really shabby now. With the fresh wood and paint our furniture looked like total crap. Ruben insisted that we get rid of my peacock chair. I fought but had to agree that it was looking horrible. It sat by the trash for 2 months waiting to be thrown away. Last week I decided to do some minor repairs and paint it to just see if he'd be open to keeping it. As you can see I won him over :) The chairs to the right use to be in Ruben's old office at his previous job. His former boss called him and asked him if he was interested in keeping them so he did. They aren't what I would have picked if I was paying for something but hey! they were free so I can't complain. 

With the upgraded exterior came a new rule. We found out that we could not put any nails or screws into the new siding. Dumb association! Being the rebels that we are ;) we illegally hung the big macrame hanging but I know I'll have to take it down soon or be faced with fine. I figured there had to be a solution to the hanging problem and thankfully there was! I bought these 3M Damage free plastic hook thingys and rehung my lights this morning. They work great! Take that association! As for my flag, it got so sun bleached that it's basically a white rectangle now. I'll probably buy a new one to hang because it added a lot I think. 

I'm sure over the upcoming months I'll add more color and some new plants and it will feel done. But, for now I'm just happy to be able to use the space again. Now all we need is a new BBQ and we'll be ready to have some people over!

♥ anne

living with plants

get ready to feast your eyes on some serious awesomeness! all the photos below are from my new favorite book, living with plants, that i picked up for free at the library. inspiration galore!










now i just need about 100 more plants! hahaha

♥ anne

vintage scores

yesterday everyone seemed to have a case of cabin fever. so, we got out and took a short walk or in shane's case a short run. it was warm and breezy and beautiful. just what the doctor ordered!



i have been on the hunt for months for a low table to go out on our patio and yesterday i found one that is perfect!

i really couldn't have hoped to find a better one! look at her! isn't she cute?! i still need some pillows for our pallet seating area but i'm thinking the patio is pretty near finished. it's almost ready for a little party with friends don't you think?

ok, there's more...and this could be dangerous for me. our local library has a used book store which has not only a large 25 cent section BUT a recycling section as well where all the books are FREE! check out what i picked up yesterday.


the expressionism book is really cool. i plan on framing a couple of the fold out prints. and love is an attitude is pretty darn awesome! it was printed in 1970 and has great photos and poems which i'll share in an upcoming post.

i am also going to be updating my etsy shop this week with some really great pieces so make sure to check them out! 

♥anne

iv'e been diggin'...

the road is home. a beautiful blog by photographer nirrimi firebrace.

the home tours on freunde von freunden

the music of justin townes earle

what blogs, music, shows, movies, books...have you been enjoying?

♥anne