My New Hair

It's been seven years. Seven years since a drop of dye has touched my hair. I let my hair grow natural when I was pregnant and decided I would wait for it to gray before I dyed again. But I got tired of waiting. I enjoy my natural color, but I needed a change, and boy did I get one! I really like it though. Celeste said "Mom, your hair turned black" It's actually really dark brown. "You look familiar though," she says. She is too cute. Anyway, here are some pictures I took really quick, high quality web cam pictures no less. (Sorry pressed for time!)-XO

I'm in Love

I'm having one of those lazy days. The days where you browse the web, catching up on all those blogs you love to follow. Looking back through the previous posts, becoming inspired. I love that one blog can lead to another, and another, and it's this chain reaction of inspirational, creative and fun people sharing what they love! So how could I have not found this before? Turquoise and purple are my two favorite colors, and this site is all about turquoise. If you are a turquoise lover like me, you have to check out Erin's collection of wonderfully turquoise spaces. House of Turquoise



source

There is so much to love about this space, aside from the beautiful turquoise reminiscent of sea glass, those drying racks are stylish, functional, and enviable! I adore the large farmhouse style wash basin, and keeping your detergents in apothecary jars is a trend that is on the rise, and ever so chic. Definitely beats the big yellow/red/blue cardboard box they come in!-XO

A Scrappy Saturday!

Wanted to share a layout I did, inspired by the coming fall season, about Halloween last year. Celeste is so girly, I just love how her costumes are always fun and sweet. She never goes for scary! I, on the other hand, was always a witch or a vampire, and once a black cat. Celeste has been an angel, a lady bug, and the latest, snow princess. Can't wait to see what she picks for this years costume!
Journaling reads: A snow princess, the perfect costume for Celeste! So girly & sweet, with a pinch of Halloween mischief.

Supplies:
Pattern paper- Cosmo Cricket
Cardstock- The Paper Company
Borders- My Mind's Eye
Journaling spot- Making Memories
Letter stickers- Studio Calico
Rub on- Lil Davis Designs and Heidi Swapp
Jewels- K & Company
Other- Tag from World Market purchase, Posie handmade with vintage dictionary paper, felt, lace, and a button. Cream colored flower from the dollar store.

Back to School

Well, I am just about ready to get back to school. I haven't posted in a few days because I have been spending my time being lazy around the house with my family. Celeste was supposed to visit her dad yesterday, but he was sick. She burst into tears when she saw it was me picking her up from school instead of her dad. So as a treat, we spent the afternoon, just us girls, shopping. Then we went out for dinner, and of course, dessert! It was nice, considering it is probably the last meal I will have with my family until this next semester is over. I start work at 5:30 am and I end classes at 9:30 pm. Ewww, but I have to do what I have to do to live my dreams of being a graphic designer, and to provide a decent life for my little girl.
On a lighter note, I want to share what I decided to do with the poms from Celeste's birthday. I just couldn't let them go to waste!

Celeste's Birthday Party

I've been planning her sixth birthday since July, and I must say everything came together quite nicely. I looked at a lot of party blogs to get many of the ideas I used, but a couple ideas were my own. My ideas were the birthday banner and the picture display. I found the doilies at the thrift store for 59 cents and used scrapbooking supplies to make the birthday banner. I printed the pictures from 0-5 years, attached them to a couple of blank canvas', outlined the pictures with ribbon and embellished with flowers that state the age of the photo, and then displayed it on the mantel. Everybody really loved the pictures, my Mom even got teary eyed. The party bags were butterfly nets filled with girly goodness.
We had about 16 guests, and when I'm entertaining so many people I forget to take pictures. The party was nearly over and my grandmother asked if I had taken any photos. Oops! Happens everytime, I get caught up living the moment, and totally forget to capture it... but I did take some pictures of the decor before everyone arrived and of Celeste opening presents.














We moved my purple table from my office to the living room to hold the glasses, marshmallow pops and fruit kebabs (not pictured).




















The marshmallow pops are an idea I borrowed after seeing them at several other kid's parties online. They are super easy to make, and the kids love them.





































I purchased canning jars to use for beverages and hung tags for everyone to write their names on, another borrowed idea and fairly inexpensive, and definitely a more eco-friendly alternative to paper or plastic cups.


































































I made garland with scalloped punched scrapbook paper circles and hung them over our dining room.














I picked up these butterfly, flower and bug shapes for the girls to make their own magnets to take home.





















The butterflies took up a lot of space on top of the cake, so I made a mini banner that says "Happy Birthday Celeste" to go on top. Another borrowed idea!














The edible butterflies from SugarRobot in action.














































































Celeste holding her new cousin Shoshanna who is 2 1/2 months old, so sweet!

Inspiration:
SarasPartyPerfect
EatDrinkPretty
Hostess with the Mostess
Kara's Party Idea's

Absolutely amazing whats going on at these parties. I would just be over the moon if I could have a party like that! I was so inspired that I tried to recreate some of the magic for my little girls special day, and she loved it!

Trying to Grow Something in a Desert

Last night was the first time we were able to draw on the new chalk wall!



In May we began our effort to grow ourselves a little green in the Nevada Desert. We didn't want the entire yard to be lawn, just a small portion, the rest was planned to be low water perrenials and shrubs.



Today we have a lawn, but it has more than its fair share of weeds. I really love how the flagstone pathway turned out, we planted an Irish moss between the stones. They have grown quite a bit, but still do not cover the entire ground. There are little white flowers on the moss clumps that open in the day and close at night. Last week we placed solar lights along the path and in the flower bed area, it looks so neat when lit up! Initially I wanted to plant only perennials, but when Home Depot had a sale on 6-pack annuals for $.99 I planted several. The Petunias have definitly done well. They started out at three inches high and now have a two foot diameter! I will be planting Petunias again next year for sure. The rocks in the front are all recovered from digging in our yard, we have very very rocky soil. Oh, and notice the missing eyesore? We removed the awful swamp cooler and now have central a/c. Highly recommended...



And in the backyard we decided to do sod last month, the seeds failed to emerge. I love it, and it has no weeds! (Yet)



It's been tough. It cost a pretty penny, and I lost a lot of it. We decided to start our lawn from seed, in the desert. I've done it in the past, but on a much smaller plot. This time it didn't take off as quickly, or as neatly. We got a lot of weeds. And with being unable to walk on the little seedlings for so long, the weeds are well rooted, nearly taken over. I hope it doesn't look like this next year!
We purchased many flowers, shrubs and bulbs. We planted a raised garden in the backyard, and also tried to start a lawn back there from seed. We bought our house nearly a year ago, and both front and back yards were nothing but dirt. A month after we bought the home we planted a small Maple tree in the front yard. I also planted some bulbs that fall. Eighteen bulbs total, two came up. I have never had such a poor turn around! I think this yard was dirt for so long its forgotten how to grow.
We also started a compost bin, so I plan on turning it into the soil this fall. This season was strange, it snowed in June and I lost most of my seedlings in the raised garden, the rest of the plants were destroyed by aphids. Oh the frustration! Nearly two weeks after snowing, we were in the upper nineties, my poor plants were shocked to say the least. Many have recovered, but some are just lost. Gardens are a labor of time and love, we have invested both, so while it may not be anything to swoon over at this point, its up off the ground and its way better than dirt!-XO

Yay Me!

I'm just going to toot my own horn for a second, but my Wine Crate Shelving caught the eyes of Apartment Therapy. I love love love Apartment Therapy and I find their features a continued source of inspiration. In fact, it has always been a secret little aspiration of mine to be featured there someday. It's almost like getting the approval of my decorating, like hey somebody likes what I'm doing. And that is so awesome, because I am making my house into a home that I love, and now I get the pleasure of inspiring others. Makes me feel good. -XO
ApartmentTherapy

At First Glance

Last year for vacation we went to Southern California to visit my Dad. Celeste had never seen the ocean, so I was so excited to be there to show it to her for the first time. I myself am from Southern California initially so I have no "first time at ocean" memory, it's always been a part of life! So upon arriving the first thing I did was take her to the beach. When we got out of the car, the familiar smell of the Redondo Beach boardwalk filled the air.
"Ugh. It stinks." Celeste says.
"That's the smell of the ocean. And all the fresh fish cookin' in the restaurants." I responded.
We walked around the pier so she could get a good view of the ocean. She stood at the railing and just asked, "Can we go swim in it?"
Silly little girl, definitely made a first ocean memory for me! Hopefully her too. I did this layout today to preserve this memory, already over a year old and soon to be fleeting.
Today is her sixth birthday, she is with her dad, and I'm am being nostalgic. -XO





Supplies
Paper: Basic Grey, Making Memories, Graphic 45. Embellishments: K & Co, Jenny Bowlin, Prima, My Mind's Eye, dollar store. Rub on and label: October Afternoon, Chatterbox. Letters: Collage Press, Making Memories, Target Dollar spot.

Before (or in the middle) and After: Chalkboard Wall

I am so proud of myself, instead of coming home from work on Friday and being my lazy self after a long work week, I instead chose to take on a long anticipated project I've had on the back burner, my kitchen chalkboard wall!!! So I sort of forgot a before picture, so it's an in the middle of it picture instead. Followed by a mini kitchen tour....

In the middle:


After:


Enter my kitchen:

Enter kitchen, window looks outside to backyard. Yes, I have no dishwasher, so the dish rack is permanently loaded!

To the right of entering kitchen:





We seriously lack counter space, so we put an old dining table in this empty space to hold our microwave and mixer. It doesn't match well, but its on loan from my sister (for like 5 years now!) so I can't paint it or anything. The wine crates we salvaged from work and made them into shelves. Talk about eco and budget friendly!



To the left of entering kitchen:

And we don't lack cupboard space... some of these many cupboards are empty, which is fine because I still have many kitchen tools to collect. What I'm not fond of is the condition. I often flip flop between wanting to rip them all out and get brand new ones, or invest some serious time and energy into refinishing them. Some of the drawers really stick, they all tip down when you open them. It is an old kitchen, and these cupboards really have seen some days.

So, I still want to do something about my cupboards, put up a tile back splash, paint my ceiling a pale blue, replace the fluorescent fixture, and come up with a better option for my empty corner (other than my sisters old dining table!).

What I Realized

Last night, while preparing dinner, and taking notice of how gorgeous and green the cilantro and lime looked in my little green bowl, I realized I like food pictures. It is really a fun way for me to practiced my lighting and focus, it holds still, and it always looks good because its delicious!
I pondered to myself a little bit about how fun it would be to be a food photographer. Not the kind that puts lipstick on strawberries, but the kind that artfully captures a great culinary masterpiece, or just harnesses the essence of some of lifes most beautiful and scrumptious foods.
I've been taking pictures of my foods for a bit, I post them sometimes, I feel like a big dork telling my family to hold on, don't eat, I've got to get the camera. But the more I think about it, the more I want to lose that timidness and just take a picture of my food! And share it too! So, on this lovely thursday, I give you my bowl of green... -XO



Oh and PS. On the food note, I did a layout (finally, I know!) about Celeste baking! The Journaling reads: You are one happy baker. You love to measure the sugar, pour in the vanilla & ask "can I lick the beater?" almost constantly, it is, after all, your favorite part of baking!

It's true, she never stops, from the moment the first ingredient hits the bowl, "can I lick it yet?"


Supplies: Papers-Cosmo Cricket, Graphic 45, Basic Grey, Making Memories. Journal card & die cuts- October Afternoon Labels- Scenic Route Paper Co, Stickers- Cosmo Cricket

This is Only a Test

But I'll eat it anyway! We baked cupcakes to 'test' a recipe I found online for Celeste's birthday cake. Absolutely delicious. Just for fun we made a glaze and sprinkled powdered suger on top! We will use Wilton's whipped icing for decorating the cake. I used it last year and it tastes very good and maintains it's shape well. The year before that I used frosting in a can and that stuff did not hold shape at all! As soon as I piped it onto the cake it melted into itself and lost all shape.

This Dog

apparently thinks shes a cat. She sits on the couch and looks out the window like the cats. She plays with the cats. She eats the cat food. She tries to get into their litterbox. And she refuses to fetch. Penny, you are a catdog!

Oh My, It's Been Over a Week?

The time is flying! My little girl will be six years old in six days! I have been busy planning out all the details. The invitations are out, I am prepping tissue poms, bunting and garland. I also thought it would be cute to have a photo display of her each year up to now.

Butterfly Invites


Table Clothes I picked up at the thrift store


Making Poms

and mini poms

We spent what will probably be our last weekend at Sand Harbor on Saturday. My classes start in a couple weeks and I'm not sure if we will find time to go up to Tahoe again this year. It was a really nice relaxing time though, we got there early and had a good spot.