Tag Archives: beach

Faith, Family, Food, Fun

Stick With Love

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Today is the official LAST day of winter break.

I told the kids last night that they were going to be fed, bathed, teeth brushed, books read, excuses for more milk done and IN bed tonight at 7:45.

Watch me.

I am NOT looking forward to tomorrow morning…

With that negativity out of the way, I must say that we had a nice, family weekend to say goodbye to the past three and a half carefree weeks.

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While my car was being serviced in Lawndale on Saturday morning, we all piled into Jay’s Jeep Wrangler and headed due west to the Manhattan/Hermosa Beach area and searched for a breakfast joint. We settled on Brother’s Burritos and were pleased with the casualness and local vibe at this little place. The kids shared Hawaiian Bread French Toast squares…

I was bad and had the egg, avocado, bacon and jalapeño burrito with spicy salsa. We ended up not eating lunch so I didn’t feel so bad.

After breakfast we let the kids play on the beach for a bit to kill time. Jay shot some great pics ~ it was overcast and a bit cloudy ~ perfect picture taking conditions.

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The fam also took a last minute trip into Hollywood for an appointment yesterday afternoon and then ended up at a new {to us} sushi restaurant right in our own backyard here in Valencia ~ Sushi One. Yelp gave it great reviews so we gave it a try. Jay and I shared a Sapporo and some rolls and the kids devoured the bulgogi {Korean beef} and steamed rice! Here they are with their after dinner lollipops…

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The kids played dress up and came up with this concoction:

Reminded Jay and me of LMFAO ~ the hair. Love it!

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Trying to be better at meal planning…cuts down on a lot of problems like not knowing what’s for dinner at 5:00pm, unnecessary trips to the market and going over budget on groceries.

I decided to keep it easy with familiar/already tried recipes this week since it will no doubt be hectic trying to get back into the swing of things routine-wise.

Here’s what will be on our table this week…

Monday : Half of a grilled beer can chicken {Jay’s off today so he can grill}, zucchini fries and TJ’s Harvest Grains blend {Israeli couscous, orzo, baby garbanzo beans & red quinoa}

Tuesday : Chopped taco salad with spicy sour cream ranch

Wednesday : Moo shu pork burgers w/ fruit salad

Thursday : other half of the grilled chicken in soft taco form with roasted butternut squash

Friday : Leftover moo shu pork burgers & tbd side dish

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I hope you had a splendid 3-day weekend {dreaming} of equality and kindness.

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” ~ the brilliant Martin Luther King, Jr.

Family, Friends, Fun

Something Blue

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Linking up again today over at Angel Face Designs for another fun Saturday post in Heather’s {Hello, I Love You…} series!

Today the prompt is BLUE.

Hello, aqua piano…

{via}

{Told Jay I wanted to buy an old piano and paint it….he said may not be a good idea because all the paint might affect the way the piano sounds. Uh, your point? Who cares how the piano sounds when it looks this cute? No offense, babe, if you’re reading}

Hello, peep toe pumps with sweet rosette…

{via}

Hello, ever so faint blue door…

{via}

Hello, beautiful isle of Capri…

{via}

I will visit you someday.

Hello Blue Velvet Cake…

{via}

I will bake you someday.

Hello, blue lifeguard tower on a Saturday morning in Hermosa Beach…

{and hello cute little beachgoers!}

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Float My Boat

Dream

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This week’s inspiration over at Gussy Sews Inspiration Workshop is {the beach}.

Even though I absolutely loved our Fall wedding, I often thought tying the knot in one of the summer months on or near the beach would be ever so dreamy.

This floral arrangement is unreal…

{via}

Love this fun, casual, vintage inspired wedding…

{via}

…or this chic seaside set up…

{via}

Gorgeous.

I could be inspired by the shore all day long.

Click on over and see more beachy inspiration!

Family, Friends, Fun

Grits

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I love the south.

I could totally live there.

I love that everyone is so friendly ~ “How y’all doin’?” or “Where y’all from?”

I love the slower pace. The {country} roads. The sweet tea. Bruster’s Ice Cream. Dunkin’ Donuts coffee.

I love that some of our favorite neighbors from Nor Cal now live 10 minutes from my in-laws and we were able to get together for a couple play dates AND a mamas night out!

{they may have not all been smiling…ahem, Holden, but at least they were all looking semi towards the camera}

I love that there was a Naartjie outlet in Myrtle Beach.

I love that the water in the Atlantic is warm.

I love that we could start out at the beach and then when we got tired of the sand, we could walk across the street, shower off and jump into the resort pool.

I love that Jay and U-Rod took the kids to putt putt {mini golf} one afternoon while I got caught up with Bravo and Pregnant In Heels.

I love that we got to see some fireflies.

I love that we were able to celebrate Lolo’s 75th birthday with him.

{homemade sign}

{Lolo back in the day}

I love that the kids got to spend quality time with their paternal grandparents.

{mommy said they had to share an icee, but Lola said they could get their own}

I love shrimp & grits.

Making this soon!

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THANK YOU Lolo & Lola for making this beautiful summer vacation a reality for us. We loved every minute of it and we can’t wait to see you again in October!

Fun

Nerd On A Bike

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She’s heeeeeere….

Holdy asked me where the training wheels were.

The aqua is GORGEOUS with an ever so soft metallic vibe.

Stitching on the seat is a cool touch.

The seat has the same embroidered detail, but you can’t really tell in the above pic:

I LOVE the subtle hint of animal print…

The training wheels may have not been a bad idea ~ I was a little wobbly at first.

Love, love, love it!

Thanks again, babe!

Wonder where I’ll take her on her maiden voyage…

Family, Fiestas & Fetes, Fun

Spoiled

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Mmmmm….

Starting my Friday out by striking a match and taking it to a tea light under some Pumpkin Nectarine home fragrance oil.

The ceiling fan is spreading the scent throughout the house.

Fall is definitely in the air.

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In 6 weeks from today we’ll be in Paris for my 40th!

Well, OK…this Paris, but I am SO excited:

{photo source}

A HUGE thank you to my sweet father-in-law for arranging this!

He may or may not LOVE Vegas.

It’ll be trés magnifique!

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{mcclaincycle.com}

Also, Jay bought me my beach cruiser. Should be here next week!

Been wanting one since my carefree days of living in Pacific Beach back in college.

If I could just reminisce for a moment…

My best friend, Denise, and I lived in a, we’ll just call it “beachy slum”, 2-bedroom apartment just steps from Mission Bay.

I used to wear a pair of brown clogs around the place because I didn’t want my feet to touch the NASTY carpet and she’d make fun of me.

We would try to catch cockroaches under plastic tumblers.

The front door was hollow and I don’t believe was intended for a FRONT door….bedroom door maybe.

Oh my…

I think the rent was $600.

We split it 3 ways, but I had my own room so I paid a little more.

Oh my….

those were the days.

I used to help Dee do bra and CD inventories, but that’s a whole different post for a whole different day.

I LOVED living in this little rundown triplex.

So many memories.

So long ago.

SOOOOOO different from life as it is today.

And I wouldn’t change ANY of it for the world.

Thanks for letting me go back and remember times past!

Now, where was I?

Oh yes, the bike…it’s an early b-day gift from my sweet and generous hubby.

I cannot wait to lay eyes on it.

Now to look for a fun helmet to compliment the beachy, Hawaiian feel.

Thinking about embellishing whatever helmet I find with a little bling…

Planning some fun family bike outings as Jay also just purchased a 2 seat trailer for the back of his bike. This year we’re planning on enjoying the holiday lights at Griffith Park on bikes. I’ll have to figure out how to drink my salted caramel hot chocolate and ride a bike at the same time!

Oh, the joys of living in So Cal….

I truly am spoiled.

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The happiest of Fridays to you!