Gift Guide No. 2 ...

 For the DIY'er, the 'Hold Tight Clutch' knit kit from Wool and the Gang.

 For the camper we all know and love (in my case, my husband). These awesome steel enamelware mugs from Best Made will style up any campsite.

 Made from certified organic cotton canvas, this Bodega Ruby Print hat for kids will keep them looking cute and conscious. 

 First there was this, and now there's the new Craft Cocktails book from Assouline.

 How fun would this print by Note To Self look right over a bar cart? Or any wall really. Might have to gift this one to myself.

And lastly, this wonderfully colorful and geometric wall calendar from Barcelona based illustrator Judy Kaufmann would be a great wall addition anywhere.

Happy Thanksgiving you guys! ...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Wishing you all a beautiful day filled with great food, decadent desserts, and endless laughter with family and friends. 

I am absolutely grateful for those of you who visit this here blog and for those of you who have been doing so since 2009! Woo hoo, let the holiday games begin!

Photo: Michael Graydon

Palm Springs Weekend ...

Good Monday! Did you have a good weekend? We took a weekend trek to Palm Springs last Friday for a few days and had the best time. Although I probably could've done with one more day. Always the case, right? Tried to catch P doing her cannonball but I kept capturing it too late. You get the gist of the fun here, don't you? She was pretty keen on wearing her swim cap and goggles the whole time, as inspired by the swim trials. Are you as excited about the Olympics as we are? 

This was taken at about 7am when it was already 80º out! I miss it already. Luckily PS is only a couple of magical hours away. Wishing everyone a fantastic week ahead! 

It's 5pm Somewhere ...

So I went into Target the other morning right as they opened up, and I could not believe what I was seeing. All of the fun, oversized, giant hot dogs and sunglasses that used to hang from the ceiling were being replaced by giant pencils and pads of paper! Noooooo! I screamed in my head, but with a clear screaming look on my face. They can't be telling us that summer is over! I won't have it. To me, it is officially summer through the end of September. Right?! 

(I do have to say though that I did spot some fun school supplies. Aaaand I'll go ahead and admit that I did handle a super cute lunch box and considered buying for about 2.3 seconds but quickly put it down in the name of summer!) 

Hope everyone had a great and safe 4th of July! Ours was so much fun hanging out with friends, old (as far back as grade school!) and new. And the kids had the best time ruling the day (albeit a cold one) in their swimsuits. Oh to be a kid again, right? Have a great weekend everyone! Group hug:)

Photo: Ed Fladung

It's 5pm Somewhere ...

Happy first day of June! I can't believe the first month of summer is here. I get so giddy this time of year. Once June rolls around all I can think of are easy, breezy days; lounging around the yard, beach days, and floating in pools. I get excited for the kids too. Swim classes are in full effect (our only planned activity) as well as evening stops at the park to meet with friends because the warm weather is still lingering. Love this time of year!

What about you? Any fun plans for this first weekend of June? Thankfully we don't have much to do except for put up our new curtains from West Elm. Oh, and Eric and our 5 y/o, P have their first father-daughter dance tonight! If you know Eric, then you know that dancing is not his forté (I say this lovingly). However, being the trooper dad that he is, he has declared that he and P will be "cutting a rug tonight."

Also, check out the Fave Fives: Summer Kit for Baby that Joanna Goddard of A Cup of Jo put together for The Post Social. Have a great weekend everyone! Group hug:)

Photo: Tim Barber

Something(s) About Me ...

I never wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. You see, I was a classic workhorse. I got my first job at 18 and never stopped working. I had always envisioned myself being a working mom and I was more than okay with that. My mom was a working woman for most of my childhood and, if I may say so myself, she and my dad did a pretty good job of raising my brother and I. So I was prepared to carry the working mom baton. It was my destiny. Right?

Fall Dinner ...

No this isn't a photo from last Thanksgiving. It's from this past Friday night's prime rib dinner at my mom and dad's house. I had to share 'cause not only was it delicious, but it was such a great way to ring in the fall season. As you can see my mom is totally into fall and had the colors down for the evening. And all of the chatter, laughter, and occasional distressed child made me realize that the holidays are pretty much here. Are you preparing already? I know I've already started scouting halloween costumes for the kids. I've even been taking mental note on Christmas gifts this year. Wow, it's here and I love it! Hope everyone has a great week.

Photo/Graphic: Happenstance

Camping ...

Good morning! We just got in from camping last night which is why I'm just getting it together to do this post. We spent the weekend up at Pismo Beach (just north of Santa Barbara) camping with about 30 of Eric's family. While I've never had "camper" on my life resume, I have to say that I did truly enjoy myself. And the weather was beautiful. Some of the highlights of our camping trip ...

• Cozying up as a family in our tent (pictured) that reminded me of Darth Vader
• Making s'mores
• Doing a whole lot of nothing
• Watching the kids run around with wild abandon
• Eric getting all Food Network on us and making eggs, pancakes, bacon, potatoes, tortillas and salsa for breakfast
• Doing a whole lot of nothing
• Going into town to get cinnamon rolls
• Seeing the stars at night by the campfire
• Laughing uncontrollably

Overall, I think this hotel/spa girl did a decent job wearing the camper hat this weekend. What about you? Are you the camping type?

Photo: Happenstance

The Happiest Place On Earth ...

Guess where we went yesterday? It was a total surprise to the kids. In the morning we asked P if she could do anything at all today what would it be and she said "go to Disneyland." Our surprise was perfect! But of course I had to keep it going and said that Disneyland was more for a special occasion but we could go to the library instead. Of course she obliged–she's such a good girl. She's also very smart and quickly made comment about how we were going in the wrong direction for the library. Long, antsy-pants story short, the kids were ecstatic when they saw Mickey and realized where we were really going. We had so much fun!
The anticipation of getting on Dumbo was intense. Can you tell these are my kids with their stripes on? I even had stripes on and no, it wasn't planned. What can I say? I heart stripes forever.
Cozy Main St. with all the fun shops and pretty flowers still make me nostalgic from my visits as a kid.
The kids got to go on the rockets which to them was a "big kid" ride. I remember that feeling as a kid too. Can't wait to go back.

Photos: Happenstance

Up In The Air ...

Oh, just another amazingly, awesome family photo. This one shot by the amazing photog himself, Max Wanger. Look at their form will you? I'm guessing they have to be on a trampoline? This one's definitely going in the family photo inspiration file. I'm also guessing mom used to be a cheerleader.

Happy Valentine's Day ...

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Hope you had a good weekend. Went to the cutest baby shower on Saturday in Venice. It was the first co-ed/family baby shower I'd attended and it was the first baby shower for twins I'd been to. It was so great! Kids were running around everywhere including two sets of twins. The house where the shower was was so cool and had just undergone an addition that I wish I had taken photos of but I was too busy keeping an eye on my own two kids and nursing my sangria;) Yay for me!

Photo: Stephanie Rausser

Graphic: Happenstance

Off The Cute Charts ...

I first saw this cute family over on Lillian's blog and had to share them further 'cause they're just too cute. I'm always thinking of cool family pics to take with our kids and I think this top one has definitely inspired me. Especially since Eric has an extensive vinyl collection. Plus, these little guys just look like they know how to have plain old fun. So cute, aren't they?

Top photo: Hare Tokidoki Haru

Second photo: Hamada Hideaki

Third photo: Hamada Hideaki

Happy Birthday K! ...

Happy birthday buddy! I cannot believe you are the big two today! You are the best little boy and blessing! You make mommy laugh every single day. Like the time you kicked it in the laundry basket for an entire 30 minutes. Or when you grab a dish towel and lay on the floor for no apparent reason. And like that time you stuffed yourself inside the lego box like it was no big deal. You also like to pretend you're stuck under the couch until I tell you "no you're not" and you get out from under it like the world is good again. And we really, really enjoy your partial "knock, knock" jokes ...

You: Knock, knock

Me: Who's there

You: Sun!

Me: Sun who?!

You: (crickets) ... knock, knock!

And we'll do this a million times until mommy goes batty. But I'd do it every single day if you asked me to buddy. I love you!

Momma Knows ...

Stella McCartney & child (Madame Com Limao)

Stylish and talented momma's, Stella McCartney and Shirley MacLaine, showing unconditional love and complete silliness. Two absolute requirements of childrearing if you ask me. (With equal parts discipline of course;)

Shirley MacLaine & child (Leo Fuchs via kris atomic)

A Very, Merry Christmas ...

These illustrations by Caitlin McGauley for Tory Burch make me happy! Especially her fave drink Brandy Alexander, the sophisticated sister of Eggnog.

Can you believe it? Tomorrow's Christmas eve already! Do you still have a lot to do? I do! Which is why I'm signing off early today until Monday. Busy day today ... I'm meeting a great friend this morning who I'm really excited to see, my brother-in-law flies in this afternoon from Amsterdam, I have to finish all the shopping since we're hosting Christmas eve tomorrow and I'm attending a gathering with a bunch of high school friends this evening. So much to pack into one day! But hey, it's what you do during the holidays, right?

Amidst all the fun and chaos, I will be taking time out to count my blessings. Not just the one's I see everyday ... family, friends, health, home, etc. But also the blessings that aren't as obvious like possible accidents avoided or getting your children into the school they were meant to be in, not the one you wanted. Large or small, and everything in between I've so much to be thankful for. And a huge thank you to you for stopping in everyday and reading whatever it is that crosses this girls mind. I'm very thankful and always excited to have you:)

Wishing everyone a wonderful and blessed weekend with your loved ones! A virtual toast to you. Group hug:)

Illustrations: Caitlin McGauley for Tory Burch

Christmas-Round One ...

So Christmas started early this year. Friday to be exact. Eric gave me a present he said he couldn't hang onto any longer since we are experiencing record breaking torrential down pours lately–curiosity piqued! I got the L.L. Bean Maine Hunting boots I wanted!!! And I've been wearing them with pride the last few days. Let me tell you, it feels awesome being able to conquer huge puddles while other people "frogger it" from one side of the street to the other.

Yesterday was Eric's grandparents annual Christmas get together. It's something we look forward to every year because it is the quintessential setting of Christmas chaos with 40+ people. Kids running around, aunts in Christmas sweaters, maybe a drunkle or two, cousins, friends and boyfriends of cousins, two "first Christmas" babies and Eric's grandparents at the helm of all the fun conducting lunch, games (yes, everyone participates) and a dessert spread that could rival any bakery. Plus, each family gifts something to each other. This year we did bags of chocolate-drizzled nuts with sea salt. So good and so, so easy to make. It was fun packaging them too. I kept it simple with a gold ribbon, berry twists and tags written in gold metallic with our family name. I'm pretty sure they were a hit. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Judy & Jane ...

After yesterday's post about my own mother-daughter afternoon it seemed appropriate that I stumbled upon this photo of mother-daughter blogging duo Judy and Jane Aldridge. I love that they both share a love for fashion and interiors and seem to do a lot together. I emailed Judy once when I started blogging and shared with her my admiration for the relationship that she has with her daughters. It's something I very much look forward to with my own kids as they get older. And yes, Judy was absolutely gracious enough to reply to my email–I was so excited. This photo and others was shot by Douglas Friedman and accompanies a great post about these two inspiring ladies.

You must take a moment to view these family photos Judy took of her daughters growing up. She's a great photographer.

Via: Nowness

Fun Family Transports ...

It's one thing to see people taking bike rides, but totally another when you see actual families going about their day on their bikes. I love it! These photos were taken of course outside the U.S. in Denmark and Amsterdam. But I'm excited to say that Long Beach, CA, the city I grew up in, is making efforts to become the most bicycle-friendly city in the nation with the release of their "sharrows" (existing shared lanes for both vehicles and bicycles) in the Shore last summer. Go Long Beach! And by the way, how cute is little dude in the bottom, right corner photo?

Photos: The Public Blog

Paul & Linda

This is one of my absolute favorite photos of Paul and Linda. I was so happy when I saw it last week on Lizzie's blog Tomboy Style and haven't stopped thinking about it. I remember sitting at my computer for the longest time when Linda passed trying to write the perfect message to Paul on a website that was dedicated to Linda's memory. I was certain he'd read it. There was just something so cool and natural about their relationship which is so well captured here in this photo. They always looked like they had a lot of fun. Love their style, love their hair, love them.

Weekend (and morning) Re-Cap ...

Photo

So we finally saw Up Friday night for family movie night. We broke out the bean bags and large pillows for everyone to lounge in the living room with our PJ's. P thinks this is the best especially when the cookies come out. K thinks it's time to crawl over everyone like a human obstacle course. It was comical watching both of them! And such a cute film if you haven't seen it already.

Photo

Saturday was spent running errands, nothing special. But Sunday however, was my day! I had a facial for the first time in what seems like forever! It was amazing–I felt like a girl again:) The ambiance and atmosphere over at Bergamot Spa was so great. I cannot wait to go back and start making these things more of a habit (wishful thinking?).

Photo: Julie von Hofsten

And then Sunday evening rolled around ... we were so excited to watch the Laker game only to see them lose game 2 of the NBA finals. It was an emotional rollercoaster! The score kept going back and forth and then having to watch Kobe play with five fouls early in the game (six and you get ejected from the game) was like watching him play with one hand tied behind his back.

And then Monday morning rolled around ... I went to post this morning as I usually do every morning around 6:30 am and no blogger access. I kept watching my fellow San Diego bloggers able to publish new posts for the day, but I couldn't! It was like that scene in Pee Wee's Big Adventure where everyone had a bike but him. Apparently I was part of the "isolated access issues in certain US regions." Lucky me. However, I will not dwell. I've a feeling this week will be a good one. Optimism shall prevail!:)