a good weekend...really good.

This weekend made me smile.
And it went by way too quickly.

Yesterday was my birthday.
The gift I asked for?
A clean house.
My crew did their best.
They cleaned the downstairs.  I was happy with that. :)

Around lunchtime we drove about an hour to Petaluma.
Petaluma is a super cute town in Sonoma county.
It has a great downtown.
{and great ice cream.}



Gary and I both said that it was a near perfect day.
The weather was awesome,
we were all relaxed,
and the kids didn't complain once,
despite me taking them into at least four antique stores.
{and in addition to my gift of a clean house,
i may have done just a little antique store shopping.
you're allowed on your birthday, right?!}

It was one of my favorite birthdays.
And then, when we got home,
two of the sweetest girls I know brought me a dozen
{a DOZEN}
of these.



Salted caramel cupcakes, Julie's recipe.
No exaggeration, the best cupcakes I've ever had.
I love my friends.

Like I said...a good weekend.

remembering the happy.

Happy 2012, friends!

We had a wild New Year's Eve last night
filled with pizza, sparkling cider, Just Dance 3, and board games.
And Dick Clark.
{who was looking quite orange, i might add.}

I don't make resolutions, per se,
but I happened to read this yesterday:

O, God, let it be said of me that 

my faith is growing more and more,

and the love I have for others is increasing! 

[2 Thess. 1:3]

{from beth moore's 'praying god's word'}

I think those are perfect things to be working toward
for the next 366 days.

I'm excited for 2012.
I'm ready for a new year,
a new beginning,
and a brand new opportunity to live this life.

{and i'm ready to exercise more.  blah.}

2011 had its challenges,
but overall was a good one.

When I look back at these I don't remember the kids bickering
or the bills
or the days with migraines
or the 7,291 times I had to wipe down the countertop.

I just remember the happy.

Here's to more happy in 2012.

deck the halls with sticks and spraypaint.

I'm one of those people that,
as soon as Thanksgiving is over,
I've got the Michael Buble/Vince Guaraldi station going on Pandora
and I'm dragging the Christmas bins out of the garage.
{or, really, asking my husband to drag them out.  he's much better at that.}

By Friday afternoon our tree was up and decorated
and he had the lights up on the house.

Hi, we're the Griswolds.
Nice to meet you.

One thing I dragged out again this year are my silver sticks.
I want to add a few new decorations to the house this year,
but I don't want to spend much.
If anything.

Last year I picked up a bunch of eucalyptus branches
that had fallen in a park,
spray painted them silver,
stuck them in an urn,
and added a few ornaments.

This year I did basically the same,
except I tied the ornaments with a little baker's twine.

{we are socked in with fog today - horrible lighting for pictures.  yuck.}

And I put them in a hurricane glass filled with jingle bells.

One silver stick tree.
Operation deck the halls on a dime part one: check.

that type of day.

Today was a socks and sweatshirt kind of day.
Thank goodness.  I was ready for a break from the hot weather.
The rain started around 12:30,
just as I was about to walk into Costco for a record-breaking shopping trip {yuck},
and didn't really stop for the rest of the afternoon.

Soccer practice was canceled,
so it was one of those days where you come home and
immediately get comfy.
For one person in the family that means sweatpants and grabbing a book.

It was also a light the candles type of evening.

{ok, if i'm being honest, it was a "turn on the new battery operated candles" type of evening.  same diff.}

And pumpkin bread was also in order.
There is no candle in the world that smells as good as
pumpkin bread baking in the oven.

Then it was quesadillas for dinner
and snuggling on the couch watching Aladdin.
{i had never seen it.  not really my favorite.  but the snuggling was nice.}

There's more rain in the forecast tomorrow.
I may need another loaf of pumpkin bread.

a little happy weekending

Happy weekending comes in many forms.

This weekend it started with an outdoor movie night.

Friends.
Root beer floats.
Jackets and folding chairs and a movie at dusk.
{spoonful of sugar, anyone?}
It's a summer tradition.

There was a significant amount of movie candy and root beer floats consumed that night.

I have no pictures of everyone watching the movie
because I was too busy chatting and eating kettle corn
and watching Dick van Dyke as Bert.

He was so funny, wasn't he?
{i should say 'is' so funny, I guess.}
I used to love watching reruns of the Dick van Dyke show.
That was such a staple of my junior high summers.

Thanks, Liz, for hosting us.
We had a ball, as usual.
And thanks for serving kettle corn.
That made me happy.
:)

ikea love on a monday

We went to Ikea last weekend,
without the kids.
That can be dangerous!

We got there at 6:30 and stayed until 7:59...one minute before they closed.
But we didn't do too much damage.

Presenting...the infamous Ikea ung drill mirror:

I'm painting it,
but I'm not sure I like how I'm painting it,
so I might be repainting it.

And why did I not realize that Ikea sold live plants?

I really didn't need this tray,
but...I guess I did.

{big easy bbq shrimp is on the menu for the week.  it's messy and goooooooood.}

I bought glasses a few years ago at Crate & Barrel,
and of the 12...? that I bought,
we only had two left.

Ikea.
Twelve glasses.
59 cents each.
Boo-yah.

Oh, and remember last week I made lemon-lime ice cubes for bingo?
I had a few leftover
and one ice cube is awesome in a glass of water.
I'm going to cut up the rest of my lemons and limes tomorrow
and make bunches of ice cubes.

And my favorite Ikea purchase from last weekend:

Love this red locker for Riley's room.
They had tall ones, too!
He needed a place to store his treasures.
Why do I get the feeling that we'll lose the key and not be able to open it?
{and why doesn't it come with two keys???}

My only regret?
We didn't have time to get any Swedish meatballs.
I might have to add this to the menu this week....

camping - in instagram

A driving-to-Tahoe tradition:
In-n-Out in Placerville.

Animal style.
Always.
{sorry to all of you without in-n-out.  that probably makes no sense.}

Camping = critters.
Not my favorite part.
But apparently I am raising three caterpillar fans.

Tahoe is more than just pine trees.
Cypress groves

and wildflowers
for the win.

{blurry pictures of}
huge hollow trees are awesome, too.

But...
pollen?
Lakes colored yellow with pollen?
Cars covered in pollen?
Picnic tables and tents and food
covered in pollen?

NOT AWESOME.
{{ah-choo!!}}

Coffee brewed over a campstove is extra delicious.
Steaks grilled over a campfire are extra delicious.
S'mores made over the campfire are extra delicious.
{duh}
But popcorn popped over a campfire?
D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s.

Hats to cover the dreaded camping hair are a must.
And...for the record...dry shampoo?
Don't believe the hype.
Your hair still looks like you are camping and haven't washed it in two days.

Cousins reading quality literature before bed
make for good memories.

{why is a book about a superhero in underpants so darn funny to them, anyway?}

monday. in snippets.

I wrote this on the chalkboard today:

It's Monday.
The reminder couldn't hurt.

Tennis lessons again this summer.
Love it.

Post-tennis trip to Costco to restock the fruit basket.

I might need a nectarine intervention.

From Target:

"throwback" Garbage Pail Kid cards,
back to gross-out another generation.
The kids are loving them,
for better or worse.
{my brother and i had quite an impressive collection of these in the 80's.}

In my front yard:

the lavender has exploded.
The bees couldn't be happier about it.

On my front door:

A Saturday with nothing to do
equals time to whip up a 4th of July wreath.

Straw wreath + cut strips of burlap + hot glue
+ misc fabric flowers + felt centers.

Aaaaand...that's the extent of my decorating for the 4th.
I'm lame.

This was dinner last Monday:

crock pot pulled pork.
Easiest recipe ever:
layer cut onions, pork shoulder, pour one can of sprite, add more onions,
cook for six hours on high,
remove and shred and add a bottle (or less)
of bbq sauce.
Return to crock pot and cook another hour.
{if you don't have time you don't really have to cook it another hour
it just really cooks the bbq flavor in.}
Serve on rolls.
{with pickles + mustard, of course}

And this is dinner tonight:

leftover pizza from Zachary's.

You must do everything in your power to
get yourself to the bay area at least
once in your life to eat at Zachary's.

And invite me to go with you.
And order the stuffed chicken special.
And swear off any other pizza for life.

For reals.