Happy New Year

Uh, yeah. It's January 31st. I'm a bit late with my Happy New Year wishing, but I do mean it! Life has been a huge blur lately. Not that I have much to show for. I've been busy living it, trying really hard this year to be present in each moment. Instead of just snapping photos. Which is leaving me with very few photos to scrap. Which is ironic since I decided to give Project Life another try. Such is, right?

I do have a few things to share, starting tomorrow. Tomorrow is Technique Tuesday's Studio AE February stamp set release. I'll be sharing a project here. And it's also Lawn Fawn's Valentine's Inspiration week. Lots of amazing cards this week over at the Fawn blog!

But until then, I thought I'd share some of my Maui photos. These are my favorites, in no particular order.

The weather wasn't the best, and the water was pretty cold. But it was amazing to spend a long week together, relaxed, just enjoying each other's company, not thinking about homework or housework. I'm so blessed, and very thankful to be able to travel.

Thank you for stopping by today. Please come by again tomorrow!

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Catching Up!

I suck at blogging, but I'm the worst during the month of November! Last year, I dropped off the face of this blog at the end of October, and didn't resurface for four months. Oops. Since November is coming to an end soon (yikes!), I thought I'd do a super quick photo recap. Super quick.

We celebrated our 20th anniversary in Kauai. We went sans kids. So yes, it was so very nice!

My little brother got married in San Francisco, and this was the view from the reception in Sausalito. As the sun sets, the East Bay (to the left) gets hit with the diminishing sunlight, and it just glows! So pretty!

Bryan and I used to live in San Francisco before we had children! How we miss it. Hey, I just noticed I posted three photos with water. I love the sea!

One little photo with humans! My kids and my parents ready for the wedding. The littlest was the ring bearer. A job he's quite good at, having done it twice in the past year.

And one little project I want to share!

This card for Lawn Fawn using Winter Owl. Love that stamp set. LOVE! So adorable! I used markers to color in the owl, the speech bubble and the hearts. Cut them all out and used pop up dots to adhere them to the patterned paper background (Lawn Fawn Fa-La-La collection). Used a little bit of May Arts burlap ribbon, and that was it. Have I mentioned how much I love that owl? Cute!

Thanks for dropping by today. Let's hope I post again before the month ends! Ha!

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Weekend in Instagrams + Giveaway Winner

First, the winner! Random.org picked:

Kate, aka stinkydudette

Your username had me cracking up. Love it! Kate, please email me? Thanks! (use email button to the left, please)


So this past weekend, we took off on Friday afternoon to San Diego without a plan. No hotel was booked ahead of time. No guidebooks consulted. No Yelp research. Nothing. Which is so unlike me. I like to have at least a few restaurants in my must see eat list.

The Del from the beach.

We took off, and holy crap, the traffic was insane! It took us over five hours to cover the 120 miles that separate Los Angeles and San Diego. So I had a lot of time to find us a hotel. And we lucked into the Hotel Del Coronado. Also known as The Del. It was built in 1888 by the developers of Coronado Island. Which really is not an island, more of a peninsula, but what do I know!

My view from the poolside chair.

Our room was right off the pool, which was warmed to a 82F night and day. The kids were in love! We were also a few steps from the beach, but it was very overcast and blustery the entire weekend.  So we stuck to the heated pool, ate a lot, walked around the teeny village, took in the sites.

Nighttime, all lit up.

Inspired by all those his+hers drink shots. Him = cool microbew. Me = tap water.

Really really good pork belly noodle soup at Leroy's.

Cute paper store at night. I didn't get a chance to visit it while it was open.

My oldest wanted this shirt. What can I say? He's 13. I didn't buy it.

Love weekends spent as a tourist. I usually come home so inspired to cook, scrap, and travel some more. Currently plotting a trip to Ojai!

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Weekend In Photos: Central Coast California

A bit late, since it's Wednesday already. But I was lazing around yesterday with the kids. It's their Spring Break, so we are just taking it easy.

This past weekend, we drove up the coast of California to Cambria, stopping at a few cities along the way. The kids didn't bring their nintendos. So we had a chance to talk and take in the views as we drove up. Once there, we hiked, played games, watched movies, slept, ate. The kids had fun, we had fun, it was heaven!

Solvang / Cambria / Cambria / Cambria / Cambria / San Simeon / Cayucos

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Weekend In Photos: Hollywood Reservoir

I've been making a list of places here in Los Angeles that I want to explore. This Saturday, we had a nice brunch at King's Road cafe. And after our tummies were filled with pancakes, french toast, bacon, and soy latte, we headed to the Hollywood Reservoir.

Can't go wrong with bacon.

It's in between the 101 Fwy and Griffith Park. It was built in the 1920s, and once you are up there, you can barely tell you are in the city.

We drove until the end of the road, got out, and it didn't look like much. But after you walk past the chain link fence, you are welcomed with the best view of the Hollywood sign in the entire city. Ever!

Photos taken with my iPhone.

There's not much to do up there other than look at the sign, and look towards the westside of the city. But it's so calm and quiet and pretty.

That first cluster of buildings is Hollywood.

It's so far up (in LA-speak) that we could see Topanga Canyon.

The dam has since been reinforced on the inside (to make sure it won't ever leak into the neighborhoods below.) On the side of the structure, there are bear head gargoyles. Love the details!

Totally coming back here again. With a real camera next time! (And sunscreen.)

Someone had a real sense of humor when adding this control plate. Why not take the mundane and turn it into something happy.

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Last Day of Summer (Vacation, that is.)

Yesterday, it was my kids' last day of summer vacation. A bit of a bittersweet date for us. I just love having the kids around.

   I love the lack of schedule.
   I love that they bond as brothers and learn new ways to play together.
   I love that we can be lazy.
   I love that we can travel anytime we want to.

But after two months, I could tell that the boys were suffering from a bit too much togetherness. They were starting to bicker. So the back to school day was perfectly timed. For them. For me, well, today is also my youngest's first day of Kindergarten. I told my husband that I would not cry when it's time to say goodbye. We'll see how that goes.

So to celebrate the last day, we headed off to do what we love most: hang out at the beach. The kids ran in and out of the surf, and built sand castles. Bryan played with them. And I got to people watch.

In Brazil, where I grew up, we have a saying that translates into something like, "the beach is a democracy." And it's true. It doesn't matter who you are, how much money you have, where you live, the color of your skin, who you voted for (or didn't vote at all), what language you speak, what God you believe in, your age, sex, height, weight, we all come together at the beach. Hanging out, having fun, enjoying ourselves and the company of those we love.

It was totally fascinating watching the other families around us, seeing how they interacted, eavesdropping in their conversations. Lots of languages I didn't recognize at all. Love that about America. You see all kinds, you hear all kinds in this country.

All in all, a lovely afternoon. And no one got sunburned. Win-win.

Crowded day at Venice Beach / Running back and forth carrying seawater in a yellow pail with holes  / Hoping for a prize + hoping for customers / Toddling with a saggy-soggy behind / A boy + a bat / Called back / Going home / Walking home / Sailing home / Interesting photo shoot / Pink!

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