Thursday, July 26, 2012

Do You Viddy?

*Update-so I just realized Viddy videos won't load on all devices so in case the screen below is not showing my video, you can view it here instead.

For some time I've had the "Viddy" App on my iPhone, there is something really fun about being able to personalize a 15 second snippet of your life, and talk about easy to use! I look forward to making fun little vignettes to share with you guys in the future.
That said. I had never really used it till last Sunday when Jeremy decided to record this candid moment that me and Rilo share nightly. Like clock work for as long as I can remember Jeremy and I always have a bowl of cereal while we watch "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" at 10:00pm every night. Come hell or high water me, Jeremy, and Rilo will be parked on that bed with a bowl of frosted mini-wheats or cheerios humming along to "Funeral March of the Marrionette" and Rilo knows that the last 3 bites out of mama's bowl are always hers- Mostly, because who could resist the dainty little bites off of a spoon from my gentle giant, and also because I'm the one with the lactaid in my cereal so she knows she won't get bubble guts. So in honor of my beautiful baby love I wanna share my first public viddy...

An Epic Visit/Tattoo/BBC...

Sorry for the lack of posts this week, I have some bug that escaped the pits of hell and infected my GI tract early Monday morning, so I've spent the week in bed indulging in my unhealthy obsession with the bbc...In case you're into British Tele I'll make a list of my current favorite series.
I received a call late Friday night from my best friend, Daniel letting me know he and his wife Carly and -what is perhaps the cutest/smartest child ever-Cora or "Bean" were on the way down from Pittsburgh for a visit! I've known Daniel since childhood and we went to the same elementary school back in Honolulu/High School in Maryland. I pretty much live for these visits because they usually involve dancing, non-stop laughter, and wine...


Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Gratitude...

Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.
-Aesop

Today while reading through the blogs I follow daily I came across an amazing post from an amazing woman.
Sarah Yates is the creator of A House in the Hills I've mentioned her before in this post, (btw-thank you to all the sweet ladies that emailed me responses to that post). Sarah is one of those women that just inspires me to be the best woman I can be, honest, and brave, and strong. She recently purchased her first home and shared this moving post explaining why shes so thankful, and what the significance of this home means for her. Its a touching story and one I hope everyone will take a moment to read. Sometimes its easy to be jaded and loose sight of what really matters, lets all try to count our blessings more often, and be gracious for what we do have. Sarah's story is one not far from my own, perhaps one day I'll be brave enough to share my journey. But for now, heres to you Sarah! Congrats on your new home I wish you many happy years and memories to come.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Summer Updates and BOMW

I cant believe we've reached the mid-way point of July already! Where is the time going!?! Jeremy and I have planned a wonderful "real" vacation to Chincoteague next month with one of our dearest and oldest friends, Rachel. The owner of the rental said that the island have wild pony! Can you even fathom waking up to a beach that is home to wild pony?!? We're both super excited! I'm a little worried for Rilo's reaction to the pony, but then again this is the dog who thought our friends horse was just a large dog, my sweet baby, so friendly that one. I can't wait to share all the fun details of our week there. Have any of you been to Chincoteague? If so feel free to share great places to visit on the island. I'm currently working on editing all of the nail DIYs I've promised as well as jewelry DIYs and the "beauty branch" post. I also did a little cleanup on the page, hope you like it, I felt that my side bar was overcrowded with stuff (ie-search bar, that's never used, and blog roll that hadn't been updated since day one) my new "alternating" roll can now be found on the top tab, eventually I will be posting a best of the web series there as well that will hold a weekly round-up of what I thought was the best of what I saw on the blogosphere that week. Here's a few bits of my week, there are kind of a lot due to my photo upload issues while visiting the grandparents, I had a wonderful time there. My grandmother gave me a lot of vintage pieces, so excited to finally share...

Vintage lace nightgowns made by my great grandmother ca 1940s

Jeremy and I got 2LBS of our favorite candy to aid in our watchathon of Land Girls (on netflix)

Monday, July 16, 2012

Currently Liking...

I've been into these things the past week or two, perhaps its the lack of Mad Men (now that the season is over) or all the time I spent at my grandmothers, but something about the late 50's early 60s has had me currently liking the following...

Lace panel making a top more feminine, paired with delicate jewelry
 
Mint vintage bag with gold and leather accents 

Its a Boy!

I'm finally back home, after spending last week with my grandparents, Jeremy and I went away on an impromptu mini-vacation, and spent some time with some old friends ...oh how I love that mans spontaneity! We got some exciting news before we left, I was right about the gender of Kristie's baby... ITS A BOY!!!! we cannot wait to meet baby Noah, he will be a happy addition to our family. Here are some pictures from the night of the big announcement...

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Right here, right now...

 me and my abuela 1986 

Sorry I've been MIA the past few days, things have been crazy around here. I'm currently visiting my grandparents, and although I miss Jeremy, something about being here makes me feel like I'm home, all these things, these knick-knacks from my childhood sit around me, like they're locked in time, and have the ability to bring about the most intense and amazingly powerful nostalgia. Gosh, do I love that feeling. My grandparents have this huge linen closet right outside my bedroom and the scent that emminates from it literally smells like home. Crisp cool linens take me to nights long ago where I'd lay in my grandmas bed with her and just listen to any and every story she could tell me, I cherish that memory like it is a rare jewel, I guess to me it is. Anyways, I'll be sharing more about my trip here in the next few days. I'm having some issues uploading photos here so hoefully I'll have plenty up soon.

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Bow Tie Pasta Salad w/GF Alternative...


Lately its easy to get lost in the various potato and coleslaw salads that are grazing many a BBQ spread, I wanted to share a fresher take on this well-loved dish... 

"Kickin it" on the 4th...

Hope you all had a fabulous 4th! Something about the 4th always makes it feel like summer is well under way....maybe all the bbq ;) 
Here in our neck of the woods we've had some terrible thunderstorms that have people still out of power! Hopefully by the time this posts most everyone will be back in business. My brother was without power for about 3 days, and we were in the triple digits, it was horrible!
But on to the nicer parts of the holiday.... I recently found out from my sister-in-law, Kristie that yours truly will be the god mama of the newest member of our family!!! Of course, I couldn't be more excited to welcome bay-boo (what I like to call him/her) as an auntie and god mama! This child has a whole lot of spoiled relatives waiting and ready for his/her arrival!
And we'll be getting to know the sex in the next week, I think we're all leaning towards boy except NaNa, who really wants a girl :) In the upcoming months I'll be sharing all of Kristie and Josh's baby shower planning that we're doing, as well as some fun DIY's that Jeremy and I have put together. Some of them will be posted on "Kristie's Baby Shower" board on my Pinterest if you'd like to follow our progress there too.
We are all VERY excited for bay-boo, including Peanut, who had to be included for some first kicks (hence the title) during the BBQ...

Bay-boo's first kicks!
 20 weeks and counting!

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Easy Peazy Gold Leaf Manicure


This manicure was inspired by a recent TBD post on gold leafing nails. I had loved it then but this evening I stumbled upon it again on Pinterest (which I'm new to, but already addicted!). Of course, being the Easy Peazy girl I am, I couldn't resist simplifying it either!