What I love Wednesday

Linking up with Krystina at Lollipops like usual. It's fun to post a few things that we love and to see what others are loving each week.

This week I'm going with Living Room Inspiration from my Pinterest boards. I've slowly been working on redoing our living room and have found so much inspiration from these pics....

 

Loving the aqua & orange in this pic. I wouldn't do pictures with shells, because that's just not my style. But, everything else I love!

Everything about this idea is beautiful to me! Must do!

 Isn't that wreath lovely?

{click on pictures to be linked to where they came from.}

The Threadery!

Happy Tuesday! I have a super exciting announcement today. My sweet friends Nicole from Olive Blue & Kristen from Rock-A- Bow put together a brand new handmade - vintage market that will be debuting in Brea in October! I applied last week and found out yesterday that I've been accepted to sell at The Threadery!

So, if you're in Southern California, I hope you'll come out to shop from some amazing handmade vendors and also say hi!

A top-quality handmade and vintage market in Northern Orange County.

When: October 22nd, 9:00AM- 4:00PM

Where: 505 W. Lambert Rd. Brea, Ca 92821 North Orange County

In the coming weeks I'll be posting more info and some sneek peaks at items that I'll be selling. The timing is perfect for Holiday shopping! Thank you to Nicole & Kristen for taking such a big leap, I know this will be amazing and tons of fun. I can not wait until October 22nd and hope you'll join us. Be sure to check out Olive Blue & Rock-A-Bow and get to know the awesome ladies behind The Threadery!

And of course a picture to celebrate my little ladies birthday week.. this time one of my favorite pictures of her with me when she was about 3!! Love that little face.

What would you do with..

The past couple of weeks I haven't posted for What would you do with.. because I've been busy and or lacked to motivation. We've got so much going on right now getting ready for school to start and all!

As you may have seen last week in my InstaFriday post, I found this lovely chair at the Goodwill. It's gorgeous, in great shape and JUST what I've been looking for to use in our living room. The chair isn't even old (dated 2001) on the bottom and the seat is actually quite clean. But.. I want something different for it! I'm having a hard time deciding what exactly though..

The colors in the room are a very light aqua blue, chocolate brown, a sand-like color and I'm adding touches of white, off-white, yellow, etc. Some brighter colors. This chair needs to pop, without looking tacky or strange! I've thought about a green or maybe grey.. but have also thought of something brighter like red. What do you think?

I'll also recover the seat. For that I'm thinking of a chevron or trellis pattern. Matt already put in his two cents and asked for nothing floral, bright or crazy. Any suggestions? Feel free to link up with me for What Would You Do With..

<center><a href="http://eisleyraeclothing.blogspot.com/" title="Eisley Rae"><img src="http://i999.photobucket.com/albums/af120/stephaniert90/lime-chevronalysonredo4names.png" alt="Eisley Rae" /></a></center>


Also on Friday of this week, my sweet Brookelyn turns 8. I've decided that each day I'm going to share a favorite picture of her with you, in honor of her birthday.

{a bath in grandma's sink, 8 months old. i love this picture}

InstaFriday: Summer is Winding Down

It's hard to believe that our summer vacation is close to being done. Not that the heat will go anywhere, unfortuately. It'll be hot here for about another month. Blech! This week was a fun & busy one in our house. Lots of craziness, and we're thrilled for the weekend.

My kids & I are obsessed with edamame hummus. Yum. And look at the gorgeous green of those apples!

My new project! I'm so excited to share this with you on Monday. 

I have some great plans for it, but am looking for opinions too!

Last Sunday evening we went to our local fair. Brookelyn loved sticking her head in the military cut outs.

While the in laws are in Italy... we enjoyed their pool & baby bell cheese.

I love love love the way my boy is looking at his big sister.

Fun swimming! And.. yeah, Cohen has legs still.. 

you just can't see them in this picture.

This week I finished reading this book. One of the best I've read. 

I loved it, was so sad that it ended and can't wait to see the movie!

This is what happens when your hubby doesn't pound the lid on the paint can the night before and you go to shake the paint in the morning before using it. Also.. this equals about 6 hours of cleanup. Not fun!

You see those pretty papers? Paperwork from signing Cohen up for preschool. How is it that he's old enough already? :( Looks like I'll be getting new copies of that paperwork, right?

If you have a cell phone that you use to take pics with and haven't linked up with Jeannett for InstaFriday, you should!

  

What I love Wednesday

I've been busy! Things around here were crazy busy this weekend. We spent lots of time with family, which was really nice! I even skipped What would you do with... on Monday because I just couldn't get my crap together enough to write a post.

So, as usual I'm linking up with Krystina from Lollipops for What I love Wednesday... 

these 2 homes in the town we plan to move to. now if only Matt had a job there, so that we could move!

  

an individual pie maker? LOVE this, especially for fall! and who wouldn't love aqua collanders?

   

no, that's not me.. that's Dana, from Designs by Dana. she is my blog designer, button designer, everything online go to designer, not to mention a dear friend. she just finished designing Brookelyn's 8th bday invitations and I can't wait to share them with you. they're gorgeous and perfect! so, if you need anything designed, you should definitely contact Dana! and.. how gorgeous is she??

Those are my loves for this week! And of course, my family. Today we went to tour Cohen's new preschool  and fell in love. I can't believe he's old enough to go to preschool already. Where has the time gone? He's not my baby anymore.

Link up to Lollipops and share your loves on Wednesdays!

InstaFriday: Beautiful Things

If you have not already linked up with Jeannett at Life Rearranged for InstaFriday, you should! It's fun. Just share pictures you've taken with your cell phone throughout your week.

This week was a fun one here and I'm excited to share it with you!

My reading spot. Ever since we repainted the living room wall and rearranged the furniture, I LOVE sitting in that room. All week I've been reading The Help, right here with a view of my trees &amp; the blue sky.

Hard to believe that fall is on it's way (especially when it's still SO hot outside), but I've got to start working on new items for the shop.. and so I did!

A friend bought a pretty print at Queen Bee Market and needed a turquoise frame, so I painted a thrift store frame for her. Wish the color wasn't so off in this pic.

This little guy seems to love hanging out on our front door. Maybe it's not the same one all the time though, ha?

Yay for sweet neighbors who give you fresh veggies from the garden over the back wall!

That's a look at our week. Hope you had a great one and enjoy your weekend!

Get me outta here!!

Have you ever lived somewhere that you really just can not stand? If you have, then you'll relate to this post.. and if you haven't, then consider yourself lucky. I don't normally post depressing posts, but right now Matt & I are both pretty frustrated with the fact that he just can't seem to find a new job so that we can move out of this town. 

Matt grew up here.. in the desert, about an hour North and a bit East of Los Angeles. I however, grew up in a tiny mountain/ski resort town about 45 minutes away from this desert hole! 

I totally get that this might be "pretty" to some people, but to us it's far from. Ugly, brown, hot and dry. We are not fans of the desert and won't ever be. Poor Matt, he's been applying for jobs (in the finance industry.. you know, in case anyone wants to hire him in the Milwaukee area ;) for almost 2 years now! Yes, 2 years! This isn't exactly the greatest economy to be job hunting in, but since he just got his degree in December he's anxious to put it to good use. And, to get us out of CA and out of this desert!

People ask often why we want to leave California and where we want to move to, so I'm answering that here.. We want to leave California because we want 4 seasons, less traffic, more history, better schools, more affordable cost of living, more of a family oriented community, less of a fast paced life and a more laid back one! So, we plan to move to the suburbs of Milwaukee and can't WAIT! The town we'll live in is gorgeous, family oriented, has great schools, friendly neighborhoods, 4 seasons, a huge lake & beach nearby, an amazing city filled with history w/in a 10 minute drive and so much more! When we visited with our friends, Karri & Chris (from House of Tubers) last spring, we fell absolutely in love with the place. Tree lined streets, kids walking to & from school, mild spring weather, a gorgeous downtown.. really, I could go on! 

I mean really.. this is so much more appealing to us, than the picture above. 

 

I just really hope and pray, ever single day that Matt will find a job soon and we can move. So, if you wouldn't mind maybe sending up some prayers, positive thoughts or whatever it is that you do, we'd really appreciate it! 

Here's hoping we're packing up our home and moving to a new one, very, very, very soon!!

Happy Thursday!

What I love Wednesday

RAINY DAYS!! Seriously, some people dread rainy days. Me? I long for them! I grew up in Southern California and have lived in the desert in So Cal for the past 12 years. Let me tell you... to say that we don't get rain would be an understatement! Our average YEARLY rainfall is right around 7 inches. Yes, you read that right.. yearly!  

This is one of our main reasons for wanting to move! We want weather!! I can not wait to move to Wisconsin and will enjoy every minute of the rain (and the snow). Promise, feel free to hold me to that.. cause I know some of you are shaking your heads thinking I'm on the crazy train. haha. 

All of these insanely hot days of summer have me wishing for cooler temps and some precipitation! Today's What I love Wednesday is all about rainy days!

 

  

  

    

Link up with Krystina for What I love Wednesday. It's fun!

Happy Wednesday! And, if you're getting rain where you... mind sending some our way?