Oleander and Palm

The Brooklyn Flea

2013-06-19T18:41:00.003-07:00

Well, I'm FINALLY back. Thanks for your patience friends, this was a much needed break that both my family and I needed. We have been all over the place the last couple of weeks. We drove to Idaho (a 14 hour trip), to visit Lon's family. Then while we were there, Lon and I left the kiddos with his very generous parents and flew to NYC. We got to spend FIVE days there, all by ourselves. Then we flew back into Idaho, spent a few more days with fam. Then early Monday morning we drove to Lassen Volcanic National Park and met my parents there. We spent yesterday exploring the park (it's fabulous and I'll be sharing that with you as well), and then this morning we drove to my parent's place in Eureka, CA. The kids are fantastic travelers and we are having a great summer. And there's still a lot more Summer traveling adventures to come.

We are celebrating our fifteen anniversary this summer and wanted to do it in a big way. It was BIG friends - New York City big. We had such a great time and packed in tons of great stuff and lots of yummy treats. I'll be sharing some of our NYC adventures in the weeks to come. Today I'm sharing our first destination in NYC - the Brooklyn Flea. My husband is a good sport, and even though he is NOT a shopper, he does enjoy wondering around a flea market.

Denali would have loved one of these brass owls or cats.

The view of Manhattan from the Flea

I've long been a flea market fan. If there's one happening near by, I'll be there (from France to Santa Fe to the Rose Bowl and everything in between). The Brooklyn Flea did not disappoint. It was small and quaint and was a great mix of great old stuff and also local artisans work. And probably some of Brooklyn's best food was there. I wish I would have been a little hungrier, because there were many treats that tempted me, but I just couldn't justify stuffing another thing into my face (especially People's Pops, so I may need to buy their cookbook).

Lon's favorite treat of the day was a Lemon Poppy Seed Donut from Dough. Oh my, it was warm and just a perfectly light yeast donut. They had lots of unique flavors like Passion Fruit Cocoa Nibs and Blood Orange Glazed.

I went for the more dainty, lady like treat - Grilled Maple Bacon Stick from Landhaus. It was the generous hunk of bacon, grilled to crispy perfection, then drizzled in maple syrup and topped with some yummy smoky salt of some sort. One stick was a meal.

There was definitely a limited selection of furniture and vintage knickknacks, but what was there, was of high quality. It was like a well curated Flea Market, without all the tacky junk. I ended up coming home with a handmade mug as my souvenir. I couldn't resist this cute fox piece by SKT Ceramics. It was hard to choose from all her cute animals and gorgeous pastel glazes.

Brooklyn was probably my favorite part of NYC. If I had to choose a place to live, Brooklyn would be it. It's hip, young, artsy and is rapidly being refurbished. I love the potential of the place and the people who see that potential. And an added bonus is that Brooklyn has a healthy bike culture.

If you're headed to New York anytime soon, I recommend you take a L train Sunday morning and spend a couple hours at the Brooklyn Flea.

Science Themed Birthday Party

2013-06-08T12:26:00.000-07:00

So, here's how we celebrated my son Dylan hitting the double digits. For his 10th birthday, our little geek wanted a Science Themed Birthday Party. This was a proud day for his nerdy, Biology teacher dad. All those years of brain washing final paid off and science is cool.

I shared some of my science party decor sources last week. I'm so pleased with how all of this came together. The yellow and teal color scheme was bright and cheery and played well with the blackboard details and vintage frog dissection chart.

For the dessert/treat table I had fun making white chocolate Lab Rats, Atomic Pops (oreo truffles), Flask Cookies (that my mom skillfully decorated), candy filled test tubes, and Petri Dish Delights.

And I sewed fun treat bags with the fabulous sciency fabric I had found and filled them with fun nerdy notions.

This was one of the easiest parties I've thrown in a while. We didn't have to organize games or keep the kids entertained and out of trouble. My husband simply kept the kids busy with fun, interactive science experiments. He had them look at the cheek cells under a microscope, they played "guess the magnified object" under the microscope, they made a classic soda and vinegar volcano, they made their own borax goo, and they even got to participate in a dissection.

And what's a party without a cake. I like to make my kids classic piped buttercream themed cakes. This year's was super simple, I just made a big flask cake.

And these are my two favorite geeks in the whole world.

A Science Party Bunting and a Cricut Giveaway

2013-06-06T09:12:00.001-07:00

All my Cricut friends, this giveaway is for you! If you're not using Cricut Craft Room yet, you NEED to be. It allows you to have access to all your digital cartridges and you can mix and match them together on your computer and then cut everything all at once. You can also play with designs and then save then for later. I only started using Cricut Craft Room this year, but there is no going back. Often times I work on my laptop in front of the TV in the evening and lay out everything I want to cut. Then later I just open up my saved designs and cut away.

I recently threw my son a Science Themed Birthday Party (you may have seem some of it on Instagram). I'll be sharing more of the party tomorrow, but I wanted to share this custom Science bunting I made with my cricut machine. Who wants to buy pre-made party decorations, when you can make beautiful ones to go with whatever theme or color scheme you choose? I made cute little beakers and flasks to go perfectly with all my party decorations.

I'm hosting a great giveaway today! I'm giveaway the Cricut Chalkboard Fonts Cartridge to one lucky winner. This new on-trend digital cartridge gives invitations, cards, and signs a hand-lettered look. There are three fonts included in this cartridge and bonus letters and flourishes for all the fonts.

It's super easy to enter, just leave a comment below sharing how you'd use this fun new cartridge. Just check this fun custom cell phone cover using vinyl, I really like this idea. Thanks Cricut for this fun giveaway.

Love Cell Phone

Giveaway ends Friday, June 7th at 12 midnight. Winner will be announced on Saturday June 8th.

Land of Nod Grand Opening

2013-06-03T22:19:00.001-07:00

This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Land of Nod, but all my opinions are my own. #PMedia #NODinCA http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.

I am one lucky girl. Last week I got to attend the Land of Nod VIP Grand Opening party in Costa Mesa. What I fun evening. There was food and shopping and HGTV celebs and my best friend was by my side - seriously, what could be better? You may have seen some of the fun on my Instagram and there's even more on Nod's Instagram.

So, can I start by saying, I love the Nod staff. Seriously, they are the sweetest, most down to earth, fun loving, and creative group of folks. Can I somehow work for The Land of Nod? DREAM JOB friends! Everything about this company fits so well with my taste and aspirations. I'm just putting that out there.

The brand new store is amazing! I wish I could have brought one of everything home with me. I know, from personal experience, that their products are absolutely adorable and of great quality, because I used a lot of Nod touches in my girl's shared bedroom. But, it was so much fun to touch and see everything up close and personal. Yes, I do love flipping through the pages of their catalogue and their online store is fabulous. But, being able walk through rooms of their totally stylish, yet quirky and eclectic products is the BEST!

Every surface had been thoughtfully arranged and styled. The Land of Nod does such a great job of pairing vintage finds with modern and practical pieces.

Oh my, the OCD in me was so pleased with this wall of rainbow storage. Can you image your child's room organized with some of these fabulous bins and baskets? My clean freak heart be still.

My little nerdy son would totally dig this robot bedding. I am highly tempted to order theses fabulous gears sheets pictured here.

And who doesn't need a set of mini suitcases for storing all of life's little treasures?

They do have amazing furniture pieces, but really any space can be totally spiced up with just a few tiny details. Details like this triangle garland and these hot air balloons give a room a playful and fun vibe.

And my favorite furniture piece of the evening, this fabulous retro style rocker. Oh my, when can I own you my precious. I'll rock you and love you, well you'll rock me, but either way, it will be divine.

I did buy a couple really fun items. I brought home the little squirrel nightlight, it's going to find it's home in Riley, my vintage trailer. And I also bought this gorgeous gold lamp, it's coming in a couple weeks. And when it arrives, I will share a whole post about how much a love this lamp, just you wait and see. It's going to be a part of my new living room, I'm going to be using Nod pieces in a grown up space.

So, all my SoCal friends the store is now open at the South Coast Plaza (3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa, CA 92626). And if you can't make it to the store, be sure to check out their online store or if you just need a good dose of inspiration, I love following Nod on pinterest.

New York City - here we come!

2013-06-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

You guys, I don't even know what to do with myself, I'm just sooooo excited. This Friday, Lon and I are headed to New York City for FIVE days, by ourselves! This summer is our 15th anniversary, and we're celebrating with this trip.

We've been planning out what we'd like to do, see and eat while we are there. To be honest, I may be most excited about the food. After years of faithfully watching Martha Stewart and the food network, now I can visit all those amazing places that they talked about. We plan to walk a tone, so I figure I can eat anything.

But, we would love some suggestions of what is a must-see, must -do, or must-eat while in NYC. I'd love to know where your favorite shops are or your favorite hole-in-the-wall pizza or coffee spot. Help me out! We want to pack it in and see as much of the city as possible. Please leave a comment with your favorite suggestions.

Stuffed Turkish Apricots

2013-05-31T08:47:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I shared pictures from the Modern Orange and Grey Baby Shower I threw. I promised to share a few of the treat recipes with you. So, here's the Stuffed Turkish Apricots.

This is my version of a yummy dessert I ate at a fantastic Turkish restaurant in London about 9 years ago. Then when I went back to London about 5 years ago I had to eat them again. It was such a simple and dare I say healthy dessert. It's the perfect combination of sweet, salty and creamy. I believe the original ones were stuffed with clotted cream, but that's a little hard to come by here in the states. I think cream cheese is a good substitute.

Stuffed Turkish Apricots
2 dozen good quality Turkish Apricots
2 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
1 tsp. honey
1/4 cup chopped pistachios

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese and honey until it is a smooth consistency. Find the hole in the apricots, where the pit has been removed, and insert your thumb to open up the apricot. Then using knife fill each apricot with about 1/2 - 1 tsp. of the cream cheese mixture. Then roll the top of the apricot, where the cream cheese is, in the chopped pistachios. And ta-da, you're done! Store these in the refrigerator.

House Plants

2013-05-29T12:26:00.001-07:00

Well, I have to admit, I'm not the best with house plants. Truthfully, I haven't invested in any that are very big, because I'm afraid they just won't last. But, I really like plants and would love to have some in our living room or dining room. I've been doing a little research and I've found a few that I really like in the homes of some of my favorite bloggers and designers.

photo source: Making it Lovely

This first one is a Bird's Nest Fern in Nichole's (of Making it Lovely) living room. It's a nice size and I like that it's not terribly tall. It could be nice on a table or bench against a wall.

photo source: Making it Lovely

This tall, handsome plant is a Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree also in Nicole's home. I'd love one of these beside the windows in my dining room.

photo source: Emily Henderson

And this last group of well styled plants is in the home of Bri Emery (of Design Love Fest). Emily Henderson recently teamed up with Bri to makeover her living room. It is a fabulous space with beautiful splashes of color. But, I think it's the plants that brought the room to life.

Are you a house plant kind of person? Can you recommend any plants that are easy to care for and look beautiful all year long?

I'll be going to my favorite local nursery this afternoon, and I better be on the look out for some stylish pots as well.

Modern Grey and Orange Baby Shower

2013-05-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of throwing my sweet friend a baby shower recently (you may have seen bit and pieces of it on instagram). I was a really fun party to put together, and the whole day turned out to be really lovely. It was one of those very relaxed, easy going parties, where everyone seemed comfortable.

Before Baby Reuben arrives we needed to have a little celebration for his Mama. I took the color inspiration from the nursery colors. I sent out Minted's Urban Baby Invitations , nothing sets the mood for a party like a beautiful invite. These invites a clean, crisp and elegantly modern. Decorating for this party was a piece of cake, I simply used Minted's Urban Baby Party Decor as well. With the customizable buntings, I was able to make one to welcome Baby Reuben (and how much fun will this be in his nursery later?).

You've probably heard me say it before, but I really believe great parties are all in the details. And these party decorations have the perfect details. I not only used the straws and flags for the drinks, but I also cut them in half and used with as cupcake toppers and I also used them in my party favors (which I will share soon).

Minted also sells beautiful party serving pieces. I use my large and small modern white cake plates from there all the time. Varying heights of treats on a party table adds interest and movement.

I was really smart with this party and when friends offered to help, I gladly delegated. I love the decorating and treat making part of parties, so I gratefully gave over the task of organizing games to a friend. She did a great job, and it was one big weight off my shoulders. And I also gave another fantastic friend the job of making the savory treats (the REAL food). She is a fabulous cook, so I could trust that she would make something yummy and elegant. That left me with the fun stuff. I kept my treats in the orange and grey color scheme. Here's what I served:

The Menu
Iced Coffee
Cucumber Orange Water
Blood Orange Sodas

Veggies and Hummus
Curried Chicken and Egg Salad Sandwiches

Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes
Honied Apricot Marshmallows
Turkish Apricots
London Fog Shortbread Cookies

And a mini treat bar with Cutie Oranges, Hershey Kisses and Junior mints.

The Orange Creamsicle Cupcakes were a Vanilla Bean Cupcake, filled with Orange Curd and then topped with Orange Butter Cream Frosting (I'll share the recipe soon). I love serving unique homemade marshmallows at parties, I got the Honeyed Apricot recipe from this cook book. And the Turkish Apricots are a copy cat of a dessert I had in London at a Turkish restaurant years ago (I'll share that recipe soon as well).

Opposites Attract - His and Hers Nightstands

2013-05-24T11:08:00.002-07:00

Yesterday I shared my thrifted dresser makeover. Today I'm sharing how the finished piece looks in our bedroom (I need to update the home tour pictures now). I ended up painting the new nightstand the opposite of the other one in our room.

The truth is Lonnie and I are really opposites. If you know us in real life, you would agree. I am a total extrovert and Lon is an introvert. I am the emotional roller coster and he is the straight, steady and stable rock I need. He truly is a person who is intrinsically motivated, I really don't know anyone else like him. But, we do have a lot in common and have very similar interests. We are both adventurous and like to take risks and we have similar senses of humor, but our personalities couldn't be more different. And yes, I do most of the talking, but Lon wouldn't be a good listener if he didn't have anyone to listen to. So, these nightstand are really symbolic pieces of furniture. They have things in common and are really quite similar when you break down the parts, but they also stand alone as unique pieces with their own personalities. Ha, that was fun (and kind of corny).

I didn't need to shop for any new accessories for styling the top of his nightstand, we have plenty of those from our world adventures. I bought these antique spice jars in Yemen, when we lived there. They probably originally came from India, but through trading, have ended up in the Middle East. The framed insect is from Papua New Guinea (where I grew up and we lived when we were first married) and the little elephant is from Sri Lanka (where my parents lived and we visited).

When I got new bedding (from West Elm, no longer available), some of my living room pillows made their way to my bedroom. I made the Deer Pillow and the one with the quote, and the graphic one was a Target clearance purchase.

So, there it is, two thrifted nightstands, now with their own personalities.

Thrifting Thursday - a nightstand in need of a makeover

2013-05-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally found a little dresser to use as a nightstand for the hubbies side of the bed. Ever since I found and fixed up the one on my side of the bed, I've been on the hunt for another piece. I kind of thought I wanted something round or a different shape, but when I came upon this piece, the storage element won me over. That's the adventure of Thrifting, you never know what you'll find and you have to be ready to change your plan when something great is spotted.

This was definitely a little spendy for me, I paid almost $50 for this little dresser. But, it is solid oak and really a new piece of wood furniture is going to cost me at least $200. And after I gave it a makeover, I have no regrets at all. I think it looks more like a $300 piece of furniture now, and it's one-of-a-kind. No one else owns this piece of furniture!

I used my How to Paint Laminate Furniture method, even though this piece was wood, and it worked really well. From start to finish, I had this piece sanded, painted and moved into the room in 24 hours.

I debated on what to do to the piece, what color to paint it or stain it. It wasn't going to stay that yucky oaky color, that was for sure. I didn't want to paint it the same as the other dresser, trying to make them look like a set, when they weren't. Plus, I think that's just too matchy matchy for me. So, I turned to my Instagram friends for help and advice. They had some great ideas and I actually ended up going with my stylish friend Julia's idea and did the opposite paint job of my bedside table. I also gave the old hardware a good sanding and then sprayed them with a metallic gold spray paint. This grey, white and gold combo is really quite sophisticated.

Come back tomorrow and I'll share pictures of it in our bedroom. Are you working on any furniture projects? Do you own some pieces that could use a makeover? I'd love to hear what you have in the works.

Geometric Heart Tote Bag

2013-05-22T09:59:00.000-07:00

I can't stop! Maybe I have a problem, but I just keep coming up with ways to use my geometric heart pattern over and over. This little tote bag took no time at all to paint.

I used my Cricut to cut a freezer paper stencil out. To start, I worked in Cricut Craftroom to create the stencil. I simply used a right angle triangle image repeatedly to make my heart. Then I cut it out on a 12'x12' square of freezer paper. I ironed on my stencil onto a pre-made bag I purchases at Joannes and painted white and metallic gold randomly in the triangles. Then I let it dry completely and set the paint with a hot iron.

This is going to be my go to bag this summer. It's a great size for Olivia's stuff, like a diaper, wipes and a sippy cup, or I can just stylishly bag my groceries.

Do you find yourself drawn to the same colors, pattern or shapes? What's designs are on your favorite list currently?

Science Themed Party in the Making

2013-05-21T22:13:00.001-07:00

View the whole party here.

This weekend we are celebrating my baby boy turning 10 with a Science Themed Party. Each day this week I've given myself of list of things I need to complete so that I can be ready for the party. This theme seemed like a natural choice for my mini nerd (I'm married to a real life Science geek). My inspiration for the colors and decorations came from Minted. I used Minted's fantastic invitations and also their Blackboard bunting.

I ordered some beakers and flasks from amazon to display candy in. I've also found some great nerdy Science fabric that I'm sewing into goody bags (it's kind of a tradition for my kiddo's parties). And to fill the bags I have some fun treats like candy and slime in test tubes, nerdy glasses, and magnifying glasses.

I think it's going to be a fun party with lots of yummy treats and Science Experiments galore. My Biology teacher hubby is bringing his classroom to our backyard.

The Land of Nod is coming to SoCal

2013-05-19T22:10:00.000-07:00

I am beyond excited friends. Yes, I do love a good online window shopping session, but real life window shopping is soooo much better. And now if you are living in Southern Cali, you get shop at a REAL LIFE Land of Nod shop. Eeeeek, I can't wait to see everything up close and in person. The Land of Nod is opening a brick and mortar shop at the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, CA on May 31th. If you live near by, you are going to want to be there for the Grand Opening, there will be lots of free goodies for everyone who arrives early to shop.

You probably know that I am a HUGE Nod fan. I share their products here often and when I gave my daughter's shared bedroom a makeover, I turned to The Land of Nod for the fun, funky, and fresh look I was looking for. I'm still so jealous of Denali's new gold dot sheets, Nod bedding is amazing.

Deer // Lamp // Metal Letter

Walnut Dresser // Pillow

Feather Print // Gold Dot Wall Decal // Rocking Chair

I'm heading to the new SoCal Land of Nod shop at the end of the month. I've got my eye on some great "grown-up" pieces. Although The Land of Nod is really a shop for children's furniture and accessories, I've found some great pieces that would be fantastic in any space or room in my home. But specifically, I would love to have these pieces for my living room. I'm working on trying to make the space a little more modern and although it's technically a grown-up space, I really want to keep it playful and family friendly. I can't wait to share with you what I come home with.

You may want to follow The Land of Nod on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram to find out what's new or what creative adventures they are on. I love following their Instagram, it's great place for inspiration.

You might also want to enter The Land of Nod Win A Room Sweepstakes. The Grand prize is a room designed by The Land of Nod (a $4000 value). The winner with receive a design consultation with a the Nod design team, a room makeover with selected products from The Land of Nod, and then be featured in the The Land of Nod Real Families section of an upcoming catalog. The sweepstakes runs till June 17th.

“This post is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Land of Nod, but all my opinions are my own. #PMedia #NODinCA http://cmp.ly/3/8vNxcO.”

This Week

2013-05-17T17:04:00.001-07:00

This week... well it was a doozy. The weekend was fabulous with lots of celebrations. We celebrated my baby brother's 25th birthday (who also finished painting my garage), Lonnie's birthday, Mother's day and a I hosted fun baby shower. Then came Monday morning - I got rear ended at a red light! Boo, Mondays do stink. But, I've pushed through this week and actually ended it on a pretty productive note. I'm refinishing a small dresser for Lonnie's bedside table and I'm also repainting Olivia little play kitchen. I hope you all have a great weekend. I'm looking forward to getting a lot accomplished.

Olivia // My freshly painted garage

Honeyed Apricot Marshmallows // Lonnie with his birthday cinnamon rolls

Thrifting Thursday Finds // A last minute baby shower gift

Me enjoying a post-baby shower iced coffee // A sneak peek at the thrift store dresser I'm refinishing

If you follow my instagram, these pictures may look familiar to you. But here's a little instagram taste of my week.

Thrifting Thursday - Pyrex Pitcher and a Ceramic Bowl

2013-05-16T14:11:00.001-07:00

It's been way too long since I hit a thrift store. I love thrifting, but for the past few months I've restrained myself because I really needed absolutely nothing at all. But, on Monday, I couldn't stand it any longer. What if there was some really great treasure out there that I was missing out on? So, Olivia and I headed to our local Salvation Army.

My first attempt to get there was foiled. While stopped at a red light, we were rear-ended my a big full-sized truck. My little Toyota Matrix got hurt pretty badly. Olivia cried, I think mostly because she was scarred, and I ended up with a fat lip and some sore muscles. I am pretty bummed with the whole situation. I love our little Matrix and it's totally paid for. Now I am just waiting for the police report (which takes over a week) and then we can see what the insurance company wants to do.

But, I didn't let this stop me. The next day I headed to the thrift store in our truck (I'm so grateful we have 2 cars, we didn't for the first 13 yrs. of marriage). And I came home with this cute Pyrex Pitcher for $3.84 and this beautiful hand made bowl for the same price. Did I really NEED these items? No, but I think this was a pretty harmless $8 to spend. And I know I'll use both, and probably often.

Cranberry Orange Corn Pancakes

2013-05-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

If you've missed it this week, I'm in the mood to go camping. Yesterday I shared some cool Camping Decor and the day before a little video from our Spring Break trip to Joshua Tree National Park.

I really enjoy cooking for my family when we camp. It's a great excuse to come up with new, easy to make in the great outdoors recipes. The last two times we've been out camping, I've made these Cranberry Orange Corn Pancakes. They were a hit with my family. They require very simple ingredients and really no syrup is required, they are naturally sweet with the orange juice.

We even ran out of camp fuel, and I cooked these over the fire one morning.

Cranberry Orange Corn Pancakes
1 pkg. JIFFY Corn Muffin Mix
1 egg
2 tbsp. butter (melted)
Zest of one orange
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice (about 2 oranges)
1/3 cup craisins

Place the butter in your frying pan or griddle, heat it until the butter melts. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients , including the melted butter, well. When your griddle is hot, pour about 1/2 cup of batter for each pancake. You will need additional butter for cooking the pancakes. Cook the pancakes just as you would regular pancakes. When the tops of the pancakes are bubbly, flip them. Because these pancakes have corn meal in them, they are a little more fragile to work with. Don't be alarmed if the first couple break in half.

I've also discovered that Trader Joe's sells shelf stable UHT whipping cream (so no need to refrigerate). I used to buy this when I lived overseas in Papua New Guinea and Yemen. I had never seen it here in the States though. It's such a handy product to have in your pantry. I gave the chore of whipping this by hand to my kiddos. It kept them busy while a cooked the pancakes. A dollop of whipped cream on pancakes while your camping - wow, now that's pretty good.

If you're interested in more kid approved, outdoor tested camping recipes, you might like some of these:

Hobo Meals - Sweet and Sour Meatballs

Campfire Orange Cinnamon Rolls

Chocolate Graham Crackers

Campfire Nachos

Chocolate Coconut Camp Cookies

Window Shopping - Camping and Outdoors Decor

2013-05-14T07:57:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I shared a little family video from our Spring Break camping trip to Joshua Tree. We are gearing up for Summer and camping is on my mind. I love decorating and accessorizing Riley, and I have a vision. It's a slow process though, firstly because I'm picky and want to do it right, and secondly because it has to be on a budget (like almost free budget). But, I recently was checking out some of my favorite online shops and I found a few dream pieces for my trailer. So here's my finds, and wouldn't this be a great start to a little boy's camping/outdoors themed bedroom?

Squirrel Nightlight // Camp Bedding // Pendleton Pillow

National Park Canvas // Away We Go Print

Smore Pillow (Land of Nod - no longer available) // Teepee Print // Bear Pillow

Spring Break in Joshua Tree National Park

2013-05-13T09:17:00.002-07:00

I've been wanting to share a little bit of Spring Break trip with you for weeks and weeks now. I put together a little video of some of our adventures in Joshua Tree National Park. It might just be my favorite National Park. I had a lot of fun making this little movie, I really should do it more often. I've always taken a lot of pictures, but videos have never really been my thing. I think it will be so fun to look back at this. My iphone made shooting this a breeze. It's funny how the iphone has totally changed how I record memories. Instead of carrying my digital SLR everywhere, I found myself taking lots of instagrams and short videos.

Now as Summer is quickly approaching, I'm itching to get out and camp more with Riley. Over the next week I'll be sharing more of our trip, some camping treats, and a little camping decor (yes, you can camp in style).

Are you a camper? Where's your favorite spot to camp? Do you have a favorite National Park?

Orange Curd

2013-05-10T16:11:00.000-07:00

I'm hosting a baby shower tomorrow for a sweet friend and one of the treats I'm making is Creamsicle Cupcakes. I'm making a vanilla bean cupcake, filling them with orange curd and then topping them with orange buttercream.

One of my favorite things to make is Lemon Curd. It's a fun process and the end result couldn't be more rewarding. We still have a few oranges high up on our tree, so I couldn't think of a better use for them then making a batch of orange curd. I based my orange curd recipe on my favorite lemon curd recipe (Martha's). This curd is not as zippy as lemon, but is bright and citrusy and a fun new twist.

Orange Curd
8 egg yolks
1 cup of sugar
2 tsp. finely grated orange zest
1 tsp. finely grated lemon zest
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 stick of cold butter cubed(1/4 cup)
orange gel food coloring (optional)

In a saucepan, combine the sugar, egg yolks, zest and juice. Mix until smooth with a wire whisk. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook stirring constantly for about 8-10 mins. When the mixture thickens and can coat the back of a wooden spoon, then you know it is done. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter until it is melted. Then strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve to remove any lumps and the big pieces of zest. Pour into canning jars, seal and store in the fridge.

Because orange juice doesn't give a really bright orange color, you may want to add a tiny bit of orange gel food coloring to the mixture with the butter. But, this is totally optional.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Take some time to make something homemade and from scratch this weekend. You'll feel totally productive and your family and friends will be pleased.

Window Shopping - Coral Accents

2013-05-08T13:17:00.003-07:00

I've been loving coral colored flowers this week, if you follow my instagram, you may have noticed. And seeing this color with all the grey and green in our home, I'm total digging it. It's my new favorite color combo coral, grey and green. It would sure make a pretty party palette as well.

Ombre Pillow // Giraffe // Coffee Table

World Map // Bird Print

Rectangle Print // Paper Flowers // Bowl

So, I thought I'd do a little online window shopping at my favorite stores and pick out some fun coral accents that would look good in my living room. Now that I have a new chair, I'm really wanting to modernize and update our living room. I'm thinking a few splashes of coral might be nice, what do you think? Is there anything in this round up that catches your eye?

Fun Kitchen Towels for Mother's Day

2013-05-07T11:57:00.001-07:00

How about making something for mom for Mother's Day this year? Mother's Day gifts don't have to be frumpy and old lady, let's keep is fresh friends. I made a couple tea towels and a set of wooden spoons, together they make a really nice gift.

I used my Cricut to cut out these hip fox and arrow freezer paper stencils. Then I followed the freezer paper stenciling method that I used on my DIY West Elm Style Monogram Towels and whipped out these towels in no time at all.

The spoons and towels were purchases at IKEA.

What are you doing for your mom this Mother's Day? Mine is miles away, so I'll be sending my gift in the next day or two.

My Good Looking Chair

2013-05-06T10:59:00.000-07:00

I am beyond excited and totally in love with my new chair. He is just so handsome, I kind of want to name him. We don't buy furniture very often and he was an investment, so this little guy is going to be part of the McConnel family for quite a while. Over a year ago I sold the green chair that used to sit in that corner of my living room on Craig's list. And ever since, I've been saving my pennies to get this West Elm Sweep chair. I got it in performance velvet in the color Shadow.

I'm just itching to give this room a much more modern look and feel. This chair is the starting point. The next step will be painting the walls. Right now it's a tan/beige color, kind of boring, but practical and neutral. It's been this color for almost 10 years, it was the first room we painted in the house. And as boring as beige is, I think I'm going to stay boring and paint the whole room a crisp white. Our dining room is a dark charcoal grey and I think this would be a nice bright contrast. What do you think? I love color, but I think a white backdrop will be a fresh way to showcase colorful pieces like my green and gold geometric pillow.

Painting our Garage

2013-05-02T14:07:00.000-07:00

Our home is a small California bungalow built in 1920. We have a garage in the back, which is very necessary for all of life's junk. But, for years and years it's really needed a paint job badly. This poor little building has weathered and chipped white paint on it's siding. I even added this job to my 2013 New Years resolutions in hopes of making this a priority.

My very handy youngest brother is here visiting this week. He doesn't sit still for very long, so he's been doing all kinds of projects around my house. It's awesome! He decided to take on the garage this week for me. He's spent the last 2 LONG days scraping and sanding the very peeled and chipped paint. It's a warm 92F here as well. This morning I helped with some sanding. It's going to look so great with a fresh, crisp coat of white paint. My backyard is going to feel like a new place with this is done.

Have you got any home improvement jobs that you've been stalling to complete or even start for that matter? What are you going to tackle this weekend?

Watercolor Gift Tags

2013-05-01T10:30:00.001-07:00

On Monday I shared that I've been playing with my watercolor paints a bit. And last week I packaged up some Vanilla Bean Lavender Salt Scrub with watercolor tags and lids. And I'm obviously having fun with this medium, so I decided to make a bunch of watercolor gift tags to just have on hand for gifts and treats I'll wrap in the future. My Mother's Day gifts will probably be sporting one of these fun tags.

To make these tags, I simply took a large piece of good quality watercolor paper and just painted and swirled and dripped some of my favorite colors onto the page. And then, when it was dry, I used my secret weapon - my Cricut machine, to cut out all these great tag shapes. But, if you don't have a Cricut, you could easily just cut these by hand by making a cardboard template. Then I tied a little black and white baker's twine to each of them. Because baker's twine makes everything cuter, right?

If you like these, be the first one to leave a comment, and I'll happily send them your way.

Mother's Day Giveaway

2013-04-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

I'm so excited to share an AMAZING Mother's Day Giveaway with you. It's pretty darn fabulous friends.

The winner gets A Cricut Expression 2 ($249 value) AND their CHOICE of a Canon Rebel T3 or a Kitchen Aid Artisan 5 Quart mixer. And!!! The same prize package for their mom (or whom ever you'd like to share this with)!

You can enter to win with the Rafflecopter widget below. This is a big group giveaway, so there is lots of chances for entries. This contest is open till Thursday May 9th.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The participating bloggers were not compensated for this post.

No purchase is necessary to enter. Void where prohibited by law. The odds of winning are based on the number of entries received.** This promotion is no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook.** To qualify to win, you must fill out the Entry. See Rafflecopter for complete rules. This giveaway is compliant with Facebook Promotions Guidelines. Must be aged 18+ to enter & win. Valid only in the United States. Void where prohibited by state or national law.