July: the best of my days

I am absolutely shocked that July is over.
Doesn't it feel like summer just started?

This month was full of weeknight dinners with friends,
weekend trips out of town,
and plenty of summer,
but I think my absolute favorite parts
were what felt like Date Nights In with Jeremiah.
We didn't call them dates or anything,
but each one of them felt so special.
They reminded my soul what an absolute privilege it is
to spend every day with my best friend.

1. The sunset from the Padres/Mariners Game at Safeco
2. The view from Gas Works Park
3. Surprise: spending the whole day with my family
4. Spending the sunny holiday with so many friends and family
5. Going for a walk in the warm rain
6. Having dinner with Jordanna
7. A yummy Pizza recipe
8. My entire evening. Priceless.
9. Planning our Hawaii trip with the McDougals
10. Shopping with my sister after church
11. BBQing with the Schanakers
12. Crafting after dinner
13. The head massage I got when I got my roots touched up
14. Seeing my sister and Joey on SYTYCD
15. A late night bonfire on the bay
16. Having zero plans all day with Jeremiah
17. Lyssie's face when she opened her birthday present
18. Jeremiah hanging my new curtains
19. A great night hanging out with Jeremiah
20. Girls Night In!
21. Playing Softball at Lunch
22. Getting off work earlier than expected to skip traffic
23. Celebrating Kristin Marie
24. Coming home to the hubs
25. Another one of those seemingly-date nights with Miah
26. Celebrating Lyssie's Birthday!
27. Catching up with Brie on a long-awaited phone date
28. Getting to sleep in a little bit. #mustgetmoresleep
29. Staying up past my bedtime to walk the Vegas strip
30. Spending the entire day in Vegas with good friends:
pool, shopping, yummy food, and an amazing show all with good company
31. Frozen Hot Chocolate, without the 5 hour plane ride

What am I looking forward to in August?
Spending time with family and friends
Hopefully having some spare time to craft and play in the pool
and spending a few normally-work-days in Coronado.
August has always been one of my favorite months EVER.

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Viva the Weekend!

This weekend we're headed out to Vegas
with some fabulous, funnnn friends of ours!

Bring on the sunshine (er, summer storms..?),
margaritas by the pool,
yummy food, fabulous city lights
and good company.

It's time to relax and enjoy summer!

Image Creds go to good ol'Google.

Have a lovely weekend, my friends!!
Got any fun plans?

The Bachelorette

Not the show
with a bunch of hott men to pick from,
but the real deal.

Last weekend,
Carly and I roadtripped up to Sonora
to celebrate my sister-in-law Kristin's Bachelorette Party!

The drive was, well.. to put it plainly... pretty ugly.
Except for the golden hills with emerald green shrubsLet's just say we were excited to finally arrive and see this girl!We got up there pretty late Friday night,
but started Saturday morning with mimosas as we got readyWe gave Kristin two gift baskets:
one for the Fantasies of marriageand one for the RealitiesIt was such a cute way to make her feel special.

After the gifts and brunch, we headed out to go wine tasting.The drive was beautifuland the cool thing about tasting in Sonora and Murphys
is that it's all F-R-E-E!We went to five or six different wineries,enjoyed a havarti and salami picnic,
and strolled the streets of the cute little town.It was such a beautiful and fun weekend.
And I really enjoyed spending time with
Kristin and her friends.
... only 9 more days til the big day!

Wordless Wednesday

My [Big] Little Seester

Today, my beautiful little sister turns 20!!

We celebrated her last weekend with a Sunday Funday,
we'll celebrate her again tonight with a family dinner
(after her day at the spa, of course)
and we'll keep on celebrating right into Fall
when we go to NYC!!
That's just the way we roll. :)

But on her special day today, I want to honor her
with 20 things I really appreciate and love about her.

Maybe it will even get her to read my blog ;-)

1. She's the funniest person I've ever met. Ever.
2. She'd never say a hurtful word about anyone.
3. She is an absolutely gorgeous dancer.
4. She gives killer hand massages, willingly and frequently.
5. She scouts out the best beauty products.
6. She gives wise advice.
7. She has a servant's heart.
8. Anything she cooks is tasty, tasty, tasty.
9. She does the best impersonations.
10. She's the best burger flipper on the plaaa-net.
11. She has like a thousand different facial expressions that all rock.
12. She makes awesome little movies with her friends.
13. She's loyal like a little puppy dog.
14. She's a stellar shopping partner - has the best style and picks out cute things.
15. She is impeccable at remembering and identifying colors.
16. Her nails are always perfectly manicured #inspiring
17. She's insanely considerate and generous. Giving.Giving.Giving.
18. She's creative and innovative, with the best ideas!
19. She loves the Lord.
20. and she's the best sister in the world.

Happy Birthday, Lyssie.
I'm so thankful not only for the gift of having a sister,
but for the fact that my sister is YOU!

I love you.

The Harbor

So, I'll be honest, this picture sucks.
It does not even come close
to capturing what this really looked like.

But I just have to post it anyway.

Jeremiah and I stopped by a late night bonfire last weekend
and the view across the bay was absolutely stunning.
Like can't-take-your-eyes-off-of-it-jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

I wanted to stay there all night.
And we practically did.


#caseforaCreator

Girls Night In: Re-United

Girls Night In this month sure was something special.
Instead of some of the usuals (which we missed, of course!),
it turned out to be a divinely-appointed bible study girls reunion.

We enjoyed a yummy potluck
and conversations about what's new in each of our lives.

We celebrated Katie's sweet baby girl
who is due to arrive any day now,
Angie's first wedding anniversary,
Jenn's continued teaching job and house projects,
Joyce's excitingggg news,
and the way the Lord continues to use Jordanna
in a very practical and daily way.

These girls were part of a uniquely wonderful bible study
that played such an important role in my life last year.

I miss seeing their beautiful faces
and hearing their hearts each week,
but it was such a blessing to get to spend the evening together.

I love you, girls.


On the Menu:
Crispy Honey Chicken
Zucchini Orzo
Fresh Fruit Salad and Juicy Cherries
Chocolate-dipped Nilla Wafers and Milano Cookies
Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches with Cream Cheese Filling
and Strawberry Lemonade


PS: Did you know Katie can tie a knot
in a cherry stem
in about 2 seconds flat?
What. A. Stud.

Wordless Wednesday

Curtains, Finally!

Surprising the Sister

My wittle sister is not a teenager anymore.
Well, as I write this, she still is.
But on her birthday next week,
she's saying hello to the big two-oh.

We celebrated Sunday with breakfast at Hash House,a stroll through Hillcrest to the candy store,a walk along the Embarcadero and through Seaport Village,and with a little shopping before dinner.

I was pretty excited about this birthday in particular
because we were surprising my sister big time.

Before breakfast, Jeremiah and I gave her
a little suitcase full of Seattle puzzle pieces.She loves puzzles. and she loves Seattle
so I knew it'd be a winner.But the big surprise was this little guy.A simple card that read a little something like this:
"A little birdie told me, it's your birthday.
And when it's your birthday.... anything goes.
But if anything really goes,
you might need these."And what are "these?"

Yes, yes, YES!

They're tickets to see Anything Goes on Broadway.
in New York City!!!

Seeing her face when she opened them,
had to be the highlight of my whole weekend.

Can't wait for our girls' trip this fall!

A Summer Weekend

This was one of those perfect summer weekends.
The kind that's filled with all things wonderful
and all things summer.

Love. Love. Love.

A new little top at Kohl's
A few hours of E! while working on Craft projects
A beautiful late night bonfire on the bay
Gorgeous views from the water
Sleeping in
Everything Bagels with Onion & Chive cream cheese
Wrapping Presents
Working on my sister-in-law's wedding gift
Reading Danielle Steele
Going Swimming
Maggie Moo
Running a few errands
BBQing
Watching Never Let Me Go, Executive Decision and Taking Lives
Celebrating my Sister's birthday.

Absolutely perfect

The New Go-To

There's a new "Go-To" in town these days.

BBQ Chicken
Grilled Corn
Asparagus
Baked Potato
and Fruit.

So yum.
and so summer.

Keeping Sane

Last night was one of those perfectly relaxing Friday nights.
You know, the kind that keep you sane.

I stopped by Kohl's and did some browsing after work.
And then I finished up some projects and watched E!
while the hubs was out at happy hour with his co-workers.

Once he got home,
we headed out for a spontaneous late night bonfire at the beach.
I love me some summer and I adore me some San Diego.

But back to the point...

We've had a couple problems at our house as of late.
1. We've had this empty wall next to our kitchen since...
well, since we moved in.
2. Our kitchen counter always seems to fill up
with bills, and receipts, and coupons, and pens, and mail, and...
3. We tried using Google Calendar to keep in sync with our plans,
but it just didn't catch on like we would've liked, so...

So last night I killed three birds with one stone.

This little wall project is now keeping me sane.

We can keep track of our plans,have a central location to store bills, coupons and pens,and we no longer have a big empty wall.
Me likes.

$ayonara, Ni$$an.

This month, we made our final payment to NMAC.
And I'm pretty much jumping out of my shorts.

That little car is all ourssss now. :)

A Family Celebration

Last weekend, my cousin MaryLisa
had our family over for Sunday dinner.

We enjoyed good conversation,
a tasty meal, a few rounds of games,and we celebrated miss Julia's birthdaywith cake, ice cream and presents, of course.
How fun to have our family close by.
These girls are just the sweetest.

{Mom gets the photocreds on this one}

Grillin' Out

{New Summer Tradition:}
Potluck BBQs with good friends!



What's on the menu?
BBQ Chicken
Corn on the Cob
Yummy Salad
Watermelon
Peach Lemonade
Good Conversation

and...

Bug spray!

If walls could speak...

ours would say:



And now they do.

Stars & Stripes Forever

Last week we totally partied in the USA

as we celebrated our independence up in good ol' Fallbrook.

I know I've been there a billion times,
but every time we go up to the GT,
I just replay that special day over-and-over.
Fairytale.

Anyhoo... every year the GT is home
to Fallbrook's Fourth of July extravaganza.

There's yummy food,a live band,
plenty of patriots,paddle boat and rubber ducky races across the lake,
giant blow up slides,and a beautiful fireworks displaythat we get to enjoy with a bunch of our family&friends.
This year was no different.

Looooove it!

But these pictures,
I'm not particularly loooving them.
In fact, they're probably candidates for
"some of the worst pictures I've ever taken."

But who posts about 4th of July
wiffout pitchers??
I mean, seriously.

Here's to the Red, White and Bluuuuuue!
... because it's true:
I'm oh so proud to be an American.