50 First Dates

A couple months ago, I pinned this idea on Pinterest.
Pretty soon after that, I whole punched a deck of cards and threw rings in the holes,
but then the cards sat in my craft room for several weeks.

Last weekend, I saw them sitting there
and realized this would make the perfect book
for one of our 2012 goals
(which I swear I'll talk about soon...)

Jeremiah and I are pretty much born&raised San Diegans.
And because we love this city to itsy bitsy pieces,
we try to NOT take living here for granted.

We love to spend time exploring the city,
enjoying the sites, playing tourists, etc.

So to stretch ourselves a little more,
we decided that this year we'd shoot to experience
new and different things in San Diego.
They could be restaurants, tourist attractions, activities, anything.

Because we also value romance in our marriage,
I had also been looking for a creative way to maintain that giddy romance.
Setting aside one day a week for date night is something we've done for a while,
but we put some extra restrictions on these date nights this year.

You know, things like dressing up, no cell phones,
keeping our un-sexy traits to a minimum (burping, nose picking ;)),
and almost just going back to when we first started dating.
Things like always opening up doors for each other
even though it may be so out-of-the-way-inconvenient that it's silly.

We've had two dates so far and I've absolutely loved them.

Stay tuned if you're interested in finding out
which new things/places we find to do/go.

Sparkles

And of course after pumpkin patching,
it's time to bedazzle those little beauties!

Girls Night In: Welcome, Fall!

This month, Girls Night was a tribute to the coming of Fall.

We sipped spiced cider
and munched on pumpkin cupcakes and peanut butter popcorn balls.
We exchanged books
so everyone would have something new to read
as they cuddle up to the fireplace this Fall.
We lit the Fall candles
{which are totally 2-for-$20 right now!)
and the house was filled with
Autumn, Marshmallow Fireside, and Cinnamon Pumpkin.

We strung together simple garlands
to give our homes a touch of the festiveness.

And this month, I was reminded again
the way these Girls Nights have grown me this year.

Feeling Special this Fall

Another one of my goals for 2011,

is to find special ways to show my family and friends
just how much I love and appreciate them.

I've been trying to do that by
spending extra time with them,
sending thoughtful text messages,
making dinner for them,
lending a helping hand,
being generous with our resources
and being intentional with words of affirmation.

A couple weekends ago,
my sister and I put together little "Welcome, Fall!" packages
to help my mom and mother-in-law
know that I am oh-so-thankful for them
and for the unique roles they play in my life.

For my mom,
we put together a couple pieces of Fall decor that reminded us of her,
a mini word-art canvas and a refurbished vase full of Fall foliage.
For my mother-in-law,
we made her her own mini word-art canvas,
a refurbished vase,
and wrapped it up with a little decorative pumpkin.
I had so much fun crafting with my sister all weekend,
and I hope I was able to make my moms feel extra special this Fall.

A Simple Fall Frame

I saw this frame on Craft Magazine a few weeks ago.
and since I've had a glassless frame
sitting in our spare room for the past couple months,
I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try it out.

I wrapped the frame with twine one afternoon,
but I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do after that.

I clipped on a couple Diana prints at first,
and although it was kind of cute,
it just didn't have enough flair.

Then came Fall.

Ok, so maybe Fall hasn't completely and officially come,
but Labor Day has come and gone,
and Starbucks has pumpkin spice lattes for gosh sakes.

Anywho, Fall inspired me
(as it tends to do).

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.

Weekend Highlights

Yummy steak and seafood dinner with the Lowell's
Girl Talk with Stephy
Card Games and YouTube videos galore
Finishing our bathroom remodel project
Sleeping in
Outdoor reading
Lunch at Leucadia Pizza
{if you haven't tried their Hawaiian pizza,
they have a secret ingredient
and it's BOMB.COM}
Beach Day in Del Mar with the Schan clan
A dip in the hot tub
Something Borrowed
Starbucks iced tea
A new series at Church
Wedding Crafts for my sister-in-law
Wearing shorts all weekend
Sunday afternoon chores
Dinner at the Del Mar Fair

I feel rich.

Upstairs [to take a bath]

I just realized I never really posted pictures of our upstairs.

Here we go.


First up...
The Spare Room
(that we haven't really done anything with..)Next...
The Office/Craft Room
(But of course there are no pictures of his side) =)and...
The Master Bedroom
Happy Monday.

Web Finds

A few of my favorite things spotted around the web today

TicTacToe Stamp Set via Playing Grown-UpWorld's Smallest Postal Service via You Are My FaveJoanna's perfect cheese plate from Murray's, of courseand stunning cherry blossoms
Goodness me. What a collection of lovelies.

Girls Night In: Valentine's Card Making

As one of my goals for 2011, I've wanted to host a monthly girls event

One, because I need more quality girl time
Two, because I believe other folks need more quality girl time, too
and Three, because... why the heck not!? It's fun! :)

February's event: Valentine's Card Making

Last night, a couple girls came overwe sipped cider and champagnenibbled chocolate covered strawberriesand made Valentine's day cards for husbands, friends and family
Mmm, fun!

Betcha didn't know...

If I'm having a good hair day, I can conquer the world.
I keep at least 4 different calendars up-to-date during a given week.
I have still have sore calves because of a run I went on THREE days ago.
Something Like Silas is still my favorite band.
I'm an ESFJ according to the Keirsey Temperament test.
My entire mood can change just by walking into Michaels.
It's a regular occurrence for me to cry during a TV show or movie.
Mondays are actually one of my favorite workdays.
I want to re-decorate our house about every third day.
I keep up-to-date with my Facebook feed, like the entire thing.

Sneak Preview: The Craft Room

A glimpse at the chalkboard wall in my craft room.

Inspiration here.

Mad Discounts, Yo!

Because of my impeccable coupon-ing skills,
what should have cost me over $300 for a customized craft station,
only cost me about $118.

Yes, you read that correctly.
Way. Over. Half. Off.

Thank you to my sweet husband
for helping me put it together...

Me loves the weekends

Remember that relaxing catch-up weekend I talked about?
I'd say that was a pretty fair prediction.

Aside from working until 7p on Friday,
the weekend consisted of things like:
Purchasing a new couch
A couple Starbucks stops
Catching up on DVR'd shows
Watching a few movies
Starting on Christmas cards
Stops at Home Depot, Lowe's and Ikea
Columbus Day gifts from Mom and Lys
A little bit of leisure reading in the sunshine
Dinner at my Parents' house
Football Games and MLB Playoffs
Christmas shopping
and a Sunset Double-Date Night on the Harbor

The sunset was beautiful.

LWS

What to do when your husband's traveling
and you have Lonely Wife Syndrome?

Shop Joann's and Cool Scrapbook Stuff
Stop by BR for $1 Scoop Tuesdays
Watch girly shows like Gilmore Girls and Make it or Break it
Leave your half-finished crafts on the kitchen table
Sleep with the TV on, definitely sleep with the TV on
Make the bed as soon as you get out of it in the morning
Stay extra late at Bible Study
Remember to bring in the mail he normally brings in
Spend the evenings with your girlfriends
Clean the bathroom and actually keep it clean for a few days
Plan fun dates to go on together once he's home
Take up the whole bed when you sleep
Turn Matt, Meredith, Ann and Al on louder in the mornings
Commiserate with other friends in the same boat
send him lovey texts about how much you miss him.
and Pray for him like crazy!