scenes from the weekend: at my brother's house

How I love my brother's house. Every book and cranny has something to look at and no matter how often I have alreay seen it, I need to gawk and wonder all over again. 

It has been a year since he was in the hospital and we were uncertain if he would pull through. I am most ecstatic to say that he has and then some! 

This family rarely lacks in the creativity department. Or our fondness for color and um...things.

I suppose I should stop shaking my head at my friends who like to wander and gawk at the colorful bits of the tiny casa. I think I know how they feel.

And please don't ask how we dust...

Other than running around capturing my favorite things about my brother's house, Stacey and I had our waaaaay after the holidays holiday meet up where we unwrapped happy gifts (a rubber chicken purse! pikaki oil! Pretty wooden utensils! Skully scarf!) and cooed over each other. After the gift exchange we hit up The Little Flower Candy Co. for a breakfast nosh that included coffee, fizzy citrus drinks, and a few shared sweets (seriously, not all that many). We were so very, very stuffed that neither one of us ate again that day and we were finished with noshing before noon even! After the nosh did a smidge-o shopping and then it was time for her to pick up the kiddos and for me to hit up Europane to meet my oldest and dearest. It was 3pm and I was still so very, very stuffed that I actually passed up the chocolate salted macorn that I crave up here in SLO. I settled for more fizzy lemonade and an iced berry tea. How nice it was to squeeze favorite people! You all need to visit me up north! 

scenes from the weekend: the drive down

Mister and I traveled down to Los Angeles to visit with friends, eat our way through L.A. and celebrate our anniversary (ten years together, eight years hitched) by jumping at our fountain. It was a whirlwind of a weekend that began with a stop at the Pismo Butterfly Grove...

It was the end of the season and so we missed out on the clusters but we did get to see an abundance of butterflies flitting around us as if we were in a Disney cartoon. I could have spent much longer there but the eucalyptus was in bloom and I am just now enjoying an allergy-free 2013 and did not want to jinx it. 

We also saw a hummingbird nest with help from a docent. I love me some hummingbirds and butterflies.

Get a room! I plan on viewing some clusters when they return.

We hit the San Fernando Valley for a late lunch at a new favorite pho place and then we hit up 99 Ranch Market for more tea than any two people can drink.

After a few more errands that might have included a thrift store meander (I scored a pile of picture books) mister and I arrived at my brother's and unloaded the car before hitting up Pie 'N Burger with a favorite L.A. friend. While we did not partake of pie...still quite full of pho...we did enjoy good company and crazy-good burgers. Still stuffed just thinking about it! 

scenes from a birthday...

There was pie...of course...and cake. There was a string maze and handmade cards, family, hummus, laughter and of course...a kazoo! 42...yikes-a-rooni! 

garland winners!

I'm such a softie that I'm going to send all of my (12) commenters (ors?) a garland. While I do not know which one you will be receiving exactly, I DO know that those  who send me addresses first will mostly likely receive one of their top two choices....sooooo email, tweet, etsy or facebook me a mailing address and one wee scrumdilly-made garland will be heading your way! 

yay

Just a peek, a small smidge. I'm coming out of an allergy induced fog thanks to a much needed and stupidly difficult-to-get round of steroids. This whole year so far has been a muddle of muddledness and I am so very grateful to the doc at the urgent care who listened to me and handed over the prescription along with a trio of prescribed lollipops (not so grateful for the insenstive guy who barely listened and told me how mesed up I was). Man, I tell ya, my health this 2013 is in a sad state. Not overwhelmingly sad but unhappy none the less and well, I'm choosing to have a birthday week, not a pity party and so I embrace this clear patch through the fog and relish the productivity. This week has been a good one, the first one this year. Let's hope it is but the beginning...yay for meds and lollipops...and wips that become actual projects. Yay for hot tea that I can actually taste, and giveaways, and birthday weeks. Yay for new haircuts, outlooks, and lipsticks...yay for YAY! 

i was going to make a garland from these...

I know everyone makes cupcake liner garlands but this combo was...is...so pretty I thought why not? I took a few photos of the stack and thought they were so pretty I put them in the jar that once held the pom-poms I used for the pom garland. I'm feeling a smidge more productive now that I got my hands on some evil steroids and will maybe make thatgarland after all. For now, I leave you with pretty pictures and a reminder of the garland giveaway which ends this Saturday in my birthday!