One week ago my sister got married

So excited for these newlyweds who are honeymooning in Greece right now

A special dessert for a special dinner

Went to this amazing little bakery on my lunch break to pick up some sweets for tonight's special dinner. Can't wait to share these!

A little intro

Born, raised, educated, working, married and loving life in lovely Santa Barbara.Haven't found a reason to leave yet.

Fashion Friday: Bird inspired shoes

so beautiful and fun! found here and here.

Week is half over!

Over the half way mark of the week! Hoping to have some fun (like this little guy) this weekend!

Color personality

Real Simple has a fun quiz you can take to discover what your color preferences say about you. I took it and here's what I found out:

I'm an Earth Color Personality
Earth types - solid, grounded thinkers - like to surround themselves with deep blues, black, grays, and browns. Earth personalities are honest and loyal; it's no coincidence that we describe steadfast companions as "true blue." ... Blue represents spirituality, authority, and high aspirations. Research indicates that people are more productive in blue rooms.

"Green, like blue, in a home is perceived as an environmental, sustainable, more relaxing, more versatile color," says color expert Debbie Zimmer, the director of communications of Coating Materials for Dow. When it comes to decor, says HGTV color expert David Bromstead, "who doesn't want a space that is calming? Go with more whites, creams, blues, pale shades of any color—these hues are more serene."

Interesting! What's your Color Personality??

Starbucks date

I love Starbucks. and it's hard to pass up a good deal.

today was the last day Starbucks Frappuccinos were half off between 3 and 5 p.m. and I had a coupon for a free cake pop. we made a date out of it. it was the perfect way to spend our Sunday afternoon.
I had been wanting to try their new Frappuccino flavor: Mocha Cocnut...

they gave me this choice of cake pops...
I chose the Rocky Road kind:
it was delicious! it didn't last long - we shared it!

mini pies

when I was growing up my family would go to church every Sunday and then go to my grandparent's house for dinner (calling it dinner even though it was at lunch time). my grandma always made a dessert from scratch and usually it was one or two of her famous pies. she would make peach pie, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, lemon pie, boston cream pie, and the list goes on! I have never made a pie, but getting this new invention from Williams Sonoma might inspire me to:

how cute are these?! how fun would it be to make these at Christmas and wrap them in pretty paper and give them as gifts?!

Bird enthusiast

Old hymns

there's something really neat about hymns. sometimes I wish they were sung more. the words are powerful and so rich. here're the lyrics to one of my favorites...

Color love: mustard yellow & gray

Lately I have been craving mustard yellow and gray as a color pair. Love, love, love the color combination.

Owl cupcakes

Noelle loves owls. It was her birthday. We had to make owl cupcakes for her birthday of course. They were delicious and oh-so-adorable!

My weekend in photos

Apparently I have now experienced the best thing Chicago has to offer... Portillos Hot Dogs.

Harvest Crusade 2010... thousands came forward. Amazing.

Perfect day in Long Beach.

Boat ride in the Huntington Harbor.

Daddy was such a cute little boy.

Granee had great style!! Wish that dress still existed!

We heart the Renegade Craft Fair

Couple Saturdays ago I took the train along with Katie, Ashley and my sisters down to the LA Renegade Craft Fair. The whole day was full of craft admiring, craft making and craft buying. Wonderful to say the least. Here's a few snapshots from the day...

Tea Time

Recently this lovely cockatoo teapot from Anthropologie went on sale from $78 to $29.95. Since I'm a proud owner of a sweet Goffin's Cockatoo (and I had an Anthro gift card from my birthday last year), I could not resist buying the teapot!! It's sooo pretty! It'll be perfect for my Tupperware/Tea/Craft party that's coming up very soon!

Winner of Arian Armstrong's Book Give-Away!!

I am so excited!! I won a signed copy of Arian Armstrong's new book!! Here is the post where she announced that I won. She said it will be in the mail later this week!! I admire her art a ton! Katie first introduced me to Arian's awesome work. In fact, a couple years ago Katie gave me this print from Arian's etsy shop:
I love the words and the image so much that I have it up in my living room...
Can't wait can't wait for the book to arrive!! :)

Tea Party Planning

My dear friend Katie and I are planning a Tea Party/Craft Time/TupperWare Party! I am SO excited to host it with her! I will serve tea and she will be showing off fun TupperWare items! Also, we're going to have a fun craft for the ladies to make! Can't wait to post photos of it! In the meantime, I'm starting a list of tea party decor, foods and everything else in between that we'll need for the awesome party!

Bird quote

Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best. 

Craft Summer Camp

The perfect summer nail color

I am in desperate need of a new summer-time nail polish color. Camping this past weekend was rough on my nails and the warm weather is making me want a cheery summer color. So many options to choose from...

Lately I have been loving these Sally Hansen Insta-Dry Nail Color! My sister had one of the colors and I used it and loved it! I went out to buy three for myself - I'd love to eventually own the whole collection! You only need one coat for great coverage and it dries fast!! I just can't decide what color is my favorite...

Minor addiction

Just in case you didn't know, I'm mildly obsessed with these little beauties...

I think everyone should own at least one reusable acrylic Starbucks tea glass. They come in venti and grande sizes. I own five (granted two have holiday straws). History shows that once they hit the shelves, they disappear quickly and can be bought later on websites like eBay for way more than they were originally purchased!