A day of shopping

Yesterday Dominic had to work so I decided to make the treck to Walnut Creek, I consider this the meca of shopping for reasons you're about to discover! My first stop was Ann Taylor Loft. I needed a few new things for work as the weather is getting HOT, mid 90's today! I picked up two new shirts to go with my new blue capris...

They're perfect because they are nice enough for work but not too 'mother of a 2 year old' looking....for those of you who don't know what this means...I have NO problems with kids and we would like some of our own in the next few years, but I just can't bring myself to look like that 'soccer mom'. Anyway, these do nicely and they were on sale.

My next stop..please proceed cautiously...
I have been DYING to go to this place and didn't realize it was at w.c. until we got HOME the last time. I spent about an hour in here and could have easily spent several thousand on a new organized closet system so that I could get out of the guest room and said child could have a place to reside in our small house, but I held back and bought just a few items...

I'm going to start by using these handy pop-up containers for eclair's treats and if I like them I'm bound to redo the entire kitchen in them... Dominic still can't understand why that would be necessary as food already comes in containers but I love organization...if you have never seen our cupboards you're in for a surprise.... (and NO I didn't organize them for the photos)
and I'm actually embarassed to put up this next one...hense my desire to get those new containers...you can see eclair's on the bottom shelf to the right
and look what I've been hiding, per Dominic's request so he won't eat them all at once
from there I went to Pottery barn, williams sonoma, restoration hardware, tiffany's, pottery barn kids, ann taylor, Gap, Crate and Barrel, Macy's, Nordstroms, White house Black market, Jcrew, Banana republic, Victorias Secret....you can see why I consider this the mecca of shopping....Luckily the house is just about done and I am trying to save for our little va-ca coming up next weekend....and just in case you thought Dominic stayed home and didn't do anything he hit some balls in preparation for Friday's little 4 man scramble prior to the wedding.....We're off to try and decide on patio furniture...Love you all

Vacation outfit

We're currently counting down the days to our vacation in San Diego and I'm frantically trying to decide what to wear! I have several dresses that MIGHT work but they just don't seem perfect and of course Dominic has no idea why it really matters. I've explained to him that men have a wedding 'suit' that works for all, but he just doesn't get it. At this point I'm going with my brown dress from the rehearsal dinner but I thought brightening it up for spring might be nice and a cardigan might come in handy for the outdoor ceremony...what do you think of this cashmere number from Jcrew?? As I've said to Dominic, you can NEVER go wrong with cashmere.

morning blog finds...

I was off today after a weekend of call, and only 1 baby delivery. Dominic and I met for lunch at a great little pita place between our house and Hertz. I was listing off the things I had accomplished already and in the list was 'go through all the updates on my blog list'. The list has gotten VERY long, a few of the best are listed on the side. Here is my great find from my 'work'
How great is this fluid earth bowl? It's actually a topography of the earth! You can make your own on their website. Now, we won't be getting one anytime soon because they're $300! Ouchie, but wouldn't it be great to have one of your hometown or how about the place you were married?? Plus its got that rustic quality that I just love

And just incase you think we didn't do anything this weekend....it's Home Depot's twice yearly Behr paint rebat. So, we bought the paint to do the exterior trim. You might think we're boring but we're going bright white. The house itself is a very light creamy yellow remember....

That hunter green is BAD, matter of fact when we first drove by the place I saw it and said 'we don't need to see the inside, I'd NEVER live there' Of course at the time we bought it I thought we'd be fixing the green ASAP, but it was December and we see the inside on a daily basis so that actually took priority. Now that we are practically finished inside (only the floors are left) I'm focusing on the outside. We better get moving because it's about to get HOT. I've agreed to take a break until after the Johnson-Carvolth wedding in 2 weeks so I'm praying the weather holds out. Oh, and that lovely tree blooms bright PINK!!!! I love me some color. I'd also like to point out the beautifully manicured yard that Dominic mows.

And, in closing, I'd like to show off my beautiful cala lilies that Cindy and John got us to thank us for putting up with them :) Ok, ok to share that appreciation for our hospitality.
And because that is me just trying to slip in a picture of Eclair and you can hardly see the flowers...
Just when I thought I was done...I found these pictures on the camera from Mary's quick visit to CA. Unfortunately I was on call that night and couldn't join everyone for Jay Jolley's memorial service...here's the crew at Jay's house (Betty Jolley, Mary Garguile, Dominic, Nora Gray, and Terry Gray, Bill Jolley is taking the shot!)

our herb garden needs markers!

In my morning blog searching I came across these adorable little herb markers. So helpful for one like me who is still unable to determine if I'm looking at oregano or thyme.

the top right can be found at Nina Gibson Designs

bottom right and top left at Zanisa

bottom middle at Mudpeyes (these are my favorites)

and bottom left at Jill Morzillo

as you can see the majority are from sellers at etsy, a great online place for up and comings to display and sell their wares!

Last day of March

Thank goodness I was off today because I'm still getting over this 'thing' that's caused my voice to disappear. My husband insists he gave it to me even though he never lost his voice. I've started getting it back finally and now I just sound like a 20 year smoker...It's back to work for me tomorrow and I'm on call...bring on the april fools jokes!

A few gorgeous pictures...the daisies I got while shopping today...particularly love the white and pink one

The most amazing doggy EVER I still look at her and think 'my she's just so elegant' She loves sitting on her daddy's lap and watching the world. When he's not here at night, which RARELY happens, she cannot go to sleep. Every little noise causes a bark and she's running around the house. See, she loves her daddyOh, and we've made a little progress on the bookcases so I updated the post below with the more recent shots

Help Please

OK ladies and gents...we are totally loving all the nice to upgrades to the pad...however now that we've started to decorate, ok who am I kidding I'm decorating while this is what Dominic does....Anyway, we're having some trouble and looking for advice...these bookshelves are flanking the fireplace and are ovbiously overfilled with small things right now but i can't have it all over the floor which is where the other possible decor items are....see!
And they're on the kitchen table. Anything that doesn't find a home this time around is outta here with the rest of the pile on the table

OK to the bookshelves----the right side

and the left side (the television boxes must stay there, we're hoping to get rid of the TiVo shortly)

and what do we have here? an identical one in the office that is WAY overstuffed for my liking. Again, keeping the floor and desk clear is a priority

We also got around to the finishing touches in the bathroom...I cut these shelves down from 8in to just under 6in and they're great! Bonus...they came free with the house

and just incase you got somethin' to say about my clutter....

Good gracious hunny, could you have captured a more flattering shot? guess I'm getting my butt out side for some lunges!

Thanks in advance for all you help!

Almost forgot...when our niece was here dominic got a tattoo... can you see dora

the fireplace grouted..A-mazing

Happy Easter

Today was all about the food. First we went to breakfast at Mimi's cafe as you can see:

Please note my festive bunny ears

and of course the hot cocoa that everyone loved!

then we just laid around the house playing rock band (thanks tim and mary!)

followed by a ham dinner and mud pie. Hailee Joy was quite tired and crabby but between the 6 adults we managed to get by...

Yesterday we treked to Santa Cruz and enjoyed the beach sans HayHay. We really wanted to tour the mystery spot but didn't realize how busy it was and weren't willing to wait the 1+ hrs for the next available tour, we'll be back with internet reservations. Below are some shots of our trip. The amuzement park from the boardwalk

the beautiful cliffs (this weather is one great thing about living in CA)
Lunch at Riva's on the boardwalk

A huge Excursion we saw on the boardwalk, and I'm NOT short...this person must have inferiority issues