Splendid

mas moda; apple county fair

  
  
dress: thrifted

tank: thrifted

moccasins: thrifted

bracelets: target

necklace: UO

earrings: made them myself

feather your nest; red desk

When I was in Ohio just a few short weeks ago, I heard a phrase I guess is a midwest term.  Growing up on the west coast, and living the last 4 years (before Mexico) in Philadelphia, I'd never heard the phrase "feather your nest."  I thought it was so sweet.  Whenever I look at different home decor magazines or online zines, I think it explains perfectly our desire to make our homes our own.  Many of the people whose blogs I follow, or who follow mine, can relate.  That's why we follow each other, we all seem to have a passion for the aesthetic; vintage, modern, retro, simplistic, bold, subtle, whatever, we seem to like home decor, fashion, crafting, home-nesting.

I love this cherry red students desk.  I had an olive green one just like it growing up in the "play room" at my dear ol' Granny's house. I spent hours drawing and doing homework sitting on that cold, metal seat.  But I loved it.  If I lived back in the States, I might think about buying this for my girls, or for me.  

Hope you're having a lovely weekend.

mas moda; bronzed flowers

   

 
  
Just found this in my posts, I forgot to put it up...

This skirt reminds me of a tablecloth my Granny had when I was younger, I love this material!

sweater: thrifted

skirt: modcloth

tank: ?

necklace: target (layered chains)

necklace: UO (bird)

shoes: modcloth

agh...now I can't get that song out of my head...

Ya know, that song in Grease, "tell me more, tell me, was it love at first sight?" where Danny is singing about Sandy to his dude friends and Sandy is singing about Danny to the Pink Ladies?  Well, this title reminds me of that song and every time I see it, it plays for hours in my head.  Maybe it will in yours now, too. Sorry. Well, unless you like that song, a simple thanks will suffice.

 
Anyhoo, I made this accidentally for Scrap Mojo as couple months ago when I got prompts for it and I think Creative Type mixed up.  So, here it is. Enjoy.

Do you have a song you can't get out of your head?

Currents...

following Steph, Vee, Amy and Jen (anyone else I missed?) I thought I'd do a list, too...

listening: Pearl and the Beard

eating: nothing right now, I ate toast for brunch

drinking: coffee and water with a splash of cran (but not together, the coffee is separate from the water-cran)

wearing: knee high socks, skirt and old t-shirt (old Rolling Stones shirt), moccasins

feeling: antsy to go get my girls from school, see how Ava's first day at the new school was

weather: a little chilly and dreary

wanting: more of the Argentinian dinner from last night

needing: neck rub from carrying all my bags through the airport

thinking: about unpacking all my bags

enjoying: being back here with Dave 

wondering: if Lobo has fleas-he keeps scratching-yuck...I thought fleas couldn't live above 5,000 above sea level? I'm at 7,800.

Now your turn....

(update: Lobo DOES NOT have fleas, and I have unpacked all but one bag.)

back to school

I can't believe summer vacation is over and the girls are back to school today.  Back from the States here in Ciudad de Mexico, the weather is chilly and a little balmy at the same time...makes me think of the fall weather in Philadelphia. I can't believe how fast the girls are growing up. First and Fifth grade, where has the time gone? 

 

How are you feeling in these back to school days?  Lonely? Excited? Already tired?

mas moda; a quiet afternoon

 

  
   
 sweater: modcloth

tank: thifted

skirt: modcloth

sandals: zappos

necklace: forever 21 

earrings: made them myself

Seaside camping...

The girls and I decided it would be splendid to spend 8 days on the northern California coast with my mom.  And it was.  I love the ocean, especially the Pacific coastline.  My parents have a new 40 ft travel trailer which I thought might be a pain and tight, but this thing has it all.  Bathroom, full kitchen, DVD/CD player, flat-screen tv, indoor/outdoor speakers, comfy beds...made me rethink trailer living...  We stayed in a RV park in Bodega Bay, about an hour north of San Fran. It was pretty chilly at night, more so than normal the local people said, but I loved smelling the eucalyptus trees and walking down to the beach and hearing the waves crash against the sand.  We loved making smores in the middle of the day and leaving the dishes in the sink until the next morning.  (My dad, "Mr. Clean," drove us up there, parked and hooked up the trailer, then left us = fab.u.lous.) We went to an Apple County Festival in Sebastopol (one of my favorite Cali towns from back in my Deadhead days) and ate apple fritters, bought handmade soaps, watched a canning demo, saw amazing crafts, big sis did a beekeeping demo (knowledge from her Philadelphia Homeschoolers beekeeping class) with a Sonoma County beekeeper, and listened to some awesome bands.  We walked through magnificent Redwoods, dazed by their grandeur and sublime beauty, all the while looking for gnomes and butterflies and treehuggers.  We played in the cold Pacific water and had sand in places sand should not be. We found endless supply of seashell booty and laughed at the boobing heads of sealions peeking at us way out in the tides to see what all the screaming laughter was about. We ate salt water taffy for appetizers at dinner and flew kites and made baby voices at sea lions on a pier. We went to farmer's markets and bought local, organic produce and cheese. We shopped in cute, little boutiques and perused shops with seashells, smoked salmon jerky and retro toys.  We went antiquing and thrifting in quiet, shingle-sided towns. We visited the schoolhouse where Hitchcock's "The Birds" was filmed.  We visited an old barn that birds lived in. We ate organic, handmade ice cream in flavors like strawberry jubilee and deep, dark secret. We visited local sites and lighthouses, climbing sandy hillsides high above, overlooking the ocean and sandy dunes. We walked along the Russian River and chatted with some people at the Sundance Festival (a gay community festival). We stayed up late watching Glee episodes on my computer and slept in until 10. We played games and rode bikes and ate fish-n-chips three times. It was a good week.

 

 


 
   

 
 
 






 
 
 
 
  

 

 
 
 

 

 



 
  
  

 

 

  

What a lovely end to a beautiful summer.  This was by far one of my most favorite summers, visiting with friends and family, traveling a bit, going to Lake Tahoe, crafting, camping in Sonoma, all of it was awesome!  We go back to Mexico in 3 days.  I'm a little heartsick, but it'll be okay.

(I know this was a long one with a lot of pictures---but it was more for me, so thanks for hangin' in there!)

What was your favorite thing about your summer?
 

mas moda; saltwater taffy

 
 
  
dress: modcloth

pants: borrowed from my mom

shoes: modcloth

bracelets: target

necklace: UO

Ohio girls rock!

I'm FINALLY with internet here in Bodega Bay, California...my wireless was on the fritz. I was in Ohio last weekend for our annual all-girls weekend with some of my favorite people as previously mentioned in my last post.  Mandi was the hostess with the most-est, we all had a great time hanging out in her so fab apartment and crafting, laughing, drinking way too much, noshing, thrifting and antiquing....I miss them already and can't wait for next year.

Mandi**  and     Vee**

 

  

Pattycakes**     and     Steph**
 

Jen**   and Vanessa***

  
 


   
 
  

watching one of my fave's create...so rad!

 

as always, Patty got scared and hid in the bushes...geesh!

 
  
In Cleveland, at Luckie's Cafe...
 
  
(The rest are taken by the other girls)

I bought so much milkglass from the multiple thrift store stops I had to mail it all back...

 
Jen and me in front of an awesome antique store ( I miss this girl so much!)

 
This was so exciting-this is when Mandi found out she got a job blogging for Apartment Therapy!  We were not surprised, of course, she's uber talented!

And equally exciting was Vanessa found out her plans of opening her own coffee shop/cafe in York was going to happen!!  

 

 
What an awesome weekend!  I miss them all already, each has such a wonderful, lovely spirit, each full of special qualities that make me so proud to be their friend. Next year it's at my place, I can't wait, it's gonna be so fun!(thank you, thank you very much...in Elvis voice.)

mas moda; bow-tuful evening...

sweater: thrifted

dress: modcloth

shoes: UO

bracelet: thrifted

necklace: thrifted

earrings: made them

midwest is best...

(source)

Today I leave to fly to Ohio to see my girls...we try to meet up at least once a year for crafting, gossip, shopping, cocktails and laughter.  I CAN'T wait!!!  Each one holds a special place in my heart and this time we even have a couple newbies joining us!  (Hello Vee and Steph, nice to finally meet you in person!)

 

    

 

Mandi, Pattycakes, Jen, Vanessa, we're together again, like super heros or something silly like that........

mas moda: vintage banker

I found this beauty a couple weeks ago in one of my favorite thrift stores.  I'm quite sure my mom wore this in the 70's when she was a sweet, little typist in her bank. This is back when all the women had to wear a uniform, closed toed pumps, nylons and always modestly dressed!

Here I am, happy to welcome new account holders at the bank....welcome, we're members FDIC...

Here I am so eager to take shorthand dictation for Mr. Bank President...

and here, oh, my!  Mr. Bank President purposely spilled his cup of pencils out onto the floor to try to fondle me as I bent over to pick them up!  Well, maybe that makes me one step closer to bank head teller?!?! 

dress-thrifted

shoes-thrifted

belt-thrifted

name tag-borrowed from my mom, it's her old name tag from way back when when she was a typist and accounts manager at a bank.

Do you have any great outfits from the past?

Farmer's Market

#4 on my summer list; visit a farmer's market...

little sis said, "Mommy, this looks like a nose!" Yeaaahh, fer sure, a nose...

we bought some yummy strawberries...

 



they were yummy, but tres yummy?  Hmmmmm.....

 

even at a farmer's market there are ninja wars with corn numb-chucks!  

Hope you are having a great start to your week!

cupcake love

Who doesn't love a good cupcakery?  We found a new one this weekend and we're in love!  Good thing I won't be around too much longer here in the States (booo-hooo!) 

 
carrot cake...heaven with whipped cream frosted on top...and good for your eyes!  

sisters who love cupcakes...

and these strawberry shortcake cupcakes were berry, berry good!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend, anything special happen?  I'm off to see Matisyashu tonight!!!