Friday Finds

TGIF! I'm so excited it's Friday and even more excited to hang with my sisters this weekend. That's two weekends in a row for us. YAY!!

 

We're off to the State Fair on Saturday and then going to work on our tans at Stef's pool after. Can't wait!

 

I've been drawn to the classy, elegant and simple preppy look lately. Here is some of my inspiration....What do you think? Fun, cute and stylish? Or too dressy and/or stiff?

 

 

Any fun plans this weekend?

 

xoxo

Big Sur & Capitola

Our fun weekend continued with a family road trip to Big Sur and Capitola. We've visited the Big Sur River Inn before, but it had been a while. The drive through Monterey, Carmel and the rest of Highway 1 was proving to be a very chilly day. We were driving through sheets of fog and the temperature outside was around 58 degrees outside, but by the time we parked the car at the River Inn it 75 degrees. Yay!

Chairs sitting in the river you can eat lunch in or just relax

 If you've never been to the River Inn, I'd highly recommend it. It's a great day trip for all us Bay Area folks. They have this old blue truck they've converted into an ice cream truck, the restaurant and Inn of course, a Valero gas station (which by the way has the most expensive gas we've ever seen at way over $5 a gallon), a very small grocery store and a small art gallery.

 

The grocery store offers a burrito bar, pizza bar other fun lunch options. There are plenty of tables you can use outside or you can take your lunch down to the grassy area to picnic or plop right down on one of these chairs and put your feet in the river water.  The restaurant has a great indoor space and even better outdoor patio area. We opted to sit outdoors and had a yummy lunch.



Post lunch photo op (photo credit by the hubby)

 The boys loved the river. We took our shoes off and played in the freezing water for about 10 minutes. The rocks were slippery and it was very challenging to watch both of them at the same time so off we went back to the car.

 

Our drive back home was extremely quiet (YAY) and peaceful. The boys feel asleep so we were able to enjoy some much needed quiet time. I hopped out of the car to take a photo of the beautiful Bixby Bridge on the way back from Big Sur. It was very chilly out (just around 3 miles from the River Inn) but the view was amazing! Crazy what a difference 3 miles is.

Bixby Bridge built in 1932

On our drive home we decided the boys needed to run around a bit because we'd been in the car for so many hours already. We decided to stop off in Capitola and try to find a fun park for the boys. We weren't successful in finding a park but we did find a fun grassy area a block away from the beach that we were able to play on. Could Noah be excited? Nah...

 

 

For dinner we grabbed a salad and a couple of slices of pizza from Pizza My Heart and then headed home. Minus the car ride, we had a fantastic family day.

 

Should we be doubting our upcoming Seattle drive and fly? UGH!

 

I always tell the hubby, I don't care what we do as long as we're together.

 

xoxo

Saturday's Girl Day

Saturday was a blast! My sisters, Brittany, Rachael and myself were all up in San Francisco for the day and we shopped and ate our little hearts out. I just love SF. The cool weather is such a nice break from the icky heat down in San Jose. I could people watch all day long there. There are so many eclectic people just walking around the city. We hit up our favorite stores (J Crew, Gap, Forever 21, XXI Forever, Macys, a beauty supply store and of course Nordstroms). Did you know there are Forever 21 and XXI Forever stores? I had no idea 2 different stores existed.

Our successful shopping trip

 We ate some amazing gelato and rested our feet at Union Square. It was delish!

 

 

 

After shopping we headed back to Dana's for a quick change and glass of wine and then it was off to dinner at Nopa. Below are some photos of what we shared.

 

Avocado crustini

Warm olives

Burger to die for!

Some lovely ladies

Chicken and melon salad

Pork chop

Hello gelato next door...

 

We had the best day and it really flew by too fast. Can't wait for our next shopping and eating adventure!

 

xoxo

Denim on Denim

I had such a fun weekend of girl time, shopping, eating great food, a fun family road trip, lunching by a river and playing in a beach town. We'll start with Saturday today.

 

I'm loving the denim on denim look these days. It's classic, clean and fun.

 

Dana Cornell Photography

Necklace, chambray shirt and gold flats - J Crew

Legging Jeans - Gap

Leopard Haircalf belt | Banana Republic

 

These jeans are my new favorites! They are so stretchy and so comfy!

 

xoxo

 

Friday Finds

What a week. I'm always so thrilled for Friday's to roll around. This Saturday I'm meeting my sisters and our close family friends the Jagoe's for some much need girl time of shopping and eating in the fine city of San Francisco. I can't wait! And Sunday the hubby and I are taking the boys to the Los Altos Art & Wine festival. Such a fun weekend planned and looking forward to every second.

 

With that said, I thought I leave some of my favorite things I've found this past week that I'm loving. Have a great weekend! 

 

Click on the purple highlighted words to take you to each link

 

1. This pie looks amazing!! I may have to make one soon.

2. This necklace is adorable! I need it!

3. This jacket may or may not have found it's way into my closet for our upcoming trip to Seattle. (It did)

4. These greek yogurt popsicles are my next fete. I made some last week but didn't bother with a recipe which ended up with too much yogurt, not enough sweetness and two unhappy kids.

 

5. This pic makes me want to go camping again.....almost. 

6. How cute are these Kate Spade earrings?

 

7. Not the most beautiful picture you've ever seen of pasta but this sauce is so easy to make and tastes like your Italian grandmother made it. If you don't already, DVR this Extra Virgin cooking show on the Cooking channel. Debi Mazar & Gabriele Corcos are adorable together.

 

Hope you have a great weekend!!

 

xoxo

Camping on the 4th

 

We made it back from a successful camping trip on Monday.

 

Sunset on Lake Almanor

Camp stats:

 

12 adults, 6 kids, 8 ice chests, 7 cars, 6 tents, 1 outside cot, 3 dogs, 1 kitchen trailer, 1 beer pong table, bags upon bags of marshmallows, 2 BBQ's and a partridge in a pear tree.

 





 

Maddy & Elliot



Noah, Maddy and Libby

 

Noah wanted to pose with his beloved water gun.

Maddy & Auntie Doo

Noah playing gatoraid-pong

 

The kids had a blast! I'm so happy and thankful that Noah and Elliot got to spend some quality time with their cousins, Maddy & Kilian and their aunties.

 

 

The hubby and I were most excited to get home yesterday and wash the layers upon layers of dirt off our boys little bodies. Man were they dirty, but they had the best time and I wouldn't trade that for the world.

 

Next year we've decided to camp at the beach. Any suggestions? Pismo, Big Sur, Fort Bragg? We're already looking forward to it!

 

xoxo

 

Camping Countdown

 

It's officially time to countdown the days until we hit the road and live in the wild. I've forgotten how much crap stuff you need to bring with you, especially with two little ones. I'm not sure it's all going to fit in our car. Oh, what we do for our kids.

 

 

Again, if you missed Dana's guest post a while back, we're going to Lake Almanor, way, way, way, way up North right outside Chester, California. Here she is in all her glory.

 

 

And here...

 

But what's I'm most excited about are.....

 

 

Oh yeah baby! S'mores!!!

 

Diet Schmiet!

 

Anyone have anything fun planned for the 4th of July?

 

PS Happy Birthday Nee! Hope you have a great day!

 

xoxo