Blueberry Pickin'

Earlier this year we went and picked strawberries...so it only seemed fitting to go get our blueberry pickin' on as well! I met up with my sisters for a fun and quick (since it was so hot that it started to become uncomfortable rather than enjoyable) afternoon. I have never gone blueberry picking before, and to be honest they taste a million times better fresh off the bush than anything you can get in the store!  So, naturally I have come to the conclusion that I need a blueberry bush in my yard...talk about convenient.

I love seeing my little ones experience things for the first time. Cozy ate her weight in blueberries and Sage was about done twenty minutes in due to the 95 degree weather...so a tip for anyone who wants to go picking...go early or later when the sun isn't blazing!

We got to touch little piglets snouts (Sage thought it was the funniest thing ever...) and check out a chicken coop... sometimes I kind of wish I lived on a farm for the mere fact of walking out your front door and having things right on hand. Maybe in my next life?!

Anyways, my sister Rachy snapped a few photos of us at the fields. I am going to miss having her around to capture moments like these that seem to fade away in our memory as time goes on. Thanks Rachy girl.

Best Bridal Shower For The Best Girl...

As many of you know, I come from a family of five girls...I am the second oldest. When my oldest sister Whitney got married I had so many different emotions. I was sad that life was never going to be the same...once you get hitched it really is never how life was before you were married. I guess that is the whole point, but as a Senior in highschool (since all I was thinking about was myself haha) I didn't like change too much. Actually, what am I saying, I still don't like change!

Well, crazy that the night of Whitney and Spencers wedding dinner I met Joshua; who is Spencer's cousin. Three-ish years later Josh and I got married. Talk about meant to be right?! Anyways, than last year my youngest sister, Sadie, got married to a wonderful guy...and now, in about three weeks, my other sister Rachael is getting married to Sadie's husbands brother! 

I know, I know... say what?! Trust me, this is all legal! :-) So to celebrate such a wonderful occasion my middle sister Paige threw a beautiful (and by beautiful I mean so many small details went into everything) shower. 

We played this game MASH, where everyone filled out a fake future life, and at the end Whitney read three of them. It was pretty hilarious what some of the ladies answers were...like who would you marry "paul newman"...really?! Oh wowza.

I loved the colors, the food, the guests, the table runners, the flowers. It was so perfect for our one and only blonde sister...and I couldn't be happier for her! 

now for the party favors...I order these mini soaps from Elaeis Spa Co. they smelt so good!

Strawberry Fields Forever...

I will never forget when I heard this song for the first time. In middle school, my oldest sister was super into the Beatles; this was my favorite song on their track (as she played it over and over and over again). Oh, it brings back such fond memories. 

Speaking of strawberries me and a friend ventured out to the Carlsbad strawberry fields to pick our own.  These strawberries are SO good and juicy. It seemed like our bucket never got passed the half way mark when Sage was filling it up. I think she ate her weight in them! :-)

I have to admit, picking these juicy, red strawberries made me want to go bake my triple layer cake again, but then I remembered how if I bake one more dessert my husband my disown me (...speaking of eating your weight in something)! 

Anyways it was a fun afternoon, thanks Abby and baby Jack for joining us!

 ^^^one is not like the other :-)

Happy Friday...

Today has been pouring. non. stop. My kids slept in until 9 AM. I got to lay in bed and listen to the torrential downpour. There is something so nostalgic about rain. Not sure if it's the smell of the outside after a good washdown, or just the soothing sound of falling raindrops...but it takes me back to when I was growing up, and all I wished for was a rainy day so I could wear my rain boots and take my disneyland umbrella to school. Oh it's the simple things isn't it?! Simple things like staying in our pjs til noon and playing dress up...I'm slowly learning that simple things are the greatest things!

Anyways, so glad its Friday. Hope you have a glorious weekend! Here are a few pretty awesome things I've stumbled upon over the last couple weeks!

1. Oh take me here sweet husband of mine
2. conceptual portraits by miss Laura Williams just might be my new obsession
3. a great way to keep your door from slamming
4. who knew teachers could be so wise
5. it's funny being vulnerable
6. 100 years of fashion in 100 seconds

DIY wedding backdrop

When my littlest sister, Sadie, got married last October she wanted to have her reception in my parents backyard. She wanted to do the ring ceremony on their tennis court...and somehow magically transform the court into this gorgeous, romantic scene. Well, that's sort of difficult when the court is blue and green and there is a huge net on one end of it. So my oldest sister had a BRILLIANT idea on how to cover the net, and create a backdrop to where they would exchange rings.

It turned out even better than we all expected! I wish I could take credit for it, however, Whitney was the master mind on this project! Here's the how to:
-she bought about ten pairs of curtains from Ikea to cover the width of a basket ball court
-cut curtains into strips about 6" thick
-she sewed two strips together (short end) so it was long enough to reach from the top of the net to the bottom. Depending on how high your backdrop needs to be this might not be necessary.
-dye strips in a bucket of dye (each batch sat in the dye for about an hour or so)
-hang them to dry (note: they drip so make sure you hang them somewhere where dripping isn't an issue...like the grass) She took pvc pipe and made something to hang them on.
-She than took wood, placed it at the top of the net and draped the strips over it so they hung at different lengths. She stapled them in placed, and continued to layer the strips.
***the end.