Friday, December 30, 2011

Nutella

Look what I found...


Oh yeah!


eBay

My latest fundraising hobby!


Who knew you could find vintage Merrell hiking boots on the clearance rack at Urban Outfitters? And who knew they'd sell for so much on eBay?

Money in the bank.

Friday, December 16, 2011

This Is As Crafty As I Get.

When it comes to Christmas gifts for our nieces and nephews, our budget is a measly $10 each. Ten dollars buys stomp rockets and cute underwear from the Gap, but you can only buy underwear for kids under a certain age...so the older kids get gift cards.

This year I went crazy and made the gift card holders into ornaments.





Time will tell if the tradition continues!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Thrift Store Find


Came to seventy five cents thanks to the half off sale!

Charlie Brown

The past few years have found us in small spaces, and we ditched the whole Christmas tree thing awhile back. This year, however, I happened upon a true "Charlie Brown" tree while shopping with my mom.


I can't imagine it has more than a few days of life left, but we're hoping the wreath hung on the inside of our front door will fill the house with that beloved smell of Christmas!

Turkey Day Digs




Tuesday, November 22, 2011

A Not So Traditional Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving a few days early this year by cooking our first turkey!

I found a great recipe for cider glazed turkey and bourbon gravy in my favorite magazine.
Paired with mashed potatoes, stuffing, corn and cranberry sauce, Jason and I have had Thanksgiving Dinner for several meals now.


After the Turkey Trot on Thursday morning, we'll be heading up to Pacifica and camping on the coast south of San Francisco.
Just the three of us.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Treat Yo Self

I just paid way too much for this cute iPhone case.*


As I sat at the computer debating as to whether or not I should type in my way to much eBay bid, Jason encouraged me by quoting one of my favorite actors from one of my favorite shows


Click here to hear from my friend Tom Haverford.

I love him.

*Justification: I paid for the case with our eBay slush fund (formerly the Craigslist slush fund), which also purchased my phone...pretty cool hobby we have going on here!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Words With Friends

Our newest addiction. 

Usually I lose, but I'm getting better...kind of.

Check out this bomb I dropped on a friend the other day!


Quick Little Project

Nasty patio set left by the previous tenants in our place
+
ninety nine cents spent on an Ikea pillowcase from Savers
+
a whole bunch of staples
=
a much better looking nasty patio set


Sunday, August 28, 2011

The Help

I don't consider myself a reader...but I am loving this book so far.


Mom and I have a date to see the movie once I'm finished!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Half & Half

Makes the world a better place.

Starting with my hot cocoa.

Mmm...

Thursday, August 18, 2011

My Crazy Brother Likes to Run

A lot.

So they interviewed him on the radio cause he's kinda cool.



Good luck this weekend Peege!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Tuesday Night Date

Sold a few items to Luna Blu, one of my favorite resale shops in Old Monterey...


Watched street performers, tasted olive oil and balsamic vinegars and hit up all the local food vendors in the farmer's market downtown.  Falafel sandwich, bratwurst, Nutella crepes and a root beer float. Yum!


Caught a glimpse of some classic cars, then walked the pier before heading home.


Love it!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Po-tay-to, Po-ta-to

So apparently, when you live where we live and you don't pull weeds very often, sometimes there can be a fun surprise!


I think I'm going to start referring to that weed patch on the side of the house as my garden.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Santana Row

Jason and I celebrated my thirtieth birthday by sneaking away for a long weekend in Santana Row. It was AWESOME!

We stayed at the amazing Hotel Valencia.

Ate at Pizza Antica and The Counter, two of our favorites.
Shopped a bit.
Read beneath the beautiful oak tree.
Saw our first flash mob.
Watched old men play chess in the street.
Hit the farmer's market.
And lounged at the rooftop pool for hours.

It was the perfect getaway in the midst of a crazy summer.
Not far from home, but just far enough.

I think (hope) this may become a tradition!





Friday, August 12, 2011

My Friend Suzy

Today is Suzanne's 30th birthday.
And the best part (in my opinion) is that I get to celebrate with her!

Suzy and I met in high school and instantly became close friends.
We played on the same softball team and went to youth group together.

We graduated and moved hours apart, but still remained close. We'd get together whenever we were home and we traveled to visit each other at college.

One summer we coached together out at an amazing camp in Pennsylvania. We spent our days off in Ithica and New York City.

After college we traveled through Europe. We stayed up all night to watch the bulls run in Pamplona. We slept in a park because we were too cheap to pay for a hotel room. We hitchhiked, yes hitchhiked, through northern Spain. We slept on a beach when we missed the last train. We watched fireworks over the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day. We hiked through beautiful valleys and ate lots of ice cream in Switzerland. We camped out in Tuscany and made our way to Rome.

We met some amazing guys and both got married.
We ended up living just an hour away from each other in Southern California and made a point to visit each other as much as possible.

We adopted dogs.

Just over a year ago Suzy became the most amazing mother to precious Zachary.

And today we are celebrating Suzy's 30th year.

I love you Suzanne and I can't wait for all the adventures that are still ahead!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

You don't have to go back to school...



...to score at the Back to School sales!

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Blogging is Like Laundry

It's so easy to get behind.

Then overwhelmed.

And do nothing at all.

I promise I'll get caught up!

...eventually...

Monday, July 11, 2011

Friends

A few weeks ago, Jason and I snuck back into town to surprise some of our favorite kiddos at their high school graduation. What an emotional day it was.

We spent the night at our good friend Eric's, and the next day had a little rendezvous with our precious Foothills loves...
Stopped in for a quick visit with JT, Jess and our godson Jorde...
A surprise visit with our old neighbors...
And last, but not least, a wonderful evening spent with our dear friends Patrick, Carly, Eva and Adrian in San Clemente.

What a reminder of how God has truly blessed us through our incredible friends.

Friday, July 8, 2011

Five Years Ago

I married my best friend.

I love you Jason Steinbarger!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Only in Salinas

As soon as we crossed the finish line at this morning's Fourth of July race, we were met with huge strawberries and oranges, then picked up goodie bags filled with celery and romaine and iceberg lettuce.

Later on in the day, Jason and our friend Gavin took part in the fireman's muster bucket brigade competition and received baskets filled with artichokes, celery, broccoli, cauliflower and several varieties of lettuce.

They don't call this the Salad Bowl for nothing!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Erin & Gracie

A few weekends ago my friend Erin came up for a visit, and she brought along Charlie's pal Gracie.

We had a great time together and the weather was beautiful! We hiked Garland Ranch out in Carmel Valley where the pups had a swim in the murky pond (Charlie's new to the whole swimming thing so I don't really care where he swims - it still amazes me!) and then we took them down to the beach where they chased each other in the waves.


The rest of the weekend was spent lounging around the house, barbecuing, watching movies and just hanging out.

It was great to have our friends visit for a few days!