Advent.

After seeing this simple brown-bagged advent calendar on one of my favorite blogs last year, I stored it away in the overflowing "next year" file. Thankfully, a year much less hectic than the past, in which one could find me scrambling to Party City to pick up a boxed chocolate-filled calendar (post December 1st), after finding that Trader Joes' were long gone (as they should be, because who would still be in need of one?).

We've gone through several 'calendars'... rustic & wooden... build-a-lego-a-day... but in the past few years, as life got a bit chaotic, we've resorted to paper-box-+-chocolate (usually generously gifted from grandma). 

And who am I kidding? As long as the kids get candy (their main mission in life, as rightly stated by Jerry Seinfeld... so funny), they could care less where it came from, & how 'Santa' delivered it.  

But this was really fun to shop for & simple to create (simple, as in- Ryan & I quickly painting, filling, & hanging on Sunday morning... thank God the kids sleep in!)... mostly filled with lots of little cheap goodies (not only candy).

Day #1 was Baci chocolate... others are Candy Cane ChapStick, gold coins, striped straws, hot chocolate packs, a red lifesaver... and a green in another bag... jingle bells to hang on their back packs...

But by far, the best part is seeing the huge amount of anticipation & JOY that such a tiny treat can create. 
{even in a teenager :)}.

{day 1~ reading their Baci messages}

{day 2~ very early on a Monday morning, after having been off of school for a week... & very blurry~ but it made me laugh- in the midst of major grogginess... holding up their bells}

{day 3~ this time we waited till after school (Jacob leaves at 6:50am for zero period, when Hailey is still sound asleep!)}

{day 4~ a little bit of cheer, in the midst of a whole lotta' homework}

{day 5~ wanna kiss?}

If you've read my blog for a while, you may notice a theme complaint of wanting-to-do instead of doing. It's my biggest 'area of opportunity' (as they'd say in the corporate world)... an area in which I'm working hard to surpass. So it feels nice to have a 'next year' item moved to 'this year'.
                

Put a cork in it.

 

an excuse to drink an extra bottle or two this weekend. 

your hair is worth it.

you are worth it.

 

{image via}

Spring has sprung.

...and we're doing our very best to rise to the occasion.
                                                   

{venturing into new books.  new endeavors.  new life.}
                                                    

Stamped with love.

~~~ 

{my valentine~ who never complains when asked to jump right in... to cabbage-chopping and homework-helping- immediately upon entrance- after a LONG day at 'the office'- for his wife who has once again put herself in a position to make her way through a heavy-hearted party city- in search of red napkins... the night before.}

hope yours is filled with LOVE~ & candy.

Heartfelt.

hailey & i painted the town red over the weekend...

...if you give a mouse girl a cookie pair of scissors & some felt :)...

 

Next year.

the 'holiday list', revisited.

as i check in on instagram, and the other social media 'sources of inspiration' time-suckers sites, i continue to add to my 'next-year' list.  the 'next year' list that is 1/2 full of items/pictures/projects from last year that were supposed to be implemented this year.

well, the tree is up, shining bright.  the other decorations are well on their way.  new outdoor lights {'old-fashioned' ones... a 'to-do-this-year' task that was actually done} have been purchased... leon has arrived, and is monitoring as close as ever.  *homemade card supplies were ordered weeks ago...

...but still untouched.  advent calendars just put out yesterday... on the 6th of december. not the creative-thoughtful-diy kind either.  the cheap-easy-low-grade-chocolate-filled-paper-box kind.

looks like those pine cones may have to wait one more year before their trims are painted white as snow.  and those christmas card supplies might just be perfect for next year's holiday cards.   

ryan's in his last wave of classes, life is chaotic, our lists are never even closed to being checked off..... and 'in the big scheme of things' it's alright.  and it IS temporary (a necessary- daily- reminder).   
                      
but speaking of next year...

i saw a gorgeous olive wreath the other day that i'd love to try my hand at creating my own version...

image via

and also, a magnolia leaf one...

image via

                                           

both trees in which we have.  both very simple and seemingly doable.
 
next year.  for sure.
             

The usual suspects.

a costume parade & a classroom party... cousins & trick-or-treating... chili & cornbread... pizza & wine... spooky glasses & sparkling cider... pumpkin carving & candle lighting... dry ice & {state-of-the-art :)} jack-o-lanterns... charlie brown & tim burton... black nails & only-on-halloween 'fashion' embellishments... candy & more candy...

               

... and two utterly exhausted parents.

                                         

Halloween [High school] HORROR.

Being that it was his first year of high school, he decided to forgo his "real" costume until this evening (for the obvious reason of not wanting to wear a big red fleece men's nightgown... aka the fierce Pac-Man ghost), and instead wear a far less in-your-face 'thrown together' sorta [non-]costume.

...so he could still participate in his very favorite holiday, without risk of potential mortification of being the only. kid. dressed. up.

Thanks to 'design mom' & her fantastic 6 ideas for the costume averse, I recommended that he wear a few embellishments- a glove... a few plastic bugs...... 

He liked the idea.  So off I went to Target (as I do EVERY SINGLE YEAR on the eve of Halloween- despite swearing that it will/can never happen again) in search of plastic bugs... And when I couldn't find them, off I went to the even more chaotic Party City (as I do EVERY SINGLE YEAR on the eve of Halloween after I fail to find all that I am frantically in search of at the aforementioned Target- despite swearing that it will/can never happen again).

After weaving in and out of swarms of other frantic mothers... fathers... teens... party city workers... Oh, wait- they were nowhere to be found... 

I found the bugs.  Hours later (as Ryan was finishing up his "real" costume), the bugs were glued to safety pins, and in true 'Jacob fashion' - what was going to be a couple of bugs added to the back of his shirt, turned into several bugs... a ripped up pair of old slacks... last year's thrifted (and thankfully saved) Charlie Chaplin shoes, glow-in-the-dark skeleton gloves, a tuxedo tee, smeared dirt- on  his clothes... his face... topped off with a slick-yet-disheveled hairdo.  {he was going for a downgraded zombie prom king look- but downgraded or otherwise, a non-costume quickly became a full-fledged ensemble}

As I was attending to Hailey- who was wearing her "real" costume to the 8:30am parade, Ryan helped Jacob with his final touches, snapped a few shots, drove him to school...

And not one kid in sight was wearing anything remotely resembling a Halloween costume.

...HORROR.
  

No turning back.

well, we made it through 60 days of our 'alkaline cleanse'.  we need to schedule another blood cell analysis appointment to see the {hopefully improved} "after".  and in full disclosure, although we're feeling fantastic (health-wise), we still have a little more weight to lose.  so, for the most part, we're sticking to the same eating plan for the time being.  after our follow-up apt, we'll start to add WINE a few things back in... fruit(!!!), a lil' honey, maple syrup, or agave here & there... a little more meat... wheat... corn (a must in the summer, yes??)... white potatoes (although we're now pretty smitten with the sweet variety), a bit of dairy... eggs... all in much greater moderation than ever before.

some foods will be cut out altogether, and others that we've added in along the way will remain, as permanent 'pantry' staples.  almond milk, for instance.  or better yet- almond butter.  one that i've been wanting to try, but yet to do so is sunbutter.  for obvious reasons, i try to stay away from the inclusion of too many butters on the pantry staple list.  but this morning, a post titled, "Cinnamon Vanilla Sunflower Butter Recipe" just so happened to show up in my reader. 

 

so i seized the moment.

                                             

WOW.  good stuff i tell ya.  like so good that i could not stop eating it. for the kids, i paired it on with strawberries on brown rice toast.  but as jacob suggested- as a pb&j with sliced bananas and honey- or a dash of strawberry sauce- mmmm.  or on buckwheat pancakes with a touch of maple syrup-  or smeared onto apple slices- or swirled into...  

the possibilities are endless, really.

                                                                    
and now that i've seen how easy it is to make it from scratch- there's no turning back.
                

What do you do...

...when it's a hot summer Saturday in late June... in southern California, & you have a husband with load of homework, a very sick dog to tend to (she's getting better!), yet NO pool... or NO plans to get properly dressed & leave your house to be rescued by a movie screen- or a water slide theme park (that sits less than *10 minutes away)??

Well of course, you pull out every "pool/water" device known to man, lather 'em up with sunscreen, hand 'em a hose, and tell them to Enjoy.

...And throw in an old guitar & lots of library books, a heap o' bubble wrap, a 'pull-out-the carrots' assignment, and let 'em pulverized those carrots (& apples)... one by one... And before you know it "staying home" won't sound so BORING after all :).

                                      
And what do you do if you have a pile of carrots (that you cannot consume @ the moment) and a whole heck of a lotta jalapenos??

 
Well, you pickle 'em of course.
 
                  
...to spice up the many {many} taco nights in our future.
  

A perfect sweet, spicy, tangy... garlicky blend.

{I used this very loose, very simple recipe that I've had printed & filed away to try- oh, since early December (which will serve as last week's [missed] tried & true recipe).}