Jam Packed Day

Another jam packed day with the get-along.gang.  Years and years ago we would scour the Long Beach Veteran's Stadium every third Sunday of the month for treasures. It has been a long while since we visited. We hunted with Mark and Nicholas, my brother Joe, my mother and my sister.  Now we hunt with Jacob and Holly for hidden treasures.

From the swap meet, we visited the beach at Seal Beach and shopped at the Back Porch.  During our visit at Back Porch we found our new coffee table.  This is the end of our day.  Here's Jacob after his bath with what will be our coffee table.

Back Porch is beautifully staged.  I walked through twice before I noticed the perfect table to convert to our coffee table. The green trim is a perfect match for our color scheme.

The Seal Beach our favorite local beach.  

The treasures.

Fountains. 

The Loot.  A perfect day.

Happy Long Weekend

The Pumpkin Cottage garden is blooming and we are starting to harvest yummy goodness.  In Lucy's famous words "It's tasty, too."   Tart eating and baking apples.  These are just like the apples I remember from the old house at 424 Purisima.  The little tree was easy to climb and we loved the "sour" taste. 

Blackberries.  We picked and ate the ripe ones.  When Joe and I were kids we would walk through the dry creek bed and pick blackberries all the way through until we reached the beach, stop at Snow White (the local burger joint) for soft serve ice cream before heading home.  Food, the images, the taste and smell, take me right back to a more innocent time.  Long carefree summers where we felt safe and life stretched before us.  The reddest sweetest strawberries all from right here in our little yard. 

We are looking forward to a variety of tomatoes.  The tomatoes planted in the traditional method are doing better than the Topsy Turvy tomatoes but it may be the variety of tomato and not the planting method.  Next year we'll try the same varieties just to be fair. 

Here is a view of my garden.  Still need to do more deadheading as you can see in the back.  There has been a riot of color out there so far.  I attribute it to my mother's presence.  When I am out in the garden I talk to all my plant friends "amigas" and my mae (mother).  I talk to her in Portuguese so my mother might understand and the neighbors won't.  It just makes me feel better. 

Have a safe weekend.  Remember all of those that sacrificed so much for us to be free.  So many young men, mostly, buried all over the world.  My mother used to say that she loved America so much because she never went hungry.  God bless America and all that have fought and died for her and us.  Thank you. 

Everything Happened on Saturday

This always happens but this Saturday was the worst...because I missed Jenny Doh at County Roads even though I visited the County Roads later the same day.  And we missed Mr. Charles Phoenix extraordinaire book signing in Long Beach and we were in Long Beach, too.  It takes a lot of effort to coordinate our weekends.  Let's face it I have been slacking. 

Here is what we did do do (remember the Friends episode?)

Long Beach.  See the Queen Mary in the background.  One of my greatest wishes it to take the QE2 across the pond to England.  

 Okay, I already bought the book....it is awesome, really.

Yo Yo quilt fantasy.

A little granny room vignette that Holly wanted to move into.

Lee always says the best gifts for me are dirt and wire...you can add hangers to that.  Don't you love it.  I think I may have to go back to get it. 

And cupcakes....

And the Glitterfest all in one day.

You can't believe the talent in this room.  I had to walk around the room a few times just to take it all in. 

Truly this really is one day with the Get-Along.  Thank you for visiting.  We are shooting for Halloween and Vine in September.

Sacramento Cupcakes

Yolanda this one is for you.  Y'all know that one of our road trips necessities is to visit a cupcake bakery.

In Sacramento,  visit  CupcakesCraving  and ...Babycakes
 
Check theses two cupcake destinations out and let me know.  Not cupcakes, necessarily, but looks yummy, too.

                                          The little wreath I copied from Cherryhill and made on Mother's Day. Lee liked   the wreath with fewer pots but I think more or less still charming.

California State Fair

Who wants to hang out with the Get-Along-Gang? Lee doesn't know it yet but I am thinking we need to go to the  California State Fair.  It has been a long time since we have had street/fair food.  Sometimes we make funnel cake at home but it's not the same.  We purchased our kit from Gooseberry Patch (it's not available now) but I've seen the kit at our local Cost Plus. 

Here is a sneak peak at my fall 2010 book list. 

La Vie Claire magazine

This is a beautiful magazine and when I missed out on the winter issue that included Susan Branch it just could not be so.   Then I contacted the people at the magazine and I got the nicest response.  REALLY nice like when does that ever happen?  Here is the link in case you wanted to order the single Winter 2010 issue.  Worth every penny but then again magazines are my weakness.

Mama

My mom used to say that I could do anything I put my mind to.  She didn't mean it in a nice way because if I got my head around something and HAD to have it I was going to get it. 

It comes at a cost.  Here I am frustrated because I can not figure out my new statistics software.  I want to throw it across the room and drop out of grad school.  The conversation that goes through my head is, "What were you thinking at your age?"  "YOU have little guys and BIG kids."  "And a demanding job for goodness sake." 

But you know that I am not going to give up that I will pick up my gimpy body, dust myself off, seek the encouragement of spouse and children and go on.  Yep that is what I am going to do.  That is the conversation going on in my head as I wrap myself in a lap quilt that my mother made with all the hand stitching and the comfort of her embrace. 

Going to rest and start over tomorrow.

Happy Weekend

Tomorrow is my oldest brother's birthday.  Happy Birthday Ilidio!!! Remember taking photos in the little booth?  In these photos my brother has to be under 20 years of age. 

I have to guess ages (l-r), this is our oldest sister Mericia at about 11 or 12 years of age, our mother in her early thirties, and Ilidio at 6 or 7.  Ilidio might remember this scene and remember ages better this was long before I was born.   This looks like a harvest event.  I am just guessing.

I found this little photo of my niece Michele with one of  their first blue dogs.  This little photo was taken the same day as the one with Michele sitting on the step with her legs crossed. 

We had such a fun weekend visiting the Urban Barn it was our first visit to the new location but not our last.  It's amazing because when you are exploring the barn everything looks muted and white but then when looking at the photos there is the most beautiful glow of color.  Do you see it??  Everyone is so nice here. 

Here is the future craft classroom.  It's so bright from the full wall of windows.  I can't wait for the opportunity to create in this amazing space.  Visit the girls over at  Sweetpeas and Snapshots.

 Love this color.  Look for the riot of color.  I see yellow, pink, and blue.











We have to look for boy things, too.

The cupcakes were amazing some of the best I have ever had.  Holly chose red velvet, I had raspberry chocolate, Lee chose Bananas Foster, we sampled caramel apple, and we took carrot cake home for Mark.  Very good eating...worth the trip.  

At home, look at all the loot we picked up along the way from thrifting in San Diego .  Including the little AstroTurf daisy mat from a little hardware store .  The cake pan, pitcher, books and the little student chair that found a new home just outside the kitchen where both kids like to sit and watch daddy cook.  Holly's precious pink bird, nest and my new trash came from the Urban Barn. 

Hope you enjoyed our visit.

New Books

Here's what I am reading right now.  As most of you know, I squeeze pleasure reading in between required reading for school.  So sometimes, I am reading two or three books at any given time.  Other times, I just need beautiful photos and interesting people for eye candy and inspiration to help me relax.

Craft Corps, just hit the shelves, it is all about our favorite crafters.  Interesting stories with some photos.  You will find your favorites crafting icons and discover some new favorites.


Debbie Macomber's Hannah's List continues the Blossom Street series.  Lee purchased this one for me for Mother's Day.  I gobble this and the Cedar Cove Series up in just a few days.   Last night I purchased Inspiration from the Where Woman Create genre.....NOW this book is truly eye candy.  It 's for people like me that love color and stuff.  For some the rooms will be too much but for creative types I think it is just like going home.


2010 is a big year for publishing, at least for the books I have to have on my night stand. 

Soon I will share my  Amazon pre-order list with you.  Even if I could afford to stay home, I would have to work to support my book and magazine habit.

Mother's Day

We were truly blessed to have had the mother we did. Joe and I talk about it all the time. Our mother always put us first, we always had clean nails, our clothes was carefully washed, mended and pressed. We never really understood that we were poor because our mother had such a dignity about her and she knew how to do every thing with her hands. Lee knows it because my mother showed him unconditional love, too. She always lived in little houses but nothing made her happier than having her extended family with her to break bread. We simply took turns sitting at the table to eat. If my mother was home she always had an apron on and didn't sit until everyone was cared for. We each had our favorite dishes and the thoughts of those times brings tears to my eyes now. It was about all of us being together. It is my greatest wish that one day my children will reflect upon my life and feel the love and admiration that I do.

If you are out there, Nicholas, reading this I hope that one day you will realize the truth and know that I never left you. I left an environment that was slowly killing me. My hope is that you will look at my life and see that I worked very hard to provide a place where there is unconditional love, a safe haven where holidays, birthdays, and traditions are celebrated where everyone is the favorite. Where it is not about how much you have but how much you give of your heart.

New Patio Furiture

In the van and in the garden. Perfect. Thank you for stopping by.

It's always good to have a good strong man that can move furniture.

Jennifer Perkins asked about our Topsy Turvy Tomato planter. This is our first year with the planter but the little tomato plant is keeping up with our traditionally planted tomatoes. The kids love the planter so that has been worth the price of admission. Catch the amazing Jennifer on DIY's Stylelicious Our family loves to watch your shows.

Last night, we had the pleasure of seeing David Sedaris at the Fox. One word: Epic. If you would like your book signed be prepared to wait in a long line because Mr. Sedaris is so completely gracious to each and every one of his fans. Lee didn't have a book to sign because we will wait for his new book Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk to be released this October but Lee waited in line just to meet and greet. In his words, "Totally worth it."