Road Trip Kit

I am so excited, tonight night Mac and I are driving up north to spend the long weekend at my parent's house in Cambria and see the annual Pindorado parade and fair.  Last year's pictures here and here.

Thinking about the four hour drive each way got me thinking about my road trip necessities.  I always get accused of "nesting" especially when I'm not the one driving.  But what can I say, some things are just needed on a long car ride.

• Yoga pants, a floppy sweater, and glasses: If I'm going to be in the car for four hours I'm going to be comfortable.
• Chocolate: I mean, who goes four hours without chocolate and they say that peppermint helps to keep you awake.
• Smartwater: I'm a junkie, love the size of the bottle and how durable it is when I drop it repeatedly on the floor of the car. 
• Hand lotion: If you haven't tried Melvita lotions and body creams do it.  I think they must be made with little drops of organic heaven. The body balm is my favorite!
• Coffee:  We found a few years ago that there is a Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf exactly half way through the trip.  And the fact that they make a 100 calorie blended drink makes staying awake that much easier. 
• Sing-a-long music:  One of my favorite ways to stay energized on a road trip is loud horrible singing in the car.  Backstreet Boys(yes, I'm a 1990's preteen inside), Chicago soundtrack, country music, anything I've heard a million times and can belt (I know Mac must be thrilled about this part).
• A big bag to throw it all in at the end of the trip.  I have been eyeing this one on Etsy, how cute are those stripes? 

I cant' wait to get up there and relax over a long weekend.  I know that by the end of it my car will be covered in pine needles on the outside and empty water bottles and chocolate wrappers on the inside.  What are your road trip must haves?  Happy long weekend!!!

Good Morning Mr. Coffee, You're My Best Friend

If you need me at any point today just look for the coffee cup glued to my hand.  I normally drink regular and decaf coffee throughout today but this morning, honey I need it double strength. 

Last night I went to bed an hour early but didn't end up falling asleep until about an hour and a half later than I normally do.  Insomnia set in, of course, the night before I planned on doing my first weekday morning run in years.  It's like my body knew I wanted to get up and run this morning and was flat our refusing. At least I can try again tomorrow and for today there is always my beautiful friend coffee! 

photo via

Welcome Monday

Ok, no matter how much you love your job, I know most of us don't rise thinking "Welcome Monday, I can't wait to see what you have in store." But, it is also amazing how much better your week can be with a change of attitude.  Why not embrace Monday and the fact that you have a job.  I say change it from "I have to go to work" to "I get to go to work."  With so many people out of work if you're one of the lucky ones with a job be happy that you "get" to go to work today and just see how much better it will make your work week greeting the day with a new mentality!   



photo via

Happy Friday!

Well its Friday, you've worked all week...who needs one of these buttons?  This idea cracks me up!  

I am so excited for the weekend.  As I mentioned Mac and I are going to the Hollywood Bowl to see Diana Krall and I think that the rest of the weekend will be working on a birthday gift for my dear friend Lauren, going to yoga, and hopefully a bike ride or two.  What are you weekend plans dears?  

Here's a little Diana Krall to get your weekend going, wish you could be picnicking under the stars with us!

Summer Picnics

I love picnics!  All seasons really, I'll even bundle up in fall but there is something so perfect about eating alfresco on a warm summer evening.  Mac and I are going to the Hollywood Bowl this weekend with friends and family and it has got me thinking about all the wonderful goodies we can take to munch on.  

When it comes to picnics we normally keep it pretty simple, brie is a must, bread, apples, a hard meet, honey to slather on everything, and of course who can live without champagne and french macarons to satisfy that sweet tooth.  What are you favorite things to bring when eating outdoors?  


*Confession, the last outdoor concert Mac and I went to was so supr of the moment we ended up having Carl's Jr. french fries and champagne for dinner and it was heaven!

Tricycle Sunday

This is one of Mac's latest swap meet finds, a grown up sized tricycle.  So naturally on Sunday we did what every 20 and 30 something does...ride around the neighborhood squealing with delight.  Ok, so maybe most 20 and 30 somethings don't do that but they should cuz let me tell you it is darn fun!

We had a wonderful weekend.  One of my new friend's had a 1930's themed 30th birthday party, pictures to come it was fabulous!  Then after our tricycle riding on Sunday we decided to get out the real bikes, ride to the beach, go for a swim, then BBQ and watch Julie and Julia...sometimes I count my lucky start for finding Mac.  How was your weekend?

Taking Care Of Yourself

How many of you take enough time for yourselves?  You know I am a big fan of "me time," I take baths, do yoga, relax reading with a glass of wine but lately I have been forgetting to take care of some of the bigger things...the one's that require more cash.  

Like a lot of us over the past few years things have been a little tighter financially. Yesterday, however, I was reminded that was no reason to skip certain things.  

My right shoulder will lock up once or twice a year, yep immobile at least once a year.  Yesterday I felt the symptoms coming on, asked around, read some Yelp reviews, and went to a massage college 10 minutes from my work.  If you have never been to a massage college do it!  I requested a graduate not a student and she was wonderful, you can't beat a $29 massage.  Like others I had been to, she said "uh oh" when she felt my shoulder and chewed me out for letting it get that bad, then explained that in order to fix it I would have to be sore for a few days.  I am.  

This was a big reminder of something my mom told me when I was thirteen, "when you're older always find the means to take care of yourself."  We get so caught up in our lives and what we can and cannot afford that we often forget to take care of ourselves.  So my new promise to myself is less dinners with friends, cocktails, or fancy cheeses (ugh) in order to put those funds towards regular massages for my very screwed up shoulder. 

What is your gift to yourself, massages, facials, work out classes? 

Morning Routine

Sunday morning in the craft room when I woke up with chevron on my brain.

I am not a morning person.  I love to wake up early and get things done but it does not come easily to me.  In fact, I am sitting here right now with my cup of coffee and thinking how I would love to crawl back into bed.  But, I have changed my morning routine.  It's not much at all but I am making an effort to wake up 15-30 minutes earlier and it has made such a difference.

I have a tenancy to sleep in as late as I possibly can to still get ready and make it to work on time.  I realized that those extra 15 minutes wouldn't make much change to how energized I felt but would give my day a wonderful boost.  Now I have time wake up, sip my coffee, and relax a little reading before going into the office.  And when I say reading I mean catching up on your wonderful blogs, it's like having coffee with friends every morning.  Such a nice way to start in a calm state of mind and carry it with me throughout the day. What are your morning routine's?  Is anyone lucky enough to be a morning person or enjoy morning workouts?

Sunday DIY Chevron Rug

I woke up Sunday morning and decided I wanted a chevron rug.  There is a tiny whole in one of the floor boards in my new craft room at Mac's house.  Rather than tripping in it over and over or redoing the entire floor, I decided that I was going to finally put a rug in the room like I planned and that it needed to be chevron.  I looked up a few DIY chevron tutorials, bought a $20 black rug, and took half a  gallon of white paint down from the shelf in the garage.  

Used these to guide me here and here.

Mac was skeptical about painting a rug, and laying out the lines was not as easy as we thought but I am so happy with the way it turned out.  To create our rows we divided the seven foot rug evenly and chalked out lines.  I originally wanted a white rug to paint black (easier you would think) but when the store only had black rugs and we already had white paint, what ya gonna do?

I wanted each row to have two zigzag peaks.  We divided the width by four and marked each point along the vertical lines.  I connected the bottom corner of the rug to the first point in on the vertical line and continued to connect the dots up and down with tape.  I know, confusing right?  This is why Mac and I had a debate laying it out, we're not mathematical people.

Because I don't trust myself with paint I marked every other row with chalk so I wouldn't end up with two white rows back to back and was sure to tape the edges of the rows that would be painted.

After a coat of a "dab and brush" technique and some touch ups the rug turned out exactly as I wanted!  It's not perfect but for something that is going in the craft room and that the cat is going to shed all over I am happy.  

It was so rewarding to wake up in the morning with an idea and have it in the house by that afternoon.  If you're dreaming on a budget or you're not sure how long the chevron trend is gonna last give it a try and have some fun!  


Hopefully we'll be adding storage for my supplies and get some pictures on the walls soon.  The room is a work in progress but so far I'm loving it!

Raspberry Fingers

Thank you summer for fresh beautiful raspberries!  I just couldn't resist popping them on my fingers before enjoying because, really, are we ever too old?