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Lunch on the Lanai

 
My cousin who lives about 45 minutes away ordered Girl Scout Cookies...yes I know that was months ago when we were selling GS cookies  so I tried to hold on to them until we were reasonably settled...only one box got away {Mr. Incredible has a thang for Thin Mints}.  I invited her to come see the new pad and pick up her cookies on Thursday.  So I hauled out our dining room table to the brick Lanai and have a lunch of Chinese Chicken Salad and fresh squeezed Lemonade, {lemons from our Lemon/Orange Tree} and Lemon straws for dessert.

I decided to bring our dining room table outside because the chairs that go with it don't lie flat and scratch the refinished hardwood floors when pulled in and out.   But dang that day it was close to 100 degrees!!  I have a small shade umbrella but as you can see it did not provide much relief from the sun.  Poor cousin, I think I melted her make up right off her face.  As you can see I have a hodge podge of chairs out there. I was thinking of getting those Galvanized Metal Tub Chairs from World Market for the table inside the house that MacKenzie is sitting in,  but Mr. Incredible was not too fond of the idea and thought they did not so with the inside of the house,  so maybe outside it might work and look better.   We will dine al fresco all summer until we find a table for the dining room, which is easy to do because in California it never rains in summer.  I like the look of the four or maybe two tub chairs and maybe a bench on one side.  I have a plan of redoing the lid of the table with old "barn" wood if I can get hold of something that will look like that or made to look like it.  Recently Heather Bullard at PresentPast blog  had a post on a farmtable her hubby just finished for her and she was deciding on what chairs she was going to choose for her outside dining farm table he made{what a guy}...check it out....I thought it was so funny because I was deciding on the exact thing except...I have been making that decision for over a year since I saw these chairs in Country Living Magazine!!!  Now that we moved and have a house of our own...I'm sure things will happen faster...{i hope}

I think I'd like to get the Kooboo Wicker Chairs from World market or they have some affordable ones at Ikea or maybe these from Ikea too, for the inside dining table and seeing if I can find a round dining table to help with a better flow in my dining area.  I think depending how slim the chairs are will determine which would work better. 

 
What do you think?  What way do you think I should go?  Or do you have a better idea for my dining room and my dining room al fresco?

Officially Summer begins!

 
Yahoo!   It is no secret I love the BEACH and I love the Water or being near the WATER, if it is hot, hot..love going in the water.

The days are longer...

nice evening walks with the family and the dog

popsicles everyday and special trips to the Shave Ice Store

long, lazy days just lounging around in PJ's if we want to

pool days at really good friends...

eating salads for dinner so we don't have to turn on the oven

fresh picked bouquets from the garden and enjoying garden fresh produce

staying up really late because WE can!

watering the yard to stay cool....

our once a week Beach Days, packing a lunch and enjoying meeting up with friends, digging my  feet into the warm sand and getting that after beach glow...

barbecues on the brick patio {now that I have one} and dining Al FResco!!!

sitting in the house or sitting on the front porch and listening to the neighbors riding bikes or taking walks, the thing we call LIFE!

{Disclaimer: that is NOT me in the above picture...I only wish, isn't her swimsuit too cute?. by the way they have one at Target that is very similiar}

 

 

Happy Father's Day { i know i'm a day late and a dollar short}

 
My father and I  in the front Canoe and my Uncle Johnny Mac and my cousin in the Back Bay of Newport, Calif.  My Aunt had a house on the beach and we would spend a lot of time there..I have fond memories of that house...in fact I distinctly remember the Dutch door looking out at the beach..still to this day...I WANT a Dutch Door {minus the ocean view}

 
Here is my Daddy at Cabrillo Beach.  He was the happiest camping and being around people.  He was such a "social butterfly".  We camped a lot growing up and I suppose that's where I get my love of camping from, but it didn't matter who you were, my DAD always invited the WHOLE campground to our site.  I can remember camping at Three Rivers and we had the "Hells Angels" over for a barbecue.  Another time some young Army men, more like boys really  where hanging out at our Campsite and my Dad was more than happy to play the host! 

 
He could make a mean Salsa and homemade chips. Many times he could be found in the kitchen making breakfast for his family. 

 
He had a heart of gold and I can remember people saying, "your dad would give the shirt off his back, if you needed it".  He was quite a character and I could write a book about his life.  He was  a bit crazy in a good way.  He loved his family and LOVED his dogs....I can remember one time when he picked me up at the airport when I flew in from Hawai'i and while we were waiting for my luggage, {I never travelled light} he struck up a conversation with another person waiting on luggage at the turnstile and he pulled out a flip-roll of pictures of his dogs out of his wallet..."oh yes, this is the father of my dog, he had a starring roll in the movie THE WHITE DOG."   I miss you Daddy very much and I wish you could be on this earth to see your Granddaughters you would be sooooo VERY proud of them!!   Happy Father's Day to all the Dads on this planet and to all the Dad that live on in our hearts!!  We LOVE you!

I {heart} TJ...

I live about one major cross street over from TJ...and it does NOT stand for Tijuana!

 
but Trader Joes....I picked up some Peonies when I went in to get my cereal, {amoung other things} which I love to put in my Greek Yogurt {FAGE}.....LOVE that stuff!  I added a couple of clippings from our Heavenly Bamboo bush and plopped them in a Aqua Ball jar....Also that li'l crackle birdie  pot with the cute pink and green plant came from T J's...I bought it for a friend and we haven't hooked up yet....so I'm kinda getting attached to it...so I'm wondering if it will ever make it into my friends HOT little hands...

I think they have the best plant selections there and specialty food items I can't live without.  Here is my list of must haves...

Orange Chicken

Pepper Jack Cheese {for Kenzie and Troy}

TJ Lowfat Granola in Mixed Berry {for Madison and Me}

Schoolhouse Cookies {for my students}..this is a must!  In fact they only want me as their substitute cause I bring the ABC cookies!!

2 Buck Chuck {for me}

Frozen Shrimp for impromptu Shrimp Cocktail...that goes with the 2 buck chuck

and any cute li'l plant/flowers that find their way into my cart...the flower bouquet prices can't be beat!  

What is your favorite TJ buy?  I'd love to hear what you can't live without?

Shaka Bra...

 
My li'l one has 4 more days left of Elementary School, where has the time gone...really?  She is pictured here with her buddies behind the surfboard and at her Fifth Grade picnic class picture. 

 
Here there are having a "Beach" picnic lunch...with her classmates,  they have been in the same class since 1st grade and they are ALL moving on to the same middle school....

 
She was voted "the Almond Joy" Candy Bar award....

 
Which signifies...energetic, perky and likes to make the best out of everything he or she does in life.  That pretty much sums her up in a nutshell. 

Just a sneaky peaky.....

 
 
Hello....come on in for a li'l peak into our new Cottage on Cullen St.....Here we are looking from the living room out the front door.  Just on the other side of this built-in hutch is the kitchen.  When you walk through the front door to the left is a galley style kitchen. 

 
This is what you would see has you come in from the front door and into the petite living room....petite sounds a lot better than small, doesn't it?

 
My hutch fits perfectly against this walls and don't the floors look great in the afternoon sunlight.  We refinshed them in a Chestnut color, which I'm very happy with.  They are soooo pretty....

 
This shot is taken from the hutch area or dining room half of the room. Through the door on the left is the Family Room {or man cave}.  You can really see the soft blue called Spy Glass from Dunn Edwards.  I really like this color....it's a soft deep robin's egg blue.  

 
Now that I finally found my camera cord I'll be posting lots more pictures in the next few weeks....we have been slowly taking out over grown plants and fixing her up....we couldn't be happier....with her progress.