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Crystal Cove {twice in one year} Whoop, Whoop!

We are LUCKY Ducks....it could not of been more perfect, the timing...coinsiding with my BFF's birthday we were able to take advantage of a cancelation at The Crystal Cove Cottages AGAIN. Remember my first post on July 4th and here about the Historical Museums then about the Beaches Movie, that was filmed in this special slice of beachy life....yep my BFF {who reminds me of Claire Dumphy }.. who like Claire doesn't give up ...is very, very persistant, she was able to book us a Crystal Cove Cottage to get away for a girls getaway weekend to Celebrate Mary's 48th Birthday, whoop, whoop!!

This is the check in area....not our cabin, ours was right on the beach not up on the cliff...

We arrived right when the sun was going down over Catalina Island....what a beautiful sunset....

We stayed at the Shell Shack...each of the Cottages have a ceramic plaque with it's name and number on it....

It has a long wide front porch and a back patio for BBQing...

Great looking teak chairs {matches the one on my porch}, well come on in..

to the left we have a small living room with a sofabed to accomodate more guests...above the sofabed is an original shell art picture...

To the right of the door is an antique brass bed....I was the lucky duck getting to sleep on it.....I love me an antique iron bed...

Walking past the brass bed we come into the dining room with a farmhouse table and bench great for dinner or playing board games {there is no TV or computers} which I LOVE about The Cottages, no phone although we did have our iphones...

Pass the dining room table you have another door to the wrap around porch and back patio then the bathroom in the corner of the cottage...Look at all that beautiful wood...but I think I'd paint it all a creamy white leaving some wood beams exposed.

The bathroom with fresh white towels for the guests.

On the other side of the bathroom is the vintage kitchen...complete with Big Chill frig...{I covet this frig }

Taking early morning walks after Coffee on the beach...it was a beautiful day...I saw some kids in swim trunks in the ocean....

It was not as crowded like the 4th...but the weather was better!!   November in California.  That's why we love it here...

This area is phase III,  there are about 15-20 cottages awaiting to be refurbished.  We imagine what it would of been like to be living during this time..the 20's and 30's drinking cocktails {not wine} wearing vintage swimsuits and enjoying unspoiled California and the beaches. 

This is a recreated museum in the time and place the Cottages was in it's heyday..

the museum has an Hawaiiana theme going on, the prints, the bamboo furniture...

An Ice Cream maker in Robins Egg blue {oh I wanted that}......and other odd old items....in a vintage kitchen.

Love that saying....

It was so nice to get away and stroll on the beach and then after we checked out we headed to..........my favorite Garden/Gift store on the coast.....can you guess which one?   

 

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Remember the movie BEACHES?

 

 

 

 

Yep..that is the movie that was filmed in the cutest little cottage in Crystal Cove.....

Each of the cottages have these cute li'l ceramic plaques on the cottages..

Come on in...let's take a look around the cottage....

You can rent the little shingled cottage for special events...

I can just see CC Bloom and Hillary sitting here in the adirondack chairs on the porch, looking out at the ocean..can't you?  That was  great movie and I want to rent it to show my girls.....they don't make movies like that these days do they? What a tear jerker though...

I do think they needed to plant some flowers in this flower bed...I think I would love to be on the board that is responsible for reconstructing the cottages...what a dream that would be.  I'd love to shop for vintage furnishings and decide what paint colors the walls need to be painted....wouldn't that be an awesome job?!!  

 I think all the cottages need a potted plant near each door....

climbing roses on the fence here....

this is the entrance to the community bathroom...I think a hanging wicker basket full of colorful flowers..would be fantastic...

Here we are headed up to our Cottage called...

Sunset Bungalow..you can see an awesome sunrise or sunset..

Right from this vintage iron bed...at night we could hear the waves crashing on the beach..nothing is more soothing and relaxing than that!

Here is the vintage petite stove {display only}...we had one like this growing up but it had a grill in the middle....I have great memories of my parents cooking great meals on it...

Vintage-looking frig, I would love one of these in my own kitchen as well as a bigger size of the O'Keefe and Merit stove or Wedgewood {i'm on the prowl for one} when we redo our kitchen. 

This cottage kitchen was done all in pink...so very quaint. I would love to see some vintage aprons hanging on the wall for effect...but I don't think I'd paint my own kitchen pink....but you never know!  In this cottage it is perfect!

This is the side door into the bungalow...all cottages have hand held brooms to sweep off sandy feet.

Here was another white shingled cottage down the pathway....from ours.

and another with an Aloha Theme...I think there should be some planted ginger out here...huh?  or Bromiliads?  Something tropical...

Yes with the pacific ocean just outside our door...I could stay here again and hopefully will.  It was a fantastic get away....the weather was gloomy but that was ok...we had a great time...I highly recommend the Cottages IF you can get a reservation....that is the hard part they are quite popular as you can see why...you step back in time and relive a little bit of nostalgia.

Bye Cottages at Crystal Cove...hopefully we will see you soon! 

Historic Cottages of Crystal Cove

This year was different for us then any of the past Independence days....with my girls growing up and doing different things, {insert Sports commitments and being teeenagers}.  We didn't head to the local firework show as a family, the girls went with friends instead.  Also on the actual fourth of July we got the opportunity to head to the Historic Cottages at Crystal Cove on the Newport Coast. I was in heaven to say the least and took a ton of pictures{which I'll have to split into several posts}.

Here I am with my girls and my besties...

This is a small alcove called Crystal Cove and in the 20's through the 50's  families that had homes in Los Angeles or inland would bring their families here and stay in the rustic cottages during the summer to escape the heat.  I would guess most of the families owned them because it was a place for the "well to do". Because it was a great locale it was used as a film location for Hollywood, think of Gidget or Beach Blanket Bingo, although they were not filmed here..that's the feeling you get when you are there, as if you would see Gidget out riding the waves on her surfboard.  One very famous film was filmed there that I will share with you in the next post.  Over the next few decades they fell into disrepair and just in the last several years a local restoration group called The Crystal Cove Alliance  have been restoring them to their previous historic cottagey glory.  They have reconstucted the cottages in phases, 14 more cottages will be worked on in the coming years. 

This one is a my favorite that will be restored to it's former vintage beauty,  I can see how beautiful it will be when she is complete.  The restoration has to use 80% of the wood that is in the original structure so the process takes time and of course money.

Here is one that is similiar that has been restored, as you can see all of the cottages are different...most have shingles...

some are single story and others double story...

Some are dormitory style and hanging on a cliff....

Looking towards Huntington Beach.....from upon the bluffs are the Cottages on the Cliff with panoramic ocean views..

Going back down on the beach you look towards San Diego are the tide pools..

Lots of Sea Anemomes, crabs, seaweed and sea glass.

 

The girls loved looking for the sea creatures and sea glass.  A few of the buildings have been turned into mini museums to educate the public on what a special piece of history this place is.

 

Ya know summer is coming when....

                                 {Pops Concert, last concert of the year}

 

                   {MacKenzie receiving her medal for top 5o Academics}

Here she is with her Principal and Vice Principals...

    Madison and a few of her friends sailing away....out of middle school...

....and getting ready to hop on to the HIGH SCHOOL "ship"...oh boy,...

....end of the year S'more making, movie watching parties....

                                   the first day of pool jumping girls getting wet.....

 

YEP...summer here we come.....our last day of school is this Wednesday and Madison will be graduating from middle school, YIKES {I'll put that out of my mind until August}, we are ready for summer....

*time to sleep in

*weekly trips to the beach

*reading books {currently I'm reading Shades of Grey}

*riding bikes in the "hood"

*lazy days, staying in PJ's all day

*having Lemonade stands

*going on camping trips with friends and family

*staying up late

*wearing flip flops everyday

*Pool days at our Friends's house {one day WE will have a pool}

*barbeques on the patio, too hot to turn on the oven/stove

*drinking wine on my brick porch watching the neighbors walk by

*taking long walks with our Poochies...

*Painted toe nails in bright colors

*going to the theatre on a hot day to cool off

*eating lots and lots of otter pops

SUMMER , BRING IT ON!

 

 

What I read in 2011 and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and cookies!

I'm not a big reader..I do however LOVE to read a good book.  I encourage my girls to read, one loves to read and the other it is like pulling teeth.  I remember being like that when was her age.  My parents weren't big readers so maybe that has something to do with it. But as an adult I love to make the time to read.  I read a whole lot of magazines, do they count? I think not.  Anywho....The NESTER is having a Book List Linky Party and I'm always into finding out what other people like to read or  what they recommend.  I have a couple of girlfriends that are always reading and one passes me on her books.  So without further ado here is the books I read in 2011.

This is what currently is on my nightstand....some to be read and others I've read.

1.  Still Alice by Lisa Genova

    I really enjoyed this book.  My Mother has Alzheimer's so it was     interesting to have the patients point of view represented in this book.

2. Lips Unsealed by Belinda Carlisle

    As a GoGo fan, yes I'm an 80's girl, I can remember my Punk Rock     boyfriend taking  me to see them at The Whiskey, a Gogo {Hollywood} in     1981. I enjoyed book I found it interesting that she had a 30 year drug     problem and her husband never knew for the longest time.

3. The Secret Lives of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

    This was a great read!  Now my youngest is reading it, she is really loving it.      After reading it I had to rent the movie.  I loved both!

4.  The Help by Kathryn Stockett

    My friend Pam recommended this book and I loved it.  What a great     interesting, enjoyable book to read.  I love books about the south, I have     family in Alabama, maybe that is why.  My in laws live near the Gulf and my     Dad was from Arkansas.  I hope to see the movie now that I have read the     book.

5.  Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

    I liked the book, it was not a favorite but it was good.  I also saw the movie     and I thought it was pretty good.  A good read.

6. Waterside Cottages by Barbara Jacksier and photos by Dan Mayers

    The one and only decorating book I read this year.  I've been busy     decorating for the new house and since this is a beachy look book it fit in     with the Cottage on Cullen St. style decor.  I loved the photos, Dan did an         amazing job and I follow Barbara's blog too, check the sidebar.  

Currently I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, my friend Renee raved about this whole series and I hear from several people the movie is really, really good.  So my goal this Winter break is to finish the book.  

I know I've been a postin' foo...but I was working like crazy in December and the computer went down for good so we had to get a new one, {we got a laptop} and I'm playing around with the posts because it wasn't letting my pictures upload but I think I have it figured out now. Sorry for the

B    I     G        S    P    A   C      E     S    between words, it doesn't show up like that in my box when I'm composing the post...

So what do you my readers recommend to read in 2012?  I'd love for you to leave your picks in the comments area! Please with cheeries on top...

These cookies are by Bake at 350 , check out her website...I love the cottage cookies, she is quite the cookie artist.

 

 

Baby Shower in Historic Neff Barn..

I grew up in the City of Whittier but my family lived in an unincorporated area which was sandwiched between the City of La Mirada so that is most likely why our area was part of the Norwalk-La Mirada School District and not a school district in Whitter. Growing up I spent more time in La Mirada and even worked for the City of La Mirada while attending my local junior College. 

 One of my jobs was working at Neff Park where the founding family's Ranch was located in the City of La Mirada.  The Neff Barn was owned by the McNally's {of Map Rand-McNally fame} they lived in the Big House and during the weekends you could take tours of the Grand House. 

When I was working on the weekends I had the key to the "Big" house {as seen above} because  weddings would take place in the Gazebo and then the reception would be in the barn.  I can remember one time I went there at night  with my boyfriend {now Mr. Incredible} to show him the house.  We pretended like it was haunted and tried to picture us living there if we owned the place or thinking back in time what our town would of been like way back then. Sometimes we used to make out on the front porch...shhhhh don't tell on us.  Mr. Incredible grew up in a house less than a block away and went to elementary school which is next door to the park. 

 Not only that when he moved to the next street over {finally moving out of his family's house,  I practically was living with him I stayed over at his house so much his roommates wanted to charge me rent.  But one, summer day while I was working at Neff Park doing the Summer Day Care he drove up in my convertible VW and had loaded up all my belongings and broke up with me right then and there. I won't go into the details of why...let's just say I was not the only girl in his life at the time.  So we as a couple  have a lot of history of good ol' Neff Park. 

  {here is the backside of the barn facing the park, and in the background is the caretaker's cottage}

                          Isn't she charming?  I think so..I'd love to live there!

This past weekend we revisted the Neff barn where we held a Turtle themed/Barnish Baby shower for my BFF's Daughter, Jessica.  Since it is in a RED BARN I thought it would be neat to have a bit of a rustic feel to the decor, after all it is taking place in the barn, the shower not the birth!   Valley View Farms dairy that was so part of this area's history existed for along time, they closed a few years back.  I can remember the smell of the dairy when we drove past the dairy.

                                {old milk jugs from Valley View Farms}

   Old pictures of the farm hands..along time ago...McNally Ranch

We used some burlap as table runner and milk jugs for the Flower vases.  The Mommy~to~Be wanted use Chocolate brown and Lime Green along with Turtles....

Fairy Godmother Flora {Monica, my BFF since I was 5}..made the Turtle Fruit Salad bowl...is it not the cutest thing?

                                    {Fairy Godmother Flora with her neice}

The cute baby clothesline....yep she is having a boy!

Fairy Godmother Fauna on the right....with my BESTie from High School, we both worked at the Neff Barn at the same time that I did.

  Good Friends and daughters..with their mothers....young and old mingling.

Recipes being shared as they were requested by the whole group..

The Mother~to~be with her cousin reading all the advice the older mother's have for her....

From Left to right.. Mimi {grandmother~to~be} Flora, Mother~to~be, Fauna and Merryweather.  What a great time we had planning and celebrating the new life coming into the world in December!!!  Good Luck Jessica..WE LOVE YOU!!!

Baby Shower Time!

It has been long time since I've planned/hosted a baby shower.  My BFF {remember this post about her}  daughter is pregnant and we are throwing her a Turtle Themed Baby Shower!I feel like Fairy Godmother Merryweather {along with Flora and Fauna} in Sleeping Beauty when it comes to her.  But I better git....I have Oriental Salad to make and toes to paint!  Have a great day!

I'm baaaack..

 I LOVE technology and I HATE technology...computer had a corrupted Windows program and got really, really slow....finally had to call in the Computer Doctor for surgery.  I think she is all better now and I have lots to post about. 

Yea!  My girl Meg won on Design Star....I thought for sure they would run with the "whole crimes against decorating" theme, I thought that was a cute idea. 

I'm also excited for the Fall Season of T.V. to start running their shows this week!   My favorite is Modern Family and I was so excited to see that they won 5 Emmy's.  My BFF "T" is such a Claire Dumphey....from Modern Family.

 
I swear they wrote that one episode where she turns into "Fun Mom"....on my BFF's  life. Here is my best friend.....

 
Don't they look a lot alike?  This vintage Corvette was out in front of a hotel where we were having cocktails at and so I snapped a picture of her posing in front of the convertible.  "T" holds her whole family together, she works full time as a Science Teacher plus is raising 3 teenagers{along with her dedicated husband}.  But that one episode when Claire turns into "Fun Mom" had me going that is so "T".  She plays the bad cop in the discipline of her children and one time she said, "I'm tired of being the bad cop and told her husband you be bad cop, I want to be "fun MOM".. So the next morning the kids all had Ice Cream for breakfast.  Then they spent the whole day at Disneyland. The whole day kind of went like that, but the funny thing was she would say "I'm being FUN MOM"..with a bit of resentment in her voice and all the while gritting her teeth.  It was such a funny story....so here is to you My Claire Dumphey....you keep me laughing with your  Family Life stories....{I've been trying to convince her to watch the show } I'm glad Modern Family is sticking around this season, it always good for few laughs and the end of my Wednesday Night .  

The girls and I also like to watch GLEE, The Middle and Dancing with the Stars. What shows are you excited to watch and are their any new ones that you think might be good to tune into, I'd like to hear your suggestions. Cheers to our new Fall Shows this Season....I'm tuning in!

 

 

Christmas Eve

 
For the last several years we have spent Christmas Eve at my friend Renee's House.  Along with her husband and two kids they love to entertain and they have the perfect house for it!  Remember last year...she has the most gorgoeous home and it just sparkles this time of the year..

 
Here is a cloche which encloses a small sleigh and a picture of her when she was little and her relatives from her Mom's side of the family.  Her home is filled with heart-felt decorations that have been passed down from family to family.

 
My two girls and her son and daughter and another guests' daughter played the WII Dance Party 2 until the WEE hours of the morning.  I made a Cappuccino Cheesecake {which I failed to take a picture of} which I do say so myself was pretty darn good!  Now...I'm kicking myself for not doing it.  I also made my classic Clam Dip...my mother's recipe, always a hit.  We had Ham, Smoked Samon and of course Tamales!!  Yum!  Yum!  After consuming the Cheesecake and 3 cups of coffee when I got home...I could NOT sleep, I still had some wrapping to do but I found myself washing the dishes and mopping the floor at 3 IN THE MORNING!!!!  yep,  3 am!!  Who does that?  Someone who has had Cappachino Cheesecake and 3 cups of strong family...needless to say I was dragging Christmas Day......

 

Beach, Blankets and Bonfires

 
Growing up in Southern California we used to get together with my parents' friends to have a bonfires on the beach.  I cherish those memories as a child.  Today there is so many people in living on the "Golden Coast" that  it is not as laid back as loading up the car with coolers and sunscreen and driving down to the beach in our VW.  It takes planning and coordination {thank goodness for cell phones} In the summer if you plan on getting a Bonfire PIT you need to get there pretty early in the morning to secure one.  Long are the days when you could say at the last minute, "let's go to the beach and roast wienies and marshmallows".  This summer, thanks to dedicated friends we were able to have a couple of them.

Happy, sun-kissed faces.....

 
Collecting sand-crabs....

 

wading in the cold water....

making sandcastles..........
 
Posing for the photographer {that' me}

 
 

making pyramids in the sand or {half} pyramids.....

cuddling under blankets and towels...... brrrrr

Roasting Marshmallows.....

eating s'mores...with PEANUT BUTTER..yep...that's how I make my s'mores...since I was a Girl Scout Camp leader.....that's how we did it on Camp White's Landing on Catalina Island.

cooking "dough boys" on a stick.  You take Pillsbury biscuits and wrap them around the end of a stick and sloooooowly roast them over the fire until they are nice and cooked on the inside.  Add jelly and whip cream where the stick made the hole.....Yum!!!  
 

watching the sun set on the horizon.....memories were made.