twenty eight

It has been quite awhile since I have posted anything on here. Sometimes life gets a bit too busy and I have just come through one of those periods. My birthday was this past Tuesday and my husband and I spent the Saturday before it adventuring!









 Being the birthday girl, I got to decide what our day would include. So the first this we did was walk to a nearby Starbucks and then a couple more blocks to a garage sale where we scored this amazing embroidered ship to hang on the wall. Only 2 bucks! Can you believe it?

 After the garage sale we hopped in the car and headed to the Los Angeles Arboretum. I love the arboretum. It is full of gorgeous flowers, trees, large lawns, wild life like peacocks roaming all over the place, and all sorts of paths and tree tunnels that make you feel like an explorer! SO MUCH FUN!

 We brought our lovely polaroid camera to help document the day. I adore polaroid pictures. I have a couple albums full of them. Something about the feel and look of the pictures make them feel like treasures... maybe it also has to do with the cost of the film... yikes!

 

 I love my husband and how much fun we have tromping around on beautiful days like this.

As a souvenir for this part of the adventure, I picked out a darling little cactus to join us in our home.

 

Lunch was provided by INNOUT burger... a past employer of mine and an all time favorite.

We found a street named after us! Robertson Blvd... Woo!

We visited a specialty yarn shop in Santa Monica called Copmatto. It was full of the most amazing yarn I've ever seen. Of course, this means that the price tag had numbers that were higher than I am used to seeing at, say, Michael's or JoAnn's. However, I splurged and got a skein of yarn to make myself something soft with. Can't wait to make something lovely.

 We went to walk around Santa Monica's 3rd Street Promenade. There was a strange event that took place while we window shopped. There was a zombie walk! Tons of people dressed as zombies paraded down the busy street of shoppers. Many were dressed as famous people, too. It was like a flashmob and I believe it was a charity event. Another on looker mentioned Linda Blair's World Heart animal rescue. Whatever it was for, it sure was entertaining.

To make us all feel better, the zombies were followed closely by a whole bunch of ghost busters. It was amazing.

 The incredible day ended with a walk on the Santa Monica Pier. We didn't go on any rides but did enjoy the hustle and bustle, the bright lights, and the cool breeze... and we flattened a penny for my collection.

All in all, it was a fantastic birthday and I am pretty sure that being 28 won't be so bad after all. I have my wonderful, thoughtful, ridiculous partner in crime to thank for such a perfect day.

I am so lucky to have somebody that loves me so much.

haikuesday 12

Was planning on skip

ping haikuesday for b-day.

Couldn't resist these...

graciebeal

 

the sun is shining

dragonflies swarm above me

in a sea of gold

windfallarts

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I cannot decide
What I love more in my mug--
Coffee or tea . . . ? Hmm.

ooops

Not even one month into my little nifty fifty project and I have failed! Arg! Luckily, this is not something being judged. It is not even something that I have to give up once I've made a mistake. I promised California in March and here it is, mid-April, and I am FINALLY getting around to posting it. Truth be told, it has been done for over a week (although this would have still made it late) but I felt that in order to make up for being so darn late I should come bearing a second state. That is why I took a little extra time to make a headband for Florida, as well! So here they are, together, California "The Golden State" and Florida "The Sunshine State":

haikuesday 11

punqd

A moment in time
Unwound from an old clock spring
Clipped tight forever

ripecardsandjewelry

Feathery and light

Feminine and whimsical
Sure to catch the eye

thisandthat879

Cheery red and green

Your girl will be so pleased

While looking so sweet

deltazero

Lavender and blue
Cascading light of springtime
Crystalized always

new items in my shop... finally!

Here is the latest batch of headbands to go up in my shop! I have sold 12 items on etsy so far. Out of these sales, 2 were monster headbands and one was a monster hat. Apparently people want to have something on their heads eating them. Who knew? So I thought to myself, "Self, you should make some more of those monster things!" I often give myself good advice like this and thought I should probably follow it. So now there are two freshly made monster headbands up! RAR!

Next I have a lovely headband with purple rosettes. Originally I had opted to stay away from flowers since it seems to be what everybody puts on headbands and hats... but maybe there's a reason for that. Perhaps there's a larger market for headbands with flowers than, oh, I don't know, pretzels, for example. So we shall see how this goes and maybe there are more floral items in my future.

NERD ALERT! I love Harry Potter! Seriously. I do. My husband and I went to the midnight release party for the last book. We finally got our books at around 3am, stopped at a taco shop for pick-me-up and spent the next however many hours/days in a weird combination of sleeping and reading. We were so afraid of somebody reading the whole thing before we could and having the ending spoiled. Long story a little less long, I love everything Harry Potter including Quidditch and what this headband features: the golden snitch! If nobody buys it before, I plan on keeping it to wear to the midnight showing of the final movie!

 

The final item I posted was put up last night and then sold quite quickly. It was an item that a friend had mentioned an interest in. I made it. I posted it. She bought it. What a happy story! Do you think I should make more like it?

Be sure to check out my shop for other amazing items! jennasaurusfun

scenic glory

I have been feeling inspired lately by so many amazing blogs hosting giveaways! I think that the time for having one of my own is approaching so keep your eyes open and be sure to check back here in the coming weeks. One giveaway that I have just been reading up on (and entering) can be found on the lovely Lindsay's blog: scenicglory. 

Now, I am a sucker for a good giveaway (and this one is especially great) but what I am most excited about sharing is how wonderful the blog itself is. It is a site that I am always excited to see an update from. 

One of my favorite posts to read from Lindsay has been her 30 for 30 challenge. She took 30 pieces of clothing (including shoes!) and used only those items (plus accessories) to outfit herself for 30 days! Incredible! It is so fun to see the different ways she puts her clothing items together. You can get a peak at some of that here: 30 for 30 Closet Remix. 

But what I REALLY wanted to share is her current giveaway! She is giving away a $75 gift card for modcloth! They have super duper cute stuff and it is really hard to go on there without lusting after something (so, those who are prone to impulse buying: do not click that link!!) 

You can find out how to enter yourself and compete against me to get that glorious prize here: giveaway! 

But whether you enter or not you should stop by Lindsay's blog, you'll be glad you did! <3

grandma's birthday

A sign that Poppie made which hung over their garage for as long as I can remember.

My grandmother was an amazing woman. She was strong, sassy, opinionated, a reader, explorer, encourager, thoughtful, funny, caring, cross word enthusiast, loving... the list goes on. One of the best things that my grandmother, Patricia Jean Ambrose, ever did was start the amazing family that I am so lucky to be a part of. When she passed away a couple days before Christmas we were all devastated. She was our leader and the hub around which our family circled. Luckily, the family she grew was as strong as she.

Grandma always described her kitchen as a "2 butt kitchen"... more than 2 people was just too crowded.

The week of her service we all gathered in her lovely home, all decorated for Christmas still, and spent the most wonderful evening together talking, remembering, crying, laughing and truly loving each other. We played the dice game. It is basically a white elephant gift exchange type game that involves rolling dice, a timer and stealing before things are unwrapped. A family tradition. So much fun.

The tree along with a small stack of quilts my grandma made.

After all of this we started to take down the Christmas decorations as a family. As we did we all started collecting little (and sometimes not so little) piles of favorite ornaments and decorations that we would get to take home with us and integrate into our collections. Next Christmas will be difficult without my grandparents and without their home to gather in, but I do look forward to hanging those ornaments in my home and finding spots for the items that my grandma always took such pride and joy in.

Cousins love

Once the decorations were down, the boys all hung out in the living room while the girls (me, my sister Katie, my cousin Lauren, my mom Nancy, and my Aunt Mimi) met in the back bathroom. My grandpa used to buy my grandma pearls. Almost every year he would get her another necklace for Christmas. He would put the item in a small container and then hide it somewhere in the house, usually in plain sight, and drive my grandma crazy telling her that she could see it if only she'd look around. Well, we knew where the stash was. Carefully we took out the precious box and pulled out treasure after treasure as though we were archaeologists handling relics centuries old. We looked at them all, tried them on, and then took turns picking out necklaces that we would be allowed to keep. We each wore one to the service the following day. We also took turns trying on her wedding ring. Their were many tears shed as memories were shared and created at the same time.

 

 Today my grandma would have been 84. I miss her a lot but know that she and her love, my Poppie, are finally together again. They are probably playing gin. He'll probably let the birthday girl win.

All of us at a family trip to Catalina Island in 2003 for Poppie and Grandma's 50th wedding anniversary. They are the two in the lovely hats... I am disguised as a girl with black hair.