tea towels

When a girl in my family gets married, my Grandma makes her a hand embroidered sheet and tea towel set. This gift is always made with care, beautifully wrapped, and such a treasure.

I took these towels out the other day and fell in love with them all over again. Just something cute to look at. Hope you like them too.




Any ideas for a cute way to display these?

ac

We are no longer sitting in a 93 degree house.
We no longer have to spend every evening and weekend somewhere else.
I can get ready, do laundry, cook, exist, without feeling (and looking) like I am in a sauna.

Project: New Air Conditioner is complete.
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Scully was less than thrilled with the whole operation. She retreated to the farthest corner of our yard and would not come out. This is also her style in regards to the Terminix man. Way to be a big girl Scully.




Older homes come with older systems that need to be replaced.
In spite of all my complaining (I mean, let's face it. Wouldn't you?) I am very thankful we have the means to take care of this project and I do not take it for granted.

summer night

Because I have been traveling so much I feel like this summer is flying right by. This makes me sad. Even though I dont have summers off, I still want to make the most of my favorite season.

We need to have more nights like Thursday night.




fresh peaches and corn from the farm. every night.

eyes on the Dodger game.


walking scully



The time that I have been home, we have mostly spent outside or in the pool at my parents.
Why?
This. is. why.



Thats right people. 93 degrees inside. At 9 p.m.
This is deceiving though.
It didnt feel like 93.
It felt like 193. I am not even joking.
It was cooler outside. Even when it was 100.

Have you ever been so hot you have cried? I have. 2 weeks ago.
I also threatened that night to move back home permanently to my parents if I didnt cool off in 10 minutes. And I was serious. Peter said I was being dramatic and go to sleep.
No way! I have never been dramatic in my life!

Ok. Thats a lie. But I meant business this time. Lucky for him I finally started to feel the fan. Or else, I was outta here.

But. BUT! As I type this there are men up on my roof and in my house working on rescuing me from an early death by heat exhaustion.

Goal: New ac by Saturday afternoon. Almost a month after it died.

Stay tuned for an update tomorrow. With (hopefully!) good news.

baseboards

The evolution of the flooring in our house is a long, on-going process. Obviously, the most drastic change was when we installed new wood floors in the front half of the house. We did that over a year ago, and we are absolutley happy with the overall result. However, one missing piece has been baseboards.
As in, we have not had any.
As in, there have been spaces between the flooring and the wall.
As in, the space under or kitchen cabinets has been a combination of dried paint and old crusty linoleum.
All over.

As you can imagine, not the best look. The new floors still looked great, just not finished.

I am happy to report, we now have baseboards! Peter painted, cut, and installed them while I was on a work trip. He is the best. I think he prefers to do big projects like this while I am not around to comment, critique, or bug about the mess. And I dont blame him!

First, the progress of the front room...











It might be subtle to you, but the baseboards really finish the room for me!
We wanted a really clean, no frills, baseboard that would also look great installed under our white kitchen cabinets. I am really happy with the result.

A few more shots....

homemade pizza

We are big homemade pizza fans over here. Well, pizza in general, but when I started making homemade dough a couple years ago, it won us over. I experimented with a few recipes in the beginning but have been making this particular one for a long time. I love the crust, a little crispy on the bottom but soft and chewy on the inside. I now make homemade pizza almost every weekend. We switch out the toppings, but bbq chicken is our favorite.

I realize you all probably have a recipe for this, but I thought I would share anyway...

Pizza Dough
2 1/4 t. active dry yeast
1/2 t. brown sugar
1 1/2 c. warm water
1 t. salt
2 T. olive oil
3 1/2 c. flour (maybe a little more or a little less)

1. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm water. Let sit for about 10 minutes


2. Stir in the salt and olive oil. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour (should start to form a loose ball, so add more flour if needed)


3. Turn dough onto a well floured surface and knead in more flour till dough is no longer very sticky. Knead for a few minutes and form into a ball. Place dough into an oiled bowl (i just spray with cooking spray) and cover with plastic wrap or a cloth. Let rise till double (about 1-2 hours)
*Sometimes I will make the dough in the morning before work and just let proof all day in the fridge


4. After it has risen, punch the dough down and allow to rest for a few minutes. Then take the dough and stretch it onto desired pan. (I use a non stick pizza pan or a pizza stone)


5. Bake the crust in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, or until the bottom is almost done. Add toppings and finish cooking, about 15 minutes
*I usually turn up the heat at this point



6. Eat!


**This dough also works really well on the grill. You can also use it to make calzones. To make whole wheat crust, substitute half of the white flour with whole wheat.

summer vacation

A few weeks ago Peter and I ditched our jobs and daily stresses to take a little vacation. This all started last year when the Dodger's schedule came out. The Red Sox were on the list, we had always wanted to go to Boston, and the plan was born.

We spent some time in Boston and then took the train to NYC. Which, by the way, I highly recommend the train. Easy, cheap, and you get to see the beautiful coast of Connecticut- so charming!

Without going into a lengthy description, I will just say, our trip was fabulous. Boston was amazing (loved it!), it was fun to see NYC again, great friends, yummy food and drinks, and, most of all, precious time with my hubs.

Here are a few (of the many!) pictures....

Red eye flight from LA. Right after the Lakers beat the Celtics. Plane FULL of LA fans.



First stop: Cambridge.



Mr. Bartley's Burgers (found on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives). Amazing. Entertaining wall art.



Of course we went to a game the first night!


We just so happened in be in Boston Common at the exact time this man finished his 2,000+ mile journey. This is him crossing the finish line. All in the name of doggie cancer. He had quite the following. The whole thing was amusing


Public Garden. So pretty.


A few Freedom Trail stops...
We walked the whole thing and I loved it!

Stand in Opposition!






Beacon Hill. Where even the 7-11 is classy





Dinner on the water. With the best sangria I have ever had.



Duck tour - highly recommended!






Taking cover during a rain/wind storm. We dont have rain like this in California!


First night in New York. Serendipity and Top of the Rock.




Highline Park


View of the city from Dumbo Park in Brooklyn


Lombardis....yum


Central Park


Last night. Memphis, a fantastic show.


Such a fun trip spent with people I love!
And great time away with my Peter.