Lobstas & Waffles

Last night Alex and I ventured to to the local "Food Truck Round Up" at the OC fairgrounds.  I may or may not have been following stalking the Lobsta Truck online to see when they were going to be around. A few months ago a couple of coworkers and I tried the truck when it was nearby during lunch that day. I was a little weary, I mean seafood in a food truck? But, being a Bostonian, I had to at least try it...and seriously...best-thing-ever! So, it hasn't been around these parts in a while, and I saw it was going to be close by last night so I convinced Alex to go. I got the crab roll w/ butter, and he got the lobsta roll. For dessert, I had a nutella/strawberry/banana waffle from the Waffle-icious truck (info here) which was also yummy.

I highly recommend trying this one if it's ever in your neighborhood (find them here!), trust me, it's uh-mazing! Only downfall is it's a little pricey for a food truck, but well worth it!

Green Thumb Garden Geek

Fifteen years ago I would have never guessed that I would be the one calling up my mom and asking if she wants to go to the nursery to get some plants. But...it has happened! Growing up my mom always had the most beautiful, elaborate, colorful gardens-no matter where we lived [East Coast, West Coast, big house, small house...she always made it work]. I can't say when I was little I was always thrilled to go get plants for the garden with her...in fact I think most of the time I complained about it.

I guess I am "getting older", or as I like to think just appreciating the smaller things in life-but ever since I got my own place I've been wanting a garden. The only problem is, I have absolutely no "yard" of any sor. Being my mother's daughter, I did not let that stop me! This morning my mama and I ventured out to find the perfect plants that would sit on my door step and stairs up to our place. I'm lucky enough to live near one of the most amazing garden shops around-Roger's Gardens. But, with amazing comes pricey, so this was just the first of our stops and it was blooming & beautiful.

I decided to get one signature "piece" or plant there, to start of my collection [after all this was a BIG moment] but the rest was way too expensive!

Purple Flower=Heliotrope [garden geek]!

Then we headed to some more affordable [but still beautiful] garden shops...

All to end up with this:

And the grand finale final products:

Heliotrope & Alysum

Primrose, Alysum & Bacopa

I'm glad my mama was with me to help me pick out the best colors, seasonal, and size plants for my small space-who knew so much deciding went into gardening! 

"Spummer" Fashion

This past weekend was very warm and made me so excited for Spring & Summer...especially since we now live within walking/biking distance to la playa! Not to mention sometimes Spring here in CA feels more like Summer [which i certainly don't mind]. Aside from that, I'm so excited to wear bright colors and fun warm clothes again. There is lots to look forward to this Spring & Summer between big milestone birthdays [brother and BIL both turning 30!] best friend's bachelorette party [and other wedding festivities], country concerts,  and hopefully some traveling in between all that! All these fun occasions mean lots of opportunities to wear cute and fun dresses and outfits. Here are a few things I have my eyes on [although some are out of my price range, but hey a girl can "window" shop!]

Aritzia Waverly Blouse, love this color!

B Swim Suit, Dianes

Felicity & COCO, Nordstrom

Crinkled City Mini, J-Crew

Emerald Dress, Modcloth

                                                 
                                                 

                                             

Candles

One of my all time favorite sales is the Bath & Body Works two 3-wick candles for $20. Even though we don't always have "seasons" measured by weather here in Southern California, B&BW always has amazing scents to match what it's supposed to feel like outside! This warm weather has definitely got me in the mood for Spring and I was so happy to see they had their sale last week, except it wasn't for $20, but $22! It's funny, but I was really upset by this, even though it's only 2 dollars. And actually it's still a really good deal.

After about twenty minutes of smelling I settled on one fresh and one sweet scent; White Barn Renew & Refresh and Peach Bellini. I've decided to start with burning the fresh smelling one first, since there are still a couple more weeks until Spring. I definitely recommend going to have yourself a smell, there are some other really yummy scents that I'll be picking up next time the sale comes around.

Valentine's Day

Today marks the third Valentine's Day Alex and I will celebrate together. If there's anything I've learned in my 24 years of life it is that time flies way too fast-but looking back on these two and a half years we've been together, I can't help but think how far we have come. When we met almost three years ago in South Carolina, at one of my best friend's wedding, I never thought we'd be where we are now, but hey love and God work in mysterious ways! We have both grown a ton since that May day, and I couldn't be more proud of my guy and the life he's created here after picking up and moving his entire life to CA. Though I know he misses his friends and family back home a ton (as do I!), I'm so thankful he's here with me and for this journey we're on together (through the good & the bad).  I'm so excited to celebrate our third V-day tonight (even though I'm not quite sure where we're going, hopefully somewhere yummy). 

Our first Valentine's holiday together:

Capital Grille, Charlotte, NC

Our second just a few short months after Alex made the BIG move to California:

Before we went to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Pizza e Vino!

Chalkboard Canisters

These days chalkboards are all the rage, and along with everyone else I'm a huge fan of the look and the fun they add to simple things. So, when I was at Cost Plus World Market and saw these for $3.99, I couldn't pass them up!

At the time of purchase I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to use them for, but sure enough I found the perfect place for them. Remember the white canisters in the kitchen?

Well since I always forget which is the flour and which is the sugar, I thought it was the perfect place for these labels.

C00KIES!

I'll gladly take any excuse to decorate sugar cookies, so with Valentines this week it was the perfect reason! Especially since I purchased the cutest heart cookie cutters a few weeks ago. Although my sister and I had tried to plan a day to decorate for a month now, we weren't able to do it...maybe it's because she's busy taking care of a 6th month old. But, luckily I was able to convince Alex to decorate a couple with me...

Beignets Oh Yay!

Last night we had some of the family over for dinner and Alex made beignets. He has made them for us once before and they were just as delicious, but as you'll see they're super healthy ...so it's not often we indulge ourselves. His step dad is from New Orleans [or N'Orleans as they say, right?], so he does have some great cajun recipes up his sleeve [and beignet skills!]. If you have all the right tools, I've learned they're super easy to make. The main ingredient is Pillsbury Rolls (he says it's important to get the ones that don't flake). Of course you can make the dough from scratch, but this version is super easy, cheap and d-lish!

Step 1: Flatten the dough rolls and cut into fourths (each fourth will be 1 beignet so you don't need a lot of rolls) and use a butter knife to pierce a small slit in the middle of each

Then you simply put the flattened 1/4 rolls in the deep frier [I told you they were healthy ;) ] until they're browned, let them cool then put powdered sugar in a bag and shake them up!

Everyone enjoyed them, even Easton ;)

Be Mine

With Valentine's just about a week away thought i'd share a few simple decor items.

Our front door (yes we only have one door but I still like to call it our front door) chalkboard - Valentines version (most exciting thing to draw since Christmas!)

Chalkboard from a little boutique called "The Daisy Shoppe"

My sister (over at Things to Be Stroud of) asked me to make some fun printables to frame for my nephew's nursery, and since I absolutely love that little man, and have recently been honing in on my passion for digital design I happily agreed. Here's what I came up with:

Fonts: vtks chalk 79 (here) & the only exception (here)

Font: vineta BT

Cliche? Maybe just a bit!

I wouldn't consider myself much of a "reader", in fact I don't think I read one full book last year. I've always wanted to love reading, it's one of those things I really try and like but I just can't get into. My mom is an avid reader and always tells me I just need to find the style I like and I'll realize how amazing reading is. In the past I've read a few books I love, but they're all by the same author...none other than Nicholas Sparks! Yes, I know a lot of girls say the same, but I really do enjoy his books so much. They are all (well most of them) so amazing and really easy for me to finish (which is my issue i think I get bored...surprise).

Maybe it's because my man is from the Carolina's (and I fell in love with the beaches there the first time I visited), but for some reason I just get emotionally invested in his books and they're such feel good, happy stories. Anyways...I recently purchased Safe Haven, yes I know I'm a little behind the game on this one:

No surprise here, but I absolutely loved this book. It reminded me how much I really do like his writing style and can get lost in his books-which is what I'm looking for in a book. I have a tough time sitting "relaxing" and doing nothing, so reading is tough for me. But with this book I couldn't put it, or my iPad rather, down. It was super good [and funny the main boy character's name is "Alex" ;) ]

As we all know most of his books turn into movies, and this one is no different. And actually, last 4th of July when we were in North Carolina Julianne and Josh were in the same town as us filming this! But sadly we didn't know until afterwards...well Alex was probably happy because you know I would have made him drive around and find them! I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to make him see the movie with me, muhaha!

This book is definitely worth a read and I didn't want it to end! Now I'm in search of a "Nicholas Sparks-like" author, so if anyone has any suggestions please send them my way!

Little Bunches of Happiness

A few things making me happy this week:

1. My new Target placemats-one of those things I was SO excited about when I purchased in store, but then brought them home and wasn't so sure. I had them on the table all week with their price tags still on just in case...but last night Chels and Marina came over and confirmed I must keep them. And what do you know, now I love them again (I guess sometimes you need your sister's confirmation!). I'm loving the Target line they come from, it's called "Threshold"- I also purchased my dish towels seen in an earlier post from the same line. They have the cutest things that are totally my style. Take a look:

2. I'm always excited to get things in the mail (except if they're bills, or parking tickets) but this week I was extra excited to check the mail every night I got home from work. That's because our good family friend had a "Stella & Dot" party this past Sunday. I know it's been around for a while but I just recently have fallen in love...which is horrible because I can barely afford anything from their line. But...I was able to find two spectacular pieces to fall in love with that are in my price range (or maybe I just convinced myself that because I couldn't resist). Last night when I got home from work there was a little package waiting on my doorstep. It felt like Christmas again...

3. February! Maybe it's because I'm still obsessed with my amazing calendar I got from Cape Cod this year, or maybe it's the Tulips that are now in the grocery entrance everywhere I go (my favorite flower), but I am loving this month