Palm Springs: The Recap

With our toenails painted, we were ready to peace out of San Mateo.

 We had our lion pride packed and ready to roll rawr.

 A quick stop for 21 & over chocolates, America, and a little bit of spelunking.

{Insert driving for dayzzzz here. And traffic. Hella traffic.}

Finally. Windmills. Glorious windmills. 

We're getting close.

We're here. 

We're pumped.

Which way to the pool?

Coffee.

Palm trees. 

Solitude.
Jesus.

 A quick little desert 5k with my workout buds.

No, you are not seeing a mirage.

That is a camel. 

We are in the desert after all.

 Back poolside.

With a local.

Diet coke delivered to my lounge chair.

Do you see why I never wanted to leave?

And the Giants played.

A lot of baseball.

And we took a little break from the sun. 

Someone was concerned we were missing out on all of the fun. 

Cindy and I both woke up to this nosy nelly.

After naptime, for both of us, 

Haydenboo and I caught up a bit on life.

 Oh, and then we went to the conference.

Al Mohler.

I love that guy's humor, and teaching style.

And his love for the Lord.

3 points on the sufficiency of Scripture.

Followed by 7 more points.

It's a good thing I'm a linear thinker.

Back to the house where craziness ensued.

There were poolside s'mores.

And a poolside fife jam sesh.
You read that right.

And another morning spent poolside.

Under this.

Followed by a lot this.

And then somebody turned 9. 

There was cake.

And a curly hair party.

And the next morning, you could find me here.

This is what our compound overlooked.

Desert for dayzzzz.

Compound living means communal eating.

Grilled Cheese Factory. 

Everyone had a job. 

I can butter bread like no one's business.

Post grilled cheese swim.

Handstand push-ups in the pool.

As unathletic as I am, growing up in a pool taught me to do a mean underwater handstand.

Add a push up? No problem.

Like a boss.

Time to cook dinner, already.

We ate a lot this trip.

It happens.

Also, poor ventilation happens.

Followed by the Lord shining down on compound life.

Also, could we have had a cuter visitor? 

She loves herself some Hope sippy.
And goldfish.
SO. MANY. GOLDFISH.

Another full day of swimming.

Ending with 8 adults and two littles in the world's smallest hot tub.

And this night sky. 

Palm Springs, you were good to us.

A fun alternate route, avoiding the grapevine and all it's construction traffic drama.

Route 66 style highway. Straight out of Cars.
I'm pretty sure I saw Mater out there.

And more windmills.

I don't think I could ever get enough of the windmills.

And vacation fun lasted just a smidge longer getting to see Katygirl & her little Giants fans.

A great way to end an incredible 5 days.

PS I think these fans are the Giants lucky charms!
They went on to sweep the Dodgers and tie up for 1st place!

Calling All Americans!!!

  

Hear ye! Hear ye!

Source: creatingreallyawesomefreethings.com via Kim on Pinterest

It's time to celebrate AMERICA.

Land of the Free.

Home of the Brave.

Coming this 4th of July,  
Katygirl and I are hosting a linky party 
for all of you blogging Yankee Doodle Dandies.

Join us with your celebratory posts!

Did you rock those cute American flag cutoff shorts? 

Betsy Ross would be so proud (I'm looking at you, Burns).

Did you make a cake shaped like the 48 continental states?

I want to know, did you agonize over including Hawaii and Alaska? Puerto Rico?

Did you visit the 13 original colonies? 

Can you name the 50 states? 

Can you explain the electoral college in 100 words or less?

Did your husband barbecue your back yard down and live to tell the tale?

Here are a few ideas I'd love to try myself...

I mean.

Spray paint.

Brown paper bags?

I could make this. 

Source: brownpaper--packages.com via Kim on Pinterest

Like, where do I even begin with this?

It would be a bit of a commitment for just one day.

And you'd need a lot of red books....

But how awesome would your house look with this?

I mean, I really love America. Having a bookshelf like this would prove that.

Source: nytimes.com via Kim on Pinterest

Red Vines.

Need I say more?

Okay, I will.

If someone made this for a party, I would not leave the food table.

Heck. That's where you'd find me anyway.

I'd just have red vine junk all up in my grill the whole time.

YUM.

Source: roomtoinspire.blogspot.com via Kim on Pinterest

Can you say FANCY?

FAHHHH-SEE.

Source: everythingetsy.com via Kim on Pinterest

This must happen.

Except.
Here's my deal. This is like a fruit salad on a stick?

And bananas do NOT belong in a fruit salad.

I need to make this. And sub out marshmallows for bananas.

Right?

Source: partycity.com via Kim on Pinterest

Head over to Katy's place to see some awesome Etsy Americana she is featuring today.

And here is my pinterest board which has a little more patriotic inspiration.

Channing Tatum might be on there. 

A true American gem.

We want to give you plenty of time to relax and enjoy the holiday and the weekend, so spread the word 

and link up here, 

or at Katygirl's Place on Monday, July 9th!

(Also, if you do PinterTest something, be sure to link up at Jessica's place for her monthly PinterTest kitchen - which will be up on 7/5 and is open all month)

It doesn't even have to be a craft, or a recipe, maybe all you did was take a nap. 

Just share with us how you celebrated America's Birthday!

Flash Back Friday: Halloween-o-gram

Last week Hannah posted her Care-Bear collection on the 'gram.
I mentioned that I had a Care-Bear found in my grandma's basement, and also WAS a Care-Bear one Halloween.

They demanded pictures.
Sadly. I wasn't able to track down any pics of me in the costume.
I was pretty sure I was the pink one, Love-a-lot.
But, maybe I was a brown one?
Tenderheart?

Anyhoodle, I did find this awesome pic of me and two of my elementary school friends, playing dress up.

Costumes have come so far from scratchy tablecloth plastic and bank robbery masks.
But I'm pretty sure, the first 6-7 years of my life were these types of costumes.
At least my collection was awesome.

I was She-Ra, in case you couldn't tell.
Also, please note my tagalong.
My mom ALWAYS made me play with her.
Except for the last half hour of playdates.
It was the best half hour.

I also mentioned I was Ernie one year.
I refused to wear the mask.
Because, obviously.
There was no Bert.
I was just Ernie. 
Also my dad terrified me with the fake blood.
I don't think we actually went trick-or-treating,
my parents were too busy calming their traumatized 3 year old.

Speaking of Trauma.
October 17, 1989.
The world shook.
Where were you?
I was right here.
Under that mantel.
Taking a picture with that pumpkin.
We had just gotten home from the patch.
As soon as I ran to the doorway a vase crashed down where I had been sitting.
Not exactly sure how my parents managed to get me to pose like that.
It might have been the awesome sequins that helped me get through it.
Favorite costume of life.

And how cute was I here?
I wore this costume a LOT.
And then guess who else wore my costumes a lot?
I mean really, can't I have my own fashion identity.

Lastly, this isn't a costume, but nothing says baller like a legit 80's tracksuit.
I had it going on.

Sunshine After the Rain

So, back in high school, when I picked my boyband horse, I picked 98 Degrees.
No, not N*Sync.
Not Backstreet Boys.

98 Degrees.

Sadly,  they fell into oblivion.
But, hey, Nick Lachey, he's still famous, right?

Also, they left me with a plethora of earworms that bring me back to having a brand new driver's license, a car with no air conditioning, a part time job, a little bit of spending money, friends who were 18 and could buy me lotto scratchers, and lots of hot tub parties looking for shooting stars.
Being 16 was awesome.

But, I digress.

That wasn't really where I was going with this post.

Little by little, I'm adding a little color back into my black and gray bedroom decor.
A little bit of yellow.
Just a smidge.
Because, I only do yellow in moderation.

A little sunshine in amidst the rainy grays.

And Etsy has been helping me jump back on the yellow train.

I can't get this print from Yellow Heart Art out of my brain.
I think it's the first one I'll be getting.

Typographical prints always catch my eye.
And I want my house saturated in scripture.
This one  From Fancy That Design House will definitely be next.
Definitely.
(ps thanks Katy for the rec!)

And you know those deep yellow flowers that are tiny.
Like a daisy.
But not.
I LOVE THEM.
Apparently they are called Billy Buttons?
How cute is that!
I love how simple they are.
They help me like yellow.
So does this print by Retro Menagerie.

And this one by Eve Sand.
This is just dreamy.
I would nap very well with this floating on my wall.

My super hilarious, amazing friend Denise and her husband opened a shop, Kiss the Sky, making the most amazing canvas prints.
I saw this.
It's a must have.
Super must.
Super saving up.
ASAP.

And, of course, these pillows from Classic By Nature wouldn't hurt either.
Even though I already have some awesome ones I love.
These just scream whisper FABULOUS.

Scenes from a Weekend

Another weekend of lovely.

Sweet Potato Fries. Every. Single. Day.
Or, SPF's if you will.

A Schnoodle on a Saturday morning.

FaceTiming Nepal.
NBD.

A day with my mama.
Full of shopping.

And swimming.
And 100+ temperatures.
And America.

And picnics in the park under the palms.

And a sky party to end the night.

And a time of praying for our friends in places across the world, like Nepal.

And dad pumping gas.
And do the windows.
On Father's Day.
Because he jumped out of the car and just did it.

And Sunday Funday with the Fam.

And having the most BA Dad in the whole wide world.

It's a good weekend.
It's a good life.

Happy Monday, friends. <3