Celebrating The Addie Old School Way and Spreading the Love.....

In January of 1978 in Phoenix, Arizona my life forever changed for the best.....the skyline looks a little different now, however it still will be home for me and The Addie.....

 

 We moved to LA when he was almost 3 and he was my little buddy and guiding light through lots of life changes....he embraced a little sister a few years later, and grew into such a fine man and his lifelong wish was to go back to Arizona and live.  After we moved to San Diego when he was in the 5th grade he still missed Arizona.  In high school he met and fell in love with another Arizona native transplant (they were born in the same hospital in Phoenix).  After marriage their wish came true and he and Ms. Shannie moved back to the Valley of the Sun.  As long as I can I always want to be with him on his birthday - wherever he is.  This year it looked like it might not work, however, his clever sister planned a surprise road trip and across the desert we went.....he was pretty surprised when we showed up on his doorstep late at night and of course it was wonderful for me!

 We went old school to celebrate....we have deep and long roots in Phoenix so we drove to all the places where our family started....from the grocery store my dad and uncle had to the water company his uncle started, to my grandmothers house, the house I first lived in, etc.  Keeping it old school we went to Bill Johnsons Big Apple, where we have been going since the late 50's.  They used to have many locations, now only one and after we left we heard this location is closing....progress...sniff sniff....

 Not much has changed in the décor....however, they used to have sawdust on the floor and the waiters and waitresses wore guns on their hips....now of course that is an OSHA nightmare....sigh....

 While there we also surprised my brother who has a birthday around Adam's.....we went to his restaurant and waited and waited and waited....of all the nights this one was the one he was late making his appearance....he had a truck in the Barrette Jackson Auction...

 These little guys waited so patiently.....

 And then when he arrived....happy faces all around!

 Keeping it retro, we spent a day at Encanto Park.....me and my Grands where I played, their parents played and now they play....

 Let me tell you how fun it was to see the retro rides still in place....

 These games are so vintage, yet played and enjoyed today....

 Loved just watching them all fall in love with Encanto just like I did.....

 I was bummed to find that the Band Shell burnt down a few years back and was not replaced.....

 But then the fun was over and it was time to return and address my love projects.....

 I have been on Pinterest way too much lately and came up with lots of ideas of things to make.....

Just a little touch for the living room....

 And a hug and kiss.....

 I am making these for some special people for V Day.....

 Easy and Fun.....

 Gotta love the Dollar Store for these craft materials !!!!!

 I also did a few vignettes around the house....on the bar....

 in the family room......

 on the boys table......

 ....and on our table all the things I have collected through all the years, including valentine gifts from boyfriends when I was in high school!!!!

 Never underestimate the love of an empty box.....

 These boys played for hours and hours......

 Even little Rocky Road was curious as to what all the fun was about!

 And speaking of love.....

 our little loves are helping us enjoy our fire pit on these perfect San Diego nights....

Spreading the love in old memories....and making new ones!!!!  xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Finishing touches before January Hibernation.....

By the time Christmas is over I am twitching to take all the decorations down and get my house back together....I clean every closet and cabinet and drawer and purge and rid things that I did not use all year....it is so cleansing to me to start the year fresh and uncluttered as I really like to hibernate in January.  Hibernation to me is staying home a lot, binge watching on Netflix, reading books I have stockpiled all year, trying to exercise a bit more and of course, eating a little more health.  It takes me almost a week and over the years I have learned to work a little and play a little....it really helps me stay motivated...this week it was easy to play because we had.....

 

 Here I am speeding down the slopes....not...I was trying to stage by Big Foot sighting for the boys.....

 We were smart lucky enough to head up early to where we turn off to camp which is not far from the house.  We had the fresh fallen stuff all to ourselves and just enough to play and enjoy for a precious few hours.....

 We even went snow tracking......

 After a few hours our little sled path was wearing thin but we enjoyed it.....

 It was so nice to just let the boys wander and enjoy the landscape....

 Dylan of course nailed mommy with a snowball and we all got into the act and that brought many laughs....I snuck off and staged big foot....

 It is so obvious that these pictures make him looks fake...when the boys swear he is real.....

 Something about my camera angle????? They boys were on to me and teased me all the way home, which by the way was a breeze for us, however the traffic into the snow area was backed up for miles and it took some people over 5 hours to drive when it took us 20 minutes.....

 After having my house decorated with some holiday or other since October it was nice to put back my 'normal' things and also add a few finishing touches....I wanted a succulent terrarium....I bought this huge glass bowl at the thrift store for 2.99...the rocks I had from the back yard project....

 I walked down the canyon and picked up some nature pieces to add....

 I first added the rocks for drainage.....

 Then added some potting soil especially for succulents....

 Then a few from my back yard and a couple from Home Depot....

 And added my nature findings and some polished rocks Dylan had given me....done and done.....As my MaMa Auten used to say when we would plant things 'Live or Die'....

 Since the boys have been off school and mommy and daddy have to work we had GiGi and Gramps camp....Brody wanted to ride his bike without training wheels....a couple practice rounds with Gramps guiding....

 ....and he was off and not looking back....and after that lots of hours fun riding....

 Dylan graduated to his 'big bike' with gears....he did great on it.

 More finishing touches....added some fun pieces and a timed LED candle to my lantern on my table in living room....

And added some color coral pieces to pop on the table runner....

 I also added some fishing floats to the centerpiece on the coffee table and painted some of my starfish blue and turquoise to pop and compliment the color scheme....

 I had this pearl encrusted pillow for awhile and thought it might dwarf the chair I wanted to use it in....

 So I ripped out one of the seams.....

 Took out some stuffing and trimmed off about 1/3 of it.....

I then pinned it together and blanket stitched it...

 It turned out nice.....but needed a finishing touch....

 So I added this starfish....just stitched it on....

 

And the chair we purchased for the living room.....

 Now looks a little more finished.....

 Rocky was feeling well enough to try it out.....

 Poor little guy, he had oral surgery and stayed on my lap for 3 days and nights whimpering.....it was like having a newborn again....

 So let the hibernating begin.....

Looking forward to escaping with these and enjoying some down time.....