wide open sky

cocktails after a massage

sleeping with the windows open

listening to my dad’s stories about our family members who were miners in Colorado

a pre-dinner snack of margaritas and chili con queso

a tour of the hill-packed, 25 mile bike ride my dad tackles almost daily

realizing he’s in better shape than I am

not cooking once

going out for wonderful dinners every night

buying 2 hand embroidered mexican shirts

hummingbirds

picking out cowboy hats for the boys

my dad’s smile when greeted me at the airport

pulled pork sandwiches and a santa fe pale ale for lunch

spanish market

afternoon thunderstorms

visiting neighbors, two of my dad’s best friends I grew up with in TX

discovering horn toads

watching the sunset from the patio

coming home with 2 paintings for my foyer

wine

discussing my father’s plans to write, draw and paint after his retirement

lyle lovett

drinking my morning coffee in silence

3 days to rest, relax and catch up with my father, something we haven’t done in quite some time

Many of the shots above are of my dad’s condo. He has great taste. I was trained well. ; )

due to a U2 concert at Giants Stadium. We will resume tomorrow with a recap and some of the goodies I packed for our tailgate party!

Shana and Mauria are two of my best friends from high school. About 20 years ago we spent our summers together at field hockey camp, U2 concerts and woods parties. These days our summers are spent at Shana’s pool changing diapers, applying sunscreen and making sure everyone stays afloat while struggling to carry on a conversation. Oh how times have changed.

Luckily we all still live close enough to spend some of our summer days together, especially now that we all have little ones.

It’s too bad these two don’t look alike.

Back in April we went to visit my family in California and were photographed by Tara Whitney. It was our first family shoot since Ty joined our family, our second with Tara, and I was pretty darn excited. Not only to finally have photographs of our family of four, but also to see Mrs. Tara. She is an amazing photographer, someone who I stumbled upon online many moons ago and who since, has become a friend. The shoot was just as I hoped. Relaxed, funny, loving and real. Just as I like to think of us. We went to the Venice canals and then headed to the beach with a kite and some wine. When Tara sent me the photos I cried as I viewed them. Even Bren got a little choked up. That’s when you know the photos are good. Until we meet again, thank you Tara.

You can see Tara’s post here.

Today was one of those days perfect summer days.

Work was under control.

I got a manicure and pedicure.

I picked Conner up from camp and we shared a pizza for lunch.

The weather was perfect.

We spent the afternoon poolside.

There was very little whining.

Dinner was served outside on our patio.

And now we’ll wrap things up with a movie and a big bowl of popcorn.

On Monday my friend Jen and I decided to take the kids strawberry picking. This was one of the best activities I have done with the boys in awhile. Not only was Jones Family Farm gorgeous but the kids loved every second of it. We brought home 8 pounds of strawberries! Needless to say, I made jam because what else can you do with all those strawberries before they go bad. I’ll post about that next week.

By the way Ty turned two yesterday. Can you believe? I love every little inch of his two year old body. He loves to snuggle and hugs me all the time. How long do you think that will last? However long it does last it won’t be long enough.

A few more from our trip to California which was filled with trips to the beach, bar-b-ques, the farmer’s market, Santa Monica Pier, Disneyland and most importantly, quality time with family. It was a great spring break. The boys had a blast and so did we. We are finally at a point where the boys are old enough to enjoy traveling. No more bottles and baby food. It’s so nice to travel with out all of that stuff. Diapers are still in tow but soon enough those will be obsolete. Thank god.

I think Conner’s favorite part of the trip was Disneyland. Tyler’s? Riding the pony at the farmer’s market. He could have ridden all day long. So cute.

We’re home after a wonderful trip to California. Our second in less than two months. I have so many wonderful photos to share with you which I plan to post tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a little teaser. Every morning we would wake-up and have our coffee in my father’s courtyard while the boys played. The birds and butterflies would come and visit. I would admire all the flowers and beautiful light that only exists in CA. It was not a bad way to start your day.

I am so glad the warm weather has arrived. I LOVE the change of seasons here. I always feel like we’ve won a long war and can take a huge sigh of relief once spring finally arrives. We planted our container pots this weekend and the smell of my neighbors fresh cut grass is drifting in my window. Georgia by Ray Charles just came on the radio. Life is good.

We returned from California on Saturday after 3 extra hours in the airport, 6 more hours on a delayed plane and so much bad food I lost count. As nice as it was to be home, it was so hard to leave. Several of our family members live in the Los Angeles area and I miss them dearly. Today my heart hurts knowing we’re back on the other side of the country, with out them. Luckily we return over Memorial Day weekend.

Now to get myself back on track after a week of eating and drinking our way along the coast, I’m doing a mini cleanse. Don’t worry, it’s nothing too drastic. Just clean living for a week or so partnered with my normal exercise routine. I will leave you with a beet, avocado and quinoa salad my father’s wife Nancy introduced me to. She is a wonderful cook so there was no shortage of good food on our trip. I whipped this up last night to kick things off and eat over the next couple days. Enjoy.

Ingredients for the salad:

4 beets, roasted, peeled and cut into wedges

1 avocado

about 1/2 cup of sweet onion, cut into small pieces. I used red because that’s what I had on hand.

1 cup of cooked red quinoa

Ingredients for the dressing:

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon of honey

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup of olive oil

salt and pepper

Whisk together the dressing, pour over salad and mix. If you plan to eat this over a few days, omit the avocado until you are ready to eat. This will avoid it turning brown.