Lake Tahoe Vacation (Part One)

The hubby and I took several days off work for our anniversary. This year we decided to come up north to Lake Tahoe to visit D's grandparents. Thursday we took the six hour drive up to Carson City, but when we passed the lake we were greeted with the smoke from the great Rim fire that is burning in the Yosemite mountains. The haze was pretty thick around the lake and when we got into Carson city it was worse. We went to the store for happy hour supplies and then went and spend the rest of the afternoon playing with the pup and having a nice dinner with D's grandparents, mom and cousin. Then we went to rent Big Wedding, saw some wildlife that have made their way down the mountains to escape the smoke.

Friday we went to breakfast and played a little slots. My lucky mother-in-law was already up $200. We took a drive into Lake Tahoe and had lunch at a hopping spot called The Beacon. Some drinks and a lite lunch while listening to music and enjoying the view was perfect. The wind blew the smoke out toward the east and it ended up being a perfect afternoon. We drove into Emerald Bay and got some pretty scenery shots for Instagram and some on my little point and shoot. We did a little shopping and toyed with the idea of going to see the Brad Paisley concert that was being held at Harvey's casino. We decided that we didn't have time and just went to have dinner and to see We're the Millers, which I actually enjoyed. While the hubs was waiting for us to get the movie tickets he put a $5 in a penny slot. He hit the spin button, won a game and walked away with $100. Lucky! We did a little gambling after the movie and the went back to crash out.

Stay tuned for more updates from the trip! Happy Labor Day weekend!

Rainbow of Design - Tuesday Topics

I thought that I would do something more geared towards my field of expertise for this weeks Tueday Topics and do more of a rainbow colored mood board. I thought it would challenge me to find some fun colored design/furniture elements.

Red: Strandmon Wing Chair I love the shape of this wing chair from Ikea. I haven't been an Ikea fan in the past, but they have really kicked up their game over the last couple of years. Orange: Jaipur Rug I am really in love with the graphic pattern in a bold  pattern, but I love that it has a neutral background even more because it can be paired with so much more! Yellow: Barn Door's are all the rage lately. I am loving the fact that these people took it to the modern level by painting it a bold color! Green: Pendant Lights always add a little extra touch to a room. I like the fact that this has an interior tube to help get pure light, it also gives it a little extra design element. Blue: Chevron Stripes are also all the rage right now, not just in fashion but in interiors as well. We all know that I have a mild obsession with teal in my home (as seen here, here and here) so this pillow would just look priceless in my house! Violet: Bold Accent Walls always give some interest in a space. I love that even though this is a violet color, it's still reading as a neutral on the wall with the help of the calm architectural elements and adding in the violet in the accessories.

I hope you enjoyed this post and if you would like more design posts just let me know!

"Come Over for a Glass of Wine," she Said

So I was going to wait until after writing all our thank you notes before posting this. If I wrote the post before I would have forgotten and had many friends and family mad at me. As of Sunday night they are done, just need stamps and to get tossed in the mail.

If you recall D and I turned 30 over this summer. He was fine with it.....I had a hard time. I guess in my "plan" of how our lives would go, I thought that we would be in a different place when we turned 30. I have since realized that God has a different plan for us, and just need to let it follow through. For a month or so, D's mom kept saying that they were going to take us to the club for a nice dinner for our birthday. My mom had come out to spend time with me for mine, so I just thought that it was the birthday celebration from his family. Our birthdays our 20 days apart. The date kept getting changed and we were none the wiser. We had relaxed all day and then got ready to head over to my in-laws house for "a glass of wine" before dinner. We walk in the front door and down the hall way I see two hands holding a cell phone pointed at us. We were both immediately suspicious and cautiously made our way down the hallway.

We turned the corner and saw about 40 of our closest friends and family, They yelled surprise and we both jumped, well at least I did. Family from all over the state, friends from high school and new friends all were there. It was quite a surprise. We spent the entire evening conversing and catching up with old friends as well as eating some great food, and of course a cocktail or two. My brother-in-law may have made my drinks a little stronger than I am used too and I felt a little under the weather the next day.

There was Wii bowling and snuggling with our god daughter and we had such a great time and are so grateful to have such wonderful family to help plan such a great party and friends who love us so much. A big thanks to my mother-in-law who planned the whole shebang. Now for the photo dump!

High School Friends

The cake

My littlest cousin

Sister and Brother-in-Law and Friends

Our Cutie Goddaughter

My Grandparents, Aunt and Cousins

D's Grandparents and Great Aunt and Uncle

My dad and Aunt

My mom and Aunt

Us with my mom

Our Banner

Photobombed by my parents best friend!

Aunts and Cousin

Wood Table Refinish DIY

Ok. We all know that Pinterest is a seriously addicting site, sometimes to the detriment of our social lives or conversations with the hubby. I am completely guilty of missing a scene on a show or a statement that the hubs has made because I was engrossed in the app. However, Pinterest has given me hundreds of great ideas and usage for ordinary household products that you never would have thought of. We all know vinegar is an amazing product. It can be used as a food ingredient but it can also be used as a cleaning and beauty product as well! I have been shown the ways of vinegar and I am impressed.

The next use for vinegar that I was a little skeptical about was refinishing wood. I read here, that if you mix olive oil and white vinegar and rub it on your wood piece that it will remove the scratch marks from your wood furniture. I have two end tables that were very inexpensive. We have used and abused them to the point where I was embarrassed to have guests look at them. They either needed to be refinished or thrown away, at $60 a pop we could afford to replace them. But I love their shape and color so why not try this little trick. It was worth a shot.

What You'll Need:
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
Measuring cup
Rag

Directions:
1. Mix your oil and vinegar together. Dip your rag in the mixture and rub onto your surface.
Seriously that is all you do. I was skeptical that it would work, but after an hour of using some elbow grease and continually rubbing the mixture in I was seeing slow results. This won't remove any dents in your finish, but it will rehydrate the wood and bring the stain back to the surface. As you can see in the photo, my table was in pretty bad shape with the water stains, but now it looks 100 times better. Not perfect, but it isn't embarrassing anymore!

Do you have any tricks with vinegar that you like to use? My other favorite is baking soda! Please share any home trick that you like to use in the comment section!

Limoneira J&K

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Remember last week when I told you guys that I coordinated a dear friends wedding. Well the photographer, Nick Charrow, was on top of his game a released a sneak peak on his website. The photo's are awesome!!! I still feel blessed and honored to help be a part of this special and magical day! Check out the photo's and give Nick some love!

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My Big Fat Redneck Vacation

Its been way too long past this vacation and I figured that I needed to blog about our trip to Florida before we go on our next trip in a couple of weeks. So here we go.

In March we made our annual trip to visit my step mom in Florida. We had a JAM PACKED trip. It started off with the worst red eye I have ever been on! Our flight left at 11pm PST and was scheduled to arrive in FL at 6 AM EST. If was so turbulent that everytime the hubs and I fell asleep we were jolted awake again. We managed to make it to the house and got a nap in before the family arrived for a mini reunion. It would have been wonderful to see everyone on a full nights sleep, but was able to make the best of it. Grandparents, cousins, nieces/nephews, Aunts, Uncles, and family friends all came over for snacks, drinks and family time. It was super nice to see everyone.

The next day we made our way to the store to get junk food, because my step mom insists that we have everything that we want when we are there. We also went to the cemetery to visit my father and then went and had chicken wings in honor of him. We rode horses almost everyday we were there and D has gotten so much better at controlling the horses! He's becoming a real rider. My step mom's friend came over and brought his guns with him. An AK-47 and a Rueger 45. We went to the pile of logs in the backyard shooting range and gave those bad boys a whirl. The AK was fun, but super heavy....my arm was shaking after 4 clips, but the Rueger had such a large kick that I didn't hit anything. Poo.....we of course had to take the obligatory gun shot (I posed with the rifle! DUH!)

Day three was spent shopping for my mom and I, and D went with A to fix some vehicles and drink beer. We all hopped in the car and made our way to St. Pete beach for sea food, cocktails and the beach. It was a beautiful night, we played some games, and strolled on the beach. Funny thing, we were walking along the beach and I asked D to jump and in the air like he was excited....he jumped straight up. I just about died while taking the photo.

We rode more horses, and D even got to ride a mini motorcycle. A introduced D to the show Sons of Anarchy and ever since this trip he has been obsessed with motorcycles! Our last full day we went to a drag race called the Gator Nationals. We caravaned while the boys rode their Harley's and picked up my cousin along the way. we had such a blast watching the power of the those vehicles. When they took off they shook the stands and through your body.

After such an eventful trip its always hard to say goodbye to Florida and my mom. Eventually we will be closer to one another and be able to see each other more than once a year. Why was this post called my big fat redneck vacation? Because we rode horses, shot guns, went to drag races, drank beer, ate bbq....honestly all we needed to do was go fishing and drink some moonshine! It was a blast and I love our visits!

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Where history and culture collide - Tuesday Topics

Since I have been checking a couple things off our bucket list lately, check back tomorrow for a recap of our trip to Florida, it's kind of appropriate that this weeks Tuesday Topics deals with traveling. Specifically cities that you wish to visit in the ole U.S of A. I haven't been to that many places and I really hope to see all these beautiful places one day.

#1. New York City, New York - It's on almost everyone's list to visit once. The culture, the life, the statue....I want to immerse myself in it for a couple of days. Seems like a fun place to go!

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#2. Boston/Salem, Massachusetts - Specifically this trip must happen in the fall....I mean look at that photo. Who wouldn't want to visit there and see all that beauty. Also the rich history, nightlife and food sound to die for!

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#3. Nashville, Tennessee - The birthplace of almost all music happens here. This is where all musicians go to hone their craft and sometimes get their big break. I want to go to the Grand Ole Opry and just listen to the beauty that is music.

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#4. New Orleans, Louisiana - Bourbon Street and Mardi Gras should be experienced at least once in a person's lifetime. Also the history and culture just fascinate me.

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#5. Seattle, Washington - The north west is just beautiful I want to experience more of it. The space needle looks cool (despite the fact that I hate heights!)

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#6. San Antonio, Texas - The alamo, the food, the cowboy boots and hats, rodeos.....sounds like a good time to me!

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 #7. Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming - Again, it's just something that you have to see at least once in your lifetime....like the Grand Canyon. Beautiful landscapes, foliage and wildlife. A photographers dream.

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In case you didn't know.....paintballs do actually hurt

This weekend was such a blast, but I hardly have any photo's to show for it. Isn't that always the case? We had did some new and adventurous things. Last week I opened my email and had an Amazon Locale deal for half price paintball. We have been wanting to go, so D text his brother to see if he wanted to join. He said absolutely and we bought the tickets and treated him to the day in honor of his birthday.

So.....we should have thought this through a little better....paint balling requires that you wear jeans and long sleeves. Its August in SoCal and it's about 100 degrees during the hot point in the day. Add on a face mask, chest protectors and running around in the dirt for three hours, and we were thoroughly sweaty by the end! At one point we were forced to be on separate teams because we were against a couple of kids and it was an unfair advantage. He managed to hit me right in the kneecap. Paintballs HURT. AND we were using the balls that "hurt 60% less!" My butt! I don't even want to know what the larger paint balls feel like. We played 8 rounds and the boys were out of paint. I gave my leftover paint to some kids and we made our way out. It was a great bonding experience for the three of us and we are planning to go again!

I did learn that I would not fair well in warfare. When we got home I counted 8 welts on my body. 4 on my legs, two on my hip, one on my arm and one on my shoulder. They are SUPER attractive looking, and am the only one with visible proof that we had this adventure.

On his was home from a Notary, D's car decided to die. I was hoping that it was just the heat affecting his engine, but after 10 minutes of sitting he called to let me know that AAA was on the way and I was needed to come pick him up from the car repair. Afterwards we went to have dinner with his folks and watched reruns of Moonshiners.....I love laughing at those people. It's hilarious!

Sunday we awoke bright and early to get ready to go out on Pyramid Lake. We had a great day cruising, sunbathing and D did a little kneeboarding also. We went and had some yummy carne asada tacos and just enjoyed time with friends and family.

It always makes me sad for the weekend to end when its so fun and then it ends. I am glad to add another fun thing to our bucket list!!!! I hope your weekend was fun!

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