sunday farmers.

i really do value my alone time, and there is no better way to embrace it than a sunday morning date with my camera to the brentwood farmers market.

the hardest part about posting today is choosing which photos to share with you. here are a few of the good ones.

i hope you enjoy..

thanks for stoppin' by...

happy rest of your weekend, sweet friends

i hope it is full and wonderful!

never too old.

my mom graduated from her master's program yesterday at CSUN college

i'm very proud of her.

this program was tough, and the whole family felt it the past 2 years.

but she did it and now has a little more job security as a LAUSD teacher.

this lady has gone through a lot of tribe and tribulation...

she has been laid off twice in the 2 past years, with long hopeful summers of a job opening in the fall (which she got both years)

she commuted from the sf valley to downtown los angeles to teach, while going to school full-time at night, her father died (by grandfather), her son went through some lows (my brother), took care of her mother (my grandma), sponsored young women in AA and spoke around the country, and she still had time to be a super-mom.

she's 51 years old and has accomplished more than you could imagine.

for anyone that says they "can't do it" let my mom be your motivation.

...and not to mention she graduated summa cum laude with a $5K scholarship and a special honor award.

go mom! you are my hero.

hues of blue.

a blue morning it is...

every friday morning, i make taylor french toast

french toast fridays!

this morning i made it with blueberry jam from the farmers market with fresh blueberries.

(taylor snuck in some nutella on the top when i wasn't looking...)

we didn't plan for the day to be so blue.

but as we were getting ready to walk out the door, we realized we matched...

in blue!!

happy happy HAPPY friday, my dear friends!

new rug!

after contemplating whether this was worth it, i finally decided to buy this 2x3 rug for our front door from urban outfitters

source: urbanoutfitters.com

i got it because taylor forgets either his keys, phone, or wallet at least twice a week.

i thought this was hilarious and came to the conclusion that it was no longer a want, but a necessity

hopefully he doesn't forget his stuff anymore!

should be here in a week.

and, shhhh don't tell taylor!

its hump day.

the salad turned out great!

it may not look exactly like the picture in the book, but it was just as good, i'm sure.

and that's right folks, those are our new painted walls in the background (+ our new beautiful walnut table!) more (better) pictures to come of our "work in progress" kitchen.

i must apologize for my recent photographs - they've all been from my iPhone. i've been very bad and haven't been taking my camera everywhere, but i will be sure to lug it around my neck this weekend.

yes, i already have the weekend on my mind.

1) i'm excited its a 3-day one!

2) facial this saturday with taylor's momma

3) reggae festival at UCLA on sunday

i'm sure there will be more fun planned as the weekend gets closer, but these 3 are reason enough to keep me excited!

HAPPY HUMP-DAY!

p.s. leave a comment or email me for the salad recipe if you're interested!

trash to treasures.

if you know me well, you know that real simple is my favorite, favorite, magazine.

i have a whole book case full of them dating back nearly 3 years!

i'm helping out a friend at work (who is moving) sell her unwanted books and this was one of them!

how did i know know real simple had a cook book!?

lucky me, she let me have it as payment. i'm going to make this tonight for taylor. we need to add some more greens to our diet. lately its been pasta and hamburgers and rice... yummy, but we need the fruits + veggies!

this is a chicken salad with peaches and blue cheese

i guess its true, "one makes trash is another mans treasure"

i'll update later tonight show pictures and how it tastes.

saturday wonders.

saturday taylor and i had a spontaneous day.

it was the first saturday in a long time i got to spend with him, since he has spent that last few working on the dining table.

we woke up early and bought paint from benjamin moore to paint the apartment. then we drove out to gardena on a whim for the h.d. buttercup "almost 100% off" warehouse sale, which turned out to be a bust.

by the time we got back to santa monica we were starving, and felt father's office would be the only cure.

so we ate... like really ate... like pigs

all of montana ave.'s shops were having a street sale. we barely made it across the street from father's office and taylor crashed on a couch.

our bellies were so full, but i couldn't stop laughing.

people were walking buy saying "gee, that couch looks really comfortable..."

after we drove back home to meet taylor's parents at our apartment

on the way back, we randomly found frank gehry's house. we got out and looked around...

i wondered off to a garage sale across the street and found this amazing chair

taylor and i decided we had to have it.... and so did everyone else.

taylor ran up the street to the atm to get cash while i stayed behind. there was a lot of tension over this chair, but we were the lucky winners.

$50!!! Go us!

its from 1961 and has travelled the world - it was a government chair, apparently.

i'm happy its ours. i will post more pictures soon to show how it looks in our new apartment.

we had many other adventures this weekend that will be up soon too, namely our painting disaster...

stay tuned, and happy monday!

living the dream by liam hales.

my friends,

please check out my good friend and fellow co-worker, liam's, video from his newest project

imjustlivingthedream.net

he is quite the character and FUNNY!

he videotapes himself driving around los angeles while on messenger runs between the different studios and puts these little clips together

enjoy!

continued quest.

my quest for an old library card catalog continues...

i still haven't found THE ONE. i check craigslist, ebay, google, and etsy daily. if you happen to find one please let me know.

i imagine all the fun things i can put in it, along with my "new, old" 1930s royal de luxe typewriter that would go ever so perfectly on the top.

::sigh::

dear future card catalog,

i still patiently await the day you sit in my cute little apartment.

love,

me.

my inspiration:

source: smallnotebook.org/

source: smallnotebook.org/

source: rickishultz.wordpress.com

source: ohdeedoh.com

urbancases.

i stumbled upon this website today and really like their stuff

its a company three designers that make this awesome furniture in seattle

i really love the "sidebar"

courtesy of urbancase.com

hooky for errands.

i played hooky from work today to run a ton of errands, and boy did i!

first i went out to burbank for my eye exam, went to the west valley to order two new tires for my mini, came back to santa monica for a couple other appointments, window shopped on montana ave., got coffee at my favorite coffee shop (cafe luxxe), went to whole foods to pick up a few things (including isabella's chocolate-chip, banana cookies), washed our bedsheets, accidentally fell asleep for twenty minutes in the midst of playing "words with friends" (which i was totally dominating!), woke up and cooked chicken enchiladas for tay and me (mmMmMm they were YUMMY!), now blogging, and soon to be running off to the gym to end the day!

...phew!

today was productive, to say the least. it was a treat to run all around this city on this beautiful Tuesday, even if dealing with all the traffic for a day.

It was a morning of rain, an afternoon of sun, and an evening of cloudy weather

oh and i can't forget the best part of the day...

i got the best mini spot and was able to avoid an $11 parking fee!

...another reason why i love my mini

lets eat!

taylor has just about finished our new dining table and i couldn't be more excited.

its a beautiful 6ft x 2.5ft piece of dark walnut with a steel metal base.

i'm absolutely in love and it fits wonderfully in our lovely kitchen.

he has about 4 more coats of oil to put on it and it should be good to go. we're thinking about getting 4 bertoia wire chairs, or perahps 2 and a bench?

i think taylor's stuff is pretty awesome. he not only designs everything, but he builds it all with his own 2 hands. i do get a some-what of a say in the design process... and i have to help carry stuff -_-

but in all, from the sketching stage to the finished product,

its all 100% taylor-made!

i'm really lucky to have such a handy-man. i think his next project in the works will be a credenza with a typewriter table attached for our living room

hope you all enjoy as much as i do! i can't wait 'til we get to sit down for our first meal. I think, too, i'm going to get a beautiful set of flowers to go in the center.

...happy monday!