Happy Easter

{Happy Easter}

I'm off to finish making breakfast. Grapefruit Brulee, grilled toast with scrambled eggs and grilled veggies, fresh baked apples cinnamon muffins, and fresh fruit YUM! I'll share pics and recipes later!

Glamping

First, I need to apologize to my blog for the abuse it has received in the last two weeks. I didn't pay it one single visit. Life got the best of me - but I'm back (again).

On to "glamping." Have you heard of this?? David sent me a link chalk full of glamping examples. Don't get me wrong - I was a girl scout and I have camped. Unfortunately, due to an incident with a bear, I no longer like to camp in a thin nylon enclosure. But a nice, sturdy, wood framed "tent" I can do.

This October my Dad will be celebrating a very significant birthday. It's not one he's particularly looking forward to so we're planning a fun family getaway. We'll be heading to Treebones in Big Sur, CA. Treebones has been perfecting Yurt-style glamping since the 60's. This July my sister will be moving home from the East Coast after being away for 10 years. This getaway will be one of our first family vacations in a very long time.

The original owner of the land was granted permission by the U.s forestry to collect "dead" wood from the surrounding mountainside. He would then mill the wood and sell his found lumber. The old, silvery wood that was collected and waiting to be milled, looked like old bones - or tree bones as it's now affectionately known.

Now stands approximately 16 yurts and 1 human nest: a man-made wood "nest" with a wood deck and a sleeping cushion.

{image via Treebones}

Big Sur is one of those places that will always hold a special place in my heart. It's one of the most pristine places in CA. I always imagine it looks pretty much the same as it did many years ago. I will never forget the Thanksgiving my Dad drove to pick me up for break at college in Chico and took 2 days to drive all the way down the coast. We listened to the same best-of Van Morrison CD on repeat for the entire 2 days. It was heaven. My family was one of the first families in the area and built one of the main bridges connecting one of the many hair-pin switchbacks. I always love seeing the places I've heard so many stories about.

{Bixby Bridge}

{image via Galaxy Tab}

I hope everyone else is experiencing the same summer-like weather we're having here. Tomorrow I'm off to the beach!

Storefront Windows

I have to say, this Christmas is going to be a little bitter-sweet for me. Sweet, in that it will be my very first Christmas with my husband! I'm so excited for us to create traditions and memories of our own. But, it will be a little bitter in that my sister will be missing Christmas at home for the first time - ever! We hold strong to our traditions each year and it would be an understatement to say it will be weird to not have her here. Instead of being in sunny CA, Heather will be in (hopefully) snowy New York City!! She has promised to take LOADS of pictures of all of the storefront windows decked out for Christmas. I'm beyond jealous as this is on the top of my bucket list to experience. Here's what's waiting for Heather in NYC!

This was hands down my favorite. Barney's New York teamed up with The Food Network and created a jaw-dropping window display made of "Illy" products. That dress is made completely of foil coffee bags!

Bergdorf's theme this year was travel.

I love Henri Bendel's take on The Nutcracker. Never has the Mouse King looked so elegant!

No offense to Lord & Taylor, but the mannequin's in their depictions of favorite Christmas memories just came off a little creepy. Anyone else?

John Derian's fun and funky window - love those lights!

A funky vignette in Gump's (San Fran)

No post on window displays would be complete without the Godfather of all window display-ers. Definitely not the best of the season, but as always, creative. Anthropologie's eco-friendly Christmas window display. **Fun fact - I applied to be a window designer for Anthropologie. I soon realized that my creativity isn't "out there" enough. The interview process was VERY interesting!

Heather - I so wish I was touring all these window displays with you! Maybe next year! xoxo

To check out more of the Bergdorf window display process, check out this video.

New Boots+Stew=I Love Fall

In an effort to keep this blog fresh, I'm bloggin' about two things I've rarely, if ever, blogged about. Fashion (which I am not!) and food (which I consume often!)

I don't know what kind of weather the rest of the world is experiencing - but around here I think we're having our very first Fall with actual season appropriate weather. RAIN! I may be one of the few that feels this way - but I love the rain.

{Target Boots - $34}

Monday was my first day off so I celebrated with an outing to Pasadena (I know - I have some strange thing with that city. But, I just love it and needed to get out of town for a bit.) Anyways, these boots are my new favorite fall item. I found them at Target for $34! And they have officially received the they-really-are-comfortable stamp of approval. I walked all over Pasadena in them, and worked all day today in them.

I came home still in the Fall mood. So, I made the mother of all Fall dinners - Stew! I had the whole fam over, lit a fire, and had a perfect Fall night at home!

My go-to stew recipe is a Mustard-Herb Beef Stew via here.

More Thanks

I know Thanksgiving is over but I thought this idea was too cute to pass up! I love the idea of displaying old family photos for Thanksgiving dinner. Our Thanksgiving always ends up being a trip down the family tree. This year we ended up having a family history trivia game!