Festive 4th

So peeps, how was your holiday weekend? Have some fun, get lots done? I was invited to a pot luck brunch at my friend Pat's house and it was so much fun.

Pat told me I could take all the photos I want, and I did take a ton. Of course in my excitement they aren't all that great. I can't be trusted anymore I guess. There was so many wonderful vignettes and with the meeting and greeting and eating, well..

Now is that porch cute? I can see this would be the perfect place for coffee in the morning. The neighborhood is totally cute and there's lots to see.

Inside lots to see too. Pat is a quilter, and I met her through friends and also through quilting. Her home is simply adorable, with wonderful details at every turn. I have let you down though Pat, my photos are really crappy.

These are like some kind of soft focus pictures, I don't get that at all. But at least you can get the idea of how nice her home is. Here's the guest book station. Her guest book holds greetings from past 4th of July parties, and there are photos of the group each year. It is such a clever idea.
Little flag favors to take along to remind us of what a lovely time we had.

The back yard was wonderful. The weather could not have been better if she ordered it up special. I way overstayed my welcome and it was perfect outside the whole time.

Here's Pat on the right with Sharon.





Beverage station, of course I'm trying to capture all the wonderful pitchers and bowls there, rather unsuccessfully. Pat has a wonderful supply of vintage pieces.


No detail is left out with Pat.



My beverage station.. Pat had non-stop Peet's coffee going!

And the food.. ohmygosh.

Here's one of this years group shots! I am so happy and thrilled to have been invited to the party! Thanks Pat!

Surprise Visit

Yesterday I had the greatest time. On the spur of the moment, I just jumped in the car to go visit Frankie. We both were at loose ends for the day and decided gee, lets have some lunch.

After a tasty lunch at California Pizza Kitchen she suggested checking out some cute boutiques in Salinas. I hadn't been to old downtown in ages and let me tell you there were quite a few cute little shops there. But OHMYGOSH I was just blown away with this shop, La Belle Epoque. The shop window was amazing, I don't know if you guys ever get Somerset Magazines, but they did a whole publication on Marie Antionette that was wonderful. I just couldn't stop looking at the window.

Magnolia Pearl has been in quite a few publications as of late, and La Belle Epoque is one of two stores in California to carry their clothing.

I love the color of the shop, the wonderful trim around the ceiling and the fact that its crammed with wonderful treasures. Even looking at the pictures I can't believe I missed things.

Things like this, cleverly twisting a strand of vintage rhinestones around a shell, are so beautiful.

This window.. it just gets me.

So yes, Pamela's store is one of the prettiest stores I've seen in ages. You can catch a peek at her here in the rear of the store. Really a lovely gracious person. She's just a delight to visit with and I'm so glad she let me share photos of her beautiful store here.

So, if you're in the neighborhood, take a walk through her lovely shop. I caught Marie there on her last day in the window, its Rodeo time in Salinas so there will be a western theme window in, probably by today, and I know it will be a beautiful romantic look.

Alrighty peeps, hope you have a wonderful day! Happy Holiday Weekend, be safe, have fun! xo

Super Fun Day

Wow we had a great day yesterday. It stayed nice and cool till right at the end, but that's what car air conditioners are for, right? The antiquing portion of the day was somewhat of a bust, but lunch at the Black Bear was really good. I had the Gobbler. Mostly I always have the Gobbler. It's like Thanksgiving on sandwich. I think Elizabeth was a bit doubtful when she saw all the bears everywhere. Now she's a convert.

Anyway Prairie Queen's didn't disappoint at all. We've been there a few times and really enjoyed it. The store was hopping yesterday, lots of ladies in the classroom sewing. Some appeared to be working on the same technique Nicole and Sara learned in the class they just took.

You can see, PQ has a lot of things we love.

Here's my loot! I've always loved that Eiffel Tower fabric. I bet very few people know that's a faithful reproduction of a vintage fabric.

Anyway its a fun pile of fabric, isn't it? Kind of a departure for me, but I wanted something different for maybe a bag. Who knows. Its pretty, do I really need a reason?

Ok peeps, I'm late off the mark today. Bret has tomorrow off, so I might just make it a three day weekend. But before I close, head on over to the bake shop to check out the magic that is Julie's Coupon Clutch. Julie is also working on a Summer Swing Skirt, hopefully she'll share that soon! Have a happy and safe Fourth of July!

Cherry Cupcake

Time just flies by sometimes. We don't recognize how fast until something crazy happens, for instance, one of the "kids" we know is having a baby. She's my friend's daughter, older sister of a school mate of Frankie's but still, one of the kids. How can she be having a baby? It wasn't that long ago she was stealing her mother's makeup in middle school. See just saying something like that puts me in old-lady-country.

I'm still in love with bow tie quilts and this baby has been nicknamed Cherry Cupcake so I knew that the Susan Branch Cupcake fabric I had squirreled away was the perfect backdrop. I pulled out all my Lakehouse Doll Dresses and got cutting yesterday. I can't decide if I should start sewing or save that project up for my next sew day, which is coming up pretty fast. I just haven't settled on a bigger project yet. And I'm kind of wishing I had more of that Doll Dress Fabric. As far as I'm concerned Holly designed this whole line knowing I would go off my gourd over it, and really, I still am hording it. Because people, if you use it IT WILL BE GONE.

In other news, it was lovely out yesterday morning, cool and breezy. I sat outside and read my magazine and drank some coffee and watched this fellow working on getting a drink.

Thanks for all the Moda Bake Shop comments. We had so much fun making that skirt and then driving around the countryside here looking for the perfect backdrop. And then just being silly. We have an image to maintain.. and that image is we're crazy fun and we don't care who knows it!

Hope you had a good day peoples. I'm off with Elizabeth today, antiques, fabric and yarn. And maybe even a little lunch?

Fresh From the Oven

Be careful, don't burn yourself.. our Moda Bake Shop entry is up! I think the Summer Swing Skirt is a great project for any line of fabric, but we chose a wonderful line by Lila Tueller, for Moda. Like most projects, we get totally caught up in the drama of it. Come September Santorini will be available so you can too, but why wait, there are wondeful jelly rolls and layer cakes in the shops just waiting to be cut up!

Speaking of drama, this is what I found yesterday when I went over to see Elizabeth. I thought we might celebrate our post with a little lunch out, but it looks like she already had plans.

Sometimes you just have to live in the moment! Maybe another day.

Hop on over to the Bake Shop and let me know what you think about our project! Hope you like it!

And Peeps, thanks so much for all your kind comments yesterday. As usual, you guys made my day.

Pie Me

After last weeks pie eating over at Elizabeth's, that pie has been on my mind. A lot. So I figured with my portion problems, I could easily make the pie in tiny little shells, get my pie fix and farm out the rest of the mini-pies on my neighbors. Well that recipe makes a lot more filling than the 6 mini-pie shells I got. Now my question is, can I freeze that filling?
I hope the neighbors enjoy their pie. It was yummy. I used pink lemonade in my pie and then a drop or three of red food coloring. Very pretty. Pink. Yummy.


Famous Deb Silva has tagged me for 10 things people don't know about me.. man are there 10 things left worth sharing? I don't know. I've posted almost 650 times.. that's a lot of info.

So people, why don't I tag you to comment something you know about me? That sounds a little scary because you never know what people will say. So be kind.

And tomorrow, finally, the Moda Bake Shop Post. Really.

Under the Influence

So yeah, we're all reading the same books it seems like. I've had these all on my footstool pile for months now.. periodically reading, looking at the pictures, forgetting, remembering, needing another look. I kept meaning to post the pictures of them but every time I'd think about it, someone else is talking about them. That Material Obsession Two is straight from Sarah by the way, hand carried by Alex. I know that both Amy and Nanette (and others) recommended the Sugar Sack Quilts and Fool Proof Machine Quilting.

Nanette also recommended the "Pink Book" as I call it. I had it on my ebay watch list for ages, because the cover is so divine, but didn't want to spend the money till I'd seen some inside pages. Nanette showed some here. We need to remember to ask where she gets her Japanese books. I know she's told us, but I'm too lazy to look. I already had the other book when she showed off her copy. I get a lot of mine from my ebay, although I picked up this one at Kinokuniya.

Sometimes Nanette and I are reading or thinking about the same things at the same time. Its a little spooky. JenDuncan showed a lot of wonderful photos of the "Pink Book" today, she's on our same wave length when it comes to most everything. Well I like to think I'm on the wave length, lets face it, I'm trying to catch that wave, they're so clever.

These are all from the not-pink-book, which is lovely. I can hardly narrow down my purchases and still always spend around $100 at Kinokuniya each time. (who am I kidding, $120-$140, its nuts! Thank goodness it's not in the neighborhood!)

I always fall for the pretty vignettes. Like that chair and that.. lets assume skirt. Who doesn't want to see something like that at their house. I would.

And all that cutting and stitching.. I love it. And the lace. It reminds me of the quilt that our friend Anne the Pixie Girl did on a quilt in the Lecien booth. Lovely.

And this gem is on my nightstand. I love a nice cozy English mystery and the Fethering Mysteries fill the bill. Like most books, its part of a series, and I love series don't you? I get all caught up in the lives of my literary friends. I just finished this book and while I'm still mad at the author for killing off a favorite character in a previous book, I'm glad that my series will continue.

So Bret worked late again last night and I had time to read and imagine. I hope you all have a lovely weekend. Next week... Moda Bake Shop.