Sunset Bike Rides

We've been riding our bikes each night.
Some nights we ride to visit family,
other nights to get coffee,
or ice cream.

It's so much fun.
Springtime in Redlands is the best.
The smell of orange blossoms in the air and when you ride past them with your bike you can feel the temperature change.

Have I told you how much I love where we live?

Speaking of bike rides...Brandon & Ayden are racing at the Redlands Bicycle Classic this Saturday!
They are gonna kick butt!

  

Wednesday Inspiration

I haven't unpacked my craft boxes yet...and I am having withdrawls.

Up first is this lovely t-shirt DIY from PS-I made this.

These jars are so beautiful.

Kyle scored about 100 vintage books at an estate sale AND

this would be one thing we could do with them...

A pillow covered in rosettes using t-shirt scraps.
It's so sweet, AND another pillow is always a good thing.

Ugh! I am dying to have my short red hair be LONG red hair.

I know Kyle is too.

 Summer movie nights. this is happening.

**All photos courtesy of pinterest.**

16 months

(Enjoying his first donut)

Lucas is 16 months old and a full fledged kid!!

Right now we are enjoying watching him grow up right before our eyes. And asking ourselves, where did our baby go?

He watches his big brothers so carefully,
and as one does one thing the others follow like a row of dominos.
I think it's universal brother code.

Each day is filled with, "No's" and "Stop that's."
Cuts, bruises and kisses.

And each night, well, he's cutting molars right now, can climb out of his crib and has decided he no longer wants to sleep in his room...so they are fun filled nights of zero sleep.

But I tell myself morning after morning that all this hard work WILL PAY OFF! Oh it better!

Don't let this post fool you,
or his sweet smile.
My heart belongs to Lucas, and all the fun we get into each day.

But I'm really looking forward to the night where I get at least 6 hours of straight uninterrupted sleep..ahhhh, dreams!

Spring Cleaning

This week I started spring cleaning.

Spring is my favorite time of year,

and well, cleaning is one of my favorite things to do.

Nothing like a clean house to make mommy feel so good!

Here are a few of my cleaning tips & tricks:

• I clean all my windows with rubbing alcohol. It works the best! I promise.
• I sprinkle all our beds with baking soda, and then I vaccum it all up.
• I clean all my rugs, and underneath them too.

Since we just moved into our new place,

our house didn't need a serious scrubbin'.

But small things add up

and make the biggest difference.



Spring Time with Ruche

Open publication - Free publishing - More catalog

Ruche is one of my favorite websites to shop and draw inspiration from.

And their new look book is amazing and so beautiful!
I love it.

When you get old...

...Buying furniture really does make you so happy!

Case in point...our new favorite piece: An Eames replica recliner!

The couple we bought it from have the most incredible mid century styled house. I wish I could show you pictures!

Kyle & I walked in there and literally couldn't even talk because it was so amazing!

I think they were sad to see their chair go...

Isn't it beautiful?

Happy Birthday Ayden!

Dear Ayden,

Today you turned 5!
I can hardly believe it.

You asked for, a "street" donut for breakfast (it's what he calls a chocolate bar, and I hope he always does),
a super mario bros. party (He LOVES Lugi) with your family
and hot dogs & pizza...

and well that's what you got!

You are such a wild character.

Ever changing.

And so darn fascinating.

I love that I get to sit next to you while you pick your nose

or as we learn your ABC's.

You make me laugh

and help my gray hair grow faster,

but I love you dearly!

You are my prize in life.

Happy Birthday!

Playing Dress up

This week we played dress up.

Styling a photoshoot for our vintage shop.

It was so much fun.

And not to mention these jewels: they are all handmade vintage cotton dresses from the 50's.

(You really have a hard time finding cotton dresses from this era, so these are treasures).

And they are in mint condition.

The orange one on the top right is my all time favorite!

Thanks to Amber & Booger for modeling your beautiful selves!

Happy Birthday Amber!

Re-reading my last post I left this space quite sad & somber...


I know that although I try and keep my blog "happy" & I rarely ever step on topics that are too deep for my liking...life sneaks up on you. And as dark as it can be at times, it's to hard for me to ignore. 




Okay, now on to a "happy" post.

******

I have had pretty much the same group of friends since Jr. High.

They are like sisters.

We fight.

We bicker.

And we love each other with a passion that can't ever be explained in words.

******

Saturday night we got together to celebrate Amber's 31st birthday.

(She's the blond one on the right, that when told to make a goofy face...she went for "Schmegal" from the Lord of the Rings. A-A-A-A-M-A-zing.) 

We went to Romano's for dinner.

And on the way while trying to take photos of ourselves, a photographer happened to walk by and offer her skills.

Lucky right?

The night was so good.

We ate way to much.

Talked the whole time, 

about life,

being in our 30's,

kids,

and being so thankful we still have each other.

I love looking at them and seeing them as the women they are now.

I love being able to see them as wives,

and mom's.

Because then I get a flashback to when we used to hang out,

all packed in my Mazda truck driving thru the orange groves,

being absolutely and totally goofy.

We've come along way.

Happy Birthday Ambir-D!!!!

We love you.

Some incredibly shocking news hit our family late last night.

and I woke up today thinking it was all just a bad dream.

I even asked Kyle when I opened my eyes if it were true.

But he reminded me that it was....sadly.

And all day today I felt like I was in a fog. 

Constantly checking my phone for news, and answers. 

Feeling completely powerless and absolutely speechless.

The only comfort really was silence. 

And while I am here with the family I have been so completely blessed beyond measure to share my life with,

there are people I love dearly struggling with this heartache.

And it makes me so sad that I can't fix that.

Talking about it, in generalities, feels safe.

Because what actually happened really isn't meant to be written as a good blog read or a great story to tell your friends.

It's meant to be protected,

they are meant to be protected.

Life can be rough.

Moments that you look at and say "why?" and "How could this have happened?"

Moments that completely unearth the ground you walk on.

But in all sadness and confusion there is an ultimate lesson.

A greater reason for what has happened.

I have to believe that.

Thanks for letting me vent.

xo,

D.

Sunshine

Today we spent so much time outside.

I caught myself just staring off...

and feeing so lucky to live where we live.  

No danger. No ugly.

No homies walking to the local liquor spot for a 40.

I'm really glad that chapter of our life has passed.

On to new beginnings...

New stuff in shop!

Before we started Ultra Lounge, we had Blueboy Vintage on etsy. 
And with opening up our own booth it has become a very neglected etsy shop...


And I missed it.
I love etsy.
I love everything about it.
I remember when I first stumbled on it 5 years ago,
it was this beautiful mecca of creativity and handmade goods.


So yesterday I spent most of the day taking photos of some great new pieces for the shop and uploading them to etsy.


I'm hoping to get the rest up tonight.
Crossing my fingers.


I hope your Tuesday is going great.  

Food Matters

We are officially out of the stone-age.


So far in the last 3 weeks we've hooked up our HD channels,
purchased a Wii, and got Netflik...thru our Wii...which is like 
Magic! 
I don't know how we've lived without Netflix and why we are always the last to hop on the train?
But it's a beautiful thing and really makes me think twice about having cable (that's if my husband wasn't in love with People's Court. Sassy latina's get him every time).


So... 
I now have been finding every excuse to watch a dozen documentaries once the boys are asleep.
And last night I watched 2. Back to back! 


One of them being, Food Matters. 
If you love learning about food; where it comes from, the effects it has on your body, sustainable living and living organically....then this movie is for you.


I learned so much. And felt so empowered to really begin changing our way of eating for good.


Kyle said he'd eat whatever I made him.
Good husband.
And he made a bet with me that if I could do it for a month, he'd buy me an ipad. 
Incentives are always a good thing.


But even if I don't get an ipad (which is a tall order in a house with a tight budget), I am still so excited to start really eating better.


I hate that I need sugar.
Or caffeine. 
Or nutella for that matter. 

Maybe I'll start craving carrots? 
Hmmm, we'll see. 


Have a great Sunday!

Planting

I haven't been able to get it together this week.
Kinda in a funk.
But I did manage to plant a few new succulents in a huge shell Kyle bought at a estate sale. 

When I plant succulents I always use this fail safe method:
1) Structural
2) Textural 
3) Focal 
*Always in 3's. 
And it works every time.


I really just can't get enough of these plants. 

Wednesday Inspiration

So pretty. They look like beautiful paint brushes.

 I love this family photo...

inspires me to have one done of our pack.

Such a sweet idea for a mobile.

.lovely.

Love this headboard.

 It looks so simple to make.

so cute.

Counting down the days until spring... 

I love pretty floral dresses.

clever.

Yum.