put a bird on it

Post #3 for August Break.
this sweet little birdy arrived for my birthday from the fam in Oregon.

xo,

chelsea

August Break

I decided to join the fun at the August Break as a way to push myself to blog more regularly. While I love blogging, holding down a full-time job and semi-single-mothering usually take precedent over putting together blog posts that I deem worthy of publishing. Instead, I usually publish something that's a half-hearted version of what I truly envisioned. That, or I just go weeks without posting a thing.

I love the idea of a simple photo a day. So here goes...

It was my birthday on Tuesday. And this is what I wore.

xo,

chelsea

tickled pink

Dear Birthday Fairies,

I love hot pink. I love this bag. And I'd be tickled pink if this somehow magically arrived for my birthday. Just sayin'.

xo,

chelsea

a birthday

We threw a little impromptu birthday party for my sweetie last Friday. His real birthday was somewhat derailed by tantrums and bad weather, so we wanted to make it up to him and surprise him after a long work-week out of town. I stayed up late Thursday night baking (somewhat unsuccessfully) a frozen Daim cake, making banners and hanging streamers. The kids were so excited they were shouting surprise before we even got in the front door.

(that fan...it's just hideous. If this were not a rental, it'd be gone in a heartbeat. ok, I digress)

A homemade birthday banner

a little strumming on the guitar. This was my mom's guitar way back in the 70s. When I took lessons from one of the nuns at my Catholic school, this is what I learned on. Now we're working on cleaning it up so either me or one of the kiddos can learn on it again. I love having some kind of instrument in the house.

Some homemade Daim cake. Not the best attempt, but I'm making a promise to make it again and perfect it! I got the recipe from Carl's mother and it's a birthday favorite of his.

I love this little photo that Sutter took (you can see the shadow of his head in the foreground). He loves learning about the camera and he was super anxious to capture the pizza in all it's glory. We tried our hand at making Shaman Bread inspired by one of our favorite restaurants, Full of Life Flatbread. If you're ever in the Central CA area, it's a must-try - and don't forget to save room for their homemade s'mores!

All in all, it was quite a successful little party. We played records, strummed the guitar, ate pizza and cake and played until it was late. So much fun that we even found my little man asleep on the floor in his jammies.

Happy Wednesday everyone!!

xo,

chelsea

Happy Happy, Joy Joy

Four years ago today I gave birth to a beautiful, sweet, strong-willed baby girl. She has changed my life in so many wonderful ways. I am so proud that I get to be her mama.

I ♥ you miss Harper Lee!!!!

happy birthday...

to me!!

Even though I'm working on my birthday, its been a splendid day already. Fancy breakfast at The Biltmore, nice daydreamy lunch with my sweetie and anticipating a wonderful dinner with my family this evening. 

Yay for Birthdays!! 

Do you have any birthday traditions?

XO,

Chelsea

rainy day

Its a blustery, rainy, wet Wednesday so luckily I've got a backup outfit post.

We've had absolutely gorgeous weather, so I'm not minding the rain so much. Although I will say I hit the snooze on my iPhone alarm about 10 times this morning. My honey has the day off and it was oh-so-tempting to just want to have a rainy day at home. But no. Renewable Energy work calls my name. Up and at 'em...

I've mentioned before that I have a bit of a stripes addiction. This dress was no exception. Its the perfect throw-it-on piece that can be casual or dressed up with accessories. I took the casual approach...

my absolute favorite earrings. birthday gift from Carl last year. he went in to the shop/museum looking for a gift for me and when he wasn't sure what to pick, they asked him to bring in a picture of me so they could find just the right thing.  handmade in Norway and absolutely perfect for me.

What is the most perfect birthday gift you've received?

 XO,

Chelsea

neverending birthday - part 2

Talk about a lucky guy! We celebrated Carl's birthday again last Saturday. Ok, not last Saturday as in two days ago, but last last Saturday! How's that for confusing on a Monday?

His party was also a little celebration to "warm" our house, but it was mainly about Carl. He was travelling for work on his real birthday, so I had this waiting for his return:

I had originally wanted to make a fabric birthday banner, but I thought this was a fun alternative. I still plan to make the fabric birthday banner, but I've got some time now since we are sort of done with celebrating birthdays - at least ones in this household - until August!

Lucky Carl also got to indulge in a birthday flight, complete with audience. Its hard to beat a beautiful Santa Barbara morning, overlooking the entire city, taking in this view

and savoring the wonders of childhood

then we all get to watch in amazement as Carl flies away

going...

going...

gone!

He's a pretty lucky guy indeed. All his favorite things in one place.

But it was no rest, because we rushed up to prep the house for the party.

And like a bad hostess, I was so busy with everything that I didn't take a single picture. But the word on the street is that Axel and Inga got some great shots. We should be able to see those as soon as they are able to return to Norway and clear themselves of jetlag. So, yeah, hold your breath...

I did, however, manage to get a snap of the neverending CAKE BALLS

This is a picture of cake balls, day two. They didn't turn out exactly as planned, but I had a great time having my girlfriends help me with them. Lots of "ball" jokes to be had, and impersonations of the infamous SNL "Schweaty Balls" sketch, which if you haven't seen you should hulu immediately!

I'm off to bed, but first, maybe one last cake ball...

Good Night!!

XO,

Chelsea

neverending birthday - part 1

We spent this last week basking in the glow of the newly longer days and celebrating Carl's birthday for quite a few days in a row. A beach afternoon, a day hiking and watching friends fly off mountains all ended in a birthday slash "warming" of our house, an amazing concert by our pal Rusty Lindsey (complete with not one but two shout-outs for Carl's bday) and a day of finishing house projects all made for an amazing first days of spring!!

It was a pretty full week so I'll only barrage you with one onslaught of pictures at a time!

Carl's birthday celebration Numero Uno - day at the beach followed by a fun dinner at the most awesome Cajun restaurant in Santa Barbara. The food and service is amazing and the atmosphere is lively! Anywhere that has the entire restaurant join in a round of Louis Armstrong's "What a Wonderful World" is my kind of place...

Cajun Martini. Delish. A perfect way to end the evening...

More celebrating was to be done later in the week. Stay tuned for that!

XO,

Chelsea

i HEART Thursdays - this one's for you

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to say...

Happy Birthday to the greatest guy I know! Thanks for making our life a constant adventure.

We started the party out yesterday with a little beach time with the kiddos, a HUGE meal at Palace Grill complete with chocolate birthday souffle, and some quiet snuggle time in the evening. We'll be keeping the party going with a little birthday/housewarming bbq this weekend. Can't wait to decorate, bake lots of fun desserts and share our home with good friends!!


Lets face it Birthdays are awesome! Cake, prezzies and lots of fun party decorations. I've always loved birthdays and will continue to celebrate my birthday - even if I don't necessarily want to celebrate my age!

So in honor of Carl - here's a sweet little heart-image heavy birthday roundup

homemade birthday cakes are the best. This one is sweet and fun!

can't wait to dig in...

(images via weheartit.com and flickr.com)

What do you love most about birthdays?

XO,

Chelsea