i HEART Thursdays - love notes

For the first Thursday in quite some time, my honey isn't coming home. Sad face. I was lucky enough to have him home most of the week though, so I can't complain! Having Carl travel so much can be difficult at times, but I think its important to find ways to make each other feel close even when he's on the road.

I'm a huge fan of love notes. Its something my honey always says he appreciates very much. I've been known to slip notes into his laptop case, send cards to his hotel and drop them in the pockets of his shirts to find later. When he was in Europe for 4 1/2 weeks over last summer, I emailed pictures with love notes and other reminders of beautiful Santa Barbara. It was a fun, creative way to show him how much I was missing him.

Its easy to get caught up in the day-to-day exercise of just living life. Love notes are a sweet reminder of the simpler things in life. And a way to bring someone a million miles away just a little bit closer to your heart.


a sweet collection of love notes



this makes for fun spontaneous love noting!



my favorite love note T




a long-lasting love note




a heart-breaking love note




love notes outside Juliet's home in Verona



Also, check out JenLovesKev's post about their fabulous project, withoutyouitsjustnotus for a way to spread your own love!





What was the last love note you received?

XO,

Chelsea

all you need is love

Moving.
Its chaotic, its draining, and if you have as much crapola as I have, it takes a really long time.

And if it occurs on a much-hyped holiday revolving around showing your loved ones love, it could probably suck pretty bad. Lucky for me, it didn't.

We spent a lot of Saturday moving. And a lot of Saturday night trying to arrange (and rearrange) furniture until my honey's back finally gave in. I stayed up until 2 am trying to put the kitchen away and when Valentine's morning rolled around, I wasn't feeling too festive. But my sweetie knew just how to perk me up.

Nothing beats waking up to this

The rest of the morning was spent exploring more unknown boxes of stuff, trying to remember where I had put things in the kitchen and mundane stuff such as gluing (and regluing) stuff that came apart in the chaos.

We decided that all work and no play made for a bad day, so we paused the moving in favor of sailing for the afternoon. Beautiful Santa Barbara weather, friends and champagne dusted off any sense of stress about getting it all done!

And when that was all said and done, we kept the party rolling by having our friends over for some show and tell about the new house, homemade pizza and wine.

I promise some house pics to come shortly. As soon as I can find the charger for my camera...

In all the chaos, I couldn't find Carl's card. And his real gift is still rolled up in a tube in the back of the trunk. It really does need a frame to be a proper gift, so I guess we'll call it a belated one. I'll admit, I was not really on my game this weekend, though I was responsible for the heart-shaped espresso set in the first picture.

Honey, pretend you don't see the following picture of what your gift will look like once framed...

love these prints from madebygirl

There is still lots of nesting to be done to really be settled in to the new house. In the meantime though, I've been enjoying the sprinkling of love all around the house. After all, isn't that really all we need?

XO,

Chelsea

friday funday fill-in

lauren over at the little things we do has the cutest blog and a fun fill in the blank friday post going. time to play along...


1. I am hoping my Valentine's day this year includes, lots of nesting. we are moving in tomorrow and we are both so excited to make our little love nest together.

2. My biggest guilty pleasure is an afternoon watching movies under a blanket.

3. I am most proud of producing two amazing, intelligent, compassionate little people.

4. If I could choose one outfit to live in it would be striped t-shirt dress, belt and cowboy boots. I have sort of a stripy-things addiction.

5. People are the color in my world.

6. I would rather go outside than stay in.

7. I love my life more than I ever thought possible.

thanks lauren for the friday fun!

I'm looking forward to a crazy weekend of moving. But I do get to spend it with this guy...so I couldn't be happier.

how are the rest of you spending your Valentine's Day?

i HEART Thursdays - sweet thangs

Yay, its Thursday again!

My honey does indeed come home again today - and this time for a four day weekend. So perfect for us that two holidays bookend this weekend!

Not only is it Valentine's Day, but its also moving weekend! We're taking the move-in plunge and celebrating it on Valentine's Day! I've got a few tricks up my sleeve and I'm excited to see what he might be up to as well.


Here's my sweet little list of heart things for today...


yum. meringues are some of my all time faves


swirlies and checkers and polka dots - oh my!!


simple, sweet bon bons



good enough to eat!!
this adorable little felt set from LittleFluffStuff would be perfect for tea parties with Harper Lee


no sweets post would be complete without some cupcake lovin'







What sweet thangs are you HEARTing today?





XO,

Chelsea


images sources: weheartit and flickr

Vinyl lovin'

My beautiful, talented friend Kassi over at BacWoods Fern has an awesome Tuesday "two things I'm loving around my home" post each week. I finally decided I'd link up today with my two things!!

I LOVE my record player. It was a Mother's Day gift several years ago and it took up residence in the garage for several years since there was nowhere to put it. I finally pulled it out when I moved and we've all loved having it. There is nothing quite like the sounds that come out of a record player. We had an awesome dance party with the kids on Saturday night!!

And of course, what record player wouldn't be complete without an awesome vinyl collection! I have tons of my parents' old records as well as some that I've collected over the years. What I love though, is the old record crates they are in. Licorice Pizza was an awesome record store in Santa Barbara several years ago. When they were closing, I was in there scooping up what I could before they closed and they let me have these two crates. I think I was like 14 at the time! Their retro cool logo is a waitress carrying what looks like pizza, but is actually steaming hot vinyl! Genius.

Check out Kassi's awesome blog and share what you're lovin' around your home today!

XO,
Chelsea

the cure for what ails you

So, my hunny isn't feeling up to par, little Harper Lee has the sniffles, Sutter generally doesn't like anything but quesadillas and it was a damp, chilly, almost-rainy night. Sounds like soup night to me!!

Albondigas Soup seems to be the most requested meal (at least by Carl and Harper) when everyone is feeling a bit down, so off to the store we rushed to get the fixings:

2 carrots
3 zucchini
2 stalks celery
1 white onion (you won't need the whole thing; chop some for the soup and some for the meatballs)
1 clove garlic (same here - save some for the meatballs)
bunch cilantro
1-1.5 lbs ground beef or whatever ground meat you prefer
2 49.5 oz cans of chicken stock
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 1/4 cups rice (I use white, but feel free to improvise to your liking!)
1 egg, beaten
spices: I like cumin and cayenne, some oregano, thyme and of course a bay leaf

Slice/chop your veggies. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a large pot. Saute the onion, garlic, carrots and celery until just fragrant. Throw in the zucchini and saute for a few more minutes. Add chicken stock, crushed tomatoes, spices and bay leaf and let it start to simmer.

While the soup is coming to a simmer, mix in a bowl: ground beef, 1/4 cup rice, spices to your liking, chopped garlic, chopped onion and beaten egg. This is when your hands get messy! Blend all ingredients and start rolling the mixture into balls. Drop the meatballs into the soup.

Add remaining rice, chopped cilantro and cover. Generally, the soup is ready when the meatballs start to rise to the top and the rice is looking cooked - about 20 mins.

I like to have mine with a sprinkling of fresh chopped cilantro and good squeeze of lemon juice.


The best part - it tastes better on day two!


so fun to have help from this little cutie

and this guy was waaay too busy being Luke Skywalker to even be bothered

Hope everyone is enjoying their Fridays!

What is your go-to comfort food or cure-all?

XO,

Chelsea

I HEART THURSDAYS

I've had the idea in my mind for a while now to post I HEART THURSDAYS, since I love Thursdays. The brink of the weekend is upon us, but I'm still feeling the productive flow of the week. Thursdays are the days my honey comes home from his 4 day workweek on the road. My workmates always ask why I dress so cute on Thursdays ;)

And of course - I just love the imagery of hearts! I'm constantly inspired by seeing little heart images all over the great crafty world. And the natural world for that matter!

So, February seemed like a better month than any to start the first I HEART THURSDAYS post. Here is today's roll of heart things from all over.


who wouldn't love a latte like this?



this card is just amazing. loving the victorian feel at the little chickadee



a sweet stack of silver love. lilyja's shop has lots of sweet goodies.



heather moore's jewelry is a hefty, but swoonworthy investment


What does everyone else <3 today?

xo,
Chelsea