blog sugar...tonight

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{I made peanut butter chocolate chip cookies to share.}

sigh The chrysanthemums that grow in the backyard are "Dazzling Stacy," which is why I purchased them in the first place. I didn't know at the time that I would choose the perfect spot for them to get enough sun and water and they would come back year after year, because I do have a lot of other flowers that never come back. So nice to see them again.

stop...

and smell the roses

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{these lovelies grew in Mom's garden, which makes them especially wonderful}

chai

I have a special place in my heart for chai. Chai tea, chai lattes, the scent of chai, a chai cupcake, all of which I love. Which has led me to these chai brownies, something special for tonight. For the past several weeks on Tuesday nights at nine o'clock in the evening my sister Kadee and I are dancing Bhangra, a type of Indian dance. Our instructor (a nice dental student with some moves) taught us that what we are learning is powerful and it is traditionally a masculine dance, to hold our arms higher, stronger, to smile while we're doing it, to shake our shoulders if we're comfortable. Last week we learned a series of moves that involved dancing with a partner, mine was Kadee. This seemed to bring us both a quiet joy as we faced one another dancing about, our moves intersecting with one another. Tonight is our last class. Some evenings it is tough to muster up the energy to dance for an hour, an hour when I'm normally curled up on the couch, but I will miss this Tuesday night ritual. I don't know if the dental student will be back to teach over the summer, or if our schedules will be open, so with this last night I am grateful for the shared moments we've had in that hot, mirrored, wooded floor, music pumping room...the room where I danced with Kadee.

pretty earrings + necklaces

sunday

blush + lime inside + outside

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{5.21 to 5.22}

fresh strawberries were picked and a pie will be made

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This has become an annual spring event for me and Mom (as is the holding up and photographing of one single perfect berry), we did it for the first time last year. The strawberries are so juicy and beautiful, and there are so many waiting to be taken home. If you live in the area I suggest running over there right now!

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♥ thank you Mom, xo ♥

found...

the happiest place on earth

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{smiling faces here and here}

how sweet it is While the weather changes from cloudy to sunny, then back to cloudy, I have been busy making whoopie pies for a dessert party tonight. They are soft like pillows, chocolately as chocolate can be and filled with the very best peanut butter frosting.

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{5.17 to 5.18}

saturday + sunday

a mixture of... babysitting, gardening, park giggling, monkey bread baking, snack serving, couch potatoing, bathtime splashing, kabob eating, bedtime story reading, Hermie fetching, nose blowing, caramel apple eating, hulk and diego playing, picture taking, piggyback ride giving, sweeping, scooby doo watching, and firepit warming

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How was your weekend?

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{5.15 to 5.16}

bed bugs

sometimes I wander

...found this on Tuesday, it arrived today, framing and hanging up by Sunday.

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{thank you, thewheatfield, you create beauty, package it with love and ship it so fast!!}

in love

The most beautiful cookbook was given to me yesterday. Someone traveling from London was kind enough to carry along Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache to California. {thank you!}

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So far I have learned that a swede is a rutabaga, a courgette is a zucchini, caster sugar is very fine sugar and that grams will need to be converted, so possibly a scale would be nice. I am deciding between the Lemon and Lavender Drizzle Cake or the Coffee and Walnut Courage Cake, to make first.

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Maybe the baking will begin tomorrow... in the meantime this cookbook is being read from cover to cover, notes scribbled on a pad, photographs admired and visions of baked goods adorned in pale pink rose buds atop vintage plates lulls me to sleep.

freesiaology the study of fragrant flowers with petals dusted in fine glitter, from the fairies no doubt

hello!

: : new pendants and brooches in the shop today : :

there is... only one person in the whole world who... ...

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♡ would pick the yucky beans out of the homemade chili she made for dinner

♡ knows how much sleep I need each night, even to this day

♡ puts ketchup on my mac and cheese

♡ loves me, despite the old sandwiches I hid under the couch

♡ knew me before everyone else did

♡ cut my white blond hair on windy days sitting on the electric box

♡ walked through my new home for the very first time with me

♡ flew us to Santa Monica for a weekend of our own

♡ calls me Breeze, sings it to me when it's time to wake up

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Mom, I love you so very much. xo ...

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{Two of my favorite photos...all of us huddled together at the beach, Dad behind the Pentax camera and all of Mom's girls dressing up and being silly, (that's me peeking from the way back in the red hood and then in overalls.)}

lucky mama

I had the pleasure of photographing this happy family tonight...toes got wet, the sky turned a golden yellow, kisses were given and taken, a mid photo-shoot bottle was savored, swinging in dad's arms again and again was enjoyed , cuddling in mom's lap was needed...I've known Michelle (the beautiful mom of these two blond-headed cuties) since long before she met her fella and started a family. It was wonderful to capture the spirit of this delightful family from behind the lens.

yesterday + today

a fresh haircut

waiting in line at the post office

helping Case pick out new glasses

Hermie drop off

delicious dinner out

mesmerizing play at Balboa Park

sweet take out from here

too tired to eat my dessert decorated in pink rose petals

sleep and dreams of chocolate confections

a bite or two of cake with breakfast

water for the garden

and Friday begins... ...

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: : Barbara at knack did a delightful feature on my cards yesterday, thank you!! : :

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{5.06 to 5.07}

growing . . . fresh cards in the shop + happy sprouts in the garden....{5.04 to 5.05}

fresh items in the shop, more to follow on Wednesday ...

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Salvador from Fashion Salvation did a fantastic feature on my new brooches (purchased at Unique LA) and you can vote for my brooch design on the left sidebar of his blog. Please visit Salvador's blog and vote for me, too. {thank you!}

found time with Hermie

a princess with sun kissed cheeks

the scent of freshly mowed grass

peanut buttercup ice cream

my pillow ... sleep