july summer bliss

A recap of our July in pictures.

{hanging out at the beach club}

{playing outside}

{completing our summer reading program at the library} 

{chasing the neighborhood bunnies}

 {posing...sweet girl - she is always happy to pose for the camera}

{enjoying weekends at the coast}

{catching up on my favorite magazines} 

{making peanut butter blossoms} 

{riding bikes without training wheels for this little 4 yr old}

{swimming at the Lifetime club pool}

I can hardly believe tomorrow is August 1st and our summer will be wrapping up.  But we are going to soak up what's left and continue to enjoy the carefree days as much as we can :)

get in my closet

J.Crew Bubble necklace//J.Crew giraffe bangle//J.Crew Sleevelss top//Tory Burch wedges//J.Crew tote//Anthropologie earrings//J.Crew shorts

get in my closet inspiration board created by Becky {This Is Happiness}

We are heading on a late summer road trip next week that involves stops at a few different beaches, and I would love it if this outfit would GET IN MY CLOSET before we leave :) 

 

Have a great day!

craving this

The Blu Bungalow's Watermelon Margarita

3 cups fresh seedless watermelon pulp

1 cup fresh lime juice

2 cups simple syrup

1 1/2 cups premium silver tequila

1/2 cup triple sec

3 cups ice

Place watermelon in a bowl and use a potato masher to extract as much juice as possible. Transfer pulp and juice to a pitcher and add lime juice, simple syrup, triple sec and tequila. Stir. Add 3 cups of ice and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Stir and serve over ice.  For more go here.


enjoy

and repeat...often  ;)


Happy Olympic Watching!  I'm so excited!!

capturing memories with organized photos

I'm a huge fan of taking pictures. I love how they capture life's special memories and help us remember a moment in time. It's a wonderful way to help recall our life stories and celebrations. Once you press that button, that precise moment is captured and it can never be captured again. Reminiscing with pictures brings such comfort and joy.  When I look at photographs, I'm transported back to that time the picture was taken and I become emerged in whatever the event, people, or feelings that are associated with the photograph.

My favorite way to organize my pictures today is with photo books.  I put it on my calendar to do list and work on my photo books every couple of months, otherwise if I let too much time pass the task becomes too large and I feel overwhelmed. 

A couple of years ago I started digital photo scrapbooks for my kids through My Publisher and love them.  I started from their births and did one page each month until they were a year old, writing in their milestones, memories, poems or any other special thoughts.  And then after a year, I just did random holidays, vacations, and any other special events.  They are so easy to put together quickly and have lots of fun templates for the kids' activities.  They are 12 X 12 pages and the quality is great.  My kids love looking through their books and asking questions about themselves.  The pages above are from their digital scrapbooks and these below are also from their books to show some of the different templates and designs.

Here are the books all these pages are organized in.  I've put these books out at the kids' birthday parties and our guest have really enjoyed browsing through them.

{Love how simple these books are with these little details}

Since the books above are specific to the kids' milestones and other special activities and events, I do one hardback family photo book a year that contains pictures of the whole family.

I also have many old photo albums that hold my pictures from the pre-digital days. I don't know how we ever got descent pictures without viewing them first. My husband made shelves in one of our closets so that I have a place to store all of my old albums.

And then I have several places around the house where I display pictures.  I have little vignettes set up that include some framed photos.

{my entry table photo display}

{my daughter's room has a couple of vignettes with framed pictures}

{my mantle with framed pictures of preston and lyla}

Off my kitchen I have a little desk space and behind that space I have a picture board where I display random pictures.  With this board, I can easily swap out the pictures without having to mess with frames.  I love having these smiling faces in my little work space :)

{my desk}

{behind my desk}

I cherish my life's precious moments through my pictures and having them organized and displayed helps me fullfill that. 

go for the gold

images 1/2/3/4/5/6/7/8/9

I am so excited that the 2012 Summer Olympics are getting started this week.  So in honor of the Olympic games, I wanted to pull together some pretty gold, summer accessories. 

Will you be watching the games and cheering for your favorite athletes to go for the gold?

coastal weekend

{preston & lyla & a huge piece of driftwood}

{preston & lyla with their cousins jackson & cody}

{preston boogie boarding}

 

{miss lyla always happy to pose for the camera}

Friday afternoon we headed to the coast for a weekend of fun and relaxation.  My husband and his brother went kayak fishing early Saturday morning and then we all headed to the beach that afternoon.  This part of the beach is very secluded, thus remains in it's natural element.  There are lots of really pretty pieces of driftwood, unique seashells and whatever else washes up on the shore :) 

We strolled the beach

listening to the waves,

watching the seagulls and pelicans,

playing with hermit crabs,

admiring the oyster reefs, 

jumping in the waves

collecting seashells,

digging in the sand,

relaxing.