the treasure house

This past weekend my littlest sister move out to Pennsylvania where she just started her freshman year of college. Lucky for me, my dad decided to pay for a plane ticket so I could come out an help with the move. Well... help out with the move and visit the grandparents for a few days.

My grandmother didn't like my grandfather one bit when she first met him. He was a "smart aleck" according to Grandma (still is, she says). Eventually, he convinced her to go out on a date and six weeks later, they got married. It's been 61 years this fall since they said their vows. A regular old love story, I guess. They didn't have too much money (they lived in the garage until my dad was 7), but they made it work. After the garage, they moved into the house that my grandpa built, the house they still live in today.

They've been accumulating stuff in that house for the past 50 years. I swear, Grandma and Grandpa never throw away anything. One one hand, the cellar and the garage (with the original wallpaper that differentiated between the separate "rooms" of the garage) are over packed with stuff and it is a little overwhelming. On the other hand, if you just scratch a little past the surface, you never know what you might find.

I love that little house, in that little town in the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania. For some reason, it feels like home. The smell is familiar, the rooms are familiar. Hell, I even too my first steps at their coffee table.

Whenever we go visit we go through the closets, the cellar, boxes, and all the possible nooks and crannies. Somehow, we always manage to find new treasures.

Like my dad and aunt's old typewriters (I brought my dad's back to California with me):

Or my Aunt Judy's old sewing patterns from the 70's:

Or old photo frames that can be made into DIY mirrors or white boards or magnet boards (which I will be doing later)

(I bought the mirror in the back at a consignment store the day before I went to PA. Then, by coincidence, my sister found the other two in the cellar. I was so excited.)

Grandma keeps telling me all I'm finding is junk. I think that some of it is pretty cool. It's a piece of my history, and as a general rule I find history pretty hard to let go of. 

Grandpa has some other stuff that I wasn't able to bring home with me because it wouldn't fit in my suitcase without getting broken. There are a few old cameras that he is saving for me that I want to get fixed and find film for. There are old pictures that will take forever go to through, but that are impossible to get rid of.

I love my grandparent's 50 year old house that was built by my own grandfather from the ground up. I love the random stuff I find tucked away in closets that I find to be magical, but nobody else would understand. I love the cards with simple notes that are tucked away in boxes that bring me to tears because my dad wrote it to my aunt so many years before. I love the memories the house brings back. 

I love that little town in Nowhere-burg, Pennsylvania. It feels like home.

3rd grade restraining order

So, for the past week or so, every time I got to a specific radio station as I'm driving, the same exact Eminem song comes on. You know, the Eminem and Rihanna song "Love The Way You Lie."

Anyway, today I stumbled across this video on Perez. I thought it was funny so I figured I'd share it with everybody :)

look what I did!

Okay, so I'm 21 and I'm JUST learning how to sew... from my Mommy... who has been sewing since before she can remember. She has made everything from aprons to wedding dresses to quilts to my favorite black sparkly dress that I wore all the time when I was little (pictures to come... at some point). Anyway, so I decided it was time for me to learn how to sew. I want to be able to sew for my kids, make christmas presents for my nieces and nephews, etc. I just think it is an overall great thing to know how to do.

The main fabric I used.

Anyway, so a few weeks ago my mom started teaching me how to sew. She has a very nice Singer sewing machine that my step dad bought her a few years ago. I am also using a Singer machine... only mine is the one my mom used when she was my age.

We started with an apron pattern because that's something that's pretty easy to learn how to do. I just finished a few days ago (and brought it to my grandparent's house in PA so that I could show Grandma what I'd done) and I will start new and more challenging things in the next few days.

While I was making an apron for myself, my mom was making a similar apron (same pattern, different fabric) for my little step-niece, Madison (who we all just adore).

My Fabric

The super adorable fabric for Maddie's, with three different colors of cupcakes

The ric rac that went around the pockets and the edges of the apron

My finished apron (and first real sewing project ever)!!

Look how little Maddie's apron is compared to mine...

I've found that sewing is a pretty good bonding experience for my mom and I. We aren't normally able to spend too much time together without wanting to rip each other's heads off, however, for some reason, we got through this first sewing project without a hitch (knock on wood). 

Now, I know it's just a simple little apron and I still have a whole lot to learn... but I'm pretty damn proud of myself!  

remember this?

Remember that Sear's air conditioner commercial from the 90's with the cheesy couple? The one that was so uncomfortable and awkward, but fantastic at the same time? Well somebody posted it on YouTube and it made me so happy. So anyway, here it is... if not for your entertainment, at least for mine.



and now another one, just for good measure...

pura vida

Ever realize how vacations can be more exhausting than regular day-to-day life?

Of course, the exhaustion comes from eating large breakfasts, drinking way too many mojitos, and spending time on excursions... but still, it's exhausting. 

My family and I just got back from Costa Rica and it was a wonderful vacation. The group consisted of me, my  dad, step mom, family friend, and my three sisters. Everybody got along (for the most part) and there were no huge blowups like there usually are.

The food was good (especially breakfast), hanging out by the pool was wonderful, zip-lining was a blast, seeing all the animals was exciting, and the service was exquisite. We had a thing called "royal service" which meant that we had so many privileges that the regular guests did not have access to. The whole resort was all inclusive, and the drinks were super tasty. 

Here are my top 10 favorite pictures from the trip:

1. Toucan .. there were two of them

2. View of the ocean

3. The biggest grasshoppers I have ever seen

4. Monkeys!! (this one was yelling at us)

5. I really like pictures of twisty plants/vines (don't ask why)

6. They plant hot peppers to keep the bugs away from the organic coffee plants

7. Horses that we rode all through the forest

8. Bats that line up on the trees to look like snakes

9. Monkeys that relax by laying on a branch and hanging their feet off. Looks pretty comfortable.

10. Pretty purple flowers

And a few of the family:

Sisters (Liana, me, Kelley, Caitlin)

Zip-lining (I liked the frame that the tree provided to the photograph)

The whole family on our horses (Caitlin, Liana, Kelley, me, Devery, Cindy, Daddy)

The girls at lunch (Devery, Caitlin, Liana, me, Kelley)

P.S. The coffee was FANTASTIC. I bought myself three bags of it, even though I don't even know how to make it at home!

the good life

This past weekend I went back to SLO to visit some friends and get a cost estimate for how much it will be to get our stuff moved from the storage unit to the new house. It's a lot of money, but definitely worth it.

Anyway, just a quick little recap about it..

Christine and I drove down and we stayed with Garrett, Bryan and Chris at their house on Verde. I used Mike's room because, unfortunately, he wasn't there (on the plus side, however, I got to sleep in a bed instead of on the couch so that was a win for me). 

Friday night we hung out with Verde boys, then Steph and some Beta boys came over and we all went downtown. It was so much fun!

Garrett, Stephanie, Zack, Me, Christine, Bryan

Christine, Me, Stephanie

Saturday, after Christine and I had a very delirious and ridiculous morning, we went wine tasting with Garrett's parents. I was the 5th wheel tag along. It was my first time wine tasting and it was so much fun! I love vineyards, they are so pretty.

The first winery we visited, Wolff. I liked the spicy Syrah they had

we were drinking Bishop's Peak Cabernet... it was delicious.

Last stop of the day.

The rest of the weekend was spent visiting with a good high school friend of mine and just hanging out. We grabbed lunch at CPK before we all headed out. 

Tomorrow I leave for Costa Rica. I have to say, I'm a pretty lucky girl.

Looking forward to a week with my dad, step-mom, and all my sisters.

HAPPY AUGUST!