burgers with the bfg.

My BFF's fiance Jake is in Phoenix for work. Earlier this week, Danny, Jake and Alex had a boy's night at the old George & Dragon english pub for beers and darts while I was enjoying a night of bridal shower crafts and watching way too many episodes of TLC's Say Yes To The Dress. Last night the boys were nice enough to invite me out for burgers and beer.

I've been so bad about taking pictures lately. Not really my style, but it is what it is. Here's the BFG (oh, that's big friendly giant) enjoying his first Zin Burger.

I'm in a great mood today and excited for the weekend! For tonight's date night we're trying a new sushi restaurant (Roka Akor). It's new to us, but not new to the Valley. Tomorrow I'll be finishing up some bridal shower crafts (it's next weekend!) before dinner with Steph, Ryan & Kelsey Bug. And if all goes to plan, we'll be seeing Crazy, Stupid Love on Sunday afternoon. Hope you have a wonderful couple days off.

trend watch.

While flipping through a recent issue of Us Weekly I cringed a little when I saw the latest trend included French Bulldogs. Ugh. Don't get me wrong, I love that people adore Frenchies. I will be the first to tell you that they're the most awesome companion and encourage you to consider this breed. I'm obsessed with the fact that two of our friends have recently adopted Frogs (here and here) into their family and that even more of our friends are considering them.

But a trend? No animal should be a trend - especially a very high maintenance breed like the French Bulldog. I guess this is my protective mother instinct kicking in! Last month alone, one French Bulldog Rescue took in 28 dogs from people who surrendered them after realizing they weren't ready for the commitment and costs associated with the breed.

Frenchies rule - but do your due diligence. They aren't a pair of glittery stonewashed jeans or a belt with star cut outs that you can donate in a year when you're over the fad (and yes, I proudly owned and wore both of those items). Don't judge.

if you are interested in adopoting a frenchie, have you considered a rescue?

learn more about the breed via the French Bulldog Rescue Network here.

french decor.

Late last year we fell in love with and purchased two prints on Etsy (from different designers). They seemed perfect for our family. After a few months we finally found frames, got them matted and hung. 

The first is our little man and my handy hubby painting the house - husband in sneakers. So appropriate.

{French Bulldog Works, through Etsy}

If the beach cruiser bike was pink this would be spot-on me and our late little Sydney.

{Janet Hill Studio in Canada, through Etsy}

and the thunder rolls.

There was an insane monsoon last night. Tons of lightning, rain and the loudest and most intense thunder I've heard. Right after we crawled into bed there was a crazy clap of thunder - the kind that made our hearts start racing and Hunter jump. We looked at each other wide eyed as the lights flickered and then zap... outage. It was out until the wee hours of the morning so it's a  good thing we've got tons of candles around. It was really fun. We kept the bedroom window open to listen to the rain and spent hours reading by candlelight. 

i got to spend allll weekend with these two scruffy guys.

{july 2011}

oldie but a goodie.

what a great weekend. nothing too exciting to report but just one of those really good weekends. a perfect blend of productivity and relaxation. we had dinner with friends, crossed lots of errands off our list, had long lunches with beers, watched movies on the couch with the pup, and the best part is that we were together the whole time - just the way i like it! the man even went with me to the fabric store, mall and for a mani and pedi.  

while we were waiting for my new car's windows to get tinted today, we decided to do a long lunch at an old favorite - the orange table. we hadn't been in probably a year and were reminded why we love it so. (p.s. Phoenicians, they've changed ownership so it's the same feel and amazing food but the service is quicker and you can actually get lunch before 2p.m.). in the past they were known for their suuuper slow and lackadaisical service. kinda endearing, kinda annoying. 

hope you and yours enjoyed the weekend. 

virtual inspiration boards.

Have you heard all the hype about Pinterest? I just got started a few weeks ago but I'm having so much fun with it. It's a great way to communicate your vision for events, home decor, style or anything to anyone! 

In their words: Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, organize their favorite recipes and more. 

Are you ever browsing the web and come across a photo, new dress, piece of furniture, recipe, puppy or hairstyle you love? Of course you do. In the past, trying to find those images again was like finding a needle in a haystack. Well, now with the click of a "pin," Pinterest allows you to save and organize these images on your virtual Pinboards. You create the topics and pin what you like to them. And, if you'd like, you can allow others to pin to your board as well. Once in the Pinterest community, you can browse other people to follow their boards, re-pin and like their items. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people to discover new inspiration.

all you newly engaged girls out there should be really happy. 

us old married folks didn't have neat tools like this when we were planning our weddings ;)

you can follow my boards via teribockting 

p.s. my senior year of college, my girlfriend lisa bought a group of us cork boards and we all sat around and clipped out photos and words from magazines to create our "future" wish boards. ah, the good ole days.

weekend read.

Have you read Tina Fey's Bossypants yet? If you love Tina Fey or anything she has a hand in, Saturday Night Live or NBC's 30 Rock, I suggest you grab a copy for an easy weekend read. She's a hillarious feminist and I couldn't get enough. It's laugh out loud funny - just ask Danny. He'd just sit and stare at me with a look like, "Is that really necessary?" so I'd read him clips and then we'd both be belly laughing.  

If you're still not convinced, here's what the New York Times had to say about it.

I'm diving into The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo this weekend. Read it?

a hot (literally) date with tiff.

Last night I got to catch up with my dear Tiffany sans the boys. Last year, Tiffany and her hubby Dan (one of Danny's closest friends) moved from Phoenix to Florida so it was so great to spend some time catching up one-on-one and swapping wife stories about the Dans. There was a lot of "yes!" head nodding.

We shared a bottle of wine at Postino and Tiffany put it perfectly, "at least this wine is cold." It was toasty.

 At the same time last night Danny was in LA catching up with our friend Morris. 

It's bittersweet having friends all over the country.

hunter's first ride in my new wheels.

awesome new art.

Meet the newest member of our family, Chief.

Isn't he awesome? 

We just snatched up one of our friend's screen prints. Remember Ben's art opening (seen here)?

Danny and I love all of Ben's prints but ultimately decided on "Chief" 

because Danny's dad B-Joe worked on the railroad for 10 years.

When we bought Chief, the artist gave us a few tid-bits about the print. Here's what he said:

-I wanted to do an train engineer for my Dad, who has always been a huge train nut! He has tons

 of electric train sets, including one that takes up my parents entire basement! Crazy.

-Chief is comprised of roughly 237 shapes.

-Chief is the second 6-color print. Including overlapping colors, there are a total of 12 colors created.

Go check out all Ben's screen prints at BenBonnanPrints.com. Learn about the unique process here.

the day i lose it.

...you can bet good money a dry cleaning tag will be involved.

i love my husband. but i loathe his dry cleaning tags. i just do not understand why they end up on my dresser every. single. day. the bathroom trash can is mere steps away. whhhyyyyy??? and because i've (nicely) let him know (multiple times) how much this erks me and yet it continues, i'm starting to think it's a sick joke. is it, d?

{and yes, i realize i'm pretty damn lucky that this is one of my top complaints. regardless, i'm allowed to vent.}

in his defense, i know exactly what he's going to say when he reads this. "oh really? why don't you write about your stupid hair pins (what he calls bobby pins) that are everywhere."  it's true. they really are everywhere. the other day he even found one in his shoe. a couple years ago he launched a "zero tolerance policy" against hair pins - if he finds one, he throws it away. rude. 

beautiful.

We're in love with this kitchen. Isn't it perfect? The cozy couch for family and friends while you cook and prepare dinner at your gorgeous island? I want this exact layout in our home one day.

{image from decor pad}

twenty-four hours in san diego.

it was a whirlwind of a trip to san diego - 24 hours to be exact - but we fit a lot in.
unfortunately we didn't take many quality photos - including any of the new ride! coming soon.

here's what our quick trip included...

cab dropped us off in the middle of San Diego's LGBT Pride Parade. so we watched.

then we picked up my new car and drove straight to Pacific Beach for lunch & some time in the sand. 

headed north to visit Lacey, Chad and Layla at their awesome new home. 

dinner and enormous margaritas in Carlsbad with my little brother Steven. 

caught up with Heather and her recent trip to Bermuda. 

breakfast with Steven & Heather at home before heading to Dana Point for a bridal shower site visit

...and then the five hour drive home.

 

{can you tell danny loves someone? think she reminds him of a certain little frenchie???} 

{loving the decor! lacey and chad made those canvas' that weekend. so cool}

{the happy family & their new home}

{worth the wait! can't wait to watch the remodel process... gonna be amazing}

{i drove home from dinner - it was the first time I got to drive my car that day}

...back to the desert we go. sigh.

on the road again...

Remember a few months back when Danny bought a car in San Diego so we flew out on a Saturday morning and drove it back on Sunday (post here)? Well, we're doing the exact same thing this weekend.

Yup. Apparently we have a thing for San Diego cars (Silvia was also from SD). I've been driving D's Mini Cooper for a couple weeks so we're both excited to be back in our own cars (and I'm not gonna lie - I'm really excited for a new car!). This will be my third car ever. Pretty normal if you ask me, but insane for Danny to comprehend. The man loves to buy and sell cars.

So we're back in San Diego this weekend, escaping the heat and staying far far away from Carmageddon.

happy weekend to you.

images via this etsy shop. 



one fish, two fish...

my little brother has been visiting my parents up at their oregon retirement home (new photos added here). it's on a river & near wineries - what more could you want? well, my dad would say he wants to catch bigger fish. the man loves to fish but doesn't catch much. we got these photos last night & couldn't stop laughing.

my dad, the fisherman.

my little brother, the city boy.

their private guide estimated it's about 25lbs! 

 good news is dad can claim some of the glory - he helped reel after steven got tired of fighting this monster.

i love the enormous smile on steven's face. he wasn't even this happy with his hole-in-one.