happy birthday, queen dogg.

As many of you know, I affectionately call my mother-in-law Dogg. It always throws people off a little bit... you call your mother-in-law dogg? Yup! It all started with Vick Dogg which inevitably shortened to Dogg and stuck. She knows it's out of love and doesn't really mind it... maybe she even likes it?

The Dogg's birthday deserves to be celebrated in a big way so I'm happy to hear "the friends" are hosting a celebratory dinner tonight. Vicky is absolutely wonderful and I'm so lucky to have her in my life. With my parents living on the west coast it's been such a blessing to have Danny's parents nearby and around a lot (wink wink). They're very hands-on and a major part of our life... everything from helping with remodels and Vicky me teaching me little tips and tricks for household things to helping babysit Huntie while we travel, providing sound advice (Vicky is a great listener) and most importantly being super fun weekend dinner buddies. I love Vicky's infectious laugh, her dance moves, love of music and Riesling. She's a wonderful wife, mom, mom-in-law, daughter, friend and soon-to-be grandma.

Dogg, we hope you have a wonderful birthday! Love you tons, xo your son Danny, Teri & Huntie.

{especially for you today}

white picket fence dream.

Our house has been a seemingly never ending work in progress. Too many times than I'd like to admit our friends have asked, "what are you doing this weekend?" and we've replied, "working on the house (insert sigh)." Rewarding, but annoying.

Well, as of last weekend I think those days have come to an end - for reals. We have a new shower door to install but I think we're pretty much done. (Well, as done as we're going to be since there's always going to be something you can do, right?)

The big finale was getting the white picket fence installed in the front yard. I have to give Danny kudos - it was a big undertaking. He designed the layout (more complicated than you'd think), had the brick columns done, dug holes and poured concrete to set the fence posts, ordered all the fence supplies online, measured and cut the panels to size and got it hung up. My measly job was getting all the fence panels cleaned (they've been sitting on the side of our house getting gross for a year) and I thought that was tough.

A big task - but it's done, looks great and we've already enjoyed wine and sushi on the front patio with Huntie.

I seriously can't believe we're pretty much done with the house. We never thought the day would come.

{day one: getting holes dug, fence posts in the concerte and make sure they're level and straight}

{our little helper}

{drilling into brick does not look easy}

{measuring and cutting the panels down to size. little plastic shavings everywhere}

{cranking the tunes to keep us going}

{we're half way there! i love the string and line level - never seen that before}

{halfway view from the other end}

{time to mark our lines and slice off the tops}

{huntie was in charge of the skill saw}

{cleaning for nine hours. no joke. my hand was bruised}

{it's DOOOONNNNNNEEEE}

{i can't wait for spring to come and all the trees to fill out}

{my favorite area inside the fence. i love that the tree is on the inside}

green thumb.

My mom is an avid gardener - vegetables, flowers, fruits... you name it, she can grow it. She's pretty organic, has her own compost and even writes the newsletter for the gardening club. Given all this, you'd assume I have the green thumb gene, right? Well, I'm starting to think maybe I do - even just a little bit.

You see, we completely remodeled our home - inside and out. When we bought our house it was sad. It's a 1950's ranch style home but the previous owners decided they wanted to make it ultra modern which included painting over the beautiful original brick and ripping out all signs of life in both yards - adios grass, giant mature trees (makes me want to cry) and every flower. Oh, and then they just gave up so we bought a half modern and have traditional home with zero vegetation, ugh. (a lot of work? yes. all our friends and family who saw the home when we purchased it thought we were nuts. even i did.)

Slowly, we attempted to bring it back to life.... grass, planted trees and we laid pavers in our front yard to create a big patio and two flower beds. Last summer I tried "to garden" and make those flower beds pretty. It was miserably hot, the dirt was rock hard and filled with cement chunks from the remodel and I had no idea what I was doing. Needless to say, the flower beds didn't look pretty long and I'm ashamed to admit I've let them stay that way for so long... overgrown with weeds and dead flowers.

So this past weekend, I gave my green thumb another try. The weather was beautiful and Danny was going to be working in the front yard all weekend (exciting updates to come on that) so I figured I'd join him. Early Saturday morning, I grabbed my mother-in-law and was off to Home Depot for flowers and bulbs.

I have to say, I really enjoyed planting and working in the flower beds. It was nice to be in the sun with the music on, working with the soil and seeing my flower beds come to life. Kinda cheesy, I know, but I can see why people like this. It's not easy work, my lower back hurts and my fingernails are in desperate need of a manicure - but it was worth it.

I'm hoping the Arizona freezes are behind us and that I'm able to keep these flowers alive. I promise I'm actually going to try this time. Vicky helped me pick out hearty flowers that can tolerate the Arizona sun. We went with ranunculus, violas and snapdragons plus some Daylilly and Stargazer Lilly bulbs - I can't wait to see if they bloom.

{space planning after we weeded and got all the dead Bird's of Paradise palms trimmed}

{my slave for the weekend. she'd dig the little hole and i'd plant}

{now our drip system will actually have something to water}

{sneak preview of the next update... see the brick columns and new white gate?}

{the tings take on the front yard! danny on the fence, teri on the plants}

{and hunter... well, he kept us company}

{yay! pretty flowers under my window. love it}

valentine's day via polaroid.

We chronologically documented this year's February 14th with 14 polaroid photos. It was a great day.

1. the calendar invite that popped up on my phone last week. 

made me so happy i took a screen shot.

2. waking up next to my cuddly huntie & his heart.

3. conversation candy hearts sprinkled on my work desk when i got in.

4. at my office - the bouquet and card that were hand delivered by my husband.

5. casual america's taco shop lunch with my valenting in pink. ha!

6. hot pink shoes for me.

7. our dining room table. cards from our parents, love coasters + flowers in meme's milkglass.

8. danny's new valentine's day socks... hot pink flamingos. love, me.

9. pit stop at Macy's on the way to dinner. happy valentine's day to us... we finally bought the couch we've been wanting for three years. in 10-12 weeks we'll be in plush, down heaven.

10. having a drink at the bar before dinner.

11. ting loved his card. 

12. dinner at the new Citizen Public House in Scottsdale. cheers to us & pub love.

13. dessert. only because my dad told me to splurge and have some tonight.

14. ending the wonderful day with a nightcap at home so we could be with huntie.

xoxo



t + d.

Happy Valentine's Day

{photo by Ryan Ray photography}

I bumped into this on the Ruffled blog last week and loved it.

Hope you and yours have a sweet day.

jacob's golden birthday.

It's Saturday February 12th and Jacob turns 12... it's my nephew's golden birthday! I love that I was in high school when Jacob was born - in some ways, we've grown up together. Jakey and me are only 15 years apart and Steven "Uncle Dingers" is only 12 years older than Jake which is why I know we'll always be super close. He's a great kid who in true pre-teen fashion is into skateboarding, video games, having the perfect skinny jeans and recently motorbike riding at the desert with Dingers & Havie (Heather) and has started taking drum lessons!

Jakey, hope you had so much fun celebrating your birthday at Six Flags Magic Mountain! Next year - a teen!

{jacob with his super hip aunts & uncles}

Happy 12th Birthday, Jacob!

We love you very much.

the spikes.

This is what happens when Danny gets Hunter ready for Paw Play - a huge spike collar. I hate it. It's heavy. It's impossible to cuddle and I think it makes Huntie look like he has a little dog complex. Danny swears Hunter loves his spikes and gets excited when he sees them. Well, mom doesn't. I want my sweet boy back.