Bobs house

flowers, so pretty

lychees

new dress

chinatown

Finished chair

new coat of paint

old seat cushion, ewww

Nick got bored up here so he's staying with the grandparents. Steveo and I are working on the house, going for walks downtown to get ice cream and today we drove to Chinatown in L.A. Its only an hour drive from here. I bought a new dress, a parasol, Steveo got Dragonball Z figurines and we got Lychee's, (weird Asian fruit) We got home and I finished up a project I had been working on. I took a table and chairs and reupholstered the seats and added a new coat of paint. I figured with the weather being so perfect, we could eat on the porch. For the first time Steveo and I were able to pick flowers from Bobs garden and put them in water. I love how everything grows out here.

Tree Hugger

How ironic that Im such a tree hugger/lover, but live in the desert where we have NO trees. Palm trees dont count, there like the diet tree, or the anti-tree tree. Anyway, went to the Redlands cemetery to sit under the prettiest one there and felt the cool breezes. I could have taken a nap if it werent for the ants killing my nature high.

New toy

Oh yeah, been drooling over her for some time. My new Canon EOS XSI. Me loves her. I took her out today to shoot the boys and even got some good action shots. There will be more to come.

Thrifty Bitch part 2

As I said in my last post, I wanted to do what I could to make Bobs house look more organized and modern before he returned from Afghanistan. So Steveo and I went thrifting  and I found a mirror. 14 bucks later I brought it home. Went to Home Depot, bought sand paper $3.15, primer $3.45, red spray paint $3.95. This was my first attempt at remodeling anything and I'm rather impressed with it. It was an ugly brown with lots of scratches on it, but pretty easy to smooth out with the sand paper and primer. After that dried, I applied 2 coats of red spray paint and set it out to dry. Then I took some of my Acrylics out and added little swirls and dots. My only problem now is, I want to keep it here, afterall, it looks very Asian and thats plays into my whole Zen/Asian home decor.

Thrifty Bitch

Went to Yucca Valley, stopped at some cool thrift stores, found a beautiful scarf. I know its not scarf weather, do we ever have REAL scarf weather down here? Doubt it, still I had to have it, the material is so beautiful, reminding me of an Indian Sari. Here are some photos from the day.

Peacocks

I go through phases. Lately, its all about peacocks. I love the colors, and they are just beautiful to look at. So today, I got out the acrylics and painted the day away. If I could own peacocks, I would. As organized and neat as I tend to be, I could see myself being an animal hoarder. Its scary, but I could be that weird cat lady if my allergies werent so bad. But if I were to be an animal hoarder, my animals of choice would be Chihuahuas, hairless cats, meerkats, kangaroos, pygmy goats and lots of peacocks. We would all co-habitate peacefully until animal control and the men in white coats seperate us.

Have I mentioned I hate summer?

Even though I had mirror tinting professionally applied to my bedroom sliding glass doors, its still not enough. In a desperate attempt to keep it a little dimmer and a little cooler in my bedroom, I put up sheets. Tacky? Yes. Dont care.
This bedroom is about to get straight up ghettofied this afternoon, with tin foil. When I am done with this place it will resemble a crack den. But, it will be the coolest crack den in town, with one ceiling fan, and two little fans on each side of the bed. One day, I hope to live in a place where 120 degree summers dont exist, and neither does snow in the winter time. Maybe Ojai, or Portland, or Longmont Colorado. Thanks mom and dad for raising me in hell.

Playing with chemicals

Who says canvas's are for paint only? I learned by spilling alcohol (not the kind you drink) on acrylic paint, it does weird things. It takes some of the pigment out and when it dries, you can see the difference where the alcohol was because the color fades. Also, if you take any acrylic paint or water soluble "Mod Podge" and slather it on an image, then slap it face down onto the canvas, the image will transfer onto it. So after taking newspaper, old books, and one of those religious candles and using the images along with paint, I made my first mixed media artwork. Also, I sealed it with clear nail polish too. Yay. Cleaning up was a hassle but worth it. Im going to let Steveo try it on another canvas next and see what he comes up with.

Road trip to La Jolla

Well my logic went like this: If its 105 degrees here in the desert, than it should be about 85 degrees at the beach. I know I could have just checked the weather online but that requires to much time. So long story short, it was freezing, hello 68 degrees, not good. So not prepared for cloudy cold weather. At least Nick and Steveo didnt let the cold bother them and they still had fun in the water and building then destroying sand castles. We also went into a cave that was wet and slippery but well worth it when you get to the end and see the water and the Sea Lions. And anything IS better than 105 degree weather.

When my baby smiles, I smile

Travel is like exfoliation of the soul

I desperately needed my girl time. We have known each other since the 6th grade. I saw her on the bus with a pissed off look on her face (she cant stand the heat) and it was instant attraction, like a magnet. Certain people, very few I should add strike me instantly as someone I want to connect with. She was one of them. I saw that she lived close to me and we rode the same bus and a friendship blossomed. We have been through everything together, and my relationship with her means the world to me. I trust her, I look up to her, I love her like a sister!!!!! Eliz if you are reading this, thanks for my girl time in Colorado. It was worth the 14 hour drive.

Road Trip

On my way to see Elizabeth in Denver Co. So far, I made it to Gallup New Mexico. My plan was to be there by tonight, but yesterday I kept stopping to take pictures. I have seen some beautiful, interesting sights. First was Montezuma Castle outside of Flagstaff Az, then Route 66 had tons of Indian trading posts and jewelery. I bought the kids souveniers from each stop, and got my mom some earrings. Got pulled over by a cop in Az for speeding, (good thing he didnt ask for a green card) got out of the ticket, then made it to New Mexico. I cried when I saw the beautiful mountains, then stopped in Gallup to a shady motel that wasnt worth the 40 bucks I spent. Oh well. It was all worth it. Oh and did I mention, I almost hit a cow, he came pretty close, then I took his picture and gave him an orange slice and sunflower seeds. I think he liked it.

Recycle (at the Taco Shop)

This was an unexpected random sight. I dropped the boys off at Seans for the weekend in Riverside and Tom and I stayed at the beautiful Mission Inn. Along the way, we came across this taco shop/art house/randomness. Anyway, good thing I take my camera EVERYWHERE. Everything was made of used scraps of metal, beer bottles, bottle caps, etc.