Better late than never...

I know, I've been MIA the last couple days and I'm sorry. School, family gatherings, and medical issues have kept me quite busy the last few days, but I hope to be back on top of this and make up on posts this weekend.


I've taken photos of the apartment, have my list of remodel/decor hopes for each room and will be working on getting them all written up and posted before weekends end. Also I took a little hike with my family up Mount Baldy on Labor Day and will make a little post of our adventures up the mountain.


I was planning to take a bunch of photos at my local farmers market to post about it, but when I showed up downtown yesterday there wasn't a food stand in sight. I ending up asking in one of the stores why the farmers market was missing and they said that the city cancelled it. Last week was the final one for this year! Very sad and disappointed, but I know next door in Claremont they have the Claremont Farmers and Artisans Market on Sundays and I most likely will start hitting that up. Really want some fresh flowers for the living room. 


I got the LOVE print up in a lovely frame, purchased on sale from Michaels and the little vintage door handle rack has found it's home next to the front door. Now I have a spot to hang my purse and a jacket.


So that's a little peek into what I've been up to this last week, and you'll know more by Monday. Have a happy weekend, y'all!


xoxo

Oh what a frenzy

After driving up Mt Baldy and enjoying a lovely lunch at the Mt Baldy Lodge (pictures soon) I went into major cleaning mode when we got home.

I am so proud of myself and it's such a relief when you know your entire house is spotless. We brought some of G's photographs up from the garage and hung them, which makes it so much more homey. And I've been going crazy at the market buying flowers and arranging them. I love seeing so much green and bright color. And yummy, scented candles are the icing on the cake.

G has a myriad of frames, so I was hoping he'd already have one that my new LOVE print would fit in, but unfortunately they're all too small. Tomorrow I'll hopefully get a chance to pick one up and once I've hung it I'll get to work on apartment photos and my list of to-do's.

I tried a new tea today and fell totally in love, it's called Licorice Spice by Stash...

It has a delicious, sweet aftertaste. And I love the box.

I really need to get myself a tea kettle, dropping the tea bag in a cup of water and then microwaving it doesn't seem to make the tea saturate as well. I feel like I'm tasting more water than tea.

Well, it's been a long day and I am ready to go off to dreamland. G'night!

Happy Friday

Today was an all around good day. Got to sleep in a little, found some yummy banana nut muffins in the kitchen for breakfast and our MIA pool guy finally showed up and cleaned the pool (lots of banana leaves and algae in it, ick!).


Our gardener was here also today and got the lawn all clipped up and fixed one of our broken sprinklers. Said gardener also happens to be a plumber/handyman and attended to the broken shower drain in the main  house and installed the log lighter for the fireplace.


I am so jealous of our tenants having a fireplace! But in four or so years it will be all mine. I imagine many a wonderful Christmas'/parties around it.


I got the hummingbird feeder up yesterday and here's what it looks like in the yard...

I hung it from an eve, close to some plants I notice that the hummingbird likes to take a break at. I saw him go flying into my hibiscus today, but he didn't notice the feeder. If I don't see him at it soon I might have to move it. Part of the reason I put it there was because I want to be able to see it from upstairs/the balcony. It's mainly for his pleasure though, so if I have to move it, I move it.


I decided to go on the search today for a wind chime. First I hit up Armstrong Garden center and I liked what they had, but I wasn't feeling the prices. The cheapest wind chime that I liked was $55 and I understand that they sell the top of the line ones, but I just couldn't see myself spending that much on one I only slightly liked.


So off to Lowe's I went with my 10% off coupon. Right when I walked in the doors from the Garden Center was a display with a bunch of wind chimes. I was so happy! I tested them all, looking for the perfect chime. I don't like a chime with a lot of tinny. I like it to sound a lil... deeper. If that makes sense. I finally settled on a lovely copper colored one, with an interchangeable weight. Since it's fall, I am using the leaf...

I hung it at the far right end of the deck because I want to be able to hear it from the bedroom. I think it looks awful nice next to the palm and with the mountains as a background it's just lovely.


While at Lowe's I found lovely Calla Lily plant and decided to bring it home to have inside the house. All the plant focus has been on outside the house, but I've been dying for some green inside so I bought the Calla Lily plant and have it sitting on our window seat in the living room.

When I got home from my little shopping excursion the painters had arrived to get to work in the main house. They took the nasty old evaporative cooler off the dining room side of the main house and in the process had to pull down the siding. Since they weren't able to find siding that matched they pulled down the siding farther along the wall that meets the breezeway door and will be patching both with a wider wood siding. In the process of pulling everything down, down came my little butterfly bell (we use it as a "doorbell" and I decided it was time to find an actual chain for it rather than the ratty yellow cord that hung from the bell.

So off I went to Michaels. I adore Michaels. I can get in so much trouble there. But I think I really kept myself in check. I found a lovely chain and once the siding by the breezeway is done, I'll put the bell back up and take a photo to post here. I was enamored with all the Halloween stuff they had, but told myself to wait... HomeGoods is next door. I made a quick stop in the prints/posters area and found a lovely print that I'm going to hang above the living room sofa... as long as G doesn't fight me on it. lol

I need to get a frame on it and then I can hang it. I will take a photo of that once it's been done, which I hope will be before the end of this weekend.


After I took my Michael's purchases to the car I walked next door to HomeGoods. And I was so right to wait. Oh my gosh the Halloween stuff they have! I still practiced restraint, I will wait to buy Halloween stuff until I am with G, because he'll get really excited and then it won't be so bad as if I had come home all on my own with a bunch of stuff. haha


I ended up buying two 'Owl' related things for my expectant Cousin for her baby's room. And then I found this lovely aged looking red box for the coffee table to put odds and ends in, this beautiful set of mosaic candle holders, and a towel/jewelry rack.

The mosaic candle holders will probably be moved somewhere else and I've yet to figure out whether I want the rack to be in the bathroom or the bedroom. But will post pics once they've found their permanent homes.


Before I headed home I stopped at Bath and Body Works and picked up the new Fall soaps I talked about in a previous post. Once home I unpacked everything, made spaghetti, and now here I sit and that was my day. I took some pics earlier of my Lilies on the table. Still waiting for a few to open up, but they're looking beautiful.

It is my plan to take photos of each room in the apartment for the purpose of 'before and afters' as I make changes and updates to it. I hope to take these photos this weekend and do a post on each room detailing what I'd like to do. I'll try to make it as interesting as possible. I can get boring with my list love. lol


Hope you're having a lovely Friday evening and that you have a Happy Labor Day holiday weekend!


xoxo