need a breather.

Doesn't this little breakfast look like heaven? A few things pop into my head when I look at this: refreshed. breathe. enjoy. healthy. sit. I need more of this in my life. I have hit a breaking point and can't add anything else to my plate. In fact, I need to take a step back to let myself breathe. I decided to take a week for myself. I am going to do a lot of thinking, resting, prioritizing, reading, sitting, and reconnecting with my husband.

I decided that, during this week, the shop will be closed. I have 2 orders to send out tomorrow and then I need a break from making anything. The shop will re-open on Monday, September 26th. When it does, I should have quite a few new listings: yarn wreaths, hair bows, and necklaces.

Goodnight.

Are you still there?

This is one of my new favorite desserts. It's the trilogy chocolate cake from work. Delicious!!!

It's been so crazy this week. The house is out of control with messes, I'm behind on orders (thank you if you're patiently waiting!), there are too many house projects we are always trying to tackle, my inbox is out of control, and there have been many trips to north county. I'm a little overwhelmed right now. That's why I haven't been the best about blogging lately. Sorry for the absence. I'll be back soon, I promise :)

summer in the city.

Today was a fun day! Philip and I took Patirck down to Little Italy for a walk. We grabbed coffee at Influx and enjoyed a stroll through the city.

Patrick gets thirsty. The little perch behind the water fountain was perfect for him.

On our way home, we stopped by Pink Berry (yum). Shortly after that, Summer and Nathan came down and took us to the zoo. It was the best Saturday! What did you do today?

date night.

I know in my last post I said I would be back with something interesting. Then I disappeared (oops). I have a good reason, I promise. Two babies were born this week! Yay! My sister-in-law had a baby girl and my cousin's wife had a little boy. Yesterday, we got to meet our little niece. She's perfect and looks just like her big sister (who is so so so excited!) ♥

I have a DIY/ Project ReStyle post coming up, but I wanted to share a little something for the time being. Here's a couple of pictures from the other night:

The other night we decided to walk down to Babycakes for cupcakes and a glass of wine. One of our favorite things about where we live is that we can walk anywhere from our house- the grocery store, movie theater, restaurants, book shops, thrift stores, etc. It's especially great on the weekends when parking is horrendous.

I wore my new necklace from the shop and took this little black clutch. I have been using this clutch about everyday now. It was a gift from a sweet friend who brought me all kinds of wearable and craft goodies. (Thanks, Becky!)

That was such a fun night. Our walk was enjoyable, our drinks weren't too spendy, and we had lots of great conversations. To me those dates are always the best- when I can remember those good talks. What' makes a date memorable to you?

patrick loves yarn.

This isn't the first time this has happened. In fact, I remember that first time. My friend, Hannah, was here and it wasn't just one strand of yarn. Her and I were playing around on the sewing machine and burst out laughing as we say that poor little pup. He ran to us looking like he was asking for help with yarn trailed down the staircase and wrapped all around his body, legs, and face. He was covered in about 6 different colors. It is really hard to pretend I'm mad or discipline him for being in the yarn in the first place. It's just too funny.

Notice his good dog collar he's wearing? He's doing so much better than my last report! I took him for a walk yesterday and finally realized the problem. Inside the house, we have always been consistent with our training and disciplining which ends in great results! When we take him on walks, we are always so embarrassed by how out of control he is and what people might be thinking that we weren't training him at all. We were automatically getting frustrated and ultimately letting ourselves be defeated.

When I took him out for a walk last night, I tugged on the collar every single time he walked ahead of me and said "heel" ( Also, I always gave verbal praises when he did it). Eventually, I stopped tugging and just gave the verbal command and it worked! He slowed down when I slowed down and walked right by my side. He even would sit, shake, and lay down! (That's something he's great at when we're home, but would never do on our walks because he was too excited.) I couldn't believe how happy this made me and that I could be so proud of a dog. Haha.

Something we have also been working on is "leave it". When I put his favorite toy up to his lip and say leave it, he doesn't grab it from me until I say "ok". (He actually has to look away to avoid the temptation- it's so cute!) I want him to be able to understand this in other situations as well. For example: If he sees a cat across the street, I want him to listen to our commands over his natural instinct to chase it with the potential of getting hit by a car. After our walk, we came home and I grabbed his toy. We played with it for a few minutes, then I said "leave it" as I threw it again. He just stared at me and waited for the "ok". I was stunned that this actually worked!

Anyway, I really love this collar and don't know how we would have trained Patrick with out it. Another hint I heard from my sister -in-law (who recommended the collar) was to exercise your dog during or before training. I think the point was that they naturally want to run and play or would be worn out and a little more submissive. I can't exactly remember, why, but it was a big help. We went on a really long walk yesterday and I could tell he was tired enough to just give in. Haha. I think she said that she read this in Caesar Millan's book. You know, the dog whisperer.

Are your dog's obedient? How did you train them and what did you find most helpful?

mondays are messy.

What does my desk look like today? Yep, a disaster. There's a photo shoot going on tonight. I'm hustling to get ready for tomorrow's event before I leave for the shoot. What does that mean for me and my desk? Lots of mess, glue gun burns, lunch, Friday Night Lights, and a cool lime refresher from Starbucks. Yum. Hope you have a productive Monday! I should be back tomorrow ♥

summer dinner.

We had some friends over last night for dinner and had lots if fun! We don't have anywhere to sit when friends come over. Since it's summer time, I figured that outside was the best option. I wasn't sure if our little table was going to fit four of us, but I definitely knew it wouldn't fit our serving dishes. I set up a few make shift side tables and we all fit just fine. Problem solved.

In all fairness, he didn't call seat check.

I'm not sure why, but Kaitie and I like to dress up our kitties. It started out with Tyler's sunglasses and just escalated from there. Soon we had a very grumpy and angry kitten who didn't want anyone to hold her. Can you really blame her?

puppy play date.

Today Patrick and I met up with my old roommate and her sweet pup, Bella. Brittany and I needed time to catch up and our babies have never met, so we thought the beach would be a good place to hang out. We met at the beach in Del Mar where the pups had so much fun chasing each other and wrestling. Of course, I snapped a few pictures.

This one is Brittany having a heart to heart with Bella. "I am your master. You will listen to me."

After a lot of wrestling, the dogs started playing tug-of-war with the leashes. At one point, Patrick had Bella's and Bella had Patrick's.

After the beach, we headed over to Pannikin's for lunch. Bella may be bigger than Patrick, but she's still a baby and she loves her momma. It was the best morning and I'm so grateful for days with friends. So far, it's a good week.

walking with patrick

We try to take Patrick on a lot of walks. Sometimes its fun and sometimes its frustrating. He's pretty smart and has learned some basic commands, but when he's excited about other dogs and people, he could care less. He jumps on people and intimidates other dogs and kids with how excited he is (he gets very vocal and jumps around like crazy). Luckily, everyone is very sweet, understanding, and gracious about his craziness.

One thing that has helped is his Good Dog Collar. My sister in law recommended it to me. She and her husband took their dog, Lady, to some obedience classes and this is what the class used. Lady couldn't really be around other dogs and barked like crazy at everything. They bought the collar after their first class because Lady did so well with it on. They were even able to take her on a walk by the beach right after the class and said it was like she was a different dog. We ordered this collar for Patrick and it has been very helpful. We haven't had the time to go to any obedience classes (and I have to admit that I haven't watched the videos on the site yet either), but just the collar is making a big difference. He still chokes himself a little when we're walking, but he is way more controllable. Walks are a lot more enjoyable and we're not embarrassed to take him to restaurants or cafes.

Obviously we have some more to teach him and learn ourselves. We still want to attend a training program with him, but I think he's doing pretty well with the lack of training that he's had. One of my favorite things is that he's very good with all of the babies on our life. He naps with them and lets them tug on him. He's a good dog.

happy mondays.

There's a lot of napping going on in this house lately. Life is busy and doesn't seem to be slowing down. It's all good things though- no complaints! :) Also, I've taken many pictures lately that I wanted to share, but our CF card reader for our iMac is broken. Bummer.

Here's some things that I've been enjoying lately:

I made Guiness Beer Bread this week following this recipe. It was good, but would have been better with a stew, mashed potatoes, and steamed veggies. Yumm!

We recently saw Tree of Life. I really liked it but if you don't know that it's long and slow, you'll hate it. The mother was just beautiful (her looks and the way that she loved her kids) and her outfits were fantastic! Also, the home in the beginning of the movie was my favorite.

Pictures of the past in the present by Dear Photograph via Cup of Jo.

I LOVE these outfits that these sisters are rocking. Via The Sartorialist.

I love this work space. I wish that Philip had a sweet place like this to work. It would make him so happy to have an organized space to call his own...and our living room would be a little neater too ;)

I think this maternity photo taken by Kelly Hicks is gorgeous.

I love these photos taken by Sarah Shreves for the faithful explorer lookbook.

Love anything by (Ma + Chr).