Happy Valentine's Day.... :)

The day o' love is just around the corner, so

let's talk love...

true love.

Yeah you know, the kind of love that you'd find on a certain tv

show that has now become my favorite guilty pleasure.

You guessed it!!
The bachelor.
I've never been so obsessed with this dumb show!
It's my favorite waste of an hour of my life that I will
never get back.
I don't know if it's because he's a farmer or what,
but I'm literally glued to the monster (as my mom so affectionately
calls the tv) on Monday nights just loving every minute
of it!!

I mean honestly? I was kinda sad to see this nut job leave!

My current favorite is Becca:)
there's something kind of sweet,
and dare I say real? about her.

Speaking of real...
I'm so hoping my hubby puts something like this in a
box for me for Valentine's Day!!
hahahahaha!!!

Thank goodness he knows
I'd much rather have THIS in a box!!
I mean, right????!!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I hope your day is full of love...

true love!!!

Project Beautify Arbor.... :)

 Just thought I'd give you all a look at our latest 

completed Project Beautify property.

This little adorableness is nestled in the midtown area of

Ventura, CA. She was built in 1955, is 1204 sq. ft and 

was a 3 bedroom 1 bath before we got a hold of her:)

The outside got some fresh paint, landscape, shutters and our signature 

window box to cute her up:)

Then we went inside...

So here's the original floor plan. After walking the house,

we noticed that the Master bedroom was so much bigger than the kitchen,

and had this huge beautiful window that looked into the backyard.

It also weirdly had a door going into the laundry room.

So we decided to do a little flip flopping.

We moved the kitchen to the master bedroom and opened up walls

to make a great room.

The red walls are the ones that were removed.

The green wall were the ones that were put in.

 End result being this.

Better use of space and we added a master bathroom!

This was the before front room with the doorway to the bedrooms.

The after:)

Trim trim trim and a fab barn door! And let's just have a moment

over those original hardwood floors!!!

The kitchen before in what is now the master bedroom.

The cabinets were only a few years old so we used them!

My son Ryne who can rock a finish like no other,

painted them.

We then filled in with custom cabinets where needed,

like the peninsula:)

The hubby made those x doors, because his crazy wife

just had to have a farm sink. Meaning, he had to cut the existing cabinet down

to accommodate the sink and the doors below ended up too tall:(

Soo he made those, and I LOVE them!!!

This is the before hall bath.

And now the after:)

Yes of course there are beautiful hardwood floors under that carpet!

This is just the cutest bedroom ever!

I LOVE that ceiling!!

And here's the master bath. Cute eh?

I ordered that vanity and when I opened it up, the "marble" countertop 

was this hideous pinkish color.  I stood there staring at it

 trying to convince myself that it could work.

 It wouldn't. No way:(

So after I cried a bucket of tears,

I went down to Ventura Stone and picked out

of their bone pile and found this beauty!

The master closet is behind that door:)

That sweet house on Arbor street hit the MLS on Friday and

was sold on....Friday!!

Now we're off to the next one!!

The Addison house in Ventura, California.

Built in 1958, featured in Architectural Digest in 1961!

It had never been for sale until now.

And we get to love on it.

How cool is that??!!

Make new friends..... :)

Moving from my hometown has been quite the adjustment for me.

You see I lived all my life in the same city.

Like I was born there.

I felt like I knew everybody!!

So woah, when I moved here to Carp and suddenly realized

I didn't know a soul, it kinda freaked me out!!

I mean I was just days away from standing on

Carp Ave. holding this very sign people...

  In an effort so save herself from total embarrassment 

and having to disown her mother,

Rio came up with the bestest idea-

 A women's crafting club!!

 A once a month get together where we can meet the ladies

of Carp, drink some wine, eat sweets and.....GET OUR CRAFT ON!!

I hate that idea...

SAID NO WOMAN EVER!!!

So we put it out there and we waited....

And whaddya know? They came!!

We made pom pom heart wreaths..

Drank wine and ate sweets....

And made a L-O-V-E banner:)

It was sooo much fun!! There was laughter, chatter and a whole

lot of creativity. But the best part?

New friends:)

Her pain my gain..... :)

Renting is a bit challenging for me. I can't just go

taking a hammer or paint brush to things ya know?

So man! were we lucky to land this place! The paint colors are

new and fresh, it's got granite tops in the kitchen and the 

grounds around here are pristine:)

But there's just one thing....

Me no likey this light.

I thought there was no end in sight because I was not

about to spend any money replacing it.

Wellllll........

 Then Rio moved to town:)

and with her came her hoard of "things I was going to use in

my house somewhere" stuff.

Dang... she IS my daughter!!!

When she unloaded this chandelier (that was still boxed)

she went on to tell me how she was sooo bummed because

she wasn't going to be able to use it in their current house.

I stood there listening, faking a sad face and said-

"oh man honey I'm sooo not sorry about that!!"

two seconds later-

"now go put it in my car."

LOOKY!! Is that the sweetest little bird chandelier you 

ever did see??

 It makes me happy all day everyday:)

Rio found this adorable light here, in case you want one for yourself:)

Yes one of the bulbs is out, but I needed me some blog pics!

Priorities people!!

Do you see the distant cousin to the old chandelier 

back there? Ugh. I gotta say, it is a step up from the boob lights though.

We're going to be putting a ceiling fan up there before long:)

So the moral of the story is..

Mama's don't let your babies hoard stuff that isn't... AWESOME!! 

hee hee hee!!

For my AZ peeps-

The Mesa Historical home tour is this Saturday January 24th!

Don't miss this chance to tour some fab homes! 

3 of which are 

Project Beautify homes!

1 of which you can have for your very own!!

Yesss! That amazing house that I blogged about here

CAN BE YOURS!

More info here:)

Happy Birthday Happy Birthday.... :)

So guess who came into town yesterday??
My mama:)
She's going to be here for 5 fabulous days
and I'm sooo happy!!

Within hours she was busy in the kitchen.

We started with a breakfast of tamales and eggs with green chilies:)

Then she moved on to making...

Ceviche for lunch!!

How awesome is that??

We ended the night with a dinner of roasted chicken,

and a trip to McConnell's ice cream in Santa Barbara:)

All day I kept saying the same thing-

What am I going to blog about?

Oooh I have to blog today!

Seriously, what am I going to blog about??

And then I remembered... Duh!!

Today is my most sweetest and wonderful mama's birthday!

She shares this birthday with my most sweetest and wonderful daughter Rio:)

I get to spend the say with the BOTH of them!!!

Seriously, how awesome is that?

7th grade.... :)

This here is my BFF Terry or Ter as I call her.

I met her the first week of 7th grade at Poston Jr. High where I was the

new girl. What started out as a sweet hello in the lunch line, ended

up a forever friendship:)

Our birthdays are 2 days apart, so that makes us kinda twinsies:)

I love her. I reeeeally love her.

Besides being a fantastic mama, grandma, sister and friend...

She makes tamales.

Uh huh. 

If you have a friend for over 30 years? You're blessed.

If that friend makes tamales??? Queue choir of angels:)

 Well last night I cooked me up those lovely tamales. Alongside them?

These lovely black beans...

This original recipe is from Bobby Flay, but I learned it from my 

brother in law who coincidentally is named Bob and who I also

met in 7th grade! And I love him. I reeeally love him.

Who knew after meeting him that years later he would marry

my sister?? cute huh??

Here's what you'll need:

1- onion chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

3- cans black beans- drained

1- chipotle chile in adobo sauce (or more to taste)

1 tsp.(ish) of ground cumin

chicken broth

salt

Coarsely chop up your onion and garlic. You'll be pureeing the whole thing at 

the end so no need to worry about perfection here:)

This is where I look over my shoulder and make sure my mom can't

see me open up cans of beans. hee hee

She would use dry and cook them just like Bobby Flay would,

but I ain't got that kinda time!! 

Throw the chopped onions, garlic, drained beans, cumin, and chipotle in your pot.

Pour chicken broth in just until it covers the beans.

Cook everything over medium heat until the onions

look good and soft.

Since you're working with canned cooked beans, you're really

just looking for the doneness of the onions.

This is the point where I add salt, and taste to see if I need to

add more chipotle.

When the onions are done ladle the entire yumminess
in the pot (I do it in batches) into your

food processor and pulse till smooth:)

This here is the bestest of toppings:)

-a dollop of creme fraiche

-some crumbles of cotija cheese

-chopped cilantro

Everyone who's ever had these beans at my house loves them,

so much so that they are commonly referred to as "THE beans".

I'm telling you the smokey flavor in them is soo delish you'll

make them over and over again!

And so I must say thank you Bob and Ter for what you've given me all

these years later. Who would've known... 

all this love... on one plate:)

**and thank you Brad H. for the blog post idea:)