Lost and Found

It's the little details that can give a home personality. No, the socks in the corner of your room don't count.
While we lived in Hawaii we would take walks on the beach and collect shells, sand and sea glass. Until a few weeks ago all of the my little beach finds were in a shoe box. But recently I decided to pull them out because hey it got cold and I was missing Hawaii, what can I say.

So, my tip today... use your found objects and display them to remember all the places you've been. You could use rocks, red dirt, sticks, shells. You could also pick up some seeds that are local to the area you are visiting and plant them to make a terrarium.



Above are some examples of containers that you could use.
1// Have kids? Use a vessel with a cork in it. 2// Make a mini memory by using a stemless wineglass 3// Mason jars come in lots of different sizes and are easy to pick up at thrift stores and garage sales. 4// Display more than one container and label them for different beaches or different vacations.

The clutter in your shoe box

Over the past few months while I was A wall here on the blog I have gained an increasing interest in interior design/decorating. As weird as it sounds I find myself thinking about it. A LOT. Analyzing different spaces while I slip off to sleep and constantly trying to come up with ways to tweak this or that. Am I weird? Is it a phase? WHO KNOWS. But I am rolling with it. And I like it. Scratch that, I LOVE it. And because it is constantly on my mind it was only a matter of time before it leaked here onto the blog.

Recently I have come up with a few ideas and inspirations and I wanted to share them with you. So I will be doing a little series this week. The series will be on connecting the places you go and your home in a fun, creative, economical way.

On our latest trip down the CA 1 I decided that I wanted to find something to remember our trip by. Not just something to shove in a shoe box or clutter my purse like I usually do (does anyone else hold onto their airline tickets? For like years? Please say I am not the only one). I wanted something I could display in our home. Sure I there are always pictures, but more often then not they never leave my hard drive.

On our trip we stopped at a gift shop. It was full of beautiful art, pottery, and quilts done by locals. I would have loved to get my hands on some of it but the price was a little steep for my liking. After some looking I found the art I had been eying but in the form of a card. The cards were only $3 a piece. Which for one card isn't the best price but if you think of it as art then you really can't beat $3 now can you?



These are the two cards we picked out. We loved the colors and how they really did remind us of our trip. I am in the process of hunting down frames at the thrift store and then I have the perfect wall in our front room for them to go on (watch for pictures!).



Here is another example of art in our house that we got on one of my first trips into San Francisco. We stopped at a darling little shop and I saw this map. When I looked closer I realized it was a sheet of nice wrapping paper. At $4 a sheet I wasn't about to get wrap happy. But $4 for a piece of art to hang on my wall, now we're talking. Once I found the perfect frame (IKEA) I trimmed the sides of the map and framed it. Easy art that reminds me of our trip and is a great conversation piece.

Classic Roasted Salsa

Last week when we were deciding on the Thanksgiving menu Alden's sister Afton mentioned that we should throw turkey out the window and have lobster instead! The Aikele's had a tradition growing up of eating lobster tacos in Mexico while visiting their grandparents in southern California. I wasn't too keen on the idea because hey, I am a traditionalist. I like my turkey and I am not too hip on sea food. So like most things in life we compromised. Lobster dinner on Wednesday night and turkey dinner on Thursday night. I now have to say... I am a believer. Tortillas stuffed with beans, avocado, homemade salsa, cilantro lime rice, lobster, and drizzled in butter and fresh lime juice.... um yes please. I know, you just caught yourself drooling right? I fear we may have started a tradition, which means the 5 lbs I usually gain at thanksgiving just turned into 10.

*Scroll down to see the recipe for our easy homemade salsa. Who doesn't love dips this time of year anyway?





Classic Roasted Salsa
Recipe via Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine

Ingredients:

* 2 large tomatoes (1 1/2 pounds)
* 1 medium white onion, halved
* 3 jalapenos
* 3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
* 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (from 2 limes)
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. Heat broiler, with rack in top position. Place tomatoes, onion, jalapenos, and garlic in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet.

2. Broil until vegetables are blistered and slightly softened, rotating sheet and flipping vegetables frequently, 6 to 8 minutes (garlic may need to be removed earlier if it is browning too quickly).

3. Discard garlic skins. In a food processor, pulse garlic and vegetables until coarsely pureed. Add lime juice, season with salt and pepper, and pulse to combine.

4. Transfer salsa to a bowl and stir in cilantro. (Refrigerate, up to 3 days, or freeze, up to 3 months.)

* The first time we made this we made it with 3 jalapenos, just like it calls for. Holy Tamoleee it was HOT! And we like hot! I suggest starting with one jalapeno or even half with no seeds if you don't like spicy. Then you can always add more to pump up the volume.

Happy Thanksgiving

Warm and cold
Cozy breaks the ice
Gravy blankets
the mundane reality
Turkey dampens tempers
while sleep takes the pie
Hearts full, stomachs fuller.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I am grateful for my family, both near and far.

CA 1 Road Trip: The Big Picture

After arriving in Monterey our virst stop in the morning was Carmel-by-the-Sea. We went down to the beach and then decided to check out a local mission.


Next we headed down the coast and stopped at different view points to take a look at the coast. This stop is Bixby Bridge.


Next we drove through Big Sur, the redwood groves that dot the coast. The elevation jumps and we stopped at Nepenthe, a beautiful indoor outdoor restaurant where we had hot apple cider and breakfast at 3:00 in the afternoon. Being on a mountain, in the forest, on the edge of the ocean eating breakfast might just be as good as it gets.

Alden had heard of this place, McWay falls, and had wanted to go for YEARS. Lucky for us it was part of the drive. Talk about BEAUTIFUL. Can you see the waterfall coming out of the rock? The only down side is there is no accesses to the beach, at least no legal/safe access. Alden was pretty disappointed but in the end we decided it wouldn't be nearly as beautiful if there were a million tourists down there.

Sunset kisses...


The next day we got up and went to Pismo beach to see the Monarch butterflies. It wasn't what I expected (the butterflies were hanging in the trees about 20 feet up) but it was still really neat.

We ended our trip eating Mexican at Morro Bay. That giant rock is actually the pit of an old volcano. Can you believe it?

When doing our research for the trip we came across an article by National Geographic about driving the CA 1. It had lots of great stops, I only wish we could have hit them all. Click here to check out the article.

Road Trippin

Alden and I hit the CA 1 for a little weekend birthday road trip. Alden usually prefers to "do" rather than to "have" for his Birthday.

Here is a sneak peek picture of our adventure. I can't get over those cliffs, that water, and the bridge! Forgive me America for day dreaming about Europe lately.

*Stay tuned for more posts of our trip

BIRTHDAY WEEK

Alden's birthday week started out with a bang. On Friday while I was at work Alden's sister Addie showed up out of no where. Currently she is going to school at BYU-Idaho but she decided to pop in this weekend for a surprise. And boy were we surprised!

Alden was still in DC on business at the moment, getting ready to board a plane and come home just to catch the tail end of his birthday (hence the need for a brithday week!).

Addie had the idea that we take BART (the subway) into the airport and surprise Alden and his mom as they got off the plane. BRILLIANT! So we got on BART with signs and balloons in hand (and camera!.. only to discover I forgot my SD card...Rats!)

We made it to the airport with perfect time and ran to meet them at their exit. The double surprise made for and exciting start to Alden's 24th Birthday week.

We then ate homemade German chocolate cake and chips a salsa (what birthday boy wants, birthday boy gets).

The next day included garage selling (our favorite past time), brunch at the Hunts, shopping, Thai food, going to the movie Moneyball and stake conference. Pretty much all of our favorite things rolled into one day.

*Picture includes a slice of Alden's cake as well as a card I threw together via this inspiration.

Happy Birthday my darling.
23 was a crazy year mostly. but I am proud of you. I don't know many 23 24 year olds that do what you do. your positive attitude amazes and motivates me daily. I love you more than all the stars.

Welcome to 24. I've been waiting for you.