2-28-16

I'm still up to my eyeballs in tile! All is going well…just spent much of Friday buying tile, yesterday analyzing the tile & today returning some of the tile (& buying more). I'm staying with the overall idea & colors…but between price shopping, bathroom layout & figuring out how to best coordinate it all… the day flies. I think biking 100 miles is easier!

Bob is up to his eyeballs in seafood. He is en route back to Phoenix now & inside this box is...

…a few different kinds of oysters and...

…a fresh cooked dungeness crab!

Bob was back in Seattle yesterday & packed another box of goodies to bring home. This time Bob gets to stay home with the goodies. Can't wait to enjoy it tomorrow! I'm liking his Seattle layovers a LOT! #spoiled :-)

2-27-16

 My method of remodeling is…

1) Look around a LOT! 

2) Buy it, Try it, Return it. :-/

3) Look around some more.

Sometimes I get it right (or close) the 1st time. It's so fun when that happens! :-)

I've been looking for the master bathroom project. I had turquoise, teal, & aqua tones in my head but fell in love with this floor & complimentary shower tiles plus cabinets (see top two photos). The idea would be to do a white-ish counter top like the top pic & have either chalky blue or tan cabinets (also shown in photos).

I really like these cabinet knobs!

The small mosaic squares are tan, pearl & blueish grey. The solid tan tile would be used in conjunction with the mosaics for the shower. As much as I love that floral floor I think the price is too high so may go with a floor more like the one shown in this pic (it's similar to what we have downstairs). It's 11:30am now & I'm off to do more looking around. 

2-26-16

Days are warm and evenings are cool. Still perfect for feet by the fire!

2-25-16

This is one happy plant from Monterey! I took it's picture on our trip last week.

Pretty happy Agave thrive there too!

But one of my favorite things on our Monterey walks was this succulent fence. 

I absolutely love it & want to duplicate it at our place somewhere. Maybe make it a cactus wall if the succulents can't survive the AZ heat. It's just so cool!

In addition to the planter wall…I like these decorative cement blocks. I'm scheming how to incorporate these into our front entryway area. Hmm? So many ideas…so little time! ;-)

2-24-16

Deja Vu!

I had hand surgery yesterday with the same surgeon I had 2 years ago. But this time it was my right hand (not my left) and it was my ring finger (instead of the thumb). It was a minor surgery; removing a ganglion cyst (instead of reattaching a tendon). Recovery will be much shorter; 2 weeks of no exercise (instead of months). I'm back on the couch watching Michael & Kelly (that's the same). :-) I'm also gonna use these 2 weeks to start remodeling our master bath (picking out tile & figuring out layout).

2-23-16

This is a pic Bob took on Sunday when he was in Seattle at Pike Place Market.

The farmer's market had a few of their famous & beautiful tulips for sale (it's not quite peak season).

This photo is from April 2015 when Bob and I went to the Washington tulip festival north of Seattle. We had never seen anything like the enormous & colorful fields of tulips! Amazing!

We bought some tulip bulbs from that WA farm last year as a gift for Bob's mom. And we decided to plant a few of those bulbs ourselves last November. They just started to sprout this month. Do you think we are capable of growing tulips in Phoenix?? Meneely Tulip Farm has a nice ring to it. Next year I envision growing a field of tulips! Will keep you posted on our sprouts first! ;-)

2-22-16

Better than Amazon Prime!! Same day delivery from Seattle to Me! Bonus: Handsome delivery man included along with fresh tulips, clam chowder, Ellenos Greek yogurt and fresh oysters!! #lovedelivers :-)

So this is how it happened...On Saturday/Sunday Bob had a layover in Seattle. He texted me this photo at the Pike Market Place Sunday morning. I knew he would eat at our favorite yogurt spot so when we chatted I joked that he should bring some yogurt home for me!!! 

Bob took my request seriously. He knew he'd be flying from Seattle to Phoenix en route to Minneapolis that evening & asked that I meet him at the PHX airport to pick up my yogurt (he had a 2 hr stop). Bob then bought a cooler & went to town...fresh clam chowder, 2 containers of Ellenos Greek yogurt, some pretty tulips & a dozen oysters from this guy!

Here is the before photo of the oysters in Seattle...

Here is the after photo of the oysters last night in PHX. :-) PS: I had to buy an oyster knife to open them (& for future oyster orders). :-) Then…I had to eat them! They were delicious! Thank you, honey for your awesomeness!

Today's Seattle Themed Menu:

Breakfast: Family made lemon curd yogurt

Lunch: World famous clam chowder

Dinner: Raw oysters on the 1/2 shell

Nice touch: Colorful tulips on the table

PS: I saved some yogurt & clam chowder for Bob & my mom who both come back tomorrow.

The oysters are gone. :-)

2-21-16

Our last day in Monterey (2/19). Bob & I took an early morning stroll along the water again. This time we saw some pelicans.

As well as sea lions & harbor seals napping on the beach! Love watching them!

Monterey Marina had some cool sailboats & fancy yachts. 

And we may have stopped at Pavel's Bakery on the way back to the beach house. :-)

After pastry eating Bob, M, the girls & I headed to Asilomar Beach for a couple hours.

Asilomar is beautiful & also where Rod & Mary-Mia were married! How many years ago?

It may have been a little chilly. Or maybe I'm just from Arizona!! :-/

We leave Monterey with fond memories! Family, games, shopping, sight seeing & good eats!

We also left our nieces where they like to be…climbing or swinging from trees. Love those sweet strong girls!

2-20-16

Thursday (2/18) continued... After we hiked & played at Point Lobos, Rose & Marie went with Grandma Pat & Grandpa Bob back to the Monterey house. Rod, Mary-Mia, Bob & I drove to Carmel in pursuit of Hog's Breath Inn. We had heard about this hangout bar/restaurant previously owned by Clint Eastwood.

In fact…Clint was there to greet us! ;-)

Thanks to Rod for the throwback photo posted on FB.

From the ritzy streets of Carmel you walk down some stairs to an outdoor patio area. On one side of the patio is a nice indoor restaurant & on the other side is a funky bar full of character.

We found ourselves the perfect spot next to this cozy fire!

Ordered ourselves some trendy drinks & laughed a lot while while kick'n back under the hog's head.

There was more than one hog's head around plus a bunch of Clint Eastwood memorabilia. We all thought this place was pretty cool. PS: We heard through a friend of Pat's that Clint Eastwood was seen driving around Carmel the day we were there. We could have run into him (but didn't). Maybe next time!

2-19-16

"Life's storms prove the strength of our anchor."

"A smooth sea never made a skillful sailor."

"There is peace, even in the storm."

Some fav pics from yesterday. We had fun looking for critters, shells, rocks & posing for photos.

Pt. Lobos is a very pretty place!!

2-18-16

I updated 2/17 post with a crazy tree climbing photo. Scroll down to yesterday's post after you see today's! :-)

This morning Bob, Bob, Tippy & I woke early. We walked a few blocks downhill for a run along the ocean. What a beautiful sunrise in Monterey!

I enjoyed running with Tippy & I am pretty sure she enjoyed the run too! :-)

Standing on Lover's Point. What a cute face!!

What a good dog!!

Then the 4 of us strolled around Pacific Grove (cute town bordering Monterey). Above is The Red House. We didn't eat here this day but Bob & I had breakfast there on Friday (yummy).

Instead we crossed the street to have hot chocolates & coffee. It was a great morning to enjoy the fresh brisk air & visit (the Bobs talked a lot about planes & flying). :-)

On our walk back to the house we stopped at Pavel's (Rod, M, Ro & Ree's favorite bakery). It's now our favorite too!! Best pastries ever…true!

Our afternoon tour took us to Point Lobos. It's a beautiful park with hiking trails, tall trees, blue water, white waves, & big rocks.

We also saw deer, sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters and whales (well…we saw their blowhole spray in the distance).

Bob & I did a lot of running with the girls!

We really enjoyed hanging out with our beautiful nieces!

<3

Such an awesome outing!!!!