Big Bear, Recent Randoms, and Stepping Out of My Box

Two weeks ago our Labor Day was a 4 day weekend!!
Yahoo!!
Except Mr. H had to work on Monday, so only a 3 day weekend for him. 
But we made the most of it!
Friday morning we packed a few things in a bag and drove up to Big Bear.
The weather has been so hot and humid and gross here and we were so excited to get up to the fresh crisp mountain air!

This particular trip was a little bit sad though because my Grandma's cabin sold and this was our last time staying the night.  Womp womp womp. :(  
Mr. H and I sure would love to buy our own place up there some day.  
Regardless of that being a little sad, we still had a great time.
We took the girls to the Discovery Center, on the other side of the lake from where the cabin and my Dad's boat are.  It was fun to explore on that side a bit and the girls loved the Discovery Center.
We did a short little hike they have there, and picked up some information on some longer hikes that we want to check out our next trip up.

After that we scoped out a Mexican restaurant we thought we'd try for dinner.  BB isn't known for the best resaurants so I was a little nervous but it was pretty good.  We ate at Azteca, but first we went to Vons for a few grocery items, and also had our first pumpkin spice lattes of the season!!!  So very Fall.  

 I posted this picture on instagram with the quote "The bad news is time flies.  The good news is you're the pilot." -Michael Althsuler

The next day my parents were heading up to spend the weekend too.  While we waited for them to arrive, we went to Snow Summit and took the girls up to the top of the ski lifts.  What a view.  I've never done that in the Summer time and it was fun and the girls quickly got over their fear of the lift!

By the time we got back, my parents were at the cabin and we spent the rest of the day out on the lake with them.  Did a lil fishin', motorboatin' and might have even done some day drinkin'. ;)

 Clairey was the only one to catch a fish all day!

 We drove down the mountain that night because we had a lot of stuff we wanted to do around the house the next day.  Starting with our front porch.

 It needed some curb appeal.

 Big time.
The spot by the door has been empty since we ripped the bushes out that used to be there and I've been anxious to find something to plant there.

 We bought two jasmine plants but haven't put them in the ground yet because I'm not sure if they'll get enough sun in this spot.  So we are waiting it out to see.  Mr. H replaced our old dingy doorbell with a new bright shiny light up one.  Such a small little doorbell but what a difference.

 Hannah spotted the Welcome Fall flag at Lowe's so we got that, and a few hydrangeas to add to the front too.

Sundays I'm trying to get back into meal planning for the week.  The girls have homework that they can start over the weekend so it's nice to get a head start on that on Sundays too.

 Clairey and me waiting to pick up Hannah one day.  She recently earned 10 bengal paws and got to shop the teacher's treasure chest.  She was so proud of this bouncy ball and pink kazoo she picked out.

 Hannah's got such a great soccer coach this season.  Her practices are Mon and Wed, and since I'm at work every Wed evening, I am really glad I get to make it to her Mon night practices.  The girl above in the purple stripes is our neighbor and Hannah loves that they're on the same team.  

 Our first games were last Saturday.  Unfortunately Mr. H and I both work every other weekend.  So this day I was off to take the girls.  Although... both their games were at 10am!!! Bummer!  My parents helped me out big time and took Hannah to her game, and I took Claire to hers at a different field.  It was HOT HOT HOT but they were troopers and played their hearts out.  

Recently I stepped way out of my comfort zone to try something new.
I put together a resume and a cover letter, and I applied for a job to work from home as a part time stylist for Stitch Fix.  From the moment I heard about this company I was intrigued.  It is a women's online styling service and once a month you get a personal hand selected Fix with 5 items picked just for you by a stylist (the position I was interested in).  It's really fun and I've loved getting my first two Fixes so far.  

I sent in my resume the end of July and started to think I wouldn't hear back and that was ok because I already work part time in the salon, and plan to up my days very soon, and with school, soccer, and Girl Scouts, I thought maybe adding to my plate right now wouldn't be a good idea anyway.  

But the job sounded fun.  So fun that for me, if I got it, I think I'd like it so much that it wouldn't feel like "work".  Shoot I spend time daily pinning different outfit ideas for every season for myself on Pinterest anyway.  The idea of going over other women's Pinterest boards to see what they would like to receive in their Fix sounded like a blast.  

And last week I received an email asking me to do a video interview.
I was SO excited.
And SO nervous.
And SO unsure about what to wear!!!!!!!!
So I did what any girl would do,
after work one night I tried on just about every shirt in my closet...

 and then finally decided on the outfit in the bottom right.

 The interview was only three questions, and you had 1 minute to answer.  The good thing was you could re record your answers until you were satisfied with it.  I thought about my answers to each question, and I was satisfied with my responses given the limited time I had to reply.  Of course I could have gone on but I didn't want to talk too much.  

A few days later I got an email that I did not get the job.
Womp womp womp.
Big sigh.
I didn't realize how excited I would start to get about the possibility of the job, and I was more let down than I thought I would be.
Of course I spent days analyzing my responses, and wishing I had said something more so maybe they got a better idea of who I am.
I thought that I could do a really great job as a stylist.
But, C'est La Vie I guess.
All things happen for a reason and I'm still trying to remember that.

It's like Tina Fey says, "Do your thing.  And don't care if they like it."

It's been a long time since I applied for a job.  I've already been doing hair for 15 years!!!  That sounds crazy, but I was 18 when I started.  I learned a few things by doing this, and I was proud of myself for pushing my comfort limits and stepping outside of my introverted box I love so much.

And today I read Gina's blog at The Fitnessista, and her I Will What I Want video really struck a chord with me.  And so did ballerina Misty Copeland's.  I've watched Misty's several times. So inspiring.

Anyway, I better run.
We've got soccer practice tonight.
But first, have you guys heard of this nail polish yet???

 I got it at Target and it is Ahhhhhhh-MAZ-ing!  It's a fast drying top coat but I swear it makes your polish feel like gel polish!!! My polish stays for days with this stuff on!!!  I love it.  Already on my second bottle.

I've got a WIWW post in the works too so hopefully I'll have that up on Wednesday.

Go do your thang my friends.
And don't care if they like it.  ;)

Big Bear

We had plans to spend the whole long Labor Day weekend up in Big Bear.
But I was still recovering from a sinus infection and a busy week, so we wound up going on Sunday, unsure of whether we would stay the night or not.

I loved how easy packing was with that mindset that we might stay and might not.
I just threw a spare outfit for each of us in one big bag and called it a day.
Luckily there is a washer and dryer at the cabin which also makes things way easier too.

 I was glad we decided to go.
We just love it so much and the girls do too.
As soon as we pulled up we saw my parents at the cabin, and also my Grandma and my Aunt Glenda and Uncle Dave too.
They were all just getting ready to go see a cabin that a friend of theirs was considering with their realtor, and lucky us got to tag along and check it out.

 The cabin was amazing.
And huge.
It was overlooking Holloway's Marina, which is where my Dad keeps the boat.

 It was two stories, and the downstairs had a huge bar and gameroom, and a gigantic bedroom that slept 8.

 Both levels had decks that had a nice view of the marina.

 And the hallway had a bunch of secret trap doors that were hidden along it.  The girls thought that was so cool.

 The upstairs deck was so nice, and this was the view...

 I loved this dutch door that seperated the upstairs from the downstairs too.  So did the girls.  :)

 After we got to tour the cabin, we ran and grabbed some lunch and headed back to Holloway's to eat it before we hopped on the boat.

 It has been so awful and hot and humid at home, and it was so nice to sit outside and enjoy the gorgeous weather up there.  And the clouds were so pretty.
Oh yeah, and I realized right after we drove away from our house that I forgot my camera.  I was bummed, but then glad that I didn't have to worry about it, so all of these are iphone pics.

 This is a view of the cabin we got to tour taken from the dock that my Dad's boat is on.

 The girls have been really into the tv show "River Monsters" on Animal Planet lately.  They've been watching it every night, and learning all sorts of new phrases from the guy who does the show.  He is a marine biologist and avid fisherman, (like my father).  Hannah couldn't wait to tell Geeps that she was dying to get out on the boat and "Wet a line"! 

 So wet a line they did. ;)

 Didn't catch anything on Sunday though.  

But my Dad did try to tell us all about this new hat that he got at the concert he and my mom had been to the night before in Big Bear.  It was a reggae band and he said he had to have one of these hats, and that before long everybody was going to be wearing them.

 We laughed and laughed and told him to get that ridiculous looking thing off his head.
We said it looked like a "ja-mica".
A Jamaican yamika.
hahahaha.

After a while on the boat we made our way back in so that we could go to The Village and let the girls visit their favorite ice cream shop.
And I of course always like to visit my very favorite boutique O' Koo Ran.  
I learned that there was an article in the Big Bear paper about the owner of O' Koo Ran and that the name is French and it translates as what is "current".
The owner prides herself on having things that are unique and that is exactly why I am so drawn to her shop!
I just love it there!
This time I found these adorable sandals that were on sale, so comfortable, and just screamed at me to take them home.

 So I did! :)
I love the little tie in the back.

We bought the girls these cute sticker books in town too.

 Claire stayed back at the cabin to work on hers with Gamma and Hannah wanted to go back out on the boat to wet one more line with her Geeps.  So Mr. H and I went too.

 It was so pretty out.
That view out on the lake just never ever gets old.

 We decided we'd stay the night after all.
The girls were thrilled.
We picked up a couple pizzas for dinner and ate back at the cabin.

The next morning, 
Hannah was all ready to go back out on the water at 7am with her Geeps to wet a line!
So Mr. H went with her and Claire stayed back at the cabin to chill with me and Gamma. 

 Mr. H said Hannah was a trooper out there.
And that she was happy as can be eating her cold pizza for breakfast while waiting for the fish to bite.

Meanwhile, Claire and I were dining on strawberry and nutella crepes at my favorite coffee shop with my Mom.

 And would you believe that was my very first crepe?
It was delicious!!!
Then we popped into this neat handmade soap shop that my mom had been wanting to check out.

 It was kind of hard to find, but I'm sure glad we did!

 This lady makes her soaps at home and her shop is a cute little thing that her husband built for her back behind her cabin.
We both bought several wonderful smelling soaps, and we also bought a fantastic face/skin cream that she makes herself.  I've been using it ever since I got back and I love it!  

Hope we get to make it back very soon.
I'm also hoping that this is the year we get both our girls on skiis and get them in a lesson!!!!
I have really missed snowboarding, and I know Mr. Hass misses skiing much more than he lets on.
I hope they like it so that we can all share that as a family.

Gotta run.
It's time to go back to the school for my second pick up of the day!