First Day of School... Already

I can't believe it's time for school again.

This is the first year that I think I wasn't quite ready to get back to it.

Don't get me wrong, I mean, all Summer long I long for those short few hours I get to myself in the mornings when both the girls are in school.  But I hate the very early start time we have.  And as much as I love structure and routine, sometimes I hate it too.

And this Summer having our very own pool in our new house has been an absolute blast for us all.  We have enjoyed the pool/spa every single day.  And it's still HOT HOT HOT outside, and I think we'd all have loved it if Summer lasted just a little bit longer.

But alas, that is not the way it works.

So today Hannah started SECOND grade!!!

And Clairey is now in Kindergarten!!!

 Hannah has had a little bit of anxiety about returning back to school.  She's my type A kid who has some ocd tendencies and likes to always be prepared for what's coming her way.  She doesn't like the unknown and there are a lot of unknowns when it comes to starting a new school year.  But this morning after Mr. H and I walked her to her new classroom and found her desk, she was all smiles and totally ready to say goodbye to us.

 And sweet Claire Bear.  Bless her heart, she's just not a morning person.  I can't say I blame her one bit.  I'm not much of a morning person either until I've had at least one and a half cups of coffee runnin' through my veins.  But poor Claire isn't drinking the java yet, and 6am is darn early to be woken from her slumber.

 She just was not in the smiling mood by 7:30am either.

 That's ok.  I wasn't worried about her today one bit.  After loving TK, and already knowing who her teacher is (same one that Hannah had in Kindergarten), and having a handful of friends in her class from TK, she was more than ready to become a Kindergartner.  

 We drove this morning because I had to stay for a half hour in Claire's class and then had some errands to run, but from now on I think we'll be walking in the mornings.  The parking lot is always so crazy in the beginning of the year.

 Hannah had a handful of friends from her class last year in her class.  And a couple nights ago on a walk after dinner she met a little girl two houses up from us that is in her class too.  She was excited to see her and it was her first day at this school so Hannah said she ate lunch with her and she showed her where the restrooms were.  

 After we said goodbye to Hannah I took Claire to her classroom where the parents stayed and did a couple of projects with their kids.  Claire was squeezing my hand pretty hard until we got to her room, and then she saw some old friends, relaxed a bit during the projects we did, and when I left her she was sitting on the carpet chatting animatedly with a little girl from her TK class last year.  I left smiling.  I am happy and excited for this year for my girls.  I'm also very anxious for next year to get them both on the same school schedule.  Right now I drop them off at 7:45am, come back to pick up Claire at 11:30, and then back again to get Hannah at 1:57.  It's a lot of back and forth and that time in the morning alone goes So.  Darn.  Quick.  This morning I had time to run to Target and Trader Joe's and back to unload the car, and then it was time to go get Claire.  

Wanna see these cute new shoes I got at Target???

Swoon.
They're leopard.  
And they're so so so comfy.
They're gonna match everythinggggg. :)

I'm off to shower and plop on the couch with Mr. H.
We started a new show on Netflix.
Orange is the New Black.
We're diggin' it.
Peace Out.

My Weekend With Mr. H!

Now that Mr. H and I have two very busy little girls, alone time is something that we most often dream about.  But this last weekend was a dream come true for us when my parents said that they would have the girls overnight so that we could re-charge.  It was just what we needed and we had such a great time!

We had plans to drop the girls off with my parents at 1pm on Saturday.  The weather was kinda overcast and dare I say cooler compared to the normal July days.  So I was super excited that wearing jeans and a military jacket wasn't a completely ridiculous idea.  :)

 A couple weeks ago I blogged about how I had balayage done to my hair.  I loved it, but I wanted it to look a little bit more dramatic.  ;)  So I brought home the supplies I needed from work and Friday night before I did this...

 It's a lot lighter on the ends now, and I was excited to try something new.  (I wouldn't recommend doing this on your own though friends.  This was actually my second attempt at home.  And remember I'm a stylist so I'm supposed to know what I'm doing.  ;)  My hair was pretty dark so my first time the ends were a bit too orange for my liking.  So this time I actually toned the mid section with two colors first, and then I re bleached my ends until they looked light enough, and until I was too scared to let bleach continue to sit on my ends.)

Summery don't ya think?

So after we dropped the girls off at my parents house we had lunch at The Islands.

Then we headed out to Fullerton to check out a brewery that my cousin told us about.

I text Chad on our way and asked him to meet us there.

 The brewery Bottle Logic, has only been around for a year, and it was seriously the neatest place.  
Really cool decor, and even better, really really awesome beer.  
We had fun getting to visit with my cousin and I told them that I wondered if our old neighbor had heard of this place because he and Mr. H used to always love swapping craft beers.  And not 5 minutes later, he came walking up to the brewery with his girlfriend!  It was too funny.  We miss living across the street from him and it was fun to sit down and catch up!

After a while we said our goodbyes and our next stop was the Angel game.

 Mr. H is a huge Mariners fan, and my Uncle Dave gave us his tickets for the night!  So nice of him and Mr. H was thrilled to be at this game to see King Felix pitch.  It was a good time, but I won't lie, I was more excited for our next day to begin because we were headed to the beach all by ourselves!!!

Do you know how easy it is to just go to the beach and only worry about yourself?  I do now!  
It's like a MILLION times easier than taking your kids.  (That's fun too, but a different kind of fun.) 

We slept in until 7:30, leisurely drank two cups of coffee, actually got to watch the news instead of My Little Ponies!  Then we threw our suits on and took off.

 I went with a friend last week to a new spot in Laguna and couldn't wait to take Mr. H.  
This cove is just so neat and the water is so clear and so beautiful!

 It was a gorgeous day.
And we just soaked it all in.
We love Laguna.
We love the beach.
And we love that we are lucky enough to be able to hop in our car and drive there within an hour.

We laid in the sun.
Read our books.
Ate some snacks.
Explored the tide pools on both sides of the beach.
Saw bright orange ghirabaldi fish (the state fish we learned), and lots of crabs, and birds, and seals.
And just when I was thinking that we had gotten to see a lot of wildlife that day, we were out in the water up to our necks for a dip to cool off when...

 a SHARK swims RIGHT BY US!!!!!
That's right a shark!
A real one!

Alright, fine, it was a 3 foot leopard shark which is full grown and apparently harmless, BUT STILL!!!!!
A SHARK!!!!!

I think I got up on top of the water and ran to the beach so fast!!
And so did everyone else around me!
It caused quite the stir on the beach though.

We asked the lifegaurd about it and he sort of laughed at how harmless they are.
But I couldn't help but feeling like Vince Vaughn in the movie Couple's Retreat when he gets stuck in the water surrounded by sharks.  We had a good laugh about it.

 And truth be told it was a beautiful shark. 
It's leopard spots were very visible and it was pretty to look at.
Pretty after the fact that my legs were no longer within grazing distance of it's jaws that is.  ;)

 After our near death experience shark encounter, we dried off and left the beach around 4pm to go have an early dinner before heading home.
I love all of the shops in Laguna, and we popped into one of our favorites Art For The Soul.
I've lusted after these handmade lazy susans for so long now and I took pictures of my favorite ones this time...

I want one for our kitchen table soooooooo bad.

The one above reminded me of our girls and things we are trying to teach them.

And the next one I loved the saying around the outside and the colors, and I loved that the pictures reminded us of our new backyard.

 These pieces are so unique and truly works of art.  
Some day.

We had dinner at one of our favorites.  Big Fish.  Sitting on the patio overlooking the ocean with the breeze blowing in.

It was the perfect day.

We got to my parents around 7pm, and came home by 8.

And at 1am Claire yelled down the hall that she had just thrown up.

Womp womp womp.

Our getaway weekend was officially over.

Claire was tired today but never threw up again.

I spent my Monday cleaning and laundering and lysol'ing everything.

I'm hoping no one wakes up sick tonight.

Instead I'll cling to memories of the salty ocean air.

Hope your weekend was good too.

I was super excited to receive my first package from Stitch Fix today!!!!  Look for that post with the details later this week.  :)

Our 4th

Happy 5th everybody!
How was your 4th?
Ours was great.

 Mr. H had to work but he was able to leave by 1.

 The girls and I were ready at home and waiting for him.

 And as soon as he got home, we packed up the car, and took off towards the beach.


Meet my Uncle Dave and my Aunt Glenda...

Aren't they cute?

My Uncle Dave has a fishing boat in Newport and I sort of invited ourselves down for the day.  ;)

My Uncle Dave's kids are my cousins Chad and Donavon.  It's always a good time when we get to see them.  Chad was there, and Don and Kaylen drove down from the Bay area to be there too.  My Grandma also came down, with my cousin Dee and a friend of hers.  And my sister and her fiance and friends were camping at The Dunes so we got to see them too.   My parents were up in Big Bear and we missed having them there too.

 It was a great day filled with lots of fun, food, and good times.

Thanks for the hospitality Captain Fin!!!!

My phone died later in the evening and I didn't get any fireworks pics.  But we had a prime spot to sit and watch the show from the boat.  
We waited a bit to let traffic die down before we headed home.
We got back close to midnight and discovered that poor Abbey must have gotten scared from the fireworks and peed in the house and then tracked it all over the place during her nervous pacing.
It's hot and humid here today and we are just lounging around.
Hope your 4th was a fun and safe one!  

Recent Randoms

Summer is already flying by!
We are loving the laid back vibes.
But I'm also feeling busier with the girls home all day than when we are in school.
We're enjoying it all though!
And loving this summer's wardrobe staple of mostly swimsuits!
Hanging out in the loft watching Full House...

 A peek into our master bedroom.  
I bought the curtains from Bed Bath and Beyond.
And the duvet was a steal from Sams Club for only $26!!! 
I haven't decided on what kind of bedding I want, but in the meantime while bedding is way down on our priority list, I thought this turquoise duvet added a nice splash of color, and for $26 who can say no?!
I'm still looking around for a rug for our room too.

 But we have decided on a paint color and Mr. H completed one wall a couple days ago and I la la love the color!  I'll share it when it's complete.

 The girls chillin' on my new bathroom ottoman.
I saw it a while ago at Cost Plus and new it had to be mine.  ;)

 I love it!!!

I can't wait to paint the bathroom and vanity and add mirrored closet doors and new vanity mirrors and lighting in there too.  The to do list is a mile long.  But we're enjoying crossing things off the list.  

 The hallway leading into our room.  I've yet to hang anything on the wall here because I'm still planning it out in my head.  And I think a trip or two to Hobby Lobby is also in order to complete my vision.  :)

 There are two linen closets upstairs that look like this.  We want to paint them.  White?  or Black???  I go back and forth.  

 That's Claire's room to the right of the linen closet.  She needs a new rug in there too.  That's what the girls had in their old shared bedroom.  I haven't done much in their rooms yet because we plan on doing that for them this year for Christmas.

 Signs of Summer all over the house.  

 I know I've promised pics of our one completed room in the new house, the guest/downstairs bathroom.  I'll share em soon.

 Lunch at Panera one day with my girlies.

 And then a lil shopping in Cost Plus.

 Pool party at a friends house.

 Dinner and a movie with my friend Kelly.

 We've had lots of friends over to swim so far and the girls are loving it.

 Mr. H and I went furniture shopping on date night recently.  

 Then we headed to a new wine tasting bar in town.

 Vino Veratas.  It means In wine there is truth.  (Ain't that the truth) ;)

 We loved the wine bar and can't wait to go back!!!  You can load up a wine tasting card with however much you chooose.  We just put $20 on ours, and then you go inside to the wines and stick your card in and choose different wines to taste at your leisure.  We would get a taste, and then take it outside on the patio and talk while we tasted.  Then we ordered dinner and continued with our tastings.  Super fun night out.  And the caesar salad with salmon on top was out of this world.  I've been craving it ever since.

Ready for a day in the salon.

 I love this cute girl in a hat.

 Another date night last weekend.  My new anthro top arrived in the mail just minutes before it was time to go! For the win.  :)We went out to dinner and then saw The Fault In Our Stars.  I loved the book and thought they did a fabulous job with the movie.  

 Love the Farmer's Market in the summer months!

Hung bathtub pics of the girls above each of their bath towels.

No more confusion of whose towel is whose.  Thanks to Pinterest for that one.

And last but not least, Clairey has braved the deep end!  She is now a cannon ballin', pencil diving, jumping machine!  Swimming like a true fish now.
And Hannah has socks on because the plaster in the pool is a bit rough and the girls have been getting blisters on the pads of their toes.  They're working it out though.  It's not slowing down their swim seshes.  ;)

I'm off to enjoy some more SUMMER.
But I'll be back.
Peace Out.