i am not ready

school supply list:  purchased and labeled.

back to school clothes:  purchased, laundered and put away.

summer days:  not enough left!

we are having such a great summer. 

 it is africa hot here in the midwest, but we're making the best of it.

i am going to drag out these lazy summer days as long as i can.

school starts way too soon!

can we please have just one more MONTH of summer please?!



my bucket list

i love coffee.

i could seriously drink it all day.

but i don't.

one of the items, on my bucket list, is to own my own coffee shop.

i think about it almost daily, owning my own coffee shop.

i also think about how i will make it successful since i am not a morning person.

we're talking opening at 6:30am.  i haven't seen 6:30am in a loooong time.  

i am more of a night owl.  guess first things first is to change my ways. 

so in the meantime i am forever inspired by these photos:

all of these photos speak to me.

and in my head i have a design, for my own shop, that pulls all of these together.

my place would no doubt be small, chic, bohemian and of course comfy.

but do i really want a coffee shop of my own?

or do i just want to decorate one?

mr. traybella says "maybe you should work in one before you own one".

so rational he is.  but probably right!

what are you dreaming about today?

{all photos found via the web}

boys and baseball

to me summer is not summer unless there is baseball.

and i love nothing more than spending some hot evenings watching MY boys play!

maguire had a great season and it was so fun watching him play first base.

and i don't know who had a bigger smile on his face when he got a home run this year,

but i bet it was his oh so proud mom!

cooper got in on the action this year too.

he is thrilled to have his own team after watching his brother play for so long.

maguire wrapped up his season last month.  cooper still has a couple of games left.

i find myself anxious for next spring to roll around so we can

PLAY BALL! some more.



mockingbird cottage on tybee island

our summer vacation to tybee island was just perfect.

i knew i wanted to rent a small cottage, instead of a condo in a high rise.

one day i googled "cottage for rent tybee island"

and i was thrilled with what popped up.

mockingbird cottage: 2 bedroom cottage in a quiet neighborhood close to the beach.

all of the pictures made it look adorable. 

but i have been steered otherwise in what you see is not always what you get.

excited and nervous i book it.

the photo of this porch had me at hello,

this dining room with it's drum shade light drew me in.

and can i just say that once we checked in . . .

it was better than any of the photographs!

filled with lovely antiques, such a homey feel to it.

decorated so well that i kept saying to myself  "i wouldn't change a thing if i would have decorated it myself".  it was totally us.  and now i want to meet the owners, because i think we could be best friends! 

mockingbird cottage oozes with charm and is updated and beautiful. 

white coffee mugs and a french press coffee maker...i knew i was "home".

most of our time, at the cottage, was spent on the screen porch. 

it was a test run to see how much we would use it, after all i have the plans drawn out for ours at home.  just waiting to pull the plug and get started.  and don't call me crazy, but i even measured the porch at the cottage.  it's the same size that ours will be, so it was a perfect test run!

 we ate breakfast and lunch everyday on the porch.

we relaxed on the porch after a day at the beach and after taking showers in the outdoor shower.

the boys loved the outdoor shower, it was a new experience for them.

mr. traybella and i would play card games on the porch each evening.

we used that porch a ton! 

the boys liked sharing a room.  with two comfy twin beds and space in the middle to play, they were often found in here enjoying a game together.

the cottage also had a bookshelf filled with books and a cabinet filled with games.

mockingbird cottage is also close to the beach.  the boys loved playing in the larger

 waves of the atlantic ocean.

so happy that we found mockingbird cottage and were able to spend a week there. 

adorable place, so comfortable and lives larger than it actually is.

my boys loved it.

so much that they want to move to mockingbird cottage and take up surf lessons.

is that not the dream of every midwestern boy who gets a holiday on the beach?

i highly recommend a stay at mockingbird cottage.  tybee island is a great little place.  3 miles long by 1 mile wide it has an old beach town feel to it.  almost key west like.  savannah is just a 20 minute drive away.

i hope we get to return next year,

and the year after,

and the year after...



paris market

our family vacation this summer was to Tybee Island, GA. 
we had such a fantastic time.
i've been meaning all week to get photos out here of our vacation.
but have been having fun with the boys pretending that we're still on vacation!

i'll get them out here after i return from scout camp this weekend.
in the meantime if you ever venture to Savannah, GA you'll have to check out this cute shop:  paris market

 two stories of merchandise, i was drooling as soon as i walked in the door.

 it even has a cute little coffee shop in it. 

 i could have stayed her for an hour or so...
but someone started being silly. 

when you shop with the boys...it's on borrowed time. 

update later with beach photos and a post on the most adorable cottage ever that we rented for the week.

enjoy the weekend!



summer

sometimes.
a change of scenery is all you need.
cheers.
to summer!

photo shoot

a crazy busy week last week.
and on tuesday gloria gale and bill mathews were in my house shooting photographs!
gloria will write the article for a magazine called small room decorating.

  watching them work their magic was so fun.   you can't even imagine how great your house looks when you look at it through the lens of bills camera.



 it was a joy to have them in my home all day.  i was fascinated with the entire process.



i will post more once it gets published!
thank you gloria and bill....you have the best jobs! 

big cedar lodge

we spent some family time last weekend at big cedar lodge.
just past branson, mo. big cedar is only about 3.5 hours from kansas city.
the kids had a blast!
such a fun weekend of no schedules, doing a ton of fun things and just being a family.

 it was such a hot weekend, that the lazy river was a favorite for everyone.

a quick break for lunch.

the feel of this place is amazing.  i love the history of it, and all of these old original (circa 1921) buildings.

we played miniature golf after dinner every night.  also a favorite was ice cream out of an airstream trailer!

 the setting at big cedar is just so beautiful and relaxing.  paddling around in a canoe was so fun and a first experience for the boys.

if you're looking for a family getaway this summer, i suggest big cedar lodge!

i went to a garden party...

and took home made cilantro pesto as a hostess gift.

don't forget to use your garden to make

delicious hostess gifts this summer!



it's more fun to think outside the box

who says?

i always say that to myself when i am out junking.

rules?  hate to follow them.

be different?  absolutely with a capital A!

who says:

that this huge iron pot rack has to be in a kitchen?

remove the chains and the hooks and it's a beautiful planter on my patio table.

who says:

that andirons have to be next to a fireplace?

i love to use them to mark my garden paths.

i encourage you to think outside the box this summer...it's fun!



how does your garden grow?

my garden has gone crazy this year. 

so fun to see some of the herbs come back from last year.

growing potatoes 'up' in straw...we'll see how that goes.

you can't get more local than your own backyard...enjoy! 



pretty vintage plates

out thrifting last week i found 4 of these adorable plates and one matching platter.

i am hard pressed to think of anything pink around my house,

 but i love these so much, that i am keeping them.

i wish there were 8.

but this just means i need to keep an eye out for 4 more

pretty plates.  that don't match.  that just coordinate.

these are perfect girlfriend plates.

because if i served dinner on these to my boys... oh heck they probably

wouldn't even notice! 

the leaves on the plates are more brown than green (difficult to see here).

and i love them paired up with my brown chargers.

it is the little things that make me happy...

 4 plates and a platter....$10

thoughts of lunch with girlfriends...priceless.