I love Christmas. But, it has to be said that I can’t get merry until it’s actually the Christmas season…in other words, stop trying to force it down my throat the week PRIOR to Thanksgiving! I was not ready for Jingle Bells yet! Don’t despair that I’ve turned into a Grinch – I LOVE it – I am just not ready for it so early!

Anyway, now that I AM ready for decking my halls with boughs of holly (and glitter), I have to share some photos from our adventures at the Christmas Tree farm! Marco was so excited and happy, and we found a lovely tree.  We went to the farm with our neighbors, their daughter, and their new baby son (soo tiny!!), and the Gomers. It was great to share the fun with other families.

He’s such a big boy. Look how tiny he was last year at the farm (click link)

Belle was too busy to take pictures

My hubby

He should be a model.

Our tree!!

it was very windy that afternoon, hence my bad hair.

All gussied up

One of my favorite ornaments

 butterflies

wine grapes, of course!

The owl ornament Marco picked out himself

I can’t wait to put presents under the tree! I’ve been plotting my baking and crafts (yep, I think I’m getting a little crafty this year), and have purchased some presents that need to be wrapped. Our cards are ready to be addressed and mailed, and nail polish has been selected for the fun times ahead…

OPI Fresh Frog of Bel Aire

So, I might have bought some most of the OPI nail polishes from the Muppets collection… Tim, Marco and I saw the Muppets movie the day after Thanksgiving, and we LOVED it! We’re huge Muppets fans, and it was so awesome to share it with Marco. He laughed, giggled, and danced in his seat the whole time.

Our tree is decorated, and it is officially the holiday season (and Santa Claus has got a toy for every good girl and good little boy…)

Bring on the peppermint mochas peppermint schnapps.

Good morning!

Yup.

And I made it myself – though you’d think with an IT husband he’d be more help…LOL s’okay. I GOT THIS. 

M-o-u-s-eeeeee!

It’s Monday. Sigh. Instead of dwelling on the negative, let’s think on happy things! For example: Disneyland! Returning to work last week was tough after such a fun vacation. Marco was tall enough to go on a lot of rides, and his excitement at meeting Winnie the Pooh bear was infectious.

Some highlights of our trip:

I can’t wait to go back because I miss the Churros.

You guys have until midnight tonight to snag coupon codes for 25 FREE HOLIDAY CARDS from SHUTTERFLY! All you have to do is leave me a comment and follow me on Google Friend Finder!

View the blogpost HERE

I’ve got 3 codes to give away!

It isn’t the official start of fall until the trip to the Stanly Lane pumpkin patch occurs!! (Here’s last year’s post 2010) Marco and Belle had a lot of fun picking pumpkins and running around the hay.

I took some family pictures for the Gomers during our visit, and am quite pleased with the results! Of course, I snapped a few of my gorgeous boy…can you blame me?? The camera loves him. <3

I can’t wait to carve our pumpkins!!

Last weekend, I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph the engagement photos for my friend Rachael, and her fiance, Mike. I was very nervous, but excited! Luckily, we all had fun, and the spot chosen for the shoot was so beautiful. I am so happy with how the pictures turned out!

It’s really fun to take photos of people that are so obviously in love – it gave me the warm fuzzies. Here’s a few of my favorite pics from the day:

What do you think??

I love lavender, and have filled my garden with much more than I need (but it’s so pretty!!). Did you know it was in the mint family?? Me either.

I’ve become interested in knowing the meanings of flowers; it is a practice that really took root (PUNNY!!) in the Victorian era, when a lover would take great care in choosing which flowers he presented to his dearest. Adding lavender to a bouquet meant purity and devotion, as well as silence. Secret engagements? Clandestine affairs of the heart?!

I have been making dried bouquets all summer with my lavender. It’s easy to do, and the scent is amaaaaazzzinnnng.

Clip and strip of leaves

Tie together with garden twist-ties (I’m making a mini-bouquet for my desk at work!), and hang outside to dry

After several sunny days, the lavender has dried and is ready for display! I found this galvanized tin vase for 5 dollars at a thrift store, but I’ve seen them all over Pottery Barn, ebay, etc… vintage milk buckets would look lovely, too!

The remainder of my wonderful Mother’s Day…

First – my outfit!

Dress: Derek Heart
Belt: vintage
Sandals: Preview, purchased 2009
Scarf, worn as headwrap: vintage

After a stop at Whole Foods for supplies, the three of us headed to Downtown Sonoma for a picnic. There is a pretty park right smack in the middle of the main square, and lots of sweet little boutiques to peruse. A few restaurants that I want to try, too!

Marco loves avocado and mango

After the picnic, we wandered around the shops, and checked out some local sights.

We headed back home so Marco could take a cozy nap. After a rest and an episode of ‘Poirot’, we went to Firewood Cafe for dinner, and YoBelle for frozen yogurt!

I filled my cup with Plain and Fresh Strawberry yogurts, and added kiwi, strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries. Tim ordered Yellow Cake Batter, Cinnamon Bun, and Plain, mixing in peanut butter cups, cheesecake bites, and brownie bites.

Tim made funny faces, and I let Marco press the shutter button on my camera. He is a good photographer

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today is also a milestone; May 9th 2011 marks the 8th year since Tim and I had our first date.

(not from our first date, but this was taken the day he first kissed me)

I am ridiculous. Somehow, Tim puts up with me. I love him in ways I never imagined, and can’t think of anything about him that I would change. Okay….maybe he could pick up his dirty socks, and rinse out his cereal bowls after use. But aside from those minor details, he’s just what I need in my partner. He’s been an amazing father to Marco, and I hope that Marco inherits all of Tim’s beautiful qualities, his intelligence, his kindness, and his wonderful natural scent (seriously, I could smell Tim’s neck all day).

I love you, Tim!! <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

P.S. Did you enter my giveaway? Ends Friday, May 13th!!

It’s the time of year where I start thinking of what I want for Christmas (besides Marco’s front tooth to FINALLY CUT THROUGH! LOL), and this year I found some super-rad goodies.

I am hoping that one of these awesome items ends up underneath my Christmas tree!

BOOKS:

VINYL:

PHOTOGRAPHY EQUIPMENT:

Blackbird, Fly camera in Cloud White

Sigma 50-200mm lens

Nikon Speedlight SB-600 (mine died a painful death)

Lomography Chrome Sampler Camera

Diana + Parisian

CLOTHING & ACCESSORIES:

Warby Parker ‘Huxley’ in Revolver Black

Toggle Coat with Faux Fur Hood
(size Small)

De Chelly dress
(size 2R)

MISC.:

Flapperdoodle 2011 Datebook/Planner

Meal Deal Lunch Set

What are you dearies wishing for?

The title of the blog is from the Madeline Peyroux song – I’ve been listening to her on my Pandora station. I love her voice!

This past weekend was a busy one! My mom and sister came up to Napa for a visit, and we took them out to lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants. Saturday night they babysat Marco while Tim and I headed out for a movie!  ’The Social Network’ was playing, and we noshed on popcorn, Icees and Skittles while we watched the whole drama of Facebook unfold.

I think it was actually a pretty good movie, but by no means the best movie of the year (as some have said). Aaron Sorkin managed to make a ‘geek’ story interesting. The actors were all fantastic, and one in particular has caught my eye:

Ohmigosh Andrew Garfield is my new boyfriend (Hugh needn’t be worried, he’s still my other husband)!  Sorry, Timmy! You know I love you best. xoxo

ANYWAY, the next day the Gomers came up to go to the Stanly Lane pumpkin patch. We went last year, so it’s kind of our tradition. It started pouring rain when they arrived, so we ended up eating lunch from Gott’s Roadside, and waiting out the rain. Luckily for us, it stopped raining around 3, so we were able to head over and pick out our pumpkins! I took some fun pictures of Belle:

A few other pictures from the weekend:

Rooting for truffles?!

Oooh ooh ohh! Don’t forget to enter the giveaway with Flapper Doodle! Go HERE!

Have a good day!