Thursday, April 28, 2011

The Perfect Fridge


This is it - the perfect fridge for my new kitchen! I am waking-up at 3:00 am tomorrow. How about you?

Royally excited,

Krissy

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Botanical Inspiration



This makes me so happy! This was Laguna Nursery in California. I told Mr. Pearl that I am going to landscape our yard with giant, metal flowers and pool noodles. They are so FUN! Mr. P didn't think they would be received as warmly by our neighborhood association and conservative neighbors, but I'm still thinking about it.
Our trip to Southern California was so beautiful. The near perfect temperatures and rainfall make for the most lush and colorful landscape of anywhere I have seen. San Juan Capistrano's gardens were breathtaking. The roses were huge and their smell perfumed the air. I hated to leave!









Looking at these pictures, I am inspired! I think I'll go and plant some noodles.

Krissy

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A Nursery

Easter morning, while helping the mini-pearls hunt for their Easter eggs, I found this in a geranium on my back porch. I couldn't help but look at it in awe. We are all sitting on our hands to keep away from this little nursery and let the little mama do her work. She was sitting there this morning, after what I am sure was a long night. We had some storms in the night. I will keep a safe distance and let you all know what happens. Have a blessed day!

Krissy

Monday, April 25, 2011

Easter Monday Recap


We had an incredible Easter weekend and I hope you all did, too. The Egg Hunt at the farm of some dear friends was a blast. The children hunted eggs - Sport Cort found one of the golden prize eggs and was over the moon - we also spent some time fishing and thanks to an approaching storm that thankfully held off until after dark, the fish were biting like mad. Fishing is really fun when you are actually catching. Fisherman informed me that the fun is on the "fishing" part and it isn't called "catching".
Sunday morning dawned and the minis hunted their eggs and we were off to church and lunch at my parents' home. We also celebrated our April Birthdays. What a day and I loved every minute. I hope you had the opportunity to be with your loved ones and celebrate this joyous time. The mini-pearls have the day off and are recovering from their sugar high. We are going to spend the day running errands and a trip to the dermatologist. Woohoo! Fun. Fun. Fun.

Egg Hunt Party!

Fisherman in his element - a storm was brewing and the fish were biting!

Sweet Pea showed all the boys how it is done - you go girl! Yes, she even touched the fish.

Sport Cort with his winning, golden egg

The hayride

Sweet Pea and I enjoyed hanging-out with the permanent farm residents - isn't he gorgeous?

Easter morning antics

The mini-pearls and Nanno -She is the Pearl in BirdiePearl and celebrated ninety years in December.

The mini-pearls and Mommom -She is the Birdie in BirdiePearl and celebrated eighty years on the fifteenth!

The cake that Sweet Pea decorated

The Birthday Bunch with a few extra helpers.
Happy Birthday to Mommom, Uncle Garrick, Aunt Holli, Mr. Pearl and Fisherman

Happy Monday all!

Krissy

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Peep Show - Quick Easter Craft



Peeps!

Ah Peeps! You either love them or you hate them. I have never met anyone who stands neutral on this subject. Me? I think they are disgusting and messy, but the mini-pearls love'em and well, they are pretty darn cute. I have been slacker mom lately and have not busted-out the Easter crafts, so on a trip to Targe' this morning, I threw together a few items to produce an Easter craft for the minis and serve as a hostess sussie for an Easter egg hunt that we are on our way out the door to attend. Whew! How many birds with one stone is that? I must say, they turned-out pretty darn cute and just in case the recipients of these pretty darn cute sussies don't care for Peeps, we threw-in some jelly beans and chocolate eggs. Bam!
All kidding aside, tomorrow is my favorite day of the year. We will be gathering with family after church and celebrating. We will be celebrating renewal, love and grace and the ultimate price that our Saviour paid for us and yes, there will be Peeps present.

Yep! Pretty darn cute!

I found these in the dollar aisle.

These little dandies were by the paper plates and such. We skewered the poor little Peeps with these.

To secure the Peeps skewers, we poked the sticks through a Styrofoam cup.

We then smooshed the cups into the little buckets.

Sweet Pea hard at work.

Sport Cort "helped" - he sampled the ingredients.

After securing the skewers and the cup, we drizzled a little craft glue over the top of the cup and then "went to town" with the plastic grass which is now all over my kitchen. Yea!


I thought the jelly beans looked like Peep poop, but Sweet Pea did NOT think that was funny.

Did I mention that Peeps are sticky? We decided that a covering was in order. Luckily, I had some cellophane bags that we slid over the top and secured with some ribbon. I then made little tags out of some stickers.
The finished product!

We are off to hunt eggs! Have a blessed evening.

Krissy

Friday, April 22, 2011

Tuvalu, Laguna

I had a little time to explore on my own when Mr. Pearl had his conference sessions. I headed to Laguna, as I had been there before and loved the quaint, little, main street down by the beach. It is typical: quirky art galleries and cheesy t-shirt shops, but still fun. I did spy a new addition from my last visit (mind you, it was four years ago). The spot? Tuvalu! It had me at the reclaimed door made-up as a message center in the window. This darling store was full of eye-candy and tourists like myself armed with cameras. You have to love a place with bowls of water by the front door for your pooch (which were allowed everywhere in California - please note people that live elsewhere - this is a good thing) and a beautiful birdcage complete with blue parakeets. Aaahh, sanctuary.

These totally fabu pendants - bottles fitted with light kits

I am bummed that this pic didn't turn out better. The bottom of the table is edged with old, wooden fretwork.

Can you see why I loved it?

If you are ever in Laguna, don't miss this place! It won't disappoint. You can also visit it here. I am off to supervise my crazy children. It seems they have forgotten that today is a holy day, not a holy terror day.

Krissy

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Beverly Hills - that's where I want to be...sort of.


There's only one


Rodeo Drive baby! What you can't see is the convertible Bentley behind us.

The Ivy - I love this place!

Mr. Pearl and majolica - love.

The flowers at the Ivy were extraordinary.

This picture is for Sweet Pea




Yep. We hit all the "highs"

me and the mister on our balcony

Mr. Pearl had a conference in Newport and I got to tag along! It's been a while since we had the pleasure of visiting that part of the world and I had forgotten just how beautiful it truly is. Mr. P indulged me upon our arrival on Sunday and we spent the day in L.A. I don't really "love" L.A. It's just like any other large city, really. The "love" part is what lies to the south. Orange County and the lushness of the mountains and coast. We did have a late lunch at the Ivy on Sunday. No star sitings to report but we had a fantastic day in the city and then we put down the top of our rented convertible and headed down the coast. Are you jealous?

The mini-pearls were not too keen on being left behind. They were more interested in the Hollywood sign and In 'n Out Burger. So, here are a few pictures for everyone - L.A. in a nutshell. I'll post more on our vacay later. I hope you all are having a blessed Holy Week.

Krissy