con pane

if you are in san diego or come to visit anytime i would definitely recommend trying con pane.

bryan is craving the rosemary/olive oil bread and i am craving their chocolate rolls. their cinnnimon rolls are oh so tasty and i hear that their sandwiches are not to be missed. we will definitely make this shop a regular.

also, they only accept cash, so go prepared with cash and an empty tummy.

this week: the sun, the sick & 26

this week has flown by.

the sun came out this week and it really warmed up the west coast. we have done really well with no a/c, just a ceiling fan for circulation up to this point. we live close enough to the ocean that no one in our area has air conditioning. but the heat has really turned up and we have decided that we need to go buy a fan or 3... in the meantime i am trying to brainstorm some dinner ideas taht require minimal cooking/oven. any ideas?

i am thinking about using my new ikea popsicle molds this weekend. check out some of these fun recipes on ohdeedoh.

we went to the beach for a corn roast which was delish! thank you ashlee & fam.

we have been swimming at our pool 2x.

i went up to girls camp to enjoy some time with my young women...they put on quite the skit night.

i have been sick...i got the cold that penelope had last week. so, that has been a bit of a bummer. i haven't felt a whole lot like doing anything, but i have persevered. my work, however, has slowed down and i am worried about being ready for renegade. if all my ideas work out, it should be pretty amazing.

in other news... it was my birthday on wednesday. i tuned 26. i don't have a lot to say about that. i did get some rockin' gifts like this Cuisinart ice cream maker...which i am STOKED about . i will for sure be making some Delicious frozen treats this weekend.

i also, got some great non-stick pans that will be used daily, i am sure.

on my birthday P & i got together with my friends ashlee, tira and their boys for a adventure. ashlee made yummy pizzas and tira made amazing cupcakes....it was good eating in the miller house. we made camera straps...mine needs a little embroidery, but tira's has this picture posted on her blog.

didn't tira's turn out CUTE!

growth charts

a while back i got some ikea fabric with a tree design on it with the intention of making a growth chart. we would chart penelope's growth on the chart and when we move, we can take it with us. i have been busy, so that project is on the back burner. i am still planning on it, but i thought i would share a couple ADORABLE growth charts that are out there.

i love the vintage bicycles on this vinyl wall hanging by giraffes and stuff
this over sized ruler is on sale now at pottery barn kids

this vinyl decal is designed by simple shapes.

this is a shot of the fabric i have...can't wait to finish it up and show it to you:)!

justin is famous

my big brother justin is attending the annual Mormon Scholars Foundation Summer Seminar at BYU. one of his presentations was written about in this article, which discusses whether we are literal or figurative children of God. good work justin.

i made some cushions

this one is 20x20"

this one is 16x24"

i crocheted these pillows this week. they will be up for sale at the renegade craft fair in L.A. it is only 2 weeks away and i am getting very excited for it. it will be a new and fun adventure.

bryan says he doesn't want me to sell them, but i am planning on making us a pair for our couch once this event is over. the list of things i am planning on making after the renegade is growing scarily long....(p's quilt, cushion for myleka, p's crocheted blanket, baby blankets with crocheted edging, cushion for me, a duck, a gift for an upcoming baby, a gift for a 1 year old, a hanging organizer...the list goes on...yikes.)

i am super into chevron designs and the colors yellow and gray....so nice.

i hope you enjoy them.

our new budgeting method

i think we can all agree that how you use your money can make or break you.

elder marvin j. ashton said, "God help us to realize that money management is an important ingredient in proper personal welfare. Learning to live within our means should be a continuing process. We need to work constantly toward keeping ourselves free of financial difficulties. It is a happy day financially when time and interest are working for you and not against you.

Money in the lives of Latter-day Saints should be used as a means of achieving eternal happiness. Careless and selfish uses cause us to live in financial bondage. We can’t afford to neglect personal and family involvement in our money management. God will open the windows of heaven to us in these matters if we will but live close to Him and keep His commandments."

here is a link to his talk if you'd like to read the whole

bryan and i have been pretty good with money in general. lately, we have been trying to hone our budgeting skills. it is important for us to put more money into savings, mutual funds and an account for p. we have also been working on buying a car. with all of this, we are trying really hard to stick to a budget.

when we were students it was hard to budget, because income was varied. some months we had extra, some months we didn't have enough...we would usually come out even in the end, but we couldn't plan on having a set amount for anything. now that our income is more set, we are able to really set up a budget that we can stick to.

i really love using my debit card, but it is too tempting to overspend (especially if it is a tiny bit) on groceries or dates when you know you can just whip out the debit card. bryan is humoring me by letting me give the "envelope" method of budgeting a try. so, i will be saying goodby to my debit card and hello to bills. i think that if i have cash, then i will be less likely to overspend. i will let you know how it goes.

i got this wallet from the laughing house to help sort my money that i keep in my purse. i am excited for this experiment.



what are your budgeting tips?

penslope is an artist too

p has been really into coloring and painting lately.

isn't it pretty!

the weather here in san diego has been a bit drab & p has been nursing a bit of a cold, so we have been staying inside and bringing out the art supplies pretty much everyday.

yesterday, i broke out the camera and documented some of penelope's work.

p is wearing an adorable apron i traded with vintage fern for at the bijou market.

7/4/2010

here is out 4th of july in a nutshell...





it started out with a photo shoot.

penelope was convinced that we were going to disneyland this morning. she even made me put on her disneyland pin.

much to her dismay we decided to go to church instead.


penelope and i wore matching clothes-this was a first. i doubt it will be a regular occurance, but it was fun.

i made this box pleated skirt for me.



and this stripey dress for p.


we napped and then we made star shaped cookies for the party we went to at our friends' home.


penelope and bryan ran around with all the kids and wore themselves out...so, we ditched out on fireworks. bryan and i watched sandlot and ate more cookies. what a great day! how was your holiday?

we went to a ball game & saw some fireworks

we got the tickets through the summer reading program at the library for last night's padres game and their fireworks spectacular. i napped penelope late in the day, so that she would be able to stay up a bit later. as soon as bryan got off work we headed downtown. it was a really quick game it was scoreless until the bottom of the 8th and the padres scored 3 runs-yay! we held the astros at zero in the top of the 9th, so the game ended without us needing to play the bottom of the 9th. and to top it all off, we had seats next to our friends the pugmire's, so it was fun to have company.

penelope LOVED the fire works show. it was a really fun family adventure and was a great kick off to our 4th of july weekend.

have a great 4th

i am DYING to show you my matching 4th of july attire for p & me. i haven't finished them yet, so maybe tomorrow or sunday. i am also making some 4th of july goodies with the help of my sweet p, so i think i will share those with you too!

this is what i made her last year for the 4th in NYC. the 4th of july in NYC was...AMAZING. let's see how san diego measures up.

i have always loved the 4th of july. i love the color red. i love America. i love all the picnicing, swimming and warm weathered adventured that unfold.

...And i love that my birthday is just 10 days after it. :)!

i hope you all have a fabulous weekend and really enjoy some time off (hopefully you all get a little time off.) i count my time with bryan as time off, because he shares the parenting with me and makes it SO much easier.

let the adventures begin.

images from weheartit.com