If this doesn't make you want a baby...

She is DARLING. Can't handle it. I had to post this because it's too cute to wait.

The last two weeks

In the last few weeks we celebrated birthdays, went to Disneyland a bunch and visited Venice beach. Yeah, I'll never be going back there...I was expecting quirkiness and fun but all I got were hippies and smoke in my face (not cigarette). The beach was pretty, tho.

Halloween + Lilah's Bday

We had a quiet halloween that involved yummy dinner, homemade caramel for caramel apples and yummy apple cider. I made some bats to decorate the wall a few hours before family and Cori came over. Oh, and the only one to dress up was Campbell who decided to be Steve Jobs.

Lilah had a Rapunzel party that turned out so cute. We got her the wig over two months ago and have been saving it for her birthday party. She liked it, except that it was kind of itchy :)

Attacking Uncle David.

Me + Sadie.

Such a pretty face, such a pretty smile, such a pretty dress.

I took these over a year ago , but realized today that I never posted them. Mike + Maleah wanted to get some  fun, pastoral photos taken in their wedding clothes after the big day. Such a fun, handsome couple. Maleah's been my buddy for a long time and I love seeing her so happy :)

Half-Pint

I think we've established by now that I like old fashioned things. (I stole that phrase from Nancy Drew). Old houses, thrifted furniture and knick knacks, cooking and baking from scratch. Today I was thinking about people I look up to and admire, and one of the first people that always comes to mind is Laura Ingalls Wilder (what a perfect name, right? I love it.) I've always been a big reader and spent hours in my room in bed reading anything I could get my hands on, although I am a sucker for the classics. I started with the Little House on the Prairie series in 2nd grade and fell in love. I have read the  series several times and reread all of them a few years ago when I bought the box set off of eBay to save for my future children. I cherish the stories of the Ingalls' struggles, humility and courage. Laura, whom her dad called 'Half Pint' was a little spitfire, but obedient and full of integrity, and honestly throughout my childhood I remembered 'lessons learned' from the Little House stories often. (By the way, I have tried to get a cool nickname like Half Pint for years. I tried to get David to call me Pee Wee and Freckles, to no avail. Haha.) I plan on giving the books as gifts to neices and close friend's children as they grow and hope that they love the sweet, timeless stories from the past as much as I have.

image source. 

At some point I plan on traveling around the US and visiting any Laura Ingalls Wilder points of interest that might still be out there. I know there's at least one on the eastern side of South Dakota, which is where she lived for a large part of her life. I'm so happy that she recorded the amazing stories of her life when America was changing so much and things were so different.
 I also love that my Dad loves Little House. He gave me a season of the show, which we both love, for Christmas a few years ago. My dad IS Charles Ingalls. He does everything for his family and always stands for truth. Maybe someday I can become more like Laura, just as my Dad has become like Pa.

Exploring Pasadena

Of course, 'exploring' means eating as many things as we can in about 4 hours. Cori + I ate lunch at a yummy tea house and had these good sandwiches, salad and herbal tea.

Then we went to Dots to get cupcakes. Cori went for an apple pie and I chose the chocolate mint, of course. You can see, I'm quite excited about it.

                                       

Then we did some shopping for kitchen gadgets and fun clothes and bought the exact same t-shirt. 

Then we drove home in traffic and watched Coco before Chanel.