Oh the Cuteness!

In the first part of this post I told you all about the good times and creepy fun I had exploring the abandoned amusement park next door to our campground. Little did I know that when I returned to the campground Vanessa would have yet another surprise for me. She said there was a neighborhood of abandoned houses just outside the campground, and we should go check it out. *Swoon* I couldn't get out there fast enough! And they literally were right next door. We had to climb over a tiny fence to get into the neighborhood, and I couldn't believe what I saw. About a dozen houses, all in various states of decay. Their styles and colors and the objects strewn about placed them as being built in the 1960's. Some were nearly perfectly intact on the outside, while others were flattened. It almost looked like the whole group had slid down the hill in a weather-related catastrophe, and that's the only theory we have going because I couldn't seem to find any information on t...

Probably my favorite adventure/party of the summer was my friend Glen's birthday camping trip. Every year since he was pretty young he's been going to a strange little independently operated campground near Guerneville on the Russian River called Camp Outback . This place is magical for so many reasons. We got a huge campsite with a ton of people, I got to rent some amazing camping equipment for free, we stayed up all night playing games around the campfire, and we spent the entire second day kayaking on the river. Could it get any better? Turns out, yes. I don't know if too many people know this about me (Hello, internet!), but I've always wanted to be an urban explorer, and I love photographing abandoned buildings. But I've never been brave enough to go traipsing around private property, and finding abandoned spaces that are open to the public is pretty rare. But not at Camp Outback. After we got back from the river we got to go explore the abandoned amusemen...

You all know how much I love Halloween (you can see my crazy party from last year here ), and my new fella loves it just as much as I do. He decks out his house inside and out for all the trick-or-treaters and has invited me to be a part of his big production this year. My house, unfortunately, never gets many trick-or-treaters, but I still like to do up the yard real-creepy-like, if only for my own amusement. And this year I've added some lighting so hopefully people will notice the decorations as they drive by at night and bring their kids by since my new roommate will be home to give out the candy, and our neighbors will too. I picked up these great zombie lawn flamingos at Spirit this year, and I have a zombie lawn gnome coming soon. I have a feeling these will be left up all year... Caution tape, spiderwebs, sparkly chains, and various signs and tombstones will hopefully entice trick-or-treaters. And every good Halloween display, for me anyhow, needs to have a gravey...

One day I had some fruit on hand that I really needed to use before it got too ripe. But I wasn't in the mood for shoveling 4 helpings of fruit down my gullet, nor was I in the mood for a super-involved baked good. And then I remembered seeing a baked oatmeal recipe floating around the net, probably on Pinterest, and I thought it was just the thing. In fact, I had found multiple options, and after reviewing each one thoroughly I formulated a recipe that I assumed would work for the fruit I wanted to use. Guys, seriously, I've been missing out. I've never had baked oatmeal before and that makes me sad, because this stuff is amazing! When I was a kid I used to make those little fruit & cream oatmeal packets, but I'd use the absolute minimum amount of water because I liked it more toothy than soupy. This is like an adult, healthy, delicious version of a childhood favorite for me and I really hope you try it. I've made it three or four times now, each time with...

I have to say I really enjoy when my friends make their way onto my blog. I feel like, while I'm all about crafting and such, a lot of my friends and family read these posts as well and I want to let them know how much they truly inspire me, and I hope that in turn they inspire others too. My friend Alex (above right), who makes it on here fairly consistently because she doesn't have a blog of her own (when she is the one person in my circle who really, really should), recently had an old friend move to the area, and she threw him a welcome party to meet all her friends. His name is Karol (on the left). This was such a charming idea, and we had a lovely time. She's been keeping a couple of chickens that I had never had the chance to meet, and when she let them out they were so friendly! Easier to pet and handle than any chicken I've ever seen. Good job Alex! Even though the party was in July in a typically hot part of the bay area, the weather was mild and w...

I had the idea for this party at the beginning of summer, and it actually happened some time in June I think. Yeah yeah, I know. But! It was such a lovely time and I have to say that parties are so great when they are structured around an activity. It makes me feel a little like a kid again, except that there's cocktails involved... This was early in the setup. I decided to take it easy and make an impressive-looking yet incredibly quick menu of different sweet and savory tarts, as well as some fancy drinks. There were vegans and non-drinkers attending, so I tried to make sure there was something for everyone. My homemade pickles made an appearance as you can see, and the mason jars with paper straws for the drinks were well-received by everyone. I think there were 14 or 16 of us in all, which was quite the turnout! For the food, I made a vegan and non-vegan heirloom tomato tart with a Parmesan crust and fresh basil (out of focus above), an asparagus-Gruyere ...

Hey everyone! I know I've been kind of slacking off on here for the past few months, but I've been going through a lot of crazy life changes. To make a long story short, Dennis and I have gone our separate ways and I have since acquired a lovely new roommate, a new fella, and a new sense of self-worth. So yay! All is well and is sure to get even better. I have so many photos from summer shenanigans to post and I'm committed to getting caught up! But for today, I'll just leave you with a new, happy me. More on that later.