Tourist In Our Own Town: Labor Day Weekend

Without realizing it, seems we've made a tradition of spending Labor Day Weekend as tourists in our own town. This year we slept in and then headed out for adventure time. We did some country and city this year and it was a perfect mix.

We started out at Wildlife West Animal Park. It's a small wild animal refuge. There are often fun events throughout the summer here and on Saturdays they have a chuck wagon dinner during the summer season. There are great birds and large beasts there. We came in the afternoon so at the end of our visit the animals were becoming more active after sleeping through the hot day. 

We really enjoyed seeing how the gray foxes dangle in the trees to sleep, watching the elk from just a couple of feet away rubbing and smacking his antlers into fencing and trees. It was very interesting to see that up close. That is one big rack!

We also saw two cougars up quite close and a black bear which we were glad to enjoy behind a fence instead of in our yard. I guess I haven't mentioned it here but we have had a lot of bear visiting our yard this summer. We had heard there had been no bear sightings in our neighborhood for a few years. Well this year there had been quite a bear problem on the east side of the city. We have seen at least three bears up close to our house, one even opening our back fence and coming very close to our back door just as my husband stepped out to see what had moved the gate. Scary. So we enjoyed watching this bear from a distance!

Our visit seem to last just the right amount of time and we were really pleased with all the animals we were able to enjoy. We had brought a nice little picnic with us which we enjoyed in a shaded shed/pavilion on the property. It was nicely cool in the shade and after being out in the sun for a couple of hours, having cold drinks, fruits, veggies and crackers and cheese were the perfect small meal to enjoy while we sat and relaxed for a while. By this point the park was just about to close, so we had the space all to ourselves which was nice.

We drove back to the city and then went to ABQ Uptown. Some of the shops were closed for the holiday but we had a nice time wandering around, made a few small purchases and then stopped in to try Frost Gelato. We were not disappointed. I tried Marbled Dark Cherry and Creme de Biscotti. The Man tried Avocado and caramel coconut something. Kiddo tried coconut and vanilla. We all tried each other's and had a peaceful time sitting outside as the sun set over the city.

We wandered a little while longer and then drove to Winrock Center, which is next door, and had dinner at Red Robin. By the time we got done with dinner it was 10 p.m. It was a fun day and we were all ready for bed by the time we headed home. It was fun to adventure around our city. We still have so many fun things to see and try. Days like this are great reminder for us to get out and learn fun things about our city and spend time in places that feel like us and that we enjoy.

Summer Kick-off Trip

School ended near the last full week of May and then we had just the right amount of days to unwind and rest of before we headed off to visit family and attend sports camps. In the aftermath of our trip I will say that I really liked getting away and starting summer off with a bang right away. It was good for the soul to see family, get out of town out and be somewhere different, and start the summer fun of splash pads and picnics right off the bat.

Sometimes I find that if I don't really start summer off with intention for summer fun, suddenly it's late July or early August and we are just getting having our first barbecue, trip, big bike ride, night at the city park or baseball stadium and we've missed the majority of the summer. So jumping right into the spirit of the season the week after school got out was great.

Kiddo attended golf and basketball camps in the mornings and then in the afternoons and on the weekends we had time to spend with immediate and extended family. We met lots of cousins at a local splash pad one day and another day we took a fun evening bike ride around Midway, Utah. It is a wonderful little town that was settled by Swiss immigrants and has the look and feel of a beautiful quaint European village. After  our ride, that we had the best burgers and fries at a local food truck.

It was so good for the soul to be with our people, to see old friends and to be about different things than we generally are on regular days at home. I met up with a fun friend from California who is now an esthetician working in American Fork and had a great facial and chat. Things have changed so much since I lived in the area where I grew up that it's a challenge for me to find my way around anymore. But it is fun to adventure to new places that I often hear about from locals that I haven't been to.

I also had a chance to do a little undisturbed clothing shopping and scored on a few great deals on summer clothes. We enjoyed some great meals at my folks home and out to eat at fun old favorite eating spots and some "new to us" spots too. I think I got a bit of heat exhaustion one day and eating a lot of salads really helped with recovery. Fresh fruits and vegetables just make summer such a happy time for me.

We were sad to leave everyone, but once we were home we were also happy to be back in our own home, beds and routine. Thanks to our fun 10-day trip we came home in full summer mode. Even though we have work, home chores, classes and camps to attend to,we are still making the most of summer by taking some free time every day to relax, swim and watch a little TV or go somewhere fun. Bedtime has also gone out the window, for better or worse. It feels like it's okay so far and I think everyone in the family seems to be benefitting from taking a break from the rigorous and tiring routine of the school year.

It's been insanely hot since we got back and we feel like we're roasting a lot of the time, so that downtime really does help us keep our sanity and stay as cool as possible. Swimming has helped cool down our core body temps in the late afternoons and we stay cool the rest of the day. What a blessing it's been to have a pool, even though we kept telling our realtor we did not want a pool. But there are a lot of houses in the southwest that have a pool so it's not always so easy to find the house you want that doesn't have a pool. In the end I'm so glad we have a pool. Lesson learned. Living in the southwest and having a pool is a good thing.

Summer is in full swing now. Kiddo is in a local golf camp this week and I am working as much as I can while also making time for downtime for myself, with the family and with friends. One thing I still want to work on is getting out with friends to do things. I am not very good at initiating plans but am always so happy when friends call and invite us to do things. This summer I want to plan some mom and kids outings and a few night time family picnics. Better get on that!

Stylish And Sturdy Bag Lines by Heath Design and Heath + Stein

I have been watching the progress of Heath + Stein bags over the past few months and being a former bag designer/maker I am very impressed. You probably know Heath Ceramics by now, same company. These days they have quite a few sister product lines. You can check out all the amazing design lines by Heath, including jewelry, cookware, home furnishings and tile here.

Their bags are both beautiful and made with a lot of attention to durability and quality. Could make a great gift for upcoming holidays or birthdays or just because days. The first two bags below are from the Heath Designs line. The second two are specifically under the Heath + Stein label.

image via Heath Designs

I love the mix of fabrics, textures and materials. You can never go wrong with leather accents! These bags are high end and prices start at about $160 and go up to $375. They are a "special treat" purchase in my mind. Something you might save for or just make as an investment piece. If I'm going to spend a little extra in my wardrobe/fashion budget it is most likely going to be for a high quality bag. They are versatile and last a lot longer than a seasonal shirt, pants or jacket.

image via Heath Designs

The neutral colors help these bags adapt to anything in your wardrobe too, plus they can really upscale a simple or casual outfit. It's amazing how much a statement making bag can add to an everyday  look.

One of the things I really appreciate about these bags are the quality stitching, rivets, clasps and hooks. There are definitely companies who cheap out on those added fixtures but you can see from the photos that the materials used are hardy and will hold up to wear over time. And I think that also means that these bags are going to be comfortable to carry too.

image via Heath + Stein

This bag is a perfect example of the mix of high quality materials. So handsome! I can see a commuter dad looking super cool and getting a lot of use out of this. It would make a fantastic Father's Day gift. It could be a nice Mother's Day gift too. Work appropriate, this would probably fit someone in a more creative, casual work environment.

image via Heath + Stein

Of course there are plenty of other Mother's Day gift options too. If you want a little pop of high energy color there are options for that too. These aren't just a great fashion accessory but they were also designed to be highly functional. Thought was put into practical pockets and all the modern necessities one needs to carry each day.

I would definitely like to add one of these to my bag arsenal. It's just hard to decide which one!

A Quick Introduction to Live Love ABQ

I haven't been here much the past two weeks and that is because I've been wrapping up a huge project that I first dreamed up two years ago and have been working hard on for the past several months. Over the past two weeks I've been pushing very hard to complete setting up an online store and yesterday I was able to launch it which was very exciting. I'd like to introduce you to LIVE LOVE ABQ!

The idea behind LIVE LOVE ABQ hatched not long after I moved to Albuquerque, aka ABQ or The Duke City. Not long after I arrived it became clear that due to a variety of factors, Albuquerque had a bit of an image problem, that there were some ABQ residents that felt pretty "meh" about the city and that there were a lot of really amazing things about Albuquerque that just weren't getting the recognition they deserved from locals or beyond.

I remember specifically one conversation with a friend who has lived here for many years now. I mentioned this absolutely beautiful place I had visited that has been here in ABQ since the 1930s. She had never heard of it. It was at that point the idea of  "Living" the city and "Loving" the city came to me.

Living the city to me means enjoying all the fantastic things there are to do, see and experience. It's so easy to get into a routine and just stay in that routine....work, school, local grocery store, same restaurants, fast food chains all in the same neighborhood(s). But living the city to it's fullest means checking out new restaurants, theaters, shops, sights and events. Really taking advantage of all the cool things there are to do in the city. There is no reason to be bored. There are always things to do and online calendars, newspapers and television stations that promote all of these events to locals.

Albuquerque is very unique in it's history, ancient sights, arts community, large number of museums, culture, culinary depth and energy behind large and small business development. I want to help promote all of that and I think a reminder to LIVE the city does just that.

The city also has it share of problems as any city does. LOVE the city to me means we all take part in having responsibility for what happens here and why. We can do so much to help build the community in our own ways if that is as simple as getting to know our neighbors and participating in neighborhood watch programs. We can participate in town meetings, with volunteer organizations or serve on city or civic councils. We can all do something! We can love our cities to a better place! And we can also speak positively about our cities and help build they image of our cities by accentuating the positive instead of focusing on the negative.

So that is where LIVE LOVE ABQ came from and I have had so much fun creating products to promote those ideas including tote bags, mugs, home decor, and more. The goal for now is to create small, handmade items in small batches - so they feel special and unique. Hopefully as things go along I will also add some large run items like sweatshirts, hats and tees. It's been a fun labor of love for my new city that also really feeds my creative and entrepreneurial spirit.

I hope we'll have a chance to work with collaborators to use our tote bags for event swag or wedding guest gift bags. I think a lot of the decor items are great for a home office or workplace for anyone doing business in ABQ! Any of the products would be a fun gift for anyone moving to ABQ or for anyone going off to college or moving from ABQ to remember all that's great about life here.

There are so many applications to helping promote our city and share all that is great about it. I'm excited for the opportunities! Now it's full speed ahead to continue with marketing, networking, product fulfillment and more product design. I seriously have a list of about 100 things I'd like to create as we move forward!

You can find the shop at www.liveloveabq.online -- not .com -- but .online. If you have a moment, I'd love you to check out the shop and let me know what you think. Thank you as always for all your generous support now and over the years here at kalanicut. I adore my readers and treasure the relationships we've built over the years!

Big Likes #3: Dollar Tree Composition Notebooks

Last Monday night I headed to the neighborhood Dollar Tree store and loaded up on pretty little composition notebooks. They are a great price for just $1 for pretty, colorful patterned covers that are often three times that much at other stores. They are my Big Like for this week.

I've been using them over the past few of years for all kinds of projects from business brainstorms, home renovation projects research, dreams and goals, a daily to do list and now I am using them for client projects I am taking on. They are the perfect size and so sturdy, easy to tuck inside a purse, backpack or carry on. I use a file rubber band to hold things inside, so it's easy to tuck things in as well. Sometimes I glue things inside.

I grabbed a stack of eight on Monday and am already using two but am really happy to have a stash in my cupboard for the future. I have one I've had for a while that I am using to track projects for the house and I have added tabs on the edge with the name of each room in the house so that I can easily find and flip to each space.

They are great for sketching ideas out and I love being able to keep all my thoughts and brainstorming out projects in one place. They would be great for a travel journal for a trip. With some fun washi tape or a glue stick with you, you could tape or glue tickets and photos and fun mementos inside along with a daily record of activities and events - and again they are easy to tuck in a small bag or write in while traveling in small quarters.

They would also work great for a place to collect recipes, collect favorite quotes or to use a a gratitude journal each day -- and they look cute on the bookshelves too. One dollar composition notebooks are my Big Like for this week.

Update & Revisit: Packing For Travel & Teaching Kids How

We are going to be traveling again shortly and I am reminded about something I am continually grateful for. We have a kiddo who has been able to pack her own suitcase since she was four or five years old. Amazing and such a relief when you are rushing to get ready for a trip! A few years ago I created a little picture chart for her to use to be able to pack her own bags. Since then she's become quite a pro and is usually all ready to go long before her dad and I are.

Over the years we have traveled a lot on short notice and we have lived in two locations with a lot of shuttling back and forth so The Bug has had a lot of practice packing and it has been a big help for her to be able to be so independent. Does she occasionally forget something, yes, but we all do no matter how old we are, right? As my travel guru Rick Steves always says, there's usually a store where you can buy what you need when you get there if you have to.

The way my chart worked was that I basically created a standard packing list of how many of each item she would need for most trips and put a picture with each one, since she couldn't even read yet when I first made this chart. If there were three shirts, she needed to pack 3 shirts and if there were two pants she needed to pack two pants. This worked very well! Later I started just writing in a number next to the pictures if it was different than what was on the chart, based on the length of our trip and specific needs. That worked well too.

So before she was old enough to read she could get together her clothing and set it all out so that we could go through it and check her bag to make sure she had everything and then just pop it all in the suitcase or backpack at the end. I still remember one trip we took where we only had about an hour's notice that we were leaving for the airport and she was ready in less than 30 minutes. I think she was seven. She's a good traveler.

Having a good rolling suitcase that she can manage and a backpack she can pack her travel necessities in (blanket, pillow, snacks, drink, books, iPad, etc.) in has made life so much easier. Since she was tiny she's carried her own backpack which has grown in size a bit as she has. Suitcase checks in for the flight, backpack carries us through the flight on the plane. I always packed diapers or extra underwear and extra clothing in her backpack in case of emergencies too. For little kids I like to pack  quite a few small toys and perhaps even a few little fun surprises to keep them entertained on the flight.

For little kids, I factor in that about every 15-30 minutes on the plane they may get bored, so I bring enough things to keep then interested in something new every few minutes for the duration of the flight. For longer flights you can even rotate through what you brought twice throughout the hours. I find this philosophy works well for church as well. I've come to realize that the kids who are usually running unruly all through church or on the plane are the kids who don't have anything else to entertain them. If there is lots to do right there with mom and dad they will stay there and stay engaged. Worked like a charm for us for years and I continue to employ that tactic with other kids I cross paths with as well. I usually still carry a bag with a few toys in it to church just in case and it's amazing how often they get used.

Now that Bug is older, almost 11, I'm not so concerned about entertaining her on the flight. That is really her responsibility now and I assume she'll have a laptop to watch something online if she wants and a book or magazine to read as well. That should do it, thankfully. No more packing stuffed animals, toys and all that jazz.

But I still want to make sure she has a sweater or jacket for the plane, something soft to lay her head on if needed. A thin, down puffy jacket works well as both a jacket or  pillow on the flight and and is nice to have for cool mornings and evenings. I still usually always bring a pashmina with me for the flight as well, which also works as a blanket, scarf or pillow in a crunch. They fold up easily in a corner of a backpack. They often get used by other family members who turn up a little empty handed for pillows or jackets.

I have a good backpack too that I've been depending on for travel for quite a few years now. It has been a godsend for the amount of traveling I've done over the past few years. Everything I carry on has a place and so every trip I know where I'm going to store things and where to find them when I arrive. Having a system down makes things faster when you are packing, decreases the likelihood you'll forget something as you go through each section and think about what needs to go in there and you always know where to find things.

Here's another post about how I keep a toiletries bag especially for travel that is always ready to grab and walk out the door with. It's been a staple for my trips for almost 20 years now. Here's a post about using packing cubes for clothing. I've also been doing this for almost 20 years as well and I like how easy it is to keep everything orderly and organized. It also makes it very easy to have your bags searched if that happens. Having four cubes in your suitcase, one toiletries bag and a couple of shoe bags keeps things looking great and functioning well!

And lastly, this is my favorite travel bag for trips when I know I'll be out and about for long days and doing a lot of walking and wandering. It works as a fairly small over-the-shoulder bag and if needed expands to hold shopping purchases, a lunch or a jacket. I've had this bag for 20 years, it's still in pretty much like new condition except for a little fading. But you would never know it's 20 years old and they still sell the same bag now.

Tourist In My Own Town: Old Town Albuquerque

We were supposed to be in California for the holiday weekend but all signs pointed to postponing our trip, including the giant rainstorm event that hit out there at the end of last week. We had a few stumbling blocks in the way and when Southwest gave us the option, due to storm-related flight delays, to change our tickets anytime in the coming two weeks without penalty, we jumped at the chance.

So unexpectedly Saturday morning we had a long weekend ahead of us. After reading The Magnolia Journal, spring issue, on Friday I was very energized to make more progress on the house. I've mentioned before that it's been a struggle to pull the house together and figure out how everything will work best. It's been about a year since we moved in and we're still figuring it all out. Of course, I have to remind myself that six months of that was the family in crisis mode while I was on crutches and recovering from my broken foot and working more than full-time, so we really didn't get much accomplished.

After breakfast and rearranging our travel plans, I jumped into continuing to clear out our family room and organizing the large closet in that room. Our family room started out as a storage room, just based on necessity when the big truck from California brought our stuff and we put a lot of it in the garage and family room until we could figure out what to do with it all. My goal originally had been to have that room set up last fall. We desperately needed more family space. Even though our home is not small, we have found  that it lives very small with a large kitchen and weird space allotments that are very hard to use well. It's a surprisingly challenging house to decorate with angled walls, lots of doorways and very little uninterrupted wall space that isn't windows, cupboards, closets, fireplaces, light switches, utilities control panels, etc.

In January we made some significant progress when we set up half the room to be a TV/lounge space and got a sofa, coffee table and tv console area set up there. We are starting to use that room more and more. I moved some furniture back into our dining room/kitchen area where it was intended to be but was moved to allow for floor repairs which we're still waiting on. I decided to take a Murphy's Law approach. The contractor wasn't getting back to us fast enough while we had everything moved out of the way, so I figured if I put all the furniture back they'll be back to fix the floor right away because I'll have to end up just turning around and moving it all out again. Ha. But in the universe, action begets action so maybe just making something happen is a good thing.

We got a lot done on Saturday and ended the day with some deliveries to the thrift store and recycling, a great big closet with a few things nicely organized inside, furniture out of the way and a much better looking family room. It's nice to look from the kitchen towards the family room and actually be able to see in that room instead of staring at a big armoire that was shoved in there from the kitchen.

We realized that probably 1/3 of the stuff in that room was just empty boxes and packing paper, so it was nice to get rid of that stuff and open up the space. Sunday was church and a lot of resting. It seemed like no one felt very well that day so we took it easy. By Monday we were really ready to get out of the house, get some fresh air and be around other people. We decided to spend the afternoon in Old Town Albuquerque.

We had all been there a few times but never to really wander around the shops and main plaza. It was not very crowded for a holiday weekend. I wondered if we'd miss some of the crowd earlier in the day since we didn't arrive until mid-afternoon. It was nice to wander from shop to shop, get a feel for the types of souvenirs available in our city and visit with some of the shop owners. We looked at all kinds of jewelry, clothing, baskets, rugs, Native American crafts, art and visited some sweets shops too.

 

San Felipe de Neri Church

We stopped in at Steve's Ice Cream and enjoyed a trio of ice cream cups that we shared: fresh peach vanilla, cookies & cream option and coffee, along with a peanut butter chocolate chip cookie. The weather in winter here is often pleasant enough that you can dine or enjoy treats outside during the day. It was nice to be able to sit in front of the store in the fresh air and look around and watch the happenings around the streets.

We also visited The Old Barrel Tea Company where we saw that great sign "Life is now in session" from the photo at the top of this post. I think we need that for our house. It's such a great reminder that we need to live in the present and enjoy every day. Not only did they have a nice selection of teas and honeys in stock but also had some fun gifts, small home decor items and a large selection of beautiful tea cups.

One of the things I enjoy about New Mexico is that it still have the flavor of the Old West (and sometimes the WILD West) about it. Cowboys are not uncommon in these parts and I always smile when I see one dressed up in his cowboy finest at an appointment or restaurant. The Old West flavor still abounds around town and there are plenty of places to experience it.

We wandered through a lot of touristy gift shops, enjoyed taking photos, examining the old architecture and more. If you visit Albuquerque, there are a lot of different tours you can take around Old Town. There are some pretty incredible ghost stories about the area too! There is a nightly ghost tour that I've heard a bit about that sounds pretty awesome if you can handle ghost stories in the dark. I'm not sure I could.

Old Town Albuquerque is a fun place to learn more about Albuquerque, being the heart of where it all started. It's down-to-earth, filled with lots of good food and snack options, and there are some great souvenirs you can find there too in every price range so you can take home a little treat from ABQ.

One of the things that was important to me when we moved here is that we take time to really get to know the city and enjoy what is here. Being a tourist in our own town and state is important to me and I try to make time to see new things at least monthly. Not only does it give our family a breadth of experiences but it also helps build the local economy, support small business owners and give us the background to be good ambassadors for our city and state.

Yesterday I got the 2017 tourist guide for the area and I went through it this morning and circled lots of things we'd like to do that we haven't yet. It will be fun to get out this year and do more of those things that we couldn't do last year with my crutches. I'll look forward to our next tourist in my own town experience soon.

A Visit To Burbank's New Largest IKEA in America

While I was visiting a dear friend last Friday in LA, she happened to mention there was a brand new IKEA in Burbank that had just opened and that it was the largest IKEA in the country. Well, since IKEA had been on my To Do list for the trip since we don't have one in New Mexico, I was intrigued.

Distance and drive time are about the same from Santa Monica to the Carson IKEA or the Burbank IKEA, but having to go to the valley never sounds terribly appealing when you have to go through the Sepulveda Pass. But I couldn't resist getting a chance to see the new Burbank location. My theory was if it's THAT big they are going to have merchandise that other stores won't have. So I had to go check it out. The one thing I didn't know was that it was literally still the grand opening weekend.

When I got near the store I could quickly and clearly sense that this may have been a big mistake. There were hundreds of cars coming from every direction to get into the parking lot and there were large flashing traffic signs on the streets and police and paid parking attendants -- lots of them (!) trying to keep the traffic moving. It was crazy.

It took me at least 20, maybe 30 minutes to get from the street outside the store into the parking lot and then a few more minutes to find a parking space. I'm telling you there were dozens of people directing traffic on the streets and in the parking lots. It was insane. Side streets were closed and everyone was forced into certain streets for entrance and exit from the store and the neighborhood.

I seriously questioned my sanity to even try to visit the store. At that point driving the hour total to get back to the Westside and down to Carson didn't sound half bad. But I'd come all this way, I was intrigued and I was already there. How much more insane could it get? I just wanted to get inside to the restaurant and have a nice Scandinavian meatball lunch.

My next observation was that the store is gigantic. Walking up to it, you feel like an ant! I don't think I've ever felt so dwarfed by a retail store as I did that one. I headed towards the front entrance, which even though I was parked right next to the building was quite a long walk, with a few hundred of my new friends. Once inside, the lobby was crowded and there was a waiting line for the kid's play area. I quickly headed up the escalator only to be jammed up by hundreds of people at every turn in the showroom. I quickly slid through the crowd of wanderers, deciding to totally race through room vignettes, get to the restaurant, have my lunch and then head downstairs to the marketplace.

When I found the restaurant which was hard to see because of the thousands of people in the store, I saw that the seating was packed and there were several hundred people in line! Okay, skip lunch. But who knew how many hours it would take me to be able to extricate myself from the store and the parking lot to get food?!

(This photo is a bit deceiving because it does not show the crowds. There are a few dozen people within ten feet of me taking this photo.)

I quickly began politely racing through the room vignettes floor. While everyone else was browsing I was ducking between couples and families discussing different rooms and furniture they were considering. With great joy I found myself in the marketplace fairly quickly...and in a store that size I'm guessing it was probably 15-20 minutes walk. It wasn't a short walk and I only stopped a couple of times on the way through.

Once in the marketplace I got a cart and wondered if that was a completely insane thing to do with the crowds. But it actually never was much of a problem, everyone was polite with each other. Sometimes you might have to steer around blocked aisles but it never was too crazy, nor did I encounter any rude shoppers along the way. Apparently IKEA makes people happy enough, even in large crowds, that they remain pleasant. I seriously didn't hear one cross person in the store, except for a few loud sighs and "you've got to be kidding me" utterances at the mile long line to the restaurant. I said the same thing! Can you even imagine how many meatballs they sold that day or that first week?!

images via IKEA.com

Talk about feeling dwarfed! The height of the marketplace shelves and ceiling were enormous! I found a few fun items to fill a cart with. I bought three pillows, see above, they are actually two sided, so it's one pillow with both these fun fabrics on it. I got these for our bed along with three Euro Sham inserts for them. Right now we have white sheets, a navy with white embroidered geometric pattern duvet cover and king shams with an olive green quilt folded at the foot of the bed. I think these Euro Shams with a navy and white and brightly patterned option will give us opportunity for a more neutral look when we feel like it and a nice punch of color if we flip them around.

I picked up four cushy, dark gray bath rugs knowing I could use them in our master bathroom or Kiddo's bathroom. We definitely need something a little softer and more easily washable in our bathroom.

I also got several of these fun solar silk lanterns and three small solar silk lantern strings for our outside patio area. Not totally sure where they'll hang but we have a couple of trees back there that could be the perfect to create a fun summer lighting arrangement. My big hope is that the solar feature really and truly works and isn't too dim. Fingers crossed. I thought these would be fun because they would be something that few people in NM would have seen or purchased since we don't have IKEA here.

images via Ikea.com

Getting through checkout was no worse than any regular day weekend day at IKEA. The cafe with pizza, ice cream and sweet rolls was mobbed so I skipped the end of shop ice cream too. Bummer. But it was good to get out of the store, back to my car and out of the parking lot --  a relief really to get away from the crowds and sit down in the car! Hopefully someday I'll be able to go back on a weekday when it's not quite so crazy! I ended up driving all the way back to the Westside before I grabbed some lunch because I figured with all the people who were disappointed not to get lunch at IKEA, they would be stopping to eat somewhere nearby.

I had brought one empty suitcase with me just in case I had to bring some purchases home with me on the plane. There were a few things I would've bought had I not been limited to the space in that suitcase for sure. I was very lucky that I everything I chose to buy just barely fit into the extra suitcase. It worked out perfectly, thank goodness. I wasn't sure what I was going to do if I couldn't get everything in that bag. It was quite a load to carry from the front of the store to my "nearby" car which again was very close to the building and still a very long walk from the doors.

So that was my big weekend adventure to the new, gigantic Burbank IKEA. Here's a link to the KABC Los Angeles sneak preview that might give you more of a feel for the store.

A Quick Return To Our Old Stomping Grounds

I am in Santa Monica today to attend a funeral tomorrow. It's a sad occasion but also my first real return to our neighborhood and circle of friends there since we moved. It will be good to see many much loved faces and to be back in our old city for a while.

I am traveling alone and planning brunch with a friend, taking care of a couple of business items, getting a mani-pedi at my old neighborhood nail salon, and will get some beach time Sunday afternoon when it's supposed to be warm and sunny. Friday it's supposed to rain all day and I'm debating whether I take full rain gear or just a slicker to go over a jacket or sweater. I was hoping to just take one pair of sandals and a pair of flip flops but that doesn't seem like it's going to work now.

I'm trying to make a list of favorite places to eat and fun shop areas to wander while I'm there and it's crazy to say I've already forgotten a lot. I find that so strange when you live in a place most of your adult life and two years later you are having problems remembering street names and favorite restaurants and fast food joints. I will have a decent amount of time on my on on both ends of the trip so I want to make sure I make good use of my time and make it great and soul-filling. There are a hundred friends I'd love to see that I won't be able to see, but wouldn't it be lovely if I could.

This funeral I am going to is going to bring together a lot of people I dearly love, so despite it's sadness there will be a lot of reunion there too. I am looking forward to seeing friends I haven't seen in years who have moved to other states, friends from all over SoCal and on Sunday friends from our former church congregation. Love all those people and look forward to catching up a bit as we can.
I am sharing a hotel room and car with a dear friend and looking forward to some good chats and down time. Sitting by a pool, dipping the toes and hanging out together sounds quite lovely.

There are definitely some mixed emotions going back "home" to California. We miss it there a lot. California has been a major part of both my and The Man's adult life, so it really is where we feel the most us and the most at home.  Moving has brought many blessings too, so there is always that loss and gain in making a big life change like we did. Had there been a crystal ball before us when we made the decision to move we probably wouldn't have done it based on the way some things didn't work out as we'd hoped. But we would've missed out on all the blessings we gained when we did make that decision. Life is interesting, isn't it.

I was looking back at old family photos from 2008-2012 yesterday morning and The Bug was so little and we looked so young. Wow. Even pictures I didn't like at all back then were so lovely to me now. There were so many photos of beach life and palm trees, major league baseball games, year-round warm temperatures...made me a homesick for California and more grateful for the past. I hope I'm living in the present a little more to realize all the lovely blessings I have right now.

I am looking forward to the quiet time and change of scenery this weekend will provide. I hope you too have some time for quiet, rest and happy enjoyment this weekend! Thanks for coming by today.

Update and Revisit: Creating Your Dream Life

The new year is always a time that gets me excited for what can be and this year I am revisiting one of the great activities I've done over the past 8 years that has really helped me focus on what I want to do in my life.

I take a sheet of paper and usually draw an circle in the middle of it and write MY LIFE inside it. Then I start out drawing a line from the circle and at the end of the line I write one thing I feel I must have in my life or that I really want. For instance, it might be a garden, more peace, exercise, a different car, etc. And I keep going until I run out of ideas. I've learned a few things over the years about this activity and now I usually make it a two step process. One day I write down everything I can possibly think of that I would like for my life. Then a few days later I review it and cut out anything that really isn't a must for my happiness or that isn't something I feel I can accomplish realistically right now. I try to hone it down to things I really do want most and that are true necessities or very strong desires.

This helps me to focus a bit more, not overwhelm myself and to be a little more serious about what's truly vital to my life, my happiness and my needs. Then I recreate a new MY LIFE chart. I hang this up in my office and then when I am considering opportunities and how I spend my time I am able to reference this chart to see if said opportunities fit any of the categories. If they don't it's probably something I don't need to do or is not going to take me where I want to go in my life. A simple example, say for instance I wrote down that snow skiing was a must have in my life. It would make no sense to move to a tropical island.

So far this year I have created my The Sky's The Limit version of MY LIFE and now I'm in process to hone it down, eliminate excess and complete the project. It was helpful for me to review how I've done this in the past, so I wanted to share those posts with you. Here's the post from the first time I did this project.

My First Dream Life Chart
Dream Life Chart Update: This was written shortly after I experienced a life-threatening infection and lost my hearing for a few months. Challenging time!

Below I am also adding a post I wrote several years ago that was originally published in 2011 on the blog: reFind Joy. The website, that was more lifestyle at the time, is now a business site, so my post is no longer available there. I wanted to have a copy of it available and added it here.

Actualizing My Dream Life and Finding My Joy

By Kalani Cropper

I am so happy to be here talking about joy today. I love joy. In 2009 I was working long hours in a stressful industry and had given up many things I love to focus on my career.  I was tired and too busy. I sat down one day, with a pretty piece of yellow cardstock and wrote My Dream Life in the center of it. I drew an oval around that then drew one line out from it and wrote down one thing I wanted for my dream life.

In a few minutes I had drawn 33 lines out from that oval. Things that ranged from the vehicle I wanted to drive, the family I wanted to have, the way I wanted to look and the work and play I wanted to do – all the things I felt I needed to have an abundance of real joy in my life. This life existed for me in another space and time and how desperately I wanted to arrive there.

I carried that yellow cardstock with me every day. I would look at it longing, from time to time, looking forward to the day. Then one day a couple months later, I decided to look at it with fresh eyes and note everything that had begun to happen. I was able to check off nine things that had either come into my life, changed in my life or were in the process of changing. I wanted a garden. Without thinking about it I planted a few vegetable and herb plants on my patio and was harvesting beautiful tomatoes and fresh thyme and basil. I wanted a life where I could ride my bike most places. I started riding my bike more places. I had begun to more conscientiously live my dream life.

I looked a few weeks later and realized that even more things had begun to change in my life. This time I marked 21 items. A few weeks later 29. At that moment I was amazed that the life of my dreams didn’t require a move to a new state, a large yard, charming little free-standing house, a quiet small town, a different body or new closet full of clothes. It did not require an all-out evacuation of my current life. It only required a more conscious living in the space where I was. It came to me that I already had all the elements of my dream life right there with a little more awareness, a few small changes and more enjoyable actions.

With this new appreciation I continued to make more changes in my life. Some were easy, some were harder. Some looked like they would be painful and weren’t.  Life continued to change and I continued to enjoy more and more the life of my dreams.

On a Sunday afternoon in January of this year, I found myself being ordered by an urgent care physician to get to a hospital immediately for a CAT scan. I had expected to get a prescription for antibiotics and head back home to the couch. Twelve hours later when I left the ER to be admitted to the hospital I expected to be hospitalized overnight. The next morning when I asked the specialist who checked me out if I was going home that day he said oh no, you’re not going anywhere.  Two months later, I’m feeling much better but still have lingering effects and more treatment to come. After being unable to do anything but lie down or sit and rest for four weeks, my priorities had begun to change yet again. Sitting still is not something I am good at.

But I knew this experience had happened for a reason. As I considered all I could’ve lost, all my recuperation required and the lingering health issues that might never fully repair, my perspective on all I needed in my life had quietly but intently changed. Weeks later, I decided to create a new dream life chart for 2011 and as a new start.

I started out the same…the oval…the lines shooting out from it. But this time I only came up with nine things -- nine things that really and truly mattered to my life and made me happy.  I would be okay without my dream wardrobe, I would be okay without my dream work, I would be okay without my dream house, vehicle or travel. What now mattered most to me was my life, my health, my loved ones, peace, calm, laughter and basic living needs. I felt a huge burden lifted from me. I felt lighter, more agile, more settled down and more certain of what mattered to me. At that time it was impossible for me to get caught up in wants that were unnecessary. I also felt less tolerant of spending one minute doing anything I despise or to be disingenuous in anyway.

At the same time I felt more motivated than ever to have the life I dream of and make good use of my time, energy and resources. No more playing small, more Just Do It.  It was a sweet time, that moment between painful illness and entering fully and completely back into regular, busy, stressful life – where I could watch my life for a moment with a clear, peaceful head.

I will never be able to think of that time without being reminded to keep life sweet and simple – and to remember that all the elements of my dream life, my joy, are here right now, today all around me.

Here's another update from 2013 that talks a little more about my process and the things I've learned along with a link to an inspiring article from Drew Barrymore.

2013 My Dream Life

If you feel inspired to try to create  map of your dream life I'd love to hear about your process and inspiration. Leave a comment below if you like!

10 Tips To Make The Most Of Your Visit To The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta

The excitement is high here in Albuquerque. Tomorrow is the start of The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. As the days lead up to fiesta you see more and more balloons in the sky each morning. This morning, always the Friday before the opening weekend, balloons launch from the public schools all over the city. Families gather to get up close and personal with the balloonists and to get a close up view of the balloons before they take off from each school's field. It's amazing to see from our house, balloons taking off all over the valley.

This year, for the first time, we are running a little AirBnB venture from a rental unit. We posted the opening a week ago today and by the time we woke up the next morning the reservation requests were coming in. We were solidly booked by Sunday and we are looking forward to having guests from around the country and even the Virgin Islands. We're rushing over there in just a few minutes to finalize everything. Our unit is available for rent long term or short throughout the winter so if you are thinking about a trip to ABQ for the fall, holidays or just for a quiet weekend getaway, check out our listing.

Last night I made some fun guest baskets with snacks and treats and later today I am going to wrap up a little guest book with all the info they will need for the rental as well as fun information about some of our favorite things to do in the city. We're kicking ourselves that we didn't decide to "Turo" a car and sign up to "Uber" during the next 10 days. As entrepreneurs and Balloon Fiesta enthusiasts it's a great opportunity to have some fun during this annual 10-day event.

So I thought it would be a great time to share some tips for guests coming to Balloon Fiesta. Balloon Fiesta is an early morning event. It is pretty much wrapped up for the day by 10 a.m. until the evenings when there are night activities. Let's start with my most important tip.

1. Plan to be on the field early on the weekends! Last year there were people turned away and stuck in traffic unable to get to the fiesta field during the 6-7a time window. I would suggest leaving for the park by 4:30 -4:45 a.m. depending on what part of the city you are coming from to get easier parking and relax rather than stressing about getting there, being stuck in traffic and missing out.You can relax once you get there and there is already stuff going on and food available pretty early in the morning so you can bring a blanket, and even take a nap on the grassy edges of the field before things get going. Just don't miss the experience by sitting in frustrating traffic. For more information on Ride and Share, parking and more check out the official Balloon Fiesta website.

I had local friends last year you couldn't get in and were stunned, saying this has never happened in their lives. The fiesta continues to grow each year so that problem is only likely to get more prevalent. On the last Saturday of fiesta last year it is estimated there were 120,000 on the field. That is a lot of people trying to get to one part of town. Make is easier on your group by getting there early. Here's a link to traffic and parking info.

*Added note from 2016 Fiesta: The final Saturday traffic again proved to be immense. People sitting in their cars not moving for a couple of hours. My recommendation is to leave for the park by 4:30 at the latest. You do not want to come all the way to Albuquerque to sit in your car and miss out on all the activities on the field. If you come early you can get a leisurely breakfast and hang out. The time actually goes by very quickly.

2. Dress for the weather - both warm, cold and possibly rainy. While the daytimes highs are still in the upper 70s to 80s at this time of year in Albuquerque, it is chilly in the mornings. Wear layers and anticipate being cold early in the morning. Also plan on potential rainshowers. We're at the end of our monsoon season but the possibility of an afternoon or early evening thunder shower is high. Be prepared. Here's a link to the local weather report.

3. Bring your sunscreen and sunglasses. Albuquerque is a high altitude climate and the sun is bright! Easier to get sunburned too with less atmosphere to filter the sun's rays. You might want to bring a blanket or lawn chairs to sit on as well. 

4. Be ready for good food. There are some awesome food vendors at the fiesta, take advantage all you can. For breakfast, consider the official breakfast of New Mexico - the Breakfast Burrito.

5. Anticipate traffic when leaving the park. Traffic can be much heavier than normal as crowds leave the park. It's a great time to grab some food and just sack out on the big empty field at the end of the day. No need to sit in traffic. This is a great time to visit the Balloon Museum on the same property. It is beautiful and has some great new exhibitions this year.

6. Enjoy all of Albuquerque. Since the ballooning all takes place in the early morning there are tons of activities planned throughout the city for the rest of the days and evenings. There are also great coupon books available with all sorts of discounts available at the Visit Albuquerque booth on the field at Balloon Fiesta. Here's a link to Balloon Fiesta and flavor of Albuquerque Flipagrams I made recently and you can see lots more of Albuquerque's beauty on my Instagram feed.

7. Look for the giant Albuquerque Frame - where you can also get your photo taken on your phone for free in the giant frame with the balloons in the background. At the booth are the coupon books and great staff and volunteers who can help you learn all you need to know about Albuquerque. You can also visit the Visit Albuquerque website for coupons and discounts as well as lots more information on events happening throughout the fiesta.

8. Don't miss a Balloon Glow and Special Shapes Rodeo. On several evenings during fiesta there is a glow, which means balloons cover the field and inflate, lighting the night with glowing balloons. The sound and sight is quite beautiful and there are usually fireworks shows and other events, as well as all the good food again. A fun event! The Special Shapes Rodeos are an opportunity to enjoy all the unique balloons beyond the traditional balloon shape. There are all shapes and sizes and so many fun and recognizable characters. One of my favorite activities.

9. Plan in an afternoon nap. Getting up so early in the mornings, it's likely you'll want a nap or to head to bed pretty early. Planning that into your schedule, especially if you're traveling with kids makes life a little easier.

10. Have Fun! Albuquerque is so beautiful this time of year and the people here are so kind. The crowds are only big for short periods of the day so you can really relax and enjoy yourself and have some fun here. It's so easy to get around the city and for a pretty big city it doesn't feel crowded.

There is so much to see and do. Take a bike tour with my friends at Routes Rentals, ride the Sandia Peak Aerial Tramway, visit Los Poblanos and see their beautiful Farm Shop, have some good New Mexico food at Sadie's or El Pinto. Enjoy the outdoor seating for great meals at Backstreet Grill, The Grove Cafe or The Standard Diner. Check out the art scene at one of the many galleries in town and visit all our fine museums too! There is no shortage of great things to do here in our city.

If you have other tips or recommendations I'd love to have you leave them in the comments below. It would be great for this post to have a variety of opinions and suggestions for the best ways to enjoy The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta!

*One more quick bit of info that can be very helpful. Because Balloon Fiesta is a weather dependent activity things can change or be cancelled if there is an issue with wind, rain, etc. For the most up-to-date activity and weather information, follow @balloonfiesta on Twitter or Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta on Facebook. Twitter is the most up to date source of information.  A couple of events have been cancelled this year (2016) and you can get a raincheck for a follow up event when that happens. You can save yourself the drive and parking and all if you are up to date on what's happening on the field if things are cancelled.

A Weekend In Taos, New Mexico

One of my initial goals when we moved to New Mexico was to take every opportunity to get to know our new home. I thought it would be fantastic to take a weekend every month to visit a new corner of the state.

We barely got settled, into the school year and through the holidays when I started my five-month broken foot odyssey. So a couple of weeks ago when our new, much loved, next door neighbors invited us to meet them in Taos, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to take our first weekend getaway.

Unfortunately kiddo got sick the night we were planning to leave and none of us was feeling too great. So we decided to wait until Saturday morning to see how everyone was feeling. Come Saturday morning kiddo was not feeling great but was begging to go since she'd already been packed for two days. We decided we all could use a couple of days away from the house and projects and To Do lists. 

We met our friends and had lunch at the historic Taos Inn restaurant Doc Martin's. We enjoyed some great, classic New Mexican fare and a nice visit together. Then we wandered Kit Carson Street and a variety of beautiful art galleries. One of the most interesting stops was at Angie Coleman Fine Arts. Our neighbor, who is an artist is a friend of Angie's, so we got to see her block printing. It was a great opportunity to see what goes into her beautiful work that we also saw features at Taos Inn.

Along the way there were lots of pretty alleys and nooks and crannys to see and the lilacs were in bloom and were so fragrant. Kiddo was feeling pretty wiped out at this point so we checked into our hotel for the night and ended up eating the snacks we'd brought with us for dinner and we never left the room again that night.

We stayed at the Hampton Inn, which I'll give the following reviews. When we got our room keys and headed to our room with luggage in hand, The Man and kiddo were ahead of me. Once I got into the room, I saw baby toys on the bed and then a suitcase against the wall. Hearing people coming down the hall, in horror, I said, "This is someone else's room. C'mon let's get out of here!"

It did take a few seconds for each one of us to register what was happening in the room because the beds was made, and the room was very tidy. The Man said he thought it was odd that the hotel had provided us with a crib. Once The Man ran back up to the lobby and got us another room, we ended up loving our room. It was very simple, stylish and comfortable. There was a great indoor pool in the hotel, breakfast and everything was very easy. The one downfall was that the room was not at all soundproof. Noise from upstairs, the hallway and neighboring rooms was loud. Luckily we were tired and slept a long time anyway.

 Sunday afternoon we tracked down a pizza joint The Man has been talking about for as long as I've known him and it well worth it. It's not a spot you would ever find if you weren't hunting for it. Word is it has a cult following.

Taos Pizza Out Back is rustic to be sure, but the minute you step out of your car the smells coming from inside assure you that you've made a fantastic decision for your next meal! We were all about ordering once we sat down and quickly ordered drinks and their version of a supreme pizza.

We were not disappointed and I will gladly revisit any time we're in town and definitely will recommend it to everyone. Everything about the pizza was fantastic and they also had a great dessert menu, which we were too full to check out.

We wandered the downtown plaza for a while and did a little souvenir shopping and enjoyed looking at beautiful New Mexico jewelry and other locally made products. We took things pretty slow the entire weekend and headed home early Sunday afternoon. The drive home was beautiful and went quickly.

I am looking forward to going back to Taos again when we're all feeling a little better and to adventuring to all the places we didn't get to see on our first trip. We passed lots of river rafting spots, and there is lots to see around the Taos, Angel Fire area. Here's to more New Mexico road trips this summer!

Check out my instagram feed, kalanicutblog for lots more photos of our New Mexico adventures including a trip to the Sandia Peak Tram last week.

Valentine's Visit To Santa Fe, New Mexico

Now that I'm a little more mobile and due to a bad case of cabin fever from our first cold-climate winter, we have made an effort to get out on a family outing the past two weekends. On Saturday we made a quick afternoon trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico.

I left an important notebook in my hotel room on a quick overnight business trip to Santa Fe earlier this week. So we decided to make a quick trip of retrieving it. From our home Santa Fe is an easy day trip. Once we picked up my notebook from the fabulous El Dorado Hotel by Heritage Hotels and Spas, where the conference I attended was held, we then did some walking around the town square.

It was late in the day when we arrived but the weather has been quite wonderful this week so a shirt and light jacket or vest was all that was needed. I enjoyed watching the sun set across the building-scape as we wandered. The Man and Kiddo love going into all the gem, mineral, fossil stores. I picked up two inexpensive braided leather bracelets. Every spring and summer I get the itch to wear layered bracelets and I thought these two would be a great basis for perfect stacked bracelets for Spring/Summer 2016. There is a lot of great stacked bracelet inspiration on my jewelry board on Pinterest.

We missed hitting one of my favorite home interior stores, Sequoia. But we'll get there another time. It was not easy traveling on the uneven brick, concrete and cobblestones around the city on the knee scooter. Yikes. But we had some great French crepes with fresh berries and had fun window shopping.

At the end of our day in Santa Fe we spend a few minutes sitting in the town square enjoying all the holiday-ish lights that still light up the square. It was relaxing to catch our breath before we made the drive home. We picked up a quick bite to eat in the car on the way home. It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon and I was quite happy to get my notebook back. Short day trips are a good thing. If you are interested in visiting Santa Fe, New Mexico, you can get lots more information at Visit Santa Fe.

Travel: Packing Cubes or Plastic Bags

I won't be going anywhere travel related for a while except for the long journey to and from my car on crutches every day. But I can dream about travel and I can plan and save up for future travel. I think after I get out of this cast or maybe before I need a small trip of some kind. I just don't think it will probably be on an airplane. Hmmm...

image via Eagle Creek

I have been a big fan of packing cubes and the art of very functional travel packing since the early 90s. In 2000, a year when I traveled out of the country 3 times and around much of the US as well, I completely converted to Eagle Creek packing cubes and toiletries bags. The ones I bought then are still in great shape. I have gone through two toiletries kits since them, but only after my first one got so permanently stained that I wanted a new one. Zippers have stayed in great shape and fabric on both the packing cubes and the toiletries kits is super tough.

I love being able to organize my clothes so quickly. I usually put tops in one cube and bottoms in another. Sometimes I put all my special event clothing together in one cube to keep it clean and organized for the days I need it. Packing cubes are so versatile you can really do whatever works for you. I have smaller cubes for socks or underwear or scarves too.

I shared all about my favorite toiletries case and how I like to stock it here. I always love hearing how people like to pack because I always learn something new. I read this article last week that was originally published just about a year ago on petergreenberg.com comparing plastic bags vs. packing cubes for travel.

Turns out both are useful for certain things and I will also say I learned a few things as well. My next travel goal is to do a better job organizing and packing my electronics for my carry on. Love the idea shared in this article. I currently have a small bag I used but I like what they suggested a lot better.

How do you like to travel? What handy tips have you learned that you can share? Please leave your good ideas in the comments section! Hope you are planning some fun travel for 2016. I'd love to hear about your plans as well. I love thinking about and planning travel at the beginning of the year.

Happy New Year!

Happy new year! Can you believe the holidays are already over? It all went by too fast but I find most days are feeling that way more and more as the years pass. A week or so before Christmas The Man said he felt like we should visit my family for Christmas. What a surprise that was. A trip over the holidays was not on my radar or on my energy wavelength. But since he's already reserved seats by the time he told me, I decided he might be inspired in some way I was not in touch with and so we made plans to visit my family.

We left within hours of me getting off work - happily our flight was delayed so we had a little extra time to get to the airport. It wasn't so happy on the other end when we finally arrived at our hotel at 3:30 am. But we had a fantastic although very chilly time. It hovered in the teen temperatures the entire time we were there.

It was so lovely to spend time with my immediate and extended family. I must confess I barely recognize my hometown anymore because it has grown and changed so much. I really have to concentrate to find my way around, hit the right freeway exits and remember where things are. One of our best days was going on a drive up Provo Canyon to Sundance, Midway and Heber. It was so beautiful and good for the soul!

We returned from our trip in time for me to hit the office for 4 days and then we slid into the lovely three-day New Year's Weekend with joy. We did a big grocery shop on Thursday after I got off work and by the time we got it all home and put away it was getting too late to make the big meal we'd planned. So we made lots of finger foods and snacks and settled into game night by the fireplace and then a movie and finally the big countdown to the new year. Once kiddo went to sleep, for some reason The Man and I got motivated to work on the house --such an odd time to do that! But we ended up unpacking several boxes and putting quite a few things away.

It was a nice time for me. I found a few of my very personal small treasures, little pieces of art, antique boxes, family photos, etc. Things I had forgotten I have while they've been in storage the past year. What a nice way to start a new year by finding some sweet memories and little things that make me so happy and bring more of myself into the new home.

Friday was "PJs all day" day. I have three days I have nominated at days you don't have to get dressed or leave the house -- the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. That's not to say I might not have another day or two throughout the year or that I do stay in my PJs all day on those days because sometimes it just starts feeling yucky not to get dressed and tidied up. But if we want to, we can be lazy and in our PJs without guilt. Because of our very late night, I slept very late. We had a big brunch, our favorite breakfast foods and the first time we have made our special pancakes in a year. It felt good to get back to an old routine that we so enjoy.

Saturday we were quite industrious and got in a workout, time outside on a gorgeous sunny day, ate some great homemade food, played games again, watched Spaceballs (so silly) and just enjoyed being all together as a family and relaxing. This was probably my favorite day of the entire holiday because it was so stress free and filled with things I really value as important and meaningful to my life.

Sunday I made a fantastic "copy cat" beef barbacoa recipe in the slow cooker. Now that our church is 1-4pm (ugh) I'm trying to make the most of it by making meal prep very quick and easy. I think we might actually really like this schedule because we don't have to wake up early, I have time to accomplish a couple of things in the morning and prep for after-church food. After we got home we quickly pulled together all the needed ingredients for barbacoa burritos and beans and rice and sat down to a nice dinner.

After dinner we had some nice family time, doing 25 Days of Christ, which we have not yet finished because of travel. Then we all went our ways to have a couple of hours of quiet time before bed. I am liking this routine we created today and am thinking it may be quite perfect for us as we look to a new week and need time to ourselves. It's nice to have a little more so we can each have a room of our own for solitude and quite for a while.

One of my goals for this year is more blogging. I have missed it. I have missed interacting with you. I have missed the creative outlet and writing time. This blog is the perfect way for me to express my most authentic self and so it's important to me. There isn't anywhere else in my life that I have freedom to create, write about and share whatever I want, whenever I want. I like that and feel it's important. Plus I have had so many fantastic experiences and met so many great friends through blogging over the past six years - I want more of that.

So watch for more blog posts this coming year. I have several in the works now and am really excited to share more of our new house adventures and our new city, and continue on the road to peaceful, happy, stylish living. Wishing you the very happiest of new years and hope we'll connect here often. Watch for a new post on Wednesday. I'll share my theme for 2016 - it's a good one and I am excited for the challenge.