A scenic coastal trip to cap off my 40th birthday

It’s been scorching hot my entire “birthday week” and I’m loving every bit of it. When we first moved from Canada to sunny California in the middle of a famous snowy winter back in 2014, I had my first hot birthday ever (come May month). But every year thereafter, we had almost a cold-front where it was chilly and/or rainy. WELL. Not this year my friends! Mother Nature knew I was sick of being stuck around the house, came up with some 33+ degree temps and off we went exploring in the Mazda CX9 I had loaned for the week.

We didn’t drive it much, because with this whole quarantine and sheltering-in-place, and rules from the county I live in, we were supposed to stick to just around our neighbourhoods. We’ve been in this situation since March 10. Two days after my Mom left to head out of California and back home to Canada.

I had to take it out for a longer drive, though. Especially on my 40th birthday. So off we went to have a scenic drive down the coast and went to the Santa Cruz area. I love the ocean, being from Newfoundland and all, but it’s such a different feeling seeing the Pacific Ocean, the warm weather, the cool surfers trying to catch a few waves. It was a simple, yet so perfect day.

Even bebs loved watching the surfers too. It was a nice little treat and something out of the ordinary instead of being cooped up.

I’m pretty easy to please, just drive me to the ocean, come home and eat some grub and I’m grand. I ended up making us all a homemade pizza. Although, incredibly tasty I may add, I would have much rather had a feed of McDonald’s. Pizza was a nice close second though.

After our feed of homemade pizza and some DQ ice cream cake, we went for our nightly quarantine tradition, a walk around the neighbourhood. A great way to end my birthday.

Bebs is wearing:
Jan & Jul sun hat
Cotton-On Kids zip-up
Of One Sea tee
Zara shorts (from last years)
Bobux Roam sandals (new!)

I’m wearing: 
prAna pullover (a bday present from hubs!)
Athleta shorts (old, bought them when I first moved here in 2014)
Nike sneaks (also old)

Thanks for the loan for the week, Mazda! You know I have a soft-spot for Mazda’s in my heart…still drive my first and only car I’ve ever bought (lol) – which is a Mazda. But this was a much better upgrade for my ‘big day’. #DriveMazda

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Spring Entryway Refresh

This post is sponsored by Wayfair.

Flowers have blossomed on the trees long ago here in California—actually, while my Mom was visiting. She was here from end of January til the beginning of March! It was amazing having her. Seriously parenting is much easier with a little extra help. And, wow – how can we not talk about it. Well, coronavirus wasn’t really part of our plan, was it. But here we are. I debated not going through with a blog post during this weird time in our lives, the whole world. It’s like we’re living in the middle of a movie, do you feel that way? But like all of us, I have a lot more time at home now, especially when beb is down for a long nap.

We’ve been in house lockdown now for our own safety since March 10. Silicon Valley, where we are living, is the second worst area affected by COVID-19 in the USA.

I’ve been baking and making delicious homemade meals ever since. I seriously haven’t eaten this well in years (apart from when my Momma was making us delicious grub). I actually feel pretty great right now. But then again, I’m more of a homebody usually anyways. To find some positivity in this whole COVID-19 thing we’re dealing with, I’m enjoying meeting (from afar) the neighbours a block or two away, how many more families are spending more time with each other, and the slow-living aspect of it all. No one is rushing around, or go go go all the time.

Before the shelter-in-place was mandatory, I received a few items from Wayfair to revamp, and decorate our entryway for spring. I mean, I’m stuck at home now so I may as well do a bit of fixin’ up around the house.

For the longest time I’ve wanted to incorporate the pampas stems I cut down in someone’s yard late last summer. I just didn’t have a place, or a vase for them.

Let me tell you a quick story: I bravely knocked on a strangers door a few blocks away from our house, and asked if I could have some that she had growing in her front yard! She supplied me with the cutters to do so, told me to take as many as I wished, and then I carted 5 of those stems home with me. Hooray! It was awesome. They’ve been hanging out behind my laundry room door for the past few months as I didn’t have a proper vase to put it in. I wanted them to stand upright and not fall over, ya know? Trynna make a statement here in this space where people walk into our homes for the first time. I want it to look inviting, warm, hygge as all the cool kids now say these days.

You’ll see that I prefer decorating in warm neutrals.

 

Shop the look: 

Neutral geometric wool rug (5’x7′) | Wayfair

White + terracotta clay vase (8″) | Wayfair

(similar) Black round mirror 24″x24″ (mine is 28×28) | Wayfair

Black simple shoe rack | Wayfair

 

Thoughts? Do you love the pampas grass? It’s probably my favourite (besides the cozy warm rug) as it adds a lot of texture to the space.

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OOTD: Fall Style

My go-to look this Fall. I love this jacket that I’ve been making sure my outfits go with said jacket, so I could wear it (nearly) daily. It’s a lot heavier feeling than it looks, and has a nice weight to it. It’s oversized and can comfortably fit a nice warm sweater on underneath. I’ve been pairing it mainly with black leggings and a black top. Oof, I love it. Love it.

I mean, the jacket doesn’t look like it’d be that warm, right? Wrong. It’s warm enough for an always cold person like myself and I’ve been known to wear it inside the house too, since it’s always so freezing indoors for some reason.

Outfit details:
Rayban sunnies
Free People jacket
Target tee
prAna leggings
Brooks sneaks

Y so serious.

Clearly working on my different poses lol. Toe tap, with my arms cozied up around me acting like it’s sooooo chilly here in California (actually, as a Canadian living here….it does get cold!).

I trimmed off my scraggly dead ends off my hair a few days ago. Also featured appearance: Alfie friend! Our sweet puppa.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

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