lucky charms

4 leaf clover locket scored in Tulsa, OK

S. Patty's outfit- Vintage Lanz velvet Jacket, Embroidery Top- sale rack of Anthropologie

Well yesterday was good ol' St. Patty's day. The official day of green. Gus and I have been on a super healthy kick since we got back from our road trip last month and so the thought of drinking irish car bombs and feeling pretty crappy the next day, didn't seem too appealing. Guess it's a sign of the times. Yep, I'm almost thirty and I think those crazy drunken days are over for me. So instead we decided to head up north to Arcata for some ocean time and a little estate sale hunting. We left on Friday night so we could get a nice start yesterday morning. We brought all 3 of our chocolate labs because we know how much they love that ocean water. It was raining a bunch on Friday but we woke up to beautiful skies and sunshine on Saturday. We hit up a few yard sales and what we thought to be estate sales. Some people go a little overboard with their descriptions. Unfortunately I have to report that none of the sales turned out to be promising. Which in a way was a bit disappointing but I knew we had the ocean to look forward to. And I got to check out my FAVORITE store, Daisy DryGoods in the Arcata Square. So it all evened out. I scored some awesome wool in so many colors for my upcoming embroidery project, some amazing mustard yellow fabric from the early 1900's and a cute sun hat when the sun really starts to shine.

vintage sunhat complete with orange bow

We had just enough time to hit up a few thrift stores before they closed up shop and I scored the most beautiful vintage dress! I didn't have time to try it on, so if it doesn't fit, it's gonna end up for sale at Red Moon Arrow.

retro skirt from Vintage Avenger- Arcata

fun summer dress from Vintage Avenger-Arcata

thrifted cherry apron

Gus and I meandered into a local book shop only to discover that Lloyd Kahn was going to be doing a book signing that evening! WHAT????!!!! We are such fans of his books (Homework, Builders of the Pacific Coast) and have used a lot of the ideas from them for a starting point into our building projects. So we were thrilled to hear this news. We quickly rearranged our schedule of going home to staying just a bit longer. He just came out with a book called Tiny Homes. We heard about this book last summer and had planned to submit some of our photos of our cute little horse barn home, but never got around to it. We are those kind of folks that do with less, and have managed to live comfortably in a small home. We are moving though this year into a cabin Gus is building us. It will still be small but more comfy with an expanded kitchen! Yay I just can't wait. So we really enjoyed seeing the picture slide show Lloyd presented and that got us even more inspired for our future home dwelling. It's amazing how creative and out-of-the-box people are becoming. Thinking in new ways and learning to live simply. It's really the direction I think we need to move in as a society. I was surprised and also stoked to see how many woman were building their homes too! Kinda put a little fire under my butt to get on this band wagon as well. I've always been more interested in the design and interior detail, but seeing woman working with those power tools, reminds me that I can do it too!

We enjoyed the late afternoon sunshine on the beach and played fetch with the dogs. They just love the ocean so much and it's so fun to just watch them romping around in the salty ocean waters. I know they are in doggie heaven when we take them. We found a really cool driftwood stump that someone had carved a bench into it. I sat down and quickly realized it was the perfect seat for sunset watching. We also found an anchor buried deep in the sand. I always get fascinated with objects on the beach and the stories they might tell if they could talk.

from left to right: Stash, Myla, and Chewy

I just love sea foam!

So keeping with the theme of the ocean, we went out for a yummy sushi dinner in Eureka on our way home. We ordered some super tasty rolls and drank some warm plum wine sake. We had an awesome waitress who was fascinated by my food/flower mandala I made at the end of my meal. Gus touched on the fact that I don't play with my food that much anymore. So I am making a point to start this again. I often would take the final leftovers of my meal and make something out of it, a smiley face or a flower design and last night I was feeling deeply inspired to create. We had a great dinner together and it was nice to keep our holiday intimate and cozy this year. And boy did my body thank me this morning for that one!

filling it up

miso

playing with my leftovers

Now we are back home and I'm about to go tidy the guest room for my brother and his wife's arrival. I'm really excited these two are coming to town to visit with us for the next week. Hope you all enjoyed your holiday yesterday too! Cheers to lucky charms!