This gal rides a motorcycle, surfs, and you never know where she will end up calling you from. "Hey, I went to Vegas today, what's the name of that Thai place you like here?" Best thing, my kids love her, call her Auntie Cinnamanamonim, and she loves to hang out with them.
And I love hanging out with her.
As soon as I saw the Laundry Room, I knew it would be the perfect mudroom. I have ALWAYS wanted a mudroom, but in California most houses don't have them. I don't have a true before picture of the laundry /mudroom, but here it was when we moved in and before Mr. Man did some magic. Since this is the side entry to the house, right next to the driveway it easily becomes a dumping ground for everything. 
Before we moved in, I told Mr. Man how I envisioned this room. I couldn't believe it when he said, "Let's do it right away." So we bought a new front loading dryer to match our other one, which means both dogs can now watch the laundry spin, no more fighting!
My original plan was to put a countertop over the washer and dryer, but it got to be way expensive due to the depth of the counters. So Mr. Man just slapped some plywood on top until we have a better idea. I stained it to try and make it look less plywood-like. The counter makes all the difference, I can fold laundry, do projects there, pile up junk, sort stuff.. the list goes on!Mr. Man installed cabinets and a shelf, and now there is tons of storage. The cabinets are just prefab cabinets from the Hardware store. (and notice they still have the labels on them, I finally just took them off!)
Now, when the kids walk in the door, they each have a basket to stash backpacks and school stuff. 
There is a bathroom right there, which is handy for muddy hands. Believe me there is lots of muddy hands, muddy paws, and muddy shoes. It's the simple things in life... for me it's the mudroom!
I built a fire in the fireplace, using my mediocre girl scout skills. It took several attempts, but I finally got it going long enough to roast marshmallows and make smores. 
Mr. Boy is a bit stubborn and resistant to change (he gets it from his father.... not from me.. no way... I'm flexible and FUN!) The last few haircuts we've tried to talk him into different hairstyles and he just wouldn't do it. Enter Aunt Cinnamon (yes, that's her real name), she can get him to do ANYTHING. She brought over her friend Linda to cut his hair, after telling him... "oooo how fun would spikey hair be!"
This picture of his hair in clips is just for blackmail purposes when he is 16 and thinks he is hot stuff. The best thing about his new haircut is the versatility. 
The handsome man
Cross between Eddie Munster and The Fonz. (he always ask to have his hair styled like this after a bath. He says it makes him look "sleek".)
His personal fave appears to be the Faux-hawk.
Things got a little bit complicated when it came to putting Mr. Boy in school. No big deal, it worked out for the best. We got Mr. Boy into our 1st choice school, and he got a very extended Winter Break while we waited for a spot. Mr. Boy was getting nervous about starting a new school, so we did a back to school feast again. Mr. Boy picked Pizza & Pancakes for dinner and reminded us all that our motto was "Be Nice." 
We had prepped Mr. Boy, and reminded him that in September he was nervous to start a new school but it turned out fine, so it will be fine this time. He seemed to be in good spirits
although that smile looks a little tense. When I left the classroom, he had turned a paste-y white. 
Two hours later my phone rang, another mom called to let me know when she was at the school volunteering Mr. Boy was doing great. I felt a weight off my shoulder and when I picked him up... 
he had a great day! Phew! It's terrifying when you send one of your most prized posessions out into the scary big world. Hooray for good days!
This home is CRAZY amazing. Every week she does a Home Appreciation Post, and post the details that makes her house her dream home. I love it, look forward to reading it each week, and decided to steal her idea since I'm having a hard time figuring out a way to steal her entire house.
The counters are yellow tile with chrome, and they are in great shape. It's all original stuff in this house. These people built this house and bought high end stuff and kept it forever.
Unfortunately, it's leaving our home, since it just isn't conduscive to my very mediocre cooking. It took me 28 minutes to boil a pot of water for hot chocolate. Maybe they had more patience in 1953.
The stove is Frigidaire "made only General Motors", ah yes, the good old days of GM. I love all the cool knobs, and I try to talk myself into keeping this stove, until I turn it on. 
The former owners were meticulously clean people and super organized. We were presented with a box of instruction manuals for everything in the house. The dishwasher, was bought in 1986, making it 24 years old. They paid $332 for it, not a small price at the time. It is nosier than a rocket launch when you turn it on. Mr. Man hit the deck when he first heard it, and proclaimed that it will be taking a hike with the stove. 
This faucet is one of my favorite things in the kitchen.
Actually, I lied... my favorite is this window. Between those branches is a killer view of the city.
My friend Laura sent me this vintage tea towel and it looks perfectly at home in my kitchen. I like to pretend I'm Donna Reed, throw this dishtowel on my shoulder and peek in the oven, and say, "Oh dear, is the roast done yet? Ward's almost home."
When I signed the escrow papers, my first thought was, "I need a breadbox, a vintage one." I settled for this knock off vintage one, and I love it, so do the kids. Mr. Man was a little hurt I didn't choose to pull out his "High School Wood Shop" Breadbox... but he got over it. After all, who doesn't love a yellow breadbox?
Now go photograph your home and show me your pics!
2. Take Mr. Boy on an Airplane ride. Done! 
3. MOVE... or should I just amend that to say.... have Mr. Man home every night...if that means moving, great, I'm game. Done!
12. Get a pedicure. (I've never had one... manicure yes..pedicure no.) Done!
14. Take Mr. Man up on his promise to help me pick out a pair of Manolo's Doh, why did I not do this? Especially when these are just calling out to me. 
19. Get my iPod all hooked up with sweet playlist and get the kids iPod set up in their room. Done!
These new ones... are harsh... white and makes you look grey and ill. I LOATHE them! I think I bought the wrong brand. They remind me of one of my favorite monologues from the movie Joe vs. the Volcano.
We've splashed
And danced
Snuggled up with good books and movies.... 
It's been lovely, but our boots are soaked through, everything is damp or muddy
and our bones are cold.
Bring back the sun! 
But I saw potential.... like this chandelier. The house was trashed, we called it the "Trash House" and for two weeks we talked to contractors, architects to figure out how to take it from Trash to Treasure. It would be pricey, but we felt it was a house worth saving. In the end, the house would be EXACTLY what we want. 
In the end, we lost the house in a bidding war. I'm not going to lie.... I cried. The "trash house" lit a fire under us to start looking at houses. I felt a lot like Goldilocks when I started to look. This one was too small, this one was too pricey, this one was awkward.... I almost gave up. I just wanted a big yard in the big city.
Then one morning, I saw a tiny house with a big yard pop up on my realtor's report, it peaked my interest. I was headed up to LA for a birthday dinner anyway, so I decided to look at it, but I was not very optimistic. I walked around the house and called Mr. Man and said, "This is it." The "trash house" had made us fall in love with the idea of a house that we could customize and add on to. This new house had great bones... and while teeny, it was clean and the location could NOT be beat. This house is an oasis in the big city, and it feels way more like a "country house" than a house in the big city. . It had a ton of potential, room to add on and Mr. Man took a leap of faith and signed the offer before seeing the house.
We got word that we were one of 21 offers submitted on this house. My heart sank, and I figured it was hopeless, while Mr. Man remained optimistic. He had finally seen the house and could picture our family in it. A week later, we learned our counter offer was accepted. I couldn't believe it. I literally jumped out of my chair and screamed. This house has been such a surprise, mostly good. The rooms are bigger than I remember, the kitchen is charming, and the hills... oh I could do 100 posts about our daily hikes...
(An older pic, I just found this while cleaning up some photos.)
Overheard while having dinner at a new friends house... (which I wore my shirt inside out the entire time, way to make a first impression!) 
