Chihuly at the Arboretum

Over the holiday weekend we spent Sunday morning at the Arboretum where they are currently showcasing a Chihuly glass exhibit.  Even though the weather is quite warm now, with a slight breeze and plenty of shade in the morning, the Arboretum felt just so summery and perfect.  The glass sculptures amongst the flowers were exquisite.  The highlight was surely the glass boats in the infinity pool overlooking White Rock Lake:

Images via Travelmoon

The exhibit is here until November, so if you are in the Dallas area be sure not to miss it!

San Diego

We had a wonderful time in San Diego.  Our trip kicked off with a pizza night at my parent's house where friends and family gathered.  We spent the following day in La Jolla, eating lunch at my favorite spot: George's, mainly for the killer view of the ocean on its outdoor deck (their fish tacos are great too!).  We also took a jaunt down to the nearby La Jolla Shores for Riley to get her first taste of the beach.

Riley got to meet some of my best friends, her uncle (my brother), family friends, and celebrate my Dad's birthday at our favorite Vietnamese restuarant, Saigon on Fifth.  One of my best friends since 6th grade had a baby only a few weeks before so it was surreal for them to meet and for both of us to be hanging out together with our babies!

Monday Escapes: San Diego

We are visiting San Diego for the week!  This was our first flight with Riley, and she has so many friends to meet and family to see (including one of my best friend's newborn baby!!)  I will most likely be taking the week off but who knows I might have time to post what we have been up to.  See you back here real soon!

Image via Pinterest

On another note, we had a wonderful anniversary, which started off with brunch at Mi Cocina with Riley, and a relaxing afternoon, topped off with a nice romantic dinner sans baby at Cru (wine flights and goat cheese beignets my favorite!)  The weather was perfect for eating al fresco, with the warm but mild temperatures and a slight breeze.

4 Years

Today marks our 4 year wedding anniversary.  I have loved every moment being married to my wonderful husband and the happiness that we have shared bringing our daughter into the world this year.  He is the best husband and now father I could have dreamed up for myself! I can only imagine the amazing journey we have to look forward to from here:

As my most faithful blog reader I know he will see this: I love you Jason!

Outdoor Patio

I feel that here in Dallas we are on the brink of summer but those sweltering temperatures haven't quite hit.  So I am savoring the mornings with a cup of coffee on our outdoor patio sans furniture.  When it comes to house projects, interiors always seem to take top priority with me.  Let's face it patio furniture often comes with the same price tag as indoor furniture so it's like decorating a whole new room, fun, yet daunting and expensive.

So next year, we hope to tackle the whole project: furniture, landscaping, and the whole bit. Patience is not my strong suit, as the catalogs have filtered in with so many outdoor furniture options in the past couple months, including the introduction of Serena and Lily's outdoor line.  I am already more than inspired to get going, so I put together some options that wouldn't break the bank.  I guess I have a whole year to decide what direction to go in: Mid-Century Modern Flair or a Moroccan Global feel.  What's your favorite:

I have a long narrow covered patio--just a concrete slab now-- that would fit a table like this very nicely.  I imagine the bench pushed up against the exterior portion of our home with tons of bright, graphic pillows to sit against.  When I received the CB2 catalog I thought these table, chairs, and bench would be perfect.  I have a spot to hang three pendant lights above and would put this fun side table on one end of the table.

On the other hand, instead of a table we could put in two oversize chairs and go with this global Moroccan vibe that I truly love.  And all of the pillow options for both styles are from Spoonflower.  I was directed to this specific shop by Bijou and Boheme.  They have extremely affordable fabric.  I mean wow prices that you wouldn't feel bad about making these fabrics in to outdoor pillows even if they aren't technically outdoor fabrics.

Mid-Century Modern:
Table & Chairs-CB2
Pendant Light-West Elm
Side Table-West Elm
Pillows-Spoonflower

Moroccan Modern:
Chairs-West Elm (On Sale as of this writing)
Side Table-Serena & Lily
Pillows-Spoonflower & Yellow Option Above and Pink Option Below from Domesticate Shop
Pendant Light-Moroccan Bazaar

3 Months of Riley

I had a wonderful first Mother's Day...hope all of you Mothers out there did too!  Now that Riley is 3 months it seems like I have known her forever, and I forget what life was like before she was here. Here is some of what we have been up to for the last 3 months:

Mother's Day

Last Minute Mother's Day Gift Guide

Here it is by request: my last minute Mother's Day Gift Guide! One of these presents may or may not be something I'm gifting to my Mom. Hi Mom!

1. Decorative bowls for the chef
2. Make up case for the tennis lover
3. Yoga mat bag for the yogi mom
4. Can never go wrong with a pretty vase (to keep) with some added peonies
5. A personalized tray for the decor lover
6. Macarons and champagne to celebrate!
7. Initial enamel colorful bracelets-how fun!

House Tour: Entryway

Welcome to our entryway, finalized with the chandelier.  It is always nice to feel a sense of completion when you check something off your list and finish off a room, especially when you can finally see your vision come to life:

Entryway Lighting Final

I have been talking about purchasing an overhead pendant light/chandelier for our entryway for quite awhile.  Browing tons of options (see here), thinking I made a decision (see here), before finally landing on this one:

I decided I wanted something that looked more modern and opaque.  I was inspired after my Mom purchased the same one for their home office (we have eerily similar taste) after having seen the real version hanging in a store in La Jolla. And also having spotted it awhile ago on Copy Cat Chic--it is a near dead ringer for the much pricier version (see here):

Real version at over 4x the price!

The purchase has actually been made so it's a done deal, can't wait to hang it and share!

My Weekend

I have been enjoying the beautiful weather we have been having here in Dallas before it gets too hot to be outdoors.   One of the things I enjoy are the warm nights, which despite the popular conception of perfect San Diego weather, warm nights like we have here are quite rare.  

We had a fun and packed weekend full of outdoor outings--a neighborhood crayfish boil, 2 patio meals at Mi Cocina, and a walk through the nature preserve below.  I couldn't help but snap some photos-- I felt like I was walking through a Disney movie--birds chirping and butterflies flitting across my path at every turn in this picturesque forest-like setting:

Images via Travelmoon

Here's to a great week!