Friday's...

...Letters

3.31.17

Hello Friday I've been waiting for you

Dear store that starts with "W",

I have such a love/hate relationship with you~but when all the spring baking recipes call for Meyer Lemons and I can never find them at my regular grocery stores and I just happen to be in your produce aisles and there they are...without even looking for them...well lets just say I walked out not mad for once!

That's a good thing...cause we both know how irritated I can get when you don't have that one item I go in for.

I'll be making a lemon tart later today.

Dear eBlogger,

Why do you think the changes you make will bring happiness into my blogging experience? They irritate the crap outta me. So now my reading list is a bunch of blogs I don't follow and I have no way of knowing if the blogs I DO follow have a recent post unless I click on each individual blog...SO NOT COOL. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Dear March,

You gave me a grand weekend with Jamie and Erik up in Morro Bay. You gathered us in your folds, kept us safe, and gave the three of us priceless, forever memories. 

We can't wait to walk your sandy shores again.

Dear Me,

Not EVERYTHING you create has to picture perfect, internet worthy. You were not born an artist so therefore play, play, play. Please, let go of perfection and just try to have fun at the process. You'll be glad you did...Trust me.

 Love Always,

Kelly

xo

Friday's...

...Letters

3.24.17

Sometimes, I have loads of photos but no clear idea of what to post or talk about.
(quality over quantity for me)
That's when, at exactly 5:45 a.m. this morning, it dawned on me...Friday's Letters.
I did them periodically, years ago. I'm bringing them back~ 

only this time around the letters have more essence and gratitude pouring out of me to soothe my sometimes pitiful laments & to right my heart and soul back on track.
Track=Life~everyday life 

Hello Friday~I've been waiting for you 

Dear Spring, 

You make my heart happy. The world around me is waking up from up it's slumber and it's especially brilliant this year with all the rain we've gotten. I'm seeing flowers and even weeds that I can honestly say I've never seen before. They've just been lying dormant until now waiting for their turn to bloom and it's a beautiful thing.

Dear friends who read & comment here,

I am grateful for your precious time. We only have so much of it in a day and you choose to be here, even for a few minutes. I try to make things short and sweet for you so you'll want to come back. I enjoy your company and your contribution in dialog. I'm sorry I'm not more bloggy suave to know if you know that I answer every single comment in appreciation for your time. It might take a few days, but there's always a reply. 

Dear me,

Don't go chasing waterfalls. You're moving too fast and because of that, you're missing the everyday. Everything in due time. I know there are forces out there that scare the hell out of you and they're causing you to want to hurry life along. Things happen for a reason & that doesn't necessarily mean they're going to happen to you. So in the meantime, repeat after me...

"Slow down, breathe, count your blessings, repeat."

Love always,

Kelly

xo

This, that...

...and everything else

3.18.17

I don't do well with the time change. I mean I love the light lingering longer with each passing day and I don't even mind waking up to the darkness-(nothing a little coffee can't fix) but man, the older I get the longer it takes me to sync into the daylight changes. I'm pretty sure once my life doesn't revolve around an alarm clock 5 days a week, I'll be able to embrace springing forward better...

...that's my theory anyway!  

There was one day last week that a bit of melancholy snuck up on me. I blame a lack of sleep. All those lost Zzzzzs just caught up with me. That day, the weight of the world on my shoulders just buckled my knees (nothing that a little cry on the Mr's shoulders can't fix).

In my mind, I've had this impending "empty nester" transition all figured out and was totally handling it! But the fact of the matter is, reality is setting in as Austin's December graduation date is inching ever closer. Shortly after, he'll be setting off for a career in the Navy. He just started talking to his recruiter and has taken the ASVAB (an aptitude test to determine qualification for enlistment). 

Things just got real-er!

I won't bore you with the details about the other stuff that piled heavy on my shoulders that one day -(nothing that a good night's sleep didn't fix.) 

It's finally the weekend and I am caught up on some much needed sleep, I cleaned the house and I'm ready for the upcoming week. My last load of laundry is in the dryer-all of which tends to shrink my troubles. 

What do these photos of the handsome peacocks have to do with any of this? 

Absolutely nothing! 

I just wanted to share more of my visit from the L.A. Arboretum-did you miss the first post?

You can read about it HERE

So tell me friend, does the time change bother you? How do you get over that hump?

I do hope you'll share.

Happy (longer days) snapping!

xo

Kelly

A sorta fantasy...

...come true

3.7.17

If you're 50ish (cough) like me, the 70's and 80's were a significant coming of age period and nostalgic for various reasons. For me it was a time of innocence, feathered hair and enjoyable t.v. I was into shows like The Facts of Life, Three's Company, The Love Boat, The Cosby Show, and this..

Fantasy Island

This show whisked me away to a beautiful tropical island for an hour and I couldn't wait to see what lessons each guest paid $50,000 to learn that week. Ignorance is bliss when you're a kid and I just accepted what I watched with no thought to t.v. production and what it takes to put a show together. I never dreamed as an adult I'd live with-in driving distance to sets from shows I watched as a kid...let alone walk where the actors did. I'm sort of star struck like that.

I had to wait all winter until it finally stopped raining on the weekends to visit the LA Arboretum & Botanic Garden where this beautiful historical landmark sits. But it was worth the wait in spades. Queen Anne Cottage, built in 1885, belonged to Elias Jackson "Lucky" Baldwin. Mr. Baldwin was an exceptional businessman who earned the nickname "Lucky" due to his extraordinary luck at landing such good business deals.

For a brief minute I was 13 and imagined Mr. Roarke and Tatoo strolling down the cottage stairs to greet me and ask about my fantasy. Yeah, I'm nerdy like that!

The arboretum's 127 acres of manicured gardens have a long Hollywood history of film and television making. Many of the Tarzan films, as far back as 1936, were filmed here as well as Jurassic Park and Roots:The Next Generations. Television programs like Lassie, Dynasty, Dallas and The Six Million Dollar Man just to name a few were also filmed here and it's still a very active filming venue.

The Coach Barn is equally as beautiful with its original ironwork, and cedar and redwood paneling.

Now here's useless fact #73 about me...I can get overwhelmed easily so when I imported my photos and saw that I had 150+ useable photos from this little day-cation...well...lets just say I'm going to spread this little visit over a few posts!

It was fun to visit, interact and be surrounded by a childhood memory... 

...a bit of T.V. magic that didn't lose any of its mystique this visit. 

Now it's your turn-

Have you ever visited a favorite t.v. or movie set? Did visiting the set take away some of the magic or make it more sensational? Please share, I'd love to hear.

Happy (fantasy) snapping!

xo

Kelly