CATALINA ISLAND

We took a trip to Catalina this summer right after my son left for the Navy. We planned it for that weekend to try and keep our minds off the fact that he left. Of course, that didn't work BUT we had a wonderful time, it was so relaxing and I wanted to share some of the beauty here.

Enjoy!!



This is in the Newport Harbor. We were sitting at the top of the Catalina Flyer (boat) before we left to take the 1 1/2 hour journey over to Catalina. The weather was pretty cloudy and cold that morning.



This is when we were approaching Catalina. Beautiful scenery! Weather was still a little chilly.
We were getting nervous.



We found a spot to sit in the sand and relax. Right beside us was a wedding. Of course I couldn't resist taking pictures. It was so fun watching them. And of course the weather was beautiful by then.


This was our front view from the spot we were sitting. Wedding was to the right of us.



This is the former Wrigley Mansion.



Another view from our spot. Our little friend.



The famous CASINO!


We had a couple of cocktails at the Avalon Grille. Very nice restaurant and even nicer bartender.



A shot of the pier before we had to head back on the boat to go home. It was absolutely a great way to just get away for a day and relax. We left at about 8 a.m.and we were home by 5 p.m. PERFECT!!

OH HOW I LOVE THEE SO!!

I wanted to share some pictures of our house that we've been working so hard on for months and months. It's finally all coming together and I love it here. I hope you love it too!!

THESE ARE A FEW OF THE BEFORE PICS...


THE LIVING ROOM AREA


KITCHEN


PANTRY



MASTER BATHROOM



BACKYARD



BACKYARD



BACKYARD

NOW FOR THE FUN PART!! THE AFTER PICS....



LIVING ROOM


DINING ROOM



KITCHEN


PANTRY - I PAINTED THE INSIDE OF THE PANTRY AND TRIED TO ADD A FEW FUN TOUCHES SO THAT IT'S NOT SO PANTRY-ISH


BEDROOM

YES, IT'S VERY GREEN (JUST ONE WALL) BUT I THINK IT WORKS


AGAIN, I PAINTED JUST ONE WALL GREEN IN THE MASTER BATHROOM - IT ALL CAME TOGETHER



IT WAS HARD TO GET A GOOD PHOTO OF THIS ROOM BUT JUST FOR FUN I PUT A CHANDELIER IN THE LAUNDRY ROOM AND PAINTED THE WALLS A SILVERY PURPLE - WHY NOT?



OUR OUTDOOR LIVING ROOM


OUR FAVORITE PLACE OF ALL

Just another dinner idea...

Ingredients for salad dressing - garlic and lime juice



Add lime juice, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil and whisk for the salad dressing


Pour dressing over green leaf lettuce with shredded parmesaen cheese and toss



Salad with lime dressing and kabobs! YUM!!

did you know....

Did you know that Turquoise got its name because the French would go to Turkey and they loved the color blue represented in the churches and mosques so they started calling it the color of the Turks which then eventually turned into the name Turquoise. I thought this was an interesting bit of trivia. I also love love love this color. I have decorated most of my house (pics will be coming) in this color along with some browns, creams, blues, whites, and greens. I hope it doesn't go out of style any time soon.

GREAT SUMMER DINNER - GRILLED VEGGIES!

When my mom comes out to visit we always visit the Asian Market and pick up all kinds of beautiful veggies for our veggie dinner on the grill. It is pretty self explanatory so I will post mostly the pictures. But if you haven't done this before you should try it. It's a great summer dish. Or all year round out here in Cali!!


Prepare the veggies, I microwave the potatoes for a few minutes before I put them on the grill for faster cooking



Yep, grill the romaine lettuce too!!



This is just olive oil with garlic powder


Brush the olive oil mixture on your veggies before cooking



Make the Caesar salad dressing from one of my earlier posts. This is how your grilled Caesar salad will turn out! It is delicious!!



Grill all of the veggies until they are done



Now doesn't that look YUMMY!! ENJOY!!

I'm no photographer but....

I'm still a novice at the whole photography thing but I took these pictures of my son at this beautiful park by our house the other day and I think they turned out pretty darn good.