DAY TRIP.

 

Labor Day weekend is supposed to be a long weekend for most but working in retail we do not have the luxury of having Monday off. Since Victor and I had both Saturday and Sunday off, I planned a surprise day trip to Solvang, CA. I used to take trips to Solvang with my family almost every summer as a kid. Since meeting Victor I have always brought up Solvang and how cute it is. I always told him we would go and figured this weekend would be the perfect weekend. Well, this perfect weekend kind of bit me in the butt because I did not realize that it was Memorial Day weekend, and ALL the hotels were booked! I wanted so bad to spend a night in Solvang but that wasn't going to happen. I decided to turn it into a day trip instead. We left early Saturday morning and after driving for 3 hours we finally made it to Solvang safely. This is probably the longest I've driven non-stop and a bit nerve wracking because of the curvy road and hills. Whenever I drive somewhere far with passengers in my car (especially with Victor) I always feel so good once I reach our destination safely, not sure exactly how to explain it but I feel like I took care of the cargo in my car (my precious cargo). I think it's the dad in me.

We had a great time walking around Solvang, visiting old homes that are now turned into thrift shops, home boutiques, and pigging out. Can't wait to go back and actually spend a night or two there! 

 

 

 

 

A 24/7 Christmas store! I BELONG HERE.

 

BLOOM.

Wanting to surprise Victor and celebrate our 'month-a-versary' a day early, I picked up a bouquet of flowers and cooked dinner. I purchased the bouquet, and with my luck: at a great price.  Let's just say it was an after 4th of July sale. I reused an old champagne bottle, coca cola bottle, and a vase to divide the bouquet and get the most out of it. I really do wish I had more flowers. I especially love the champagne bottle the most, I think the green bottle looks so pretty with the white flowers (not to mention our NEW vintage table we just picked up). 

salad/steak/stuffing/rice

beach boys.

This past Thursday was scheduled to be a day of visiting and catching up with old friends. That however was cancelled due to last minute changes.  As a way to not let our day off go to waste, we took a trip down to the beach.  We drove 45 minutes south of Downtown away from the busy city streets, away from the 'popular' California beaches to a small local beach in Long Beach: Mothers Beach. 

There's nothing like escaping the daily routine.

D - LICIOUS.

This Friday Victor and I got off work pretty early and with a pretty big appetite so we  took a drive down to Hollydale, (his childhood hometown) and went to the mom and pop burger joint "D's". Victor introduced me to D's a couple months after we started dating and shared the history of the burger joint with me. His mom had actually been coming to D's in her teens and even when she was pregnant with Victor and his twin sister Valerie! I thought that was so cool, I love going to places with history, places that have stories. It's also fun just how (I am going to use some of Victors favorite words when describing classic places) 'stuck in time' this place is. It hasn't changed a bit according to Victor and you can pretty much see that in the photographs. We ended the night by going to the mall and Victor was able to find some great buys at the crazy sale Forever 21 was having that day.

DIY VALENTINE.

Valentines day: an occasion in which lovers express their love for one another. This year I wanted to express that love in arts and crafts form! I usually try to personalize my gifts regardless, but I wanted to emphasize the idea of DIY for this Valentines Day. I feel like now the best gifts are the ones you make your own. The gifts which you thought of and took the time to plan out and bring to life.

Breakfast + Gifts

Victor suprised me that morning by whipping up a Valentines breakfast! Heart shaped pancakes, bacon (a fave!), scrambled eggs, AND strawberry milk (another fave!). He even turned our kitchen into a Valentines cafe!

I made Victor a Valentines Day card by tracing a kissing picture of us. I personalized the card even more by adding lyrics from one of his favorite Katy Perry songs: "Teenage Dream".  Knowing how much of a California boy he is, I made him an art piece that he can display in his little office, I have seen photos of the California outline and a heart over LA on Tumblr before so I took the idea from there but made it my own with the glitter. I ordered a custom pillow case from Etsy shop "FeatherHen" with our initials and the year we met.

As always, Victor wrapped the gifts beautifully, too cute to even rip apart! He gave me 3 cute growing kits, one is even strawberry! I love gardening as funny as that may sound so I got pretty excited once I opened these. I got even more excited when I opened the other two gifts, the book and film The Perks of Being A Wallflower! I haven't read the book yet but have heard so much about it from Victor that I have been wanting to read it not to mention that I fell in love with the film adaption of the book. In DIY form, Victor made us a board with a knitted heart on nails, and the three nails at the bottom represent the Valentines that we've spent together. So cute!

Dinner + A Movie

Victor whipped up a delicious dinner after work: bacon wrapped steak, sautéed green beans, rice, and biscuits. The perfect dinner for a perfect valentines day! After work I picked up some pastries from a bakery in West Hollywood called 'Between Us'. We ended the night by watching Frankenweenie and enjoyed the Heart shaped macaroons, a berry tart, and some fresh baked Disney heart sugar cookies. This has been the BEST valentines ever!

Here are some "behind the scenes" photos of my DIY gifts:

 Now to plan for next year...