Summer To Do's

A few things to try out this summer, what are your plans?

Try a new s'more recipe. 

Make a day trip to the beach and hit up the local acquarium. 

Have an early date night at the park. 

Bring back the art of snail mail with finding a summer pen pal. 

Get started knitting your own blanket for the fall. 

Head out to the desert to watch the meteor shower (8/12)

Try a new ice cream recipe.

Start a new television series.

A Few Things For Summer

I have to say the off the shoulders one piece is one of the most flattering swimsuits trends. 

Giant heart towels are a must.

A summer long book club, starting with And We're Off...

Because straw hats and purses are not popular at all this summer season :)

Even if you're not spending your summer at the Hamptons, you can at least feel like you are!

Comfy and cute sandals. 

Always, always choose Quay, my sister officially converted me.

The Rules of Fall (Part IV)

1. I'm always up for a movie marathon this time year, whether it's hunkering down for a Halloween movie fest or another themed marathon, I'll be watching Gone With the Wind because...I've never seen it. There's something autumnal about it. Maybe because it's usually on around the holidays.

2. Seven years ago friends and I drove to Fort Wayne, Indiana to catch the Johnny Appleseed Festival. And I loved it, everything was apple flavored and the reenactments were both exciting and comical. Although Kirk (from Gilmore Girls) wasn't there to dress in an 18th century woman's gown to tell the story of the founding of Stars Hallow, I still enjoyed it. I recently went to a pumpkin patch and fall festival this past weekend with my family. I'm 28 years old and it's the first time I've ever been to a pumpkin patch. Hit up the pumpkin patch and go through the corn maze.

3. Get creative and make your own wreath. Last year I made one with the help of A Cozy Kitchen. 

4. Instead of reading your favorite psychological thriller every October, reread classic scary stories from when you were a kid. Share your favorite spooky stories from when you were little to your kids or your nieces and nephews. I've been reading Halloween books I grew up in story times and the kids are loving them.

5. I am not a big Starbucks person. But this time of year, I cannot live without their Hot Carmel Apple Cider. I plan on finding a recipe myself and making it at home.

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Summer To Do List

I will always consider fall to be my favorite time of year but there's something so nostalgic and wonderful about the summer months. Waking up with the sun, rushing through breakfast and running from house to house to escape the heat, hopping the fence to go swimming at a friends and long afternoons for movie marathons made for an excellent summer day. What's on your must do summer list?

1. Make s'mores and listen to scary stories.

2.  Try a new hiking trail.

3. Make homemade fruity popsicles.

4. If you can't take an extended vacation, take a day trip somewhere new.

5. Go to the beach in the middle of the week.

6. It's been forever, take a dance class. 

7. Get tickets for a baseball game. 

8. When was the last time you went to the water park? 

(I'll be in the Lazy River if you need me)

9.  Go wine tasting.

10. Host a dinner party for the opening ceremony for the Olympics.

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The Action Plan is Back

The Action Plan is finally here to stay. I'm over the moon excited to bring back the monthly list of things to do, holidays, birthdays and anniversaries  (big and small) to celebrate and to elevate everyday life with simple facts, things to do around town and small projects. I started this project a few years ago but was forced to put it on hiatus almost immediately due to being in grad school.  The intention of The Action Plan started from my love for the monthly calendar of things to do in a magazine I use to read cover to cover. It unfortunately went under and I was sad to see it go; so I started adding personal goals, historical and fun facts about people, places and things to my own calendar. It served as a reminder to remember historical dates and favorite people's birthdays in between all the meetings and commitments logged into my planner.    I wanted to incorporate a fun and easy lifestyle guide for you, the reader and myself. Something handy to live by and use as a constant source of inspiration and motivation throughout the month. I hope you enjoy The Action Plan and what I have in store for this project. If you would like to create your own and be featured here on the site, please feel free to contact me. If you'd like to see something appear in an Action Plan, I'd love to hear your ideas!!!!

5 Summer Essentials

My 5 Beach Essentials Include:

I cannot live without sunglasses,
 I have an entire drawer filled with expensive and cheap trendy sunnies.

I love a bright, colorful, soft and playful towel.

 I can't sunbathe or swim without music playing in the background, so my beats pill comes in handy.

Having fair and dry skin, sunscreen is a must.

I carry a book around everywhere, what is a better place to catch up on reading than at the beach.

Spring To Do's

Five Thing to do this Spring: 

Drive up the coast to San Francisco with my sister to visit my brother and his wife.

Check out the Poppy Festival. 

Since I bought these oil pastels, I'd like try out a little sketching.

Finally go to the Festival of Books in L.A.

BBQ out by the pool. 

 

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Jack O'Lantern Chips and Dip

Need ideas for a Halloween party I love this pumpkin take on chips and dip. 

I'll definitely be trying this out this year! 

RECIPE-
Guacamole:
3 avocados, halved and pitted
Juice of 1 lime
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp chili powder

Mash avocados with the lime juice. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Queso:
1 Tbsp. butter
1 scallion clove, chopped
2 cups cheddar cheese
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup milk
1 Tbsp. corn starch
4 oz canned mild green chiles, with juice

In a pot over medium heat, melt 1 Tbsp. butter and sauté scallions. Add cheese, milk and cornstarch, and mix until melted and smooth. Add green chiles and mix until combined.

Draw eyes and carve a sad mouth on a small pumpkin. Hollow out the inside and insert a bowl. Pour queso in the bowl and top with chopped tomatoes. Spoon guacamole coming out of the pumpkin’s mouth. Serve with chips!

Fall: Things to Do

There are so many things I love about the Fall Season but I'll spare you the list activities, wardrobe choices and movie marathons I typically talk about around this time of year. Instead, I'd like to suggest having a pumpkin carving party with your family and friends. Since Halloween is my favorite holiday, I love the idea of gathering around your closest friends, listening to classic halloweenish music like, I Put A Spell On You by Nina Simone and That Old Black Magic by Ella Fitzgerald (just a few of my favorite songs), feasting on appetizers, drinking bubbly, getting messy pulling out the seeds and spying on those who have mad carving skills. Each year I dig through the stencils that came with my mom's carving kit; last year it was a cat and the year before it was a haunted house scene. Halloween is just around the corner, time to start carving!!! 

(image via real simple)

Everlane: Take II

I first came across Everlane a few years with the premiere of Verily Magazine and I've been a fan ever since. Their fall line is out and I love so many pieces, these slim fit and slouchy pants, these fitting sweaters and cropped shirts. If you're not aware of this fantastic brand, make sure to check it out immediately. 

(images via everlane)

The Rules of Fall (Part III)

1. Make sure to shop for everything pumpkin flavored at Trader Joe's this fall season. A few of my favorites include the pumpkin macaroons and pop tarts!

2. Get creative and make your own fall inspired garland. I recently made this one for less than $10 at Michael's. 

3. Indulge in soups like this one, it is a family favorite in the O'Brien household. 

4. Stay in, cuddle by the fire and read a good book. 

5. Now that it's the end of summer, get rid of a few things while you are hauling out all your autumn decorations from the hall closet. 

(image via just imagine)

DIY Mason Jar Projects

Since I grew up in a small town that literally sat in the middle of nowhere in the desert of California, I remember summers being long and grueling. Movie theaters never kept a float and the next big town was nearly two hours away. Boredom was around every corner and avoiding it was the biggest mission during our triple digit summers. My sister and I were always up for playing dress up, coloring in our jumbo coloring books, learning how to play jacks with my mom and getting creative. I especially love this great mason jar project for a quiet summer evening. 

Direction:

1. Cut open a glow stick and shake the contents into a mason jar.

2. Add diamond glitter.

3. Seal the top with a lid. 

4. And Shake. 

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Things to do In Summer

Spend a hot afternoon indoors and plan on teaching your kids something new like making homemade popsicles but maybe not this one since it includes champagne:)

Ingredients
500g raspberries
200ml water
100ml whipping (soy) cream
100ml agave syrup

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Divide between popsicle moulds or shot glasses. Freeze for at least 5hours. Enjoy with the champagne.

(image via princess misia)

Summer Braids

Summer Braid Go To Look: 

Step 1. Wash hair and towel dry 

Step 2. Apply this awesome surf spray

Step 3. Create a deep side part

Step 4. Separate two inches of hair from the part and loosely braid half of the strand. 

Step 5. Secure braid with tortoise bobbi pins. 

(image via hellofashionblog)

Five Things To Love About Summer

Five Things to Love About Summer: 

1. Growing up in Southern California, there is nothing better or more relaxing than a trip to the beach. Hauling a packed car full of beach towels, foldout chairs, a cooler and snacks, arguing over which song to play during the drive (I'll never forget the trip where my sister begged and cried for my dad to play The Bodyguard soundtrack)  plus the endless toys for the little ones, a weekend or an extended stay near the coast is quintessentially summer. 

2. Hosting movie nights ideally projected on a large screen in the backyard with friends on old family quilts with appetizers and desserts. Now that my kind of night :) 

3. Now I am not suggesting to purposely go out and make trouble, but summer means being a little footloose and fancy free. (Think Squints in The Sandlot: being banned from the public pool for trying to kiss the lifeguard). As soon as my sister and I would wake up during the summer months it meant getting to our friends pool as fast as we could. And for us that meant hopping the fence into our backyard neighbor's yard and hopping their side fence to get to our friends house. I'm pretty sure my mom told us not to do it but we just couldn't wait the ten minutes to run from our house to our friends. 

4. One of my favorite things to do in the summer was hitting up the library with my grandmother. I grew up in a really small farming town and there wasn't much to do during the hot summer months. So when my grandmother needed to return her books she'd take my sister and I along with her (she read between ten to twelve books a month and practically lived at the library). While she would mull over Danielle Steele and Jackie Collins books, my sister and I would pick a few books and go check out the coolest doll house you've ever seen. 

5. Five words left: Cheeseburgers, pickles, chips and dip.  

(image via pencil box)

What's In My Beach Bag

What's in my Beach Bag: 

Mini Pineapple One Piece

Retro Beach Towel

Ryn Weaver Album

Panama Hats

Sunnies

This Beach Bag

(Essie: Peach Daiquiri and Serial Shopper, Orly: It's Not Me, Its You. Bumble and Bumble, Simple and Aveeno Products sold at Ulta)

Five Things to Love About Spring

Five Things To Love About Spring: 

1. Growing up I could care less about learning about flowers in my grandmothers garden. But now I love a fresh bouquet of sweet peas, lavender and roses. Adding the color and life into my home completely brightens my day. 

2. Although I consider myself someone who prefers the fall to any other season, one thing I love about the spring is the warm weather and spending more time outdoors. Whether reading a book, enjoying dinner on the porch or going for a swim, there is something so lovely about basking in the sun, listening to the buzzing of the bees and being a little lazy. 

3. When it comes to color, I'm boring I prefer black, white, grey and navy in my wardrobe. But spring always presents the prettiest blush and pastel pinks and yellows. With my fair and Irish skin, pink just naturally looks the best whether I'm wearing it in my makeup or pairing it with an outfit. 

4. If there is one book I remember my mom reading to my sister and I growing up, it was Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey. The iconic and award winning story about a new family of Mallard Ducks making their way to a new home across the pond is one my favorites. At the library we have had at least two new families of ducks roaming around the library and trying to make their way back to park. Watching the new born ducks waddle around is definitely a sign that spring has arrived. 

5. Living in the Midwest for five years, I certainly enjoyed spring showers. I didn't mind walking to class in the rain, it was an excuse to bust out my Burberry rain boots and haul out my trench coat. 

(image via pretty stuff)

Spring List: Pitch A Tent

Remember the days of setting up a tent in the backyard filled with pillows, large bowls of popcorn, books to read by flashlight and telling ghost stories with friends. If you have little ones, get out of the house this weekend and throw a slumber party for you and your kids, read bedtime stories in sleeping bags, make a few coke floats, order in a pizza and have fun in the backyard. Enjoy the fresh air and the sounds of the evening. 

(image via idha lindhag)

The Rules of Fall [Part Two]

Although the official first day of fall was yesterday, the leaves are not changing colors and I'm still sporting shorts and the last of my summer dresses. And while my sister talks of dressing in scarves and tights in New York, I'm waiting for the season to settle here in the desert. While I sit here and wait, I'll just start making my list of things I want to do and places I want to see when Autumn finally comes around. 

1. Now that I'm on my own and have full reign of the kitchen, I am more than excited to get to know my pots and pans and try my hand at a few recipes, number one an apple pie. I'm not a big apples for desert kind of girl, but something about apple pie and vanilla bean ice cream just sounds so perfect for this time of year.

2. Ever since I can remember, I've always enjoyed getting ready for the annual marathon of my favorite show once it hits mid August.  A bowl of peppered popcorn, a bag of Peanut Butter M&M's my favorite slippers and cozy robe, I'm all set. Ready to find a new show and share my tradition of tv binging and getting cozy with my guy is something I'm really looking forward too. 

3. Take a drive down your favorite road, blast the radio (in this case a playlist I specifically made that goes with this season), sip your pumpkin spice latte, enjoy the changing leaves, the crisp Autumn air and be one hundred percent in the moment. 

4. Treat yourself to a fall scented candle like this one from Anthropologie and/or a berry lipstick. 

5. After getting my first work shirt this week (it's very plain, it simply asks what are you reading in very bright colors), I was inspired to start a small reading club called just that, What Are You Reading? There's no one specific book to talk about and do not feel you have to committed, I'm just curious as to what everyone is reading. 

(image via of hearth and home)

this week's favorites...

How do you prefer your pool? Would you like to step into the pool right outside your room, or would you rather a simple deck or one placed in garden? What about a string of lights to gaze at when you want to lay back on a raft at night? Or walk down a staircase to meet your indoor oasis? In my mind my pool would be pieces of each of these :) Happy Friday and Fourth of July!!!

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