My First Drive By...Inspiring Homes On My Street

When I came across Melissa's drive-by posts at the Inspired Room several months ago, I was hooked. Ever since then I had been meaning to do my own drive-by. Finally I got the chance. I took advantage of the time when I needed to drive my car around the block to make sure the battery stayed alive after jump starting it. It was a great start. I love the homes on my street. Hopefully I will continue to have the chance...there are so many inspiring homes in Pismo Beach. It was kind of scary doing a drive by and a bit embarrassing:) so I just took one shot of each home and moved on to the next. Hopefully when I get a little bit more experienced at it I'll be able to take closer shots.

Presenting my first shot...an inspiring English style home.

Directly across from it is this very nice Southwestern style abode.

And next to it...I could have taken a much better shot if I weren't so worried...next time:)



And at the end of the block...safari inspired?

This last one is one of the homes we considered making an offer on when we were looking for homes in the area almost 3 years ago. Beautiful inside too but the thought of too much mortgage and too much cleaning made us shy away from it.

Until my next drive-by...wish me luck!

Mission Project and Family Time

Presenting.... Isabella's final 4th grade project.... a model of Mission San Juan Bautista. At last we're done! We have been working on it for the past 2 weekends. I am so glad I can finally check it off from my list.


Now she needs to work on her directive speech. In preparation for it, she and big brother Phil baked banana bread. It was a yummy snack perfect for celebrating our completed project. Aahhh...bliss!

A photo from our visit at the Mission last spring break



besides the Mission project, I was joyfully kept busy preparing graduation announcements and sampling restaurants....another great task perfect for precious family bonding time.

Last Thursday, the boys and I had a lunch date at Steamers of Pismo.

This past Saturday we spent a great afternoon watching Isabella and CDMA's dance troupes perform at the Strawberry Festival. After Isabella's dance show, she had fun at the game booths with her friend Gabby. Then we were off to another family lunch date at Spyglass Inn Restaurant.

(Of course I forgot to take photos so I just took the restaurants' photos from their website:).

Project Procrastinators: The Reveal

Two weeks ago, Thursday, April 29, 2009, I joined The Inspired Room's Project Procrastinators Party . Melissa gave a challenge/encouragement to tackle a project we are procrastinating on (thanks for the push Melissa!). I declared that I will take on a bathroom flooring and replace the carpet with tile, something I have been procrastinating on for the past two years.


After I posted my declaration, I started feeling overwhelmed realizing I have so many other things to do including helping my DD Isabella on her California Mission project. I kept reminding myself: "baby steps" but I couldn't find time even for baby steps. Not to mention that the baby steps on this job required some help taking out the toilet and ripping out the carpet. I am very grateful for the supportive comments I received that gave me the push I needed. Then there was the ultimate and precious encouragement from my darling son, Phil, who said to me: "Don't worry mom, I will help you. It will be my mother's day present". Ahhh heavenly to a mother's heart.


Here's the "Before" photo




So last Saturday, May 9th, after Isabella's performance, Phil and I headed to Osh to buy our supplies (perfect timing...it was "no sales tax" weekend:)). As soon as we got home Phil started taking out the toilet, and together, we ripped out the carpet. (He even remembered to take a photo, something I almost always forget...what a sweetheart).




Then we started laying out the tumbled travertine tiles we have leftover from the kitchen job (a combination of 4x4 and 6x6). We tried several creative ways of layout so that we won't have to cut (we don't have a cutter:)). Try as we might we couldn't do it without having to cut; and worse, we were short a couple of tiles. So the next creative thing? mosaic! I've been wanting to do a mosaic project for the longest time. And this is the perfect time for it! Mosaic is the answer to our dilemma. It eliminated the need of trying to make sure the layout is straight and even, thereby eliminating the need to cut. Best of all, the mosaic method allowed for maximizing the tiles we had, and so we ended up having more than enough to cover the area.


So on to the fun part...breaking the tiles...even Isabella joined in the fun. Then we started laying them out like a jigsaw puzzle. By this time it was late. That was our baby step for the day.


Sunday would have been a great day to make a major dent on the project but it was that "time of the month" for me. I was not feeling well to a point that I couldn't even make it to church (that says something about how bad I was feeling...I look forward and love going to church...I watched an archived online sermon instead). So I stayed in bed and I had another perfect mother's day present...a breakfast in bed from my DD, Isabella (with the help of DH of course; daddy said she was crying when she woke up thinking she won't finish preparing in time before I woke up). I may have been feeling bad physically, but I was in heaven. And come to find out, Phil continued until past the dead of night working on the mosaic. So in the afternoon, it inspired me to continue the mosaic past the halfway mark.




We finished the mosaic on Monday; and on Tuesday, we grouted.

I still have to seal it and caulk the sides and Phil has to put in the new Kohler toilet. Other than that, our bathroom floor is done!...We did it!...I am so grateful!

Here it is...

And a closer look....hopefully the sealer gives it a bit of shine when I apply it tomorrow:)

An "Imeldific" Visit

I had the honour and pleasure of hosting to the most benevolent and hardworking:) overnight guests...my angel BFF, ate Cecile, and her own angel BFF, ate Pinky, together with ate Cecile's darling kids, Timothy and Krystn.

They arrived Friday night, and though tired from the drive and the long day at work, they stayed up until the dead of night allowing me to catch up on everything and anything I've missed...and boy how I've missed them...it was a blissful "catch up" time. And oh did I mention the 'pasalubongs'? (def: arrival presents)...my favorite...lots of delightful chocolates!...and a very special gift from ate Ms. Pinky...an "Imeldific" pair of earrings with pearl and diamonds. (contrary to the internet's tasteless definition of the term "Imeldific", it is a term we use for something so beautiful, elegant, and terrific as the Mrs. Imelda Marcos, who happens to be a personal close friend of Ms. Pinky's mom. What are the gifts for, you wonder? any occassion? nope. This is just the kind of person ate Pinky and ate Cecile are...extremely thoughtful and giving..."Imeldific"! Anyway, this "imeldific" pair of earrings is indeed a precious gift I will treasure forever. Thank you ate Pinky.

Here's a photo of the "imeldific" room I prepared for them (if I should say so myself:)






Isabella is just as delighted to spend time with her own BFF, Krystn. They stayed up way past the dead of night and woke up just past the wee hours to surprise us with a home made breakfast. Bless their sweet little hearts...they prepared muffins from scratch (they googled a recipe and cleverly asked their tita Pinky how to preheat an oven for Isabella's supposed cooking class homework. ingenious eh? and imeldific in their own right). They also prepared one of ate Cecile's fave breakfast food, spam. (the mess was all worth it!). Even Timothy took on the role of a very charming waiter (talk about putting guests to work:)). I read somewhere that it's ok to have guests help out so they feel more comfortable,...but loading and unloading the dishwasher? especially guests who aren't really used to doing that sort of stuff?...well, my own guest beat me to it...my mom said I was too slow...what can I say...we live and learn...(next time ate Cecile I'm tying you to the chair!:)

After breakfast, ate Cecile went to work some more taking photos for my son's senior portraiture. This is such a priviledge for us. In case you don't know, ate Cecile is a sought after photographer...how lucky are we!

After the photo shoot, we were off for some shopping fun while the kids stayed home for their own bonding time. Then the kids hit the beach while the three of us (dubbed "Charlie's Angels" by ate Pinky), hit a restaurant by the beach for a birthday lunch for dearest ate Cecile...her treat...she beat me to it...again! (no wonder she wanted to guard my purse from the moment we entered the restaurant...it's like dejavu...similar thing happened a couple of years ago...she's too clever and too fast for me.)

It was time to say goodbye shortly after, but not before more last minute bonding time over ate Cecile's delish homemade chicken pot pie (yet another "imeldific" gesture). The kids enjoyed it most especially my big boys:)

What a blessed time...I am simply grateful.