YUM

Sprouted Kitchen
Oh my goodness gracious. This website is ridiculous! Not only beautiful and inspiring to look at, but the recipes are so do-able and DELICIOUS.
These Lemon pancakes with yogurt and berries are making my mouth water right now. I want to make this in the morning! YUM.

recipe found here 

Trip to Cali part 2

One of our favorite things to do when we go to visit my family is go to the beach of course, but especially walk to the beach to watch the sunset. My family lives in a little beach neighborhood. The houses are amazing. Very 60's architecture. It is a treat just to walk down the street. And sunset on the west coast is the best I have to say. Especially at the beach. The kids love the water and my family has 2 little dogs that they bring down at sunset with us. It is so relaxing. I could sit there for hours.


Trip to Cali part 1

We recently took a trip to California for 2 weeks. We visited my parents and brothers. Josh and I got to have a little retreat of our own while the grandparents watched the kiddos. We went to Balboa for an evening walk. We walked down a little main street. It was so quaint and beautiful. We also had one of the famous frozen bananas as a little ode to one of our favorite shows Arrested Development. Here are a few shots I took.


YT FAMILY


2 summers ago we went to Brixen Ivy Ranch. Our friends own it and while we were there I wanted to make sure we went back at least once a year! With summer here I am having memories of this visit and all the fun we had while we were there. It is So beautiful and our friends are so sweet and took such good care of us. Maybe we will get to go back this summer:)
Their pond


We took that boat around the little pond:)


They have their own miniature horses! (and llamas, look at those 2 back there-hehe) 


Goats in a row

Hope you are having a happy summer!



LOOK Kids

TALC is an amazing children's clothing line by a Parisian designer. Not only are the clothes adorable, but the presentation in the photography is so fun. It is quite out of my budget, but I really enjoy looking for inspiration and just the pleasure of looking at the creativity of the designer. Here are some photos from their spring/summer line.

It is kind of hard to think about fall/winter right now, but these preview photos of the fall/winter line are so great I had to share.



All photos found here and belong to TALC


SOUL simplicity

Simple. That has been a major theme that seems to keep coming up for me. I have been on a journey of balancing my love of creativity bringing joy vs. bringing stress. I have passions for many things and want to do more things than one person is capable of doing. My faith in God and His way being better then my own has continued to press me into Him to seek His help and guidance in where to put my time and energy. I know that He gives all gifts, therefore I know He has given me my passion to create. But I allow it to take over me, my mind, my identity and I forget where my true identity and satisfaction is found. I will create for me and my value instead of creating in Him and unto Him. When I am aligned with Him is when my creativity brings the most joy and peace.
A few weeks ago I had come to a climax of being totally overwhelmed and consumed with all these things I wanted to do, but couldn't accomplish. I decided to take 2 weeks to let go of everything that wasn't TOTAL NEED. Make it SIMPLE. I didn't purchase anything that wasn't total need and just focused on my daily tasks that needed to get done and let everything else, including any extra social get togethers go. Keep it SIMPLE. I used the time and energy I had been spending on all these other things to pray and be thankful for all I have. I can not begin to express the peace that a thankful heart brings. We loose sight of ALL we have when we get obsessed with the never ending list of things we want!
Over that 2 weeks I was painting the walls in my house white, I took all the frames off the wall and was "starting over". It was so neat because it was so symbolic of what God was doing in my soul. Purging me of all the junk that was distracting me from the sufficiency I have in Him. As I was painting it was like God was renewing me. He was telling me,  "Just BE. Enjoy the day, enjoy what you have today! Your family, your home, MY love." Keep it SIMPLE. Be thankful.
image found at Modern Hepburn

YT GREEN THUMB

I am hoping to do some posts on my journey in working on my green thumb. I have killed EVERY plant that has entered our home up until this year! I have a dear friend that works at a local garden store called SPROUT HOME, if you live in Chicago you MUST go check it out. AMAZInG.
I purchased a few succulents and indoor plants a few months ago and with my friend "holding my hand" I have taken care of my little plants quite well:) I really want to get a nice green space in our back patio and have a few nice plants throughout our home.
SIMPLE. Not to much is what I like. Succulents are my favorites for indoor and our back area is quite shaded so I am going to have to find some good shade plants. Hoping to find a nice plant to grow along a brick wall we have back there maybe. It is going to be a long process due to the $ limit. But that will allow me to really think about what I am going to do and take time to do it right. Maybe even get a little herb and veggie garden going as well:) Here are some indoor and outdoor spaces I like.

photo by KINFOLK
here and here
found here


What type of plants to you like?