Along with bunting for L's dorm, I gifted her a few other things, such as mason jars to put her pencils and paper clips in, candles, and note pads. L mentioned to me that she wanted to bring tea along with her so she can drink it in the evening and in the fall when it cools down. What better way than putting together a little tea set with tea bags for her!


Gifting tea bags or tea leaves is always my go to. When gifting tea I always stick to the popular teas: Green tea, Sleepy time, and Chamomile. I always have a bunch on hand so I just take out my tea collection and go from there. I also have a lovely collection of tea themed rubber stamps gifted by family and friends so I put the one her sister gave me to use! The tag, is something I have template of as well and quickly cut from. The teapot and cup set was actually from an antique store I purchased a while back. I've noticed my tea cups are pretty much all in pairs and with a saucer so I wanted to give this little set a lovely home and what better way than L's dorm.

She was thrilled when I brought this out for her as she didn't have a mug nor any tea with her on her first night. I can't wait for it to be a bit cooler so I can give her the holiday ones! I'm sure she'll love them! XO

Earlier this week, I was helping Leanna move into her dorm {I'm getting old!}. L has really similar taste to mine, she's a little more rustic and loves neutral and calm tones. Her sister and I helped her pick out a few things for her dorm, we went to various places to get bedding, necessities, and dorm decor. The decor we picked out on the other hand wasn't more so bright patterns and colors as you would see at Target. It just so happens that the bedding she chose was one of the same patterns I use for my bed. I wanted to craft something up for her that would spruce up her dorm. What better way than bunting!

Out of the whole summer here in California we only received a handful of gloomy days. Even if the skies are gloomy, the heat doesn't seem to disappear. The sound of afternoon tea with the 3-4 courses and endless cups of hot tea doesn't seem to fit our hot summer. I enjoy it so much, that regardless the weather I still continue to attend afternoon tea. One Sunday it happened to be gloomy, I took my oldest god daughter out The Four Seasons Tea Room, for her birthday.

It was quite lovely as her sister and her Mother (to whom is one of my closer cousins) attended as well. We sat by a huge window that had a view of the garden and gloomy skies. We enjoyed their Buckingham Palace tea, along with Egg, Chicken, and Cucumber tea sandwiches. Not to mention the Freshly Baked Scones, Shortbread, and Lemon bars are my favorite!

Everyone I know seems to be ending their Summer and going back to school. It's finally hitting me that Summer is coming to an end. I'm going to try to fit in a few more beach trips and possibly the LA County Fair {I've never been!}. On the other hand, I'm excited for fall and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it will possibly cool down and I can explore and attend more tea rooms in late September and so on!

I've always been very punctual and considerate when meeting new people in meetings and interviews or in general! My mentality has always been to "make a everlasting impression" regardless who it may be. As much as I craft, I do have a great amount of stationary from Anthropologie, Target, and Little Mom and Pop Shops. This past month has been filled with meeting folks, various meetings, and interviews. I took out my little stack of cards from Target and put them to use!

Along with stationary and cards, I always keep stamps on hand. I'm such a big writing/mailing out gal and have always had a love for sending/receiving actual mail. These $1 Target cards come in handy and are so thoughtful and cute! I hope that everyone received their thank you cards and that it added a little spark or light in their day. There's always a small feeling of excitement when receiving an unexpected treat, especially in the mail! XO

For a lot of folks Summer is coming to an end. In previous years, I would take advantage of the seasons and spend a great deal of time at beaches and parks, and hosts little picnics for lunch or an early dinner. This time around, I was fortunate enough to spend time with cousins which is so rare as our schedules are never on the same page. We took a little drive to Newport Beach and brought out my new vintage picnic basket.


We went after 4pm, so it wouldn't be too hot. It was breezy and the sun hit the water and our skins just right! Prior to the beach I bought a handful of Iced Tea's and headed over to a Banh Mi place close to home and ordered wrapped vietnamese sandwiches. We spent a few hours catching up, playing in the water, enjoying the sunset, and eating dinner. It was such a great way to bond, and a cheap way to spend time with one another. I hope I can fit in another picnic before fall rolls in!

This past week and weekend was definitely filled with music festivals, shows, and even award shows. I just finished watching the VMA's and you already know, I held through the whole show just to watch Bey's finale. Before the music festivals and music awards. I spent an intimate evening at the Ace Hotel in their United Artist Theatre and completely fell in love.

Last weekend I attended my nephew's 1st birthday party at the Santa Ana Zoo. I was not aware this place existed until now! It's a small zoo, but they carry various animals. I was keeping my fingers crossed in hopes to find owls, but I assume the park is too small to carry everything. The parking is free, which is always a great thing around or in LA, and admission was free since I was attending a birthday party! The birthday party theme was Dr. Seuss.


Everything was adorable and both my cousins did an amazing job decorating, and baking. I did add my own little touches as I crafted streamers for the tables, which aren't shown above. It was an incredibly warm day but we managed to stay cool within the trees. Not to mention we played some family fun games. It was overall a great time and it was so welcoming to catch up with my dad's side of the family to whom I don't see much, but wish I could!

To many more birthdays little Teagan! Cheers xo

As many times as I've been to The Grove I would just go in and out to get what I need but I never really truly explored. One day I headed over to The Grove to specifically focus and roam around the farmers market. I've tried a few things here before such as their French Macarons, Lemonades, Meats, and some sweets. After truly exploring this time around, there's so much more I want to try!




I was so tempted to take home a few blocks of cheese, but realistically if that happened, I'd probably be spending over $60.00 for that. Now imagine, if I wanted to cook up a meal and get the imported meat that would of been a fortune! That's the beauty of this Farmers Market you can literally find everything and anything here, it just may cost you an arm and a leg ;)

I was heavily inspired with the black and gold crafting I did back in April. I used the same concept when wrapping up goodies and crafting up a card for AW. The gifts where going to be sent to her office so I didn't want to craft or wrap up anything that could possibly get ruined while in-transit.

I had the pleasure of hosting a few lunch ins and afternoon tea at home. Since it's summer, hot tea doesn't really fit the criteria in cooling off and relaxing. I decided to get a few iced tea's to brew and even make my own at home. One Friday, I had my dear cousin over, we spent Friday afternoon cooking and gathering everything together for afternoon (iced) tea. We had little fresh wontons made, along with chicken sandwiches, and little desserts. This time around, we had a Simple Arnold Palmer.





The following day, I had a close girlfriend come over after dinner. I made a batch of Peach & Mango Iced Tea, and bought a dozen French Macarons. It was nice to not spend money, look for parking, pay for parking etc.. It was swell to just have some quality time at home. Also it was nice to use some of my table top from my tea collection. I'm planning on doing something similar this weekend if I have time. Any ideas towards what small dishes I can make?!

For someone who has never been to the OC fair, I went both Friday & Saturday. I figured I should get my full experience in before it ends. I've heard from family and friends that OC Fair is better than LA County Fair, but i'll be the judge of that. Since the heat hasn't subsided I went to the fair both days late afternoon, got to enjoy the sunset, and adore all the neon lights. Not to mention the food!


There was so much fried food, as we all know it's un-healthy, but I got to try a good amount of it. Not to mention before going to the fair I did come across this list. Not shown I tried the Gouda Bacon fries, their mexican food, fresh squeezed lemonade, and their Red Velvet funnel cake. I loved the mexican food out of everything, and couldn't get enough of their lemonade. I'll definitely be going yearly now and will add this to my summer to do list for 2015!

I was doing the usual scroll thru on social media and came across this article. The article is about a 5 year old boy who has an inoperable brain tumor. The 5 year old's name is Danny Nickerson, his 6th birthday was on July 25th. Danny's birthday wish is to receive a big box of birthday cards with his name on it. I read the article around midnight after reading thru it, I instantly went to my desk and started crafting.


Not shown here, is another card I made for Danny's mother with a simple sweet message. I may not know the family personally, but I am a big believer in paying it forward and positive gestures. A week after Danny's birthday, I followed up by reading another article Post-Danny's birthday saying he has received over 4,500 cards and counting :)

Cheers Danny! XO

This past weekend was probably one of the best weekends I've had in a very very long time! From afternoon tea, sunsets at the beach, the infamous On The Run tour (see my instagram for a few stills), and spending quality time with family. I'm embracing the summer heat and taking advantage of the fact that the beach is only a 20 minute drive.. Here are a few stills I captured during sunset while eating a home cooked mexican meal on the beach. It was the perfect Saturday afternoon.



So much has been going on other than this past weekends festivities. I did a little room update this past weekend as well and will be sharing with you soon. I'll be going to the fair this week which I'm incredibly excited since I've never been! I've been craving funnel cake so I can't wait!

Happy August XO