The emotional wall I’ve visualized to keep my own happiness and well-being, Read more…
My Homestead
cooking, vegan, recipes, family, gardening at Lita’s house
June 2017 Photo Adventures
Ready for my June 2017 photo adventures and fun re-cap? We spent a lot of time in San Francisco this past June – which is always a good thing. Here are some of my favorite photos from special moments this past month. San Francisco and Our Sondors Electric Bikes We really enjoy taking our Sondors […] Read more…
Summertime Cocktail Pairing with SkinnyPop
YAY!! for Summertime – it’s definitely here in Northern California! We just love this season in our little town. How lucky is it that we have THREE different music in the park options each week! We’ve found that all that is needed to enjoy Music in the Park (besides our ears and a comfy chair) […] Read more…
Summer Salad Recipe – Delicious, Healthy & Vegan
Summer is definitely HERE!! I know because we just got through a week-long heat wave here in Northern California. Needless to say, cooking in the heat is NOT fun! So, it’s time for a summer salad recipe. I’ve begun this summer trend of having a healthy chilled salad ready and available for snacking at anytime. […] Read more…
Fun Visiting Monterey County California
One of my favorite places to visit happens to be not very far from my home – Monterey County California. Though we can drive there in less than 2 hours, we always feel like we’re in a different world when we arrive. There are so many towns worth visiting in Monterey County and along the […] Read more…
Vegan Food Finds April 2017
Ready to hear about my latest vegan food finds? I just returned home from my monthly visit to the “Mother Ship” – which is what I call the largest Whole Foods store in our area – and I thought I’d share a few of the vegan food finds I discovered today. Some of these items […] Read more…
Weekend Bread Baker
Lately I have become, what I like to call, a Weekend Bread Baker. Because of work during the week, I feel like I can only do justice to the bread baking process on weekends. I am currently obsessed with creating the perfect sourdough baguettes. During the week, I do spend some time maintaining the sourdough […] Read more…
San Francisco Spring Break 2017
Once again, we head to San Francisco with our Grandsons for some Spring Break fun! We were lucky this year to have 3 days of beautiful weather tucked in-between Spring showers. There are so many things to do in San Francisco and we begin this trip with visiting Golden Gate Park. Our first adventure is […] Read more…
Face Your Fashion Fears
After 48+ years on this Earth, I have learned that absolutes and extremes can change through time especially as related to personal fashion and style. My own personal style has changed a lot over the years. I’m definitely not living in the “New Wave 80’s” style I found fashionable in High School and College. Nowadays, I […] Read more…
Simple Bread
Honestly, I don’t make bread often enough and I don’t know why! I love everything about making bread, the texture, the creativity, the smells and especially the end result. This weekend I took the time to make a simple bread dough. I love that it doesn’t need many ingredients. In fact, if you have yeast, […] Read more…
Perfect Night In
I was asked by the good people at AdoreMe to write about my perfect night in. Honestly, if you know me, you know that would mean a night at home with my hubby and Bubba the Frenchie, enjoying a glass of wine, a tasty dinner and a movie. Of course, the candles would be lit in our little […] Read more…
Apple Vegan Cake
It’s Meatless Monday and Vegan Recipe Day!! Can you believe it? Probably not, because I haven’t shared a recipe here on this blog in a long, long while. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve made anything from a recipe in a while. I just make the good ol’ stand-bys week after week. Which is not bad […] Read more…
Smashing Plates on Lung Leavin’ Day – A Cancer Survivor Story
One of the amazing things about being in the blogging world is that you hear from incredible people who have unreal stories to tell. Recently, I heard from Heather Von St. James who told me her story of surviving mesothelioma cancer. Mesothelioma cancer is a rare and aggressive form of cancer that primarily develops in […] Read more…
Beauty and the Beast – Coming Soon!!
The much anticipated (especially by me) live-action movie version of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is coming soon to theaters and here’s what you need to know. Because it’s live-action, the story and characters audiences know and love will seemingly come to life in this adaptation of Disney’s animated classic. This movie is said to be […] Read more…
Win a Free Night Stay at Country Inn and Suites in Anaheim
On the “bucket” list this year is a trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, CA. And now, I know the perfect place for us to stay – Country Inn and Suites in Anaheim. Why this hotel? There are many reasons that I will share below, but an absolute KEY reason is that this hotel is walking […] Read more…
5 Tips for Finding Peace in the New Year
I’m an optimist. Always have been and always hope to be. I’m not saying I haven’t had “down” times. I have, but overall, I think I’m a pretty upbeat person. So, I thought I’d share 5 of the tips I use for finding peace that I hope will bring about more happiness and joy in […] Read more…
Rogue One – My Birthday Treat
Are you as excited as I am to see ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY in theatres this weekend? I’ve been going crazy watching all the film premier information shared by other Disney bloggers I follow online. PLUS, seeing Star Wars movies that open in December (near mine and my daughter’s birthdays) is a family tradition […] Read more…
Brentwood Home Giveaway
Have you heard of the California home store Brentwood Home? This Los Angeles based business has been creating healthy, handmade items out of beautiful, eco-friendly materials for over 30 years. All their items are so beautiful and really have a quality artisanal look and feel to them. The beautiful aesthetic of their items plays right […] Read more…
Small Business Saturday
This Saturday, November 26th is Small Business Saturday. Will you be out supporting the small businesses in your town? Did you know small businesses contribute to 55% of all jobs and 54% of all sales in the USA? Are you not living in or near a small town? That’s okay, you can just come on […] Read more…
Thanksgiving Blessings
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!! Today, as every day, I have so much to be grateful for. There are all the obvious blessings – Health, Family and Friends, but there are also so many more. If I tried to list them all, this post would go on for days and days. Taking even a moment right now to […] Read more…
Moana (for President) Movie Review
I was fortunate to be invited to see an early screening of the new Disney Animation Moana last night. This film is everything you want a Disney movie to be – fun, creative, uplifting and adventurous. In fact, the lead character, Moana, is so inspiring with her passion, strength and desire to help her people that I’m […] Read more…
#SupportYourBalls – Testicular Cancer Awareness
Did I get your attention with the title of this post? I hope so! I’m trying to raise some awareness for testicular cancer. Why me? you may ask. When I saw that Tommy John a men’s underwear company, was running this campaign with the Testicular Cancer foundation, I was surprised to hear that most men don’t […] Read more…
20 Days in Europe with Gate 1 Travel
We recently returned from a 20 day trip to Central Europe with Gate 1 Travel. This is our fourth trip with Gate 1 and honestly, they’ve never let us down. It was another fabulous tour with excellent tour guides, an active itinerary and wonderful accommodations. We’ve met many people on these trips that have traveled […] Read more…
Pur~lisse Skincare
Sharing my experience using Pur~lisse skincare products while traveling – hint, I LOVED them! Read more…
Travels in Thailand – Last Stop Chiang Mai
Our final days in Thailand were spent in and around the City of Chiang Mai. This was probably one of our favorite cities in Thailand. It’s fitting that I’m writing about the finish of our Thailand trip as in 1 day we are off to begin another once-in-a-lifetime trip – a three week visit to Central […] Read more…