Modern Prairie Girl

Beautiful NW water views, amazing purple sunsets, rock collecting, sandcastle building, bald eagle sightings, campfires & picnics and….

Navy Growler fighter jets roaring violently overhead…

Huh?

Such is a vaca on a Whidbey Island naval base. Not just any naval base–one plunked right on the beach at Cliffside. My retired Air Force father-in-law hooks us up with a lovely spot next to the ocean. We look forward to it every year. This year we actually had some warm weather to play in the sand.

Whidbey Top 13 FAVE list~

1) The quest for heart shaped rocks. PH and and I have a game to see who can spot one first. Wouldn’t you know that we hoofed it up the beach about a half mile before we found one…and OF COURSE it was huge and heavy….and OF COURSE, we found another one the same size. I was a happy camper as my lovin’ man trekked his way back with both rocks on his shoulders. He was saying that those lurking Growler pilots must really think that crazy guy loves his wife!

2) Rachey and her annual “bakery on the beach“.

3) An imagination that’s on vacation and comes up with nifty projects to take home…I smell a driftwood theme in my immediate future, lovelies…

4) Fab antique treasure finds in Anacortes, a cute little town with some great restaurants.

5) Watching my children play with wild abandon on the base and feeling perfectly safe to not watch them every second.

6) Sunsets with tree silhouettes that blow your mind.

7) Cliffs and the stunning view they provide.

8 ) Windblown trees and winding paths…so many metaphors come to mind here, I just can’t get them out fast enough.

9) JOY and more JOY. Ken, the campsite host finds these incredible driftwood pieces to make our favorite word. It’s all over the camp and makes you smile when you see it catch the sunlight in the morning or evening. He is a magician and creator of wonderful things.

10) Time alone to do a “walk about” with my camera…no agenda…just being aware of the beauty around me. Peaceful and sweet…

11) Fort Casey State Park and all that the former artillery post and lighthouse has to offer in terms of photo opps…

12) Barns and quaint little gardens in town

13) Uninterrupted time with people I love…

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How does that song go? “I’m gonna sit right down and write myself a letter…”

I did that this week while my mind was on vacation-mode. It was surprising.

Lovelies, sometimes getting away provides something unexpected. First of all, I was calling a sleeping bag a bed for the duration and I couldn’t get my tuckus out of bed to do my Morning Pages. Funny thing…I missed them! I’ve been doing them long enough now that I really think I’m having some breakthroughs as a result. Lots of stuff to share as I go, friends…so many matters of the heart coming up (all good stuff!).

I’m making some changes.

I’m excited about it

and am

sure of my footing.

I hope your summer is wrapping up nicely—I wish for a few more lingering-on-the-porch days for you, sweet MPG’s.

OX.

Another book to carry with me everywhere I go. Patti Digh, writer of this book and 37 Days blog, has an amazing way with words…and ideas…and philosphy…humor…you name it. I love her writing style, and more importantly, she’s really made me stop and think about the important things.

Her mantra is to be mindful and live intentionally…something I, uh, struggle with sometimes. So this week I had two moments that stopped me in my running-100-miles-an-hour tracks.

One involved string cheese.

Seriously.

String cheese.

I was having a there’s-nothing-in-my-fridge-to-feed-the-kids-while-we-fly-solo-without-PH.

Tired and I must admit, a little cranky.

Well the mood didn’t improve as I reached in the refer for some pizza cheese as I had a very heavy-with-sauce waiting Boboli on the counter.

Bugga! No cheese.

So the Blair women began scavenging for something to finish our dinner and voila’…we had an idea.

Yes, lovelies, that is string cheese in rows on our pizza. I was about to be sad about our pizza predicament, but instead we took a picture and got a good laugh out of it.

In fact, we laughed a lot that night. A little “Wipe-Out”, some funny dogs chasing around the kitchen island antics, mixed with some bedtime tickling and I came out of my funk.

Truly a mindful evening and I just wanted to eat up my daughters, because they know how to do this so much better than me.

Most kids do, in fact.

We could learn so much from these sweet creatures.

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Mindful moment #2 was simply a beautiful sunset (pic doesn’t do it justice..point-n-shoot being the only vehicle of sunset-catching devices on the seat next to me). We were rushing around like the activity hopping chicks that we are and almost missed it. I was at the stop sign, going through the mental list of all of the things that didn’t get done that day…and WHAM…

Mr. Sunset called to me and said “Halt, Activity Hopping Chick…LOOK AT ME.” It was a nice moment to remind me of all the blessings that summer has brought.

The MPG reading gals I met at BH Flea…thank you for your kind words…that moment was special for me.

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On a side note, got wind of a new book today that looks very, very good—cute cover too.

I heard about “The Handmade Marketplace” on Kimberly Wilson’s podcast and fell in love with Kari, the author’s, vision. If you sell on Etsy or at craft/art shows, she seems to have nailed it. I can’t wait to get it!

Book-buying…

yes…I have a problem, friends…there is just too much talent out there and I want to devour all of it in one big bite!

I hope this summer is winding down for you in a smashing way~

OX.

Ahhh, lovelies, I hope your 4th weekend was smashing…we had a great time in the little town of Manzanita on the Oregon Coast. This is our tenth year enjoying that holiday with my dad and stepmom. We had such a blast this year! Thanks, dad and Holly for your never-ending hospitality. I do believe the parade was one of the best we’ve seen.

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I have discovered something wonderful, friends…a glimpse into the UnOrdinary Lives of fab people in our country. The NY Times Home and Garden Section (Style) chronicles these great homes and we can enjoy them through the outstanding pictures.

Enter FantastyLand here.

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Another fun find on my jaunt to Jacksonville was this fun top by Whish…I am officially obsessed with their designs. I have succumbed to the fact that…

I am a color girl.

Can’t be helped.

It makes me happy…

as snapped by Katie Kat, the budding 10-year-old photographer (even though I look like I’m in a sea of yellow haze )~

Other fun finds from the web by Whish~

via.

Love the wrapping thing! I couldn’t find a ton on Whish on-line…I’m worried that the label might not be as active now—anyone know? Love the style of Whish’s brainchild, Linda Rothschild.

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‘Hope you’re enjoying your summer—ours has finally arrived—95 degrees on Wed and Thur up here this week.

Feast or famine, right?!

***Anyone contemplating attending the “Ignite the Heart” weekend creativity retreat needs to sign up asap—it’s going to be so much fun–we would love to have you come!***

OX.

…so little time to imitate them!

Via uber-cool SwissMiss

So many interesting design people putting books out right now…

This woman, Kelly Wearstler…so fab and is currently on fire...

‘See her book on many a blog image coffee table~

Hue looks GREAT.

My “Found Style” came in the mail today and I do believe I’ve found my design bible–wow-ee-wow…just FABULOUS!

One of my go-to books when I’m feeling vintagey is “Flea Market Style”…lots of eye candy and inspiring ideas.

Broken record playing here…sorry..can’t help it!

“Downtown Chic” by Robert and Cortney Novogratz is always lost in this house—usually Rach, who snags it to look at the pictures and forgets to return it…my design heroes, these “Nine by Design” folks…just think they’re the coolest.

The ultimate design bible that has so many dog-eared pages,  it’s a bit ridiculous, is “Domino: The Book of Decorating” and even though (sniff) our beloved glossy is gone, we can still live in it’s style through this book.

Another one I go to again and again is the incomparable Anita Kaushal’s “The Family at Home“—who can’t resist a fireman’s pole going down the middle of a living room?

Not a book, but costs as much as one–Living, Etc. glossy is a stunner—I (hanging my head in shame) sit at Borders reading this with drool in the corners of my mouth (yes…not a pretty picture).

Just a little tease from its pages…

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Totally unrelated–did our first “two-dog household” session last week. Lovin’ my ladies!

Random self-timed snap with Katie’s camera~

Have a great day–hopefully it’s sunny where you are~

OX.

Ma mere’ and I grabbed the kidlets and headed for the sun in southern Oregon.

Via. 

Ashland, home of the renowned Oregon Shakespeare Festival, was our destination (upper 80’s and a hotel with a pool–woohoo!), starting out with a little luncheepoo next to the river and visit to the festival store on campus for some candids.

I loved Ashland, but I must admit that my heart belongs to Jacksonville, a small gold rush town just 20 or so minutes from Ashland, that would just knock your socks off, it’s so darn cute. I mean “I could move here and begin a new life” cute.

Some snaps I took with Rach’s camera (Big Kahuna sleeping in my utility room from over-use last week and dropped my point-n-shoot, darn it).

Historic downtown—all original buildings–amazing….

You know me an my little chapel fetish…I made everyone wait in the car while I snapped these two—I wanted to go inside, but…sigh..they were locked. I bet there are COOL SMALL PEWS in there!

Jacksonville is home to a lot of B&B’s with so much charm…gotta stay there sometime for sure.

Via

Of course, screeched the car to a halt when I saw this sign…some very, very old items with a very old woman inside…I had fun seeing her wares, but kept the wallet intact.

A funny, pixelated Katie-has-an-alien-on-her-head shot of us at brunch at the Jacksonville Inn B&B five star restaurant—best meal we had by far.

Got a really cute anthro-inspired shirt (will show this week) from an adorable store called La Boheme  (it’s my new fave wear-it-too-much wardrobe addition).

Hope your weekend was smashing!!!

OX.