Chocolate Maya...

Well it's become somewhat of a tradition…

That is when my mother's birthday rolls round we go and spend the day in Santa Barbabra...

 Just the two of us out to lunch and hiking the streets with no plan 

other than to enjoy each others company…

After a lovely meal and a long stroll down the entire length of State Street

 my mother brought us to a wee size chocolate shop…

It was a chocolate obsessor's heaven.

Charming is an understatement and inspiring would pair 

well with any other description of the place... 

The owner certainly has a mission, and that mission is chocolate... 

We ordered two hot chocolates that came in cups that you would 

image were meant for green tea or an espresso...

 There was a choice between European and South American… spicy...

Needless to say, I chose spicy...

Opposite the counter and the fresh truffles were bars and bars of chocolate…

This guy took the cake...

 Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon and a chocolate memory to beat all chocolate memories!

                                                             Cheers ~ Marica

February Flowers...

Please everyone excuse me for this somewhat indulgent post. I don't think anyone 

will be as interested in the flowers on the table by my window as I am, but they are of a 

particularly lovely nature and I had to take some pictures to appease my obsession 

with tulips and bulbs in general...

 Typically speaking pink is not one of my more favored colors, 

but somehow pink flowers always steal my breath away...

And a good white rose here and there, or yellow or cream...

I get a little soft when it comes to flowers…

That said, as tempted as I can be by cut flowers, I've never had much liking for them.

The after taste of throwing out dead flowers ruins the beauty of their time in the vase...

So if anyone is thinking of sending me flowers, the ones tucked in pots that can later be 

planted out in the sunshine would be the way to go…

                                                    Cheers ~ Marica

Lately...

We've been learning about the continents and drawing maps of the world...

 Counting by twos… and fives and tens...

Playing Catan… Which I highly recommend!!

It's the funnest game I've played in a long time...

 And watching these boys read, read read...

                                                                         Hope everyone had a good week ~ Marica

Valentine's Day and a fresh cake filling...

Well I guess it's Valentine's Day….

I sort of forgot this year and hurriedly made it up to the kids by leaving

 them these bags on the counter… 

 While I was at the store picking out candy I came across these nice

oreo-like cookies...

 They made me think cake, so cake it was...

I had a container of creme fraiche in my refrigerator so I decided a 

nice creamy filling would make the cake more exciting...

 I really like how the filling came out; light, clean with a touch of berry...

Creme Fraiche Berry Filling:

In a large bowl whip until almost stiff:

1 + 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

Add and then whip until the cream makes 

small peaks when you pull out a spoon:

1/2 cup creme fraiche

Add and fold in gently:

3 tablespoons berry jam such as marionberry or blackberry.

                                                                                        (The sweet card the nine-year-old of this house left me)

                                                         Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day ~ Marica

The colors of this week..

With the calender striking mid-February….

A friend brought over pansies to plant with the kids...

 Vibrant red pansies….And fresh young strawberries...

They used old cans and wrapped up newspaper to make pots…

Today we covered empty boxes with magazine clippings...

To make them pretty…

Happy Mid-February Everyone…

                                                                   ~ Marica

Bombshell Beat...

Not too long ago my very, very, very dear friend Robin created an online boutique for her awesome, unique jewelry and hairpieces. She was in need of some photographs to fill out her site and asked if I wouldn't mind taking a few.  She was kind of apologetic about the favor and nervous she wouldn't show up as well on film as would be needed. Well I can't tell you how wrong she was on both fronts. The first concern I was able to reassure her was truly the opposite of reality; I was super excited to take pictures and honored to be a part of the fun. The second concern is so funny to me now, because if you look at the following pictures I think it is clear she is utterly gorgeous to capture with the click of a camera...

The sunlight was rather temperamental and splotty so she took out her parasol 

to help filter the overly contrasting rays…

It worked remarkable better with the streaming light offset by red fabric...

At one point we added a bike to the mix, it was fun but didn't help too much 

with featuring jewelry. It's too bad because I really like the feeling it created… 

I mean really, how beautiful is that bike!!

And then of course it was so neat to see her jewelry…

 Most of it I had never seen before and I was amazed at what an array of pieces she had...

Bombshell Beat… If you get a chance I recommend you check out her fun stuff!

                                              Hope everyone had a good weekend!!!

        

                                                                  ~ Marica

Full Grownup

This morning while drinking strong green tea and trying to shake off the last bit of this miserable flu I've had, I happen to check out a blog that one of my friends from childhood is authoring… The part that struck me was where she had pictures of her friends and their homes, one of which I knew from when we were little. I looked at this grown up woman in her nice house, obviously planned for photographing, but still, a very together looking lifestyle and I thought "This is a grown up woman!!!" 

I don't know if anyone else feels like this, or everyone else feels like this, but I don't hardly feel like an adult at all. Definitely a bit more adult than actual child, but the current that runs through me, the dismay, exhilaration and constant figuring at what the world offers is not what I would possibly imagine a grown up to feel. 

At times I've wondered if it isn't partly because I started so young, having a baby at eighteen and going "full grownup" in such a one-eighty degree sort of way. It left me this feeling somewhat like I didn't have to actually fully commit to adulthood. As long as I was doing a good job at being a mother, or at least the best I could, and everybody was well looked after, why did I have to sign myself off to a finished product, end of the road adult, fully grown up until the day I die. 

I look at my life and I see bills being paid, cars being driven to and from basketball practice for my twelve-year-old son, phone calls made to plumbers and decisions about when and whether to get the cats fixed… This is certainly not child's play. 

I look at my friends around me, some with kids some without. Do they seem like grownups? It's so hard to tell. In most ways no. Usually I see people struggling to figure it out, make the stitches meet up and the seams straight. From a distance I see adults, people who have crossed that line and crossed the Ts needed to be stamped "Full Grownup". 

Any thoughts here anyone??? This truly is a question that runs in and out of my days, and I wonder about your opinions. 

                                                  ~ Marcia