A couple of weeks ago, Prairie, Andy & I packed up and went on a weekend trip to the big city- aka San Diego. We actually visit San Diego pretty frequently, it’s where we lived for a few years before Prairie came along, and my sister and her family still live there. But we have always stuck pretty close to the neighborhoods of South Park / North Park / Golden Hill. So when my friend Rachel (aka the super-duper-mega-talented weaver behind Mr Blue Sky) offered to let us crash at her Airbnb, a sunny, art-filled loft in the hip downtown neighborhood of Little Italy. I was like “heck yeah!” And we were off to live my alternate reality dream life of living in a cool loft in a hip neighborhood, chilling with artists, eating at cafes, drinking craft brews, basically living the dream … but with our toddler daughter.

I knew that Little Italy was gonna be a great place to vacation but honestly was a little nervous that it was more of a hip adult spot then a kid friendly destination- but actually was proved delightfully wrong. Read on for more of our mini Little Italy adventure, and tosee more of Rachel’s lovely space.

Continue reading “A Little Guide to a Little Adventure in Little Italy (San Diego)” →

Lately, I’ve been hearing a lot about the health benefits of the cool new super food on the block: cacao! Which of course immediately peaked my curiosity because much like everyone else in the world, I love chocolate. Anyways, as much as I would love to try out a cacao ceremony, I don’t really partake in anything I can’t do without my two year sidekick these days. So I was super stoked when my friend Sarah (of @usdrifting) who happens to be a vegan chef (seriously she’s about to open a vegan cafe in Buffalo, NY), shared her recipe for these cacao treats. You can call them truffles to impress your friends at dinner parties,  or Prairie just calls them balls (which makes me start singing “suck on my chocolate salty balls” in my head and laugh like a 12 year old every time).  Either way they are delicious, nutritious, and sure to impress both the discerning palette of your toddler and your hipster foodie pals.

Continue reading “easy cacao truffle balls” →

Last week, Prairie and I were visiting the home of my sweet friend Sara of @usdrifting. It was a hot day here in the Mojave, and Prairie and Sara’s daughter Stella inevitably ended up naked splashing in a tub of water. At one point Prairie put on Stella’s fairy wings and climbed up in their van to check it out. I snapped a quick pic of her little backside with her fairy wings on peering out of the van’s portal window. It was such an adorable moment and one of those serendipitous times when you just happen to pull out your phone and capture what turns out to be one of your fav pics ever.

Continue reading “My first experience with mom shaming” →

I’ve talked before about how I felt the need to makeover my wardrobe after becoming a mother and moving to the desert, but one thing I hadn’t really ever figured out is jewelry. “My jewelry personality” so to speak. Pre-kiddo I used to love to wear big statement pieces, but honestly I haven’t worn much besides my wedding band these past few years. The few things I have purchased in this time I need really reach for.

So when Jewel Street reached out to me and offered me a piece of jewelry of my choosing, I was both excited and also confused. This would be my first piece of fine jewelry that wasn’t either inherited or my engagement/wedding ring. This would be a piece of my own to pass on to Prairie someday! I love the idea of an heirloom piece, but what heirloom piece style am I?? Big and bold? Timeless and chic? Modern? Simple? Boho?? Ahh, so many decisions to make!

After countless hours virtually window shopping, (they have A LOT of AMAZING indie designers to explore) I discovered the lovely work of Uma K. Which is funny, because they feature  designers from all over the world- but somehow I found and fell in love with the work of a free-spirited California girl! I guess I officially love the Cali-cool style, what can I say? Just like the clothing I gravitate too, my jewelry should be simple but sumptuous- it all seems so obvious to me now.

Anyhow, I chose this 14 karat gold infinity ring. Uma K’s pieces have an air of mysticism about them, which is very Joshua Tree to me and just feels right for this chapter of my life. I truly love the symbology behind the infinity ring that I chose. I love how simple it is, yet how special. Another really cool thing about Uma K is that she makes some of her pieces in Brass too, so here’s a more affordable version of the same shape.

So a while back I shared an instagram post about how my family now earns money from my account & thanked everyone for following along and supporting us. I know folks can get irritated by sponsored posts, so I wanted to remind everyone that I am a real person who spends a lot of time on this platform, and part of the pay-off for me being able to earn some income from it. There was a lot of questions & curiosity about the world of social media “influencing” (that word makes me seriously uncomfortable) so I promised a blog post.  It is a big topic that I kind of don’t even know how to dive into, hence why I’ve procrastinated writing this, but I’m giving it a shot.

Continue reading “some thoughts on instagram influencing” →