you know that saying….

birds of a feather, flock together.

it’s so true.

i’m learning that more and more each day.

i took a lil’ break from blogland, from designing, from basically everything the last couple of weeks and became a bit of a hermit. if you know me, you know that means two things: 1.) either i’m sick or 2.) i’m being introspective. in this case it was 2.)

i’ve really done some soul searching (as emo as that sounds) and while i feel like i might have lost the drive or confidence to put myself out there for a little while……i’m back.

today seemed like the best day to get back at it….maybe it was the great thrifting time i got to do with a good friend (love ya, K!) and all of the treasures we found. or perhaps it was the friendly mom at my son’s school that mentioned that her cute, white farmhouse was all clean and decorated for Halloween and if i was interested i could take pictures for my blog?

did someone say farmhouse?

as it turns out, there were a whole row of white farmhouses. and in irvine. IRVINE! who knew? (for those that don’t live in California…finding a farmhouse in Irvine is about as common as finding a kangaroo in the mountains. that was a horrible analogy, but that’s all that came to mind. sorry. also, i might have just googled kangaroos to double check that they don’t live in mountains. i know nothing about kangaroos. and no they don’t. unless, you are counting what google said about them living on ‘desert plains on rocky mountains.’ in which case, just ignore everything i just said).

moving on…

now these are not your ‘old’ farmhouses; it’s Irvine after all. they have farmhouse like qualities, that i definitely swooned over. (side note: i have this thing about white houses in movies. if it starts with a white house, has a white house in it, i’m going to love the movie. hands down, every time. now that you know this, you too will love movies with white houses. don’t argue with me. just say, ‘ok.’) 😉

one of my favorite features was the front door.

besides the cute fall wreath and anchor knocker….

it’s a double dutch door. i’ve always wanted one of these. there’s just something so inviting about them. if they had a mouth and could talk, i’m sure it would be saying, “come on in.” or maybe it would say, “quit being a peeping tom.” however, since we were invited, i’m going to go with the first and not the latter.

upon first walking in, i saw this. i thought for a second i got my dream job and was the photographer for Pottery Barn (call me! wink wink). it was straight out of a catalog. it was so cute!

then i noticed the old work table that was perfectly imperfect! it had the most beautiful patina.

it was around this time in the tour that i learned about where some or most of the old treasures in the home came from.

apparently the mom of the mom of the house (who lives with them. we’ll call her grandma J from here on out) loves, LOVES old things. she loves to collect them, find them, re-purpose them.

does this sound familiar?

she walked me through each room and told me about each piece she had found.

how she had them re-purposed.

or rescued from a yard. again, sound familiar?

we had a great time talking about what it means to us to be collectors of these items.

how we each love art and finding art to grace our home. (she had this cat and cow painted on wood by a local Old Towne Orange artist! they hang in the playroom of the house.)

and one of the things that we both mentioned is that though we love the items and they bring us joy, it’s not about the ‘stuff.’

it’s about the history behind them. the story that each one holds. the lives that used to have them.

i was having a great time talking with her and admiring how she decorated the home and looking through her own hand drawn art collection of notecards (coming to Etsy near you! you can do it, grandma J!).

and then sweet grandma J offered me coffee,

with cream.

little did she know that’s my love language.

so you see, my perspective has changed the last few weeks. and i’ve been learning, that though not everyone will ‘get’ you or support you (and by you, i mean me), some will. it’s important to listen to those that do.

because birds of a feather, flock together.

so thankful to have my peeps (and for meeting new peeps) who have similar feathers and want to fly together.

thank you to the H family and grandma J for the tour of your lovely farmhouse and, of course, for the coffee!

this weekend my family and i went to Cambria to visit my in-laws.

they recently (actually more like four years ago), built their dream house on the central coast and i thought it would be nice to do a tour for the blog.

and then i forgot my camera.

welp.

so….i thought it would be fun to take you on a little tour of my home away from home: the thrift store.

i love to thrift. to me it’s like going on a treasure hunt.

you never know what you’re going to find.

sometimes there are big things.

and other times, there are just small items that catch my eye.

but, the one thing i’ve noticed is that i most always find something that i could decorate my home with.

sometimes there are vintage linens,

and old chippy farmhouse finds (my favorite!).

you might be saying to yourself, “what would i do with all of this stuff?”

well take this old dresser, for example, (which if you follow me on instagram, you know my latest obsession with dressers!) 😉

and then pair it with this oversized mirror (btw, i would probably paint the molding of this mirror),

and maybe some of these old milk glass pieces as catchalls:

and you have an instant nightstand or entry table that has a huge impact.

or take this gilded frame:

just pop out the center picture and replace it with some fabric and glass and then add some handles to the sides and you have a one-of-a-kind tray (thanks to my friend, Suzee, for that brilliant idea!).

need to decorate a little girl’s room?

how about this old iron bed (for only $10!!! what a score),

hang a vintage cross stitch over it,

and add a crystal chandelier and you have quite the girly room!

it doesn’t take a lot of money to have a beautiful space. just some treasure hunting, maybe a little elbow grease, and some creative thinking.

hope this inspires you to do a little thrifting!

it seems only fitting, right?

that this vintage loving mama, would send her child to a school that is vintage infused.

maybe it was the Pinterest inspired wreath on the door that first caught my eye.

or the old doors with original doorknobs.

or the cast iron bench with perfectly weathered wood and adorable little pillows.

no, no, maybe it was the old furniture they used for the sign-in area.

as if that wasn’t enough, when i walked through the door of the classroom…

i was greeted with old original chalkboards with old wood trim.

and burlap(!)

lots and lots of burlap! (how could we go wrong?)

then the little kid vintage furniture hit me,

lot and lots of vintage kid school furniture. (i nearly fainted)

but, then i noticed something more.

something beyond the old doors, burlap, and vintage furniture.

i noticed the creativity happening.

the wonderful way, in which, the school was teaching the kids,

how to learn all the things around them in the world.

there were no worksheets.

or sit-down-and-listen-to-this-lesson kind of activities.

nope. not at all.

it was all just old fashioned fun.

hands on learning.

with real life tools,

and real life experiences.

so, the children can learn and grow,

and see how things work,

or hear how they sound,

and play while doing it.

so, while i love all the vintage stuff this little schoolhouse has.

i really love the experience it gives my son.

and the message it is teaching him about the world we live in.

of course, it also helps that it has one of the best teachers ever! (we love you Mrs. W) and one of the best preschool directors ever (you, too, Mrs. R)

so, if you’re looking for a cute, creative, vintage, hands-on-learning, fun preschool….go check out this one in Old Towne Orange.

and hey, tell them the furniture finder sent ya! 😉

there was something about this house that took me back.

back into time. a time in which i’ve never lived, but have dreamed of experiencing.

when things seemed a bit more simple.

and life wasn’t as fussy.

when families ate together around the table.

and children played with toys that were carefully made by a craftsman.

when making a pot of hot water took longer than pushing a few buttons on a machine.

now, don’t get me wrong when i say the word simple. i don’t at all mean it to be plain.

it’s a life, a world, filled with richness.

and beauty all around.

it doesn’t hold a monetary value.

but a value that fills up the soul.

like a few hours of solitude under the shade of a tree.

i long for these things. these simple pleasures in life.

where the squeak of an old door means you have a visitor, instead of something that needs fixing.

where neighbors randomly drop by to give you some giant spools because they know you’re crafty and can repurpose them into something great (and yes, this actually happened while i was there. it was awesome and so are those!).

yup. it’s the simple things that make my heart skip a beat.

and help me to just sit back and enjoy the view.

as simple as it may be.

(thank you, R family for giving me a glimpse into your home and your lives. what a beautiful life it is, full of blessings and goodness!)