bits of home // september

1// The new house is such a score. Especially when this is just a small taste of the backyard. It's all Fern Gully back there, and I love it.

2// Fat Cat Yoga, aka lots of naps. I learned a long time ago that she will never sleep on any kind of pre-ordained "cat bed" like the ones you get at pet stores. Rugs and carpets suit her just fine. Oh, and wrinkled up packing paper on a carpet, which is what she's sleeping on right now as I type this.

3// morning tea and a miniature sugar skull.

4// Oh, air plants, you make me so happy. Especially when you're nestled in a hanging glass orb in front of a great big window.

Happy weekend :)

how to write the bio for your lifestyle blog

I found this illustrated gem here, and it was too perfect/funny/a-little-depressing not to share :)

a tuesday music mix // it's a hot, hot summer

Heat waves are the worst. And the one we just had here in San Diego for the past two weeks was especially insufferable with the crazy, Florida-esque humidity levels. DO NOT WANT. 

But it's starting to cool off this week, and I am gonna savor every last iota of below-90-degrees-weather. Starting with a new music mix over on 8tracks. Please enjoy with your favorite cold adult beverage.

1. Julie's Haircut // Summer Babe

2. Unknown Mortal Orchestra // So Good at Being In Trouble

3. Ivan & Alyosha // Be Your Man

4. The Flaming Lips // It's Summertime

5. Sonny and the Sunsets // She Plays Yo Yo With My Mind

6. Pomplamoose // Beat It

7. The Peach Kings // Thieves & Kings

8. Smashing Pumpkins // 1979

9. Beach Day // Walking on the Streets

10. Musetta // Underneath the Mango Tree

11. Shannon and The Clams // Rip Van Winkle

12. Brenton Wood // Oogum Boogum

13. The Flaming Lips // Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Part 1

left coast roadtrip part five // solvang

I know I've been sharing travel photos like crazy from my trip a few months ago, and I promise this is the last installment! So after getting a good night's rest after the drive through Big Sur, we made our first Solvang stop at Ostrichland, which was easily the most hilarious part of our whole trip. It's pretty much an ostrich and emu petting zoo, except you're not allowed to pet them. But you can feed them, and ohhh, they love to be fed. It was impossible to take these photos without laughing; seeing a horde of greedy ostriches bobbing their heads furiously as they're eating out of the food bowl in my husband's hand is the best.

At first, we figured we'd each feed just a bowl or two and be done. But no, these animals gobble it up so quickly that you simply must go back for seconds, thirds, fourths, and possibly fifths. Especially when there are babies to feed. You can't forget the babies.

And then we were off to the Land of Pastries and Windmills! Solvang's Danish Village is, in a word, delightful.

And then we wandered into a random wine tasting room because we realized we were in major wine country and had yet to taste any wine....(Also, we are not wine connoisseurs by any means. But we do like drinking it.)

We did a little more walking, a little more shopping, a little more enjoying the sights, and then I told the mister we needed to stop at the Maverick Saloon just a few miles away just to check it out. It was early in the afternoon, so not too much action inside, but we enjoyed a cold beer and chatted up the bartender. And how crazy is that hordes-of-dollar-bills ceiling?

Solvang, I think I'm in love with you.

left coast roadtrip part four // big sur

Day 3. The drive down Highway 1 through Big Sur was one of the prettiest I've ever taken. Blue waters, rock cliffs, and an amazing flower field right on the water to traipse through.

The color of the ocean kind of blew me away....I wasn't expecting it to be so...blue. It was beautiful. And the mister had a grand 'ole time climbing down a semi-dangerous hill to get to the rocks below. I stayed safely put, because camera gear + sandals = heck no.

Here's a little camera + iPhone video footage that I shot as well. 

big sur from Lisa Kimberly on Vimeo.

After several of these little pit stops, we kept driving down Highway 1 and made our way to Nepenthe, which is this great restaurant tucked into the mountains with an incredible outdoor terrace to soak in the views.

Unreal. California, you keep surprising me :)