Sun Sea Sand

My calendar tells me that it is the end of August, exactly one month since I returned from vacation and I question where the time went - not much to show for it

other than some fun vignettes I posted for Instagram.

On Monday I yelled at myself for being so lazy and decided that I needed to accomplish something in the month of August.

I made a new window seat cushion in July 2013, and have tried all sorts of different pillow combinations on the window seat, but the only pillows I liked were the lobster and crab pillows that belong to my next door neighbor.

I found these pillows here and thought they might look cute on the window seat.

I printed out the words on computer paper,

cut the letters out and using fabric I bought at the beginning of August, 

I painted the words with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

Unfortunately, I had eyeballed the placement and the word sun was too close to the right edge so I had to scrap that pillow and start again.

This time I went with blue at my daughter's insistence.

I like the crisp white pillows, but I was a little concerned about using beach themed pillows.

I decided that since I do live in a little seaside cottage, it is okay for me to have a beach theme going on in the house all year long.

There are still some changes coming for the dining room,

but for now, I am happy with the pillow combination and

a new painting, "Ha'ena From Tunnels Beach" hanging on the wall.

I feel like I accomplished something more than just changing up vignettes around the house.

Life is Good and I am ready for September and a long list of projects!

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Join me at

The Dedicated House - Anything Blue Friday

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson - Share Your Cup Thursday

Savvy Southern Style - Wow Us Wednesdays

Rooted in Thyme- Simple & Sweet Fridays

Please join me for another walk . . .

Steve has an opening for an art show today and I just discovered that he didn't invite any of my blog friends.

So, I decided to simply bring you along with me - while he deals with last minute details, let's walk along Main Street.

We'll start on the corner of Main and California Street - looking up California Street, you will see City Hall

and a statue of Father Serra who founded the first 9 of California's 21 Spanish missions.

This is one of my favorite buildings in town -

named the Erle Stanley Gardner building and home to the law office of the creator of Perry Mason.

The Bank of Italy building now houses a boutique, restaurants and apartments on the second floor.

I love the tile work on The Hamilton Building - I have no idea what it was originally, but today it is a clothing store.

When we moved to town, Peirano's was an old fashioned grocery store and the murals were faded to almost nothing.

I love the refurbished murals and the fountain - Steve and I like to sit on the fountain and "people watch".

The water from the fountain runs down to a smaller fountain and by zooming in, you get a peek of the ocean.

Across the street from the fountain and Peirano's is number 9 in the series of California Missions - I did no editing of the colors on the photo, the sky was that incredible color of blue on the Thursday when I took the photo.

We don't have time to stop in at the Mission office to gain entry to the garden,

but we can peek over the fence and I must say I am glad you are with me, because although I have been to a wedding and a funeral at the mission, I have never been in the garden.

What is not to love on this building - brick, tile, etched windows, grill work - beautiful!

A few big name stores have sprouted up in town.

I wish we had time to stroll through the shops in this courtyard, but we are almost back to Fox Jewelers and Steve is waiting for us.

Maybe we should have dinner on the roof of Watermark and watch the sunset after the show.

And now we arrive at the back door to Fox Jewelers.

Debbie and George Fox recently purchased this old building and created a lovely patio in the back.

In this new location, George has a much larger workshop to create beautiful jewelry.

Yesterday the local newspaper had a nice write up of the opening.

Debbie's knack for display and the brick walls of the building are a perfect background for Steve's colorful art.

I hope you enjoyed your walk through town.

I would love to go on a walk through your town with you.

At the Top

 As the original little beach cottages (like mine) are being torn down, they are being replaced by three story homes with lovely views.

The third floor in newer homes always makes a smaller footprint than the first and second floors - you can see that Leslie's third floor is above the kitchen, but not above the living area.

Leslie says this is the area she spends most of her time and I can see why.

via

I would hang out in the little sitting area off to the side of the bedroom on that comfy sofa.

I am in love with the green fabric on this beautiful chair.

The headboard is gorgeous and you see the rolled up comforter at the foot of the bed.

 Another Pottery Barn Kids area rug can be seen peeking out beneath the bed.

In my last post about the second floor of the house, I ended with a photo of a window seat

which surprisingly is in the bathroom.

I think the bathroom is larger than my entire house!

 Oh, to have this much storage space in my bathroom.

And what a beautiful color scheme Leslie has chosen.

 I didn't get a full picture of the third floor laundry room, but you can see it through the door - how wonderful to not have to carry all those linens or your clothes all the way down to the first floor.

And speaking of the first floor, it's time we went back downstairs to check out the garden.

Because this house was built on two lots, there is space for a "real" yard.

And there is plenty of room for a playhouse for the grandchildren.

I am in love and envy of this cute little cottage.

 The triplets have it decorated as a house, but if it was mine, I would be out there creating all of the time.

 A beach house requires an outdoor shower to clean off all of those sandy feet after a day on the beach.

Beachy decor can be spotted throughout the yard.

I hope you enjoyed the tour through Leslie's home

and garden.

I leave you with a sneak peek at the house, studio and garden I photographed yesterday.

and the spectacular view from the third story of the treehouse.