A Stroll Down Lillie Avenue

Steve and I are about the most boring and predictable people you will ever meet.

We eat sushi every third Friday at the same restaurant, sit at the same table and order the same dishes.

Every Thursday we eat at the same Mexican restaurant- we switch up the booths, but always the same meal.

We walk the beach every morning and people in the ocean front houses tell us they can set their clocks by our beach walks.

But, we are changing that and breaking out of the mold.

One of our summer goals is to do something each week that we don't usually do.

Saturday night  at 9 p.m. we walked over three lanes to be extras in an indie film being shot in a friend's driveway - definitely something different.

We didn't last long at the shoot - extreme disorganization and an incredibly poor plot combined with cold air at 11:00 p.m. sent us home - but hey, we tried.

For Father's Day Steve wanted to go to our usual local breakfast spot.

JP reminded him that we are trying to be different so we drove to Summerland (just south of Montecito and Santa Barbara) for a lovely brunch at Cafe Luna and a stroll down Lillie Avenue.

JP wanted us to see the tower gardens because he is pushing me to start growing my own vegetables and the towers are great for small spaces.

Little spots for seating beckoned us suggesting we sit awhile and not rush home.

A garden shop housed in an old craftsman style cottage gave me ideas for the container of succulents I just received from a friend

Sweet animal topiaries drew me to a children's shop, but I could not entice either JP or Steve to enter so I left it for a visit when the ladies on our lane do a summer shopping day.

I would take any of these great cabinets for my creative space, but the metal drawers kept calling me.

If I was a gazillionaire those metal drawers would be in my garage right now filled with all my supplies.

But, I couldn't convince Steve that I need old shelves priced in the 5 figure range.

I couldn't convince him that we needed an $1,100 birdcage either, but I would it sure would be fun to have all those rusty stars for a 4th of July themed vignette.

I would like to find some old shutters with a lovely chippy patina, but $850 for a pair of shutters is also out of my price range.

Please tell me that all of you who decorate with chippy doors, shutter, ladders, etc. are not spending that much.

Summerland is all of a 15 minute drive up the coast yet in 36 years, we have never visited the little hamlet together.

We enjoyed the beautiful flowers, including my all time favorite Matilija poppies, and just moved slow the rest of the day.

We went for a bike ride along the ocean, read in the garden and sat at the fire pit after dinner.

I did not finish a single project on my 30 Days of Pinterest list.

Our stroll down Lillie Avenue reminded me that I am on permanent vacation and I won't be fired from retirement if I don't finish everything.

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I am partying at

Little Red House - Mosaic Monday