tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8195644532299400302024-02-07T01:30:21.931-08:00Main StreetMain Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.comBlogger222125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-32329308297630864672013-10-31T22:40:00.002-07:002013-10-31T22:40:37.074-07:00October in Orange County<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I have an hour and a half left to say, Happy Halloween! I hope everyone had a delightfully spooktacular day. I've been meaning to share some great pumpkin patch photos for a couple weeks, and thought I'd sneak them in here before the calendar flips to November.</div>
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Derek and I discovered one of the coolest pumpkin patches I've ever experienced at<a href="http://www.irvineparkrailroad.com/content/irvine-regional-park-hours-and-fees" target="_blank"> Irvine Regional Park</a>. In fact, it was also just an amazing park in general, and the weather was warm yet still felt very autumny...It was, in a word, perfect. </div>
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The theme was gold rush, and they really got the ambience right. They even had a little "haunted house" inside one of the buildings...I was too scared to go in until I saw a three year old come out of it, at which point I sent in Derek to scout...then I went in. I don't do well with haunted houses, but this one was neat and had the appropriate amount of spook. </div>
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Tractor boy. </div>
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The train running through the park was magical.</div>
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Panning for gold.</div>
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The park is complete with a lake-- you can even rent paddle boats to take out...next time!</div>
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We then wandered into the Orange County Zoo, which is also located inside the park. It was small and had mostly regional animals, but there was something really neat and beautiful about it! I loved the bald eagles.</div>
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Derek found himself a mountain lion!</div>
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Ah, what a day! Goodbye October, I will miss you.</div>
<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-32897432845870454802013-06-13T17:49:00.001-07:002013-06-13T17:49:20.445-07:00Final Days of Spring<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The beginning of June always feels like the beginning of summer. But we still technically have a week of spring left! This thought prompted me to make a long overdue post on some of the things that have been happening in the last couple months, and the above video from our childhood favorite movie Seven Brides for Seven Brothers perfectly captures what this season has been to our family. Greer and Austin got married and are embarking on their new life together (see the below post), Hannah is now eight months pregnant and we celebrated with a baby shower, and of course, last but not least, our baby birds hatched and flew the coop!<br />
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Greer and Austin's wedding could not have been more beautiful, and it was truly a great and emotional weekend for all involved. And then about two weeks later, we got to get all emotional again for Hannah's baby shower! Her friends Casey and Kelly threw an awesome party at Casey's house, and it was a gorgeous day with fun company, and Hannah seemed to get all the things she will need for her little one. Here are a few snapshots of the day:<br />
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Now, as for them baby birds!<br />
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The day before Derek and I were to head up north for Greer and Austin's wedding, I came home from work to see that one of the baby birds had descended from the birdhouse, onto to the platform I (thankfully)
erected below its house--otherwise, he would have had a 3 story
fall! I was both excited and nervous for him as I photographed
him perched on the edge of this strung up fabric box.<br />
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After staring at
him for about 15 minutes, I decided I needed to shoo him onto the porch
before he fell off (apparently I'm not much for letting mother nature do
her thing). So I managed to guide him onto the railing where he
promptly fell to the balcony floor (3 foot fall seemed preferable to
that 3 story one). He then proceeded to hip and hop around the balcony
(which thankfully has full wood sides rather than open bars), until he
reached the opposite end of the balcony, where he decided it would be a
grand adventure to slip under the wood partition that divides us from
our neighbor's balcony.<br />
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Of course this freaked me out
as I couldn't see him anymore. Just then I heard the neighbor's slider
door open and I decided to peek my head around the partition (I've never
introduced myself to this person, by the way), and say "Hi, not to be
creepy, but there might be a baby bird on your porch." I think this guy
jumped about 2 feet at the mention of a small feral creature roaming his
turf. But then he politely said, "thanks for the heads up," and quickly
darted back inside.<br />
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After a minute or so, little hoppy
found his way back to our side of the balcony. Right about then Derek
came home and I updated him on our big bird news. I had barely spit the
story out when baby #2 decided it was time to pop out of the birdhouse,
and also landed kaput onto the platform. Perhaps led by his sibling's
actions, he almost immediately jumped down onto the balcony floor all on
his own. The two babies quickly huddled in the corner chirp chirping
away. At this point I realized the parents must have decided it was the
perfect day to make them jump from the nest, as they kept going in and
out of the birdhouse making a racket and subsequently baby #3 made his
little pop down. He followed #2's example and jumped down to the floor,
where the 3 sibs bundled up in the corner and chirped some more. The
parents kept going in and out of the birdhouse so we weren't sure if
there were going to be any more babies, but this was apparently it. <br />
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By
this point the sun had totally gone down and it was getting cold. After
showing interest in their offspring for awhile, parents took off for the
night and babies quieted down. At Peter's suggestion I loosely wrapped a
towel around where they were huddled to protect them from the cold, and
we called it a night.<br />
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In the morning I woke to find
two of the babies sitting on the towel tweeting away. The third baby was
nowhere to be found, so hopefully he was the most developed and already
flew away. The other two spent the rest of the day bouncing around the
balcony, being fed by their parents, and trying to hop onto flower pots
and stretch out their wings. Finally they found a nice little hiding
place in an empty tipped over flower pot.<br />
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When we returned from the wedding, there was no sign left of the babies save all their little white droppings. I miss the little cuties! Every now and then one of the parents comes back and lands on the perch of the birdhouse; I'm not sure if it is doing this out of habit or if it is considering building another nest there again already, but it is always good to see our bird friends...it was such a neat process to experience! </div>
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--Jessica </div>
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Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-8761241528625640202013-06-10T15:23:00.003-07:002013-06-10T15:41:21.240-07:00Greer and Austin's WeddingThis is a post loaded with pictures from our wedding.
I had such a great time planning our wedding. I made most all of the decorations (Kerry helped me with some! Thanks Kerry) and planned almost all of it myself (no planner!) but it couldn't have happened without our family and friends.<br />
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We were so fortunate to have friends who provided important things for our day...drinks, flowers, you name it!
My amazing and pregnant sister Hannah made our cake (with my vintage cake topper!) and her amazing chef boyfriend Kyle made the food for our lunchtime wedding. We cannot thank everyone enough!!!<br />
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I wanted our wedding to feel like we were all stepping into a different time. I searched and searched for a venue that would feel authentically old fashioned. (I say "I" and not "we" because Austin wanted me to have my dream wedding and since I don't work full time like he does it was my job to plan our wedding...which makes sense since I am unable to let other people plan my things because I am picky and want things to be a VERY specific way!) I found countless venues online that tried to feel "vintage" and I just wasn't feeling them. Then one day I came across a place called Joyful Ranch in the valley behind Vacaville. Austin and I visited the property and found that it belongs to a woman named Ethel Hoskins who is the granddaughter of William James Pleasants, the man who built it in 1891. Ethel was so helpful and kind and told us that because there are no heirs to follow in her footsteps of living and taking care of the property she created a foundation meant to preserve and educate people about it for years to come. We loved this. We felt no pressure to spend thousands of dollars to have our wedding there as they do at other venues. It felt like Joyful Ranch was a hidden gem.<br />
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We had our ceremony in the almond (walnut?) orchard on the property. I
had always wanted to be married in an orchard and when we saw that she
had one I was thrilled. Ethel has so many neat places on her property
and lets you pick anything spot you want for your wedding. She really
was so great to work with!<br />
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Anne of Green Gables was my general inspiration for our special day. I wanted it to feel simple, sweet, and authentic. Austin's friend (and groomsman) Jon is a DJ so I was able to make a playlist with songs I handpicked that would help set the scene. I believe that music is SO important in creating special moments. For example, when we are driving through fields of farming we could easily turn on the radio and listen to the latest pop song on the radio but that wouldn't enhance the scenery. Instead, if we play soft bluegrass you can look out the window and let your imagination soar! You're taken to a different place.<br />
Ok where was I?<br />
Oh yes! So I put Billie Holliday, Sidney Bechet, Louis Armstrong, and other jazz musicians on my playlist and I was so happy with the mood it created. It was almost like living in my own personal dream land.<br />
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As you will see there was quite a bit of crying throughout the day. Austin and I truly grew up together (we began dating when I was 15 and he was 17, nine years ago) so it felt like our wedding was what all of those years were leading up to. Austin is not the type to show a lot of emotion so when I saw him crying as I walked toward him down the aisle I just lost it. We have been together through all of the wonderful times in our lives as well as the very sad and it just felt really great to marry my best friend who I had experienced it all with. We have a bond that is deeper than I realize sometimes!<br />
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Below are the photos of our special day. My close friend Michael Thurin was our photographer and it was really nice having him capture it all.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">I walked down the aisle to "Love Theme" from the film Picnic, one of my favorite movies.</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">After we kissed and were announced as husband and wife Ethel rang the bells from the bell tower she has behind her home. It was magical!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">My Bridesmaids</span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">The Three (Mainstreet!) Sisters</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our beautiful cake made by Hannah</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our food table before the food was actually put on it! Kyle prepared "upscale picnic" food for our guests. Think... dill red potato salad, a cucumber salad, ham and cheese for guests to make sandwiches...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Our close family friend Rosie did all of the flower arrangements. They were perfect!!</span></td></tr>
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Thank you for looking through moments of our special day!<br />
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- GreerMain Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-16755454785861492262013-05-31T17:39:00.000-07:002013-05-31T17:45:23.566-07:00My Little HouseHello!
I'm writing to you as a married woman! Austin and I got married May 18, 2013 at Joyful Ranch in the valleys of Vacaville. We had the most lovely wedding (post with pictures to come soon!) and are so excited to be married. We had been dating for nearly nine years (since my sophomore year of high school) and our wedding was a very emotional day. We waited to live together until we were married so this last week has been very new and exciting for us. We're loving it! I wake up early with him before he goes to work and for breakfast and coffee together and when he comes home from work I have a home cooked meal ready for us. These things truly make me feel good. I love baking blueberry muffins and squeezing fresh orange juice for us to enjoy together. If I have the time to make something from scratch I will try to. I do these things for him of course but its also for me. It just makes me feel really good!<br />
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Over the last year of Austin living in his, now our, home I did some decorating. I couldn't help myself! So moving in isn't a totally shock to the system. It already had my touches all over it. Since moving in I have really focused on those finishing touches that make the space feel like home.
If I could describe my decorating style I would say its...Americana mixed with whimsy. I'm inspired by farm houses...and the early 1960's. I go between listening to Billie Holliday and Sidney Bechet to Annette Funnicello and Astrud Gilberto. Sometimes I feel so inspired by all these things that I have a hard time falling asleep at night!<br />
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Our home (which is small-I'm talking under 600 sq feet!) is a work in progress. I thought that I would feel cramped in such a small space but I actually love the feeling of a small home. It feels cozy. I also love that it's down town and just a few blocks from First Street.<br />
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I'm really happy with it right now...but I will probably find something that I want to change in the near future. Too many inspirations! Because the house is so small we really have to focus on the size of our furniture and the functionality of pieces. Austin had an old couch in the "living room" that he had in college and it was big and bulky. We decided about a month ago to get rid of it and purchase two chairs. We found these wing back chairs at Ikea and footstools at Target. They are so comfortable and I love the way they create a little seating area with my vintage painted table in between.
Hi Kota!
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My amazing bosses, Tirzah and Jonathan, gave us this beautiful dining table for our wedding gift. I had mentioned to Tirzah when she brought the table into the shop a while ago that I loved it and that it was my "dream table" and she remembered and now it's ours! She's awesome. : ) </div>
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My grandma gave us the green chairs last year and I love how they look with the rustic table. Because we have to push it up against the wall (small space!!) we were trying to think of ways we could seat more guests if we ever need to. A bench seemed like the best option so we could tuck it under the table when we needed more space in the room. As I was taking a walk on first street today I noticed a white bench in the thrift store...$30! I did some measuring and boom! It was a perfect fit. When I got it back to the house I decided white was way too much of a contrast against the dark table so I chose a soft green paint and an hour or two later it was done! I love this green with the table and the other green chairs. Fun fun fun.
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That's it for the living room...I'll show more later!<br />
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- Greer Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-79772976377878555542013-05-11T20:04:00.002-07:002013-05-11T20:04:28.103-07:00Baby Birds!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On Monday, May 6, our little wren friends experienced a momentous event: the eggs hatched! Honestly, I didn't even know they had been laid yet--both male and female birds had just been going in and out of the nest, but she must have laid them a few weeks ago. Anyway, Monday night Derek and I were watching tv when we heard some very high pitched chirping. We opened our slider door to realize it was coming from the bird house! For the next few days, we couldn't actually see the babies, but we sure could hear them. Daddy bird has been constantly bringing in food. Then today, I was watching the bird activity and noticed I could finally see the babies! Here are some pics of the pops in the tree searching for food, and a couple of the babies in there chirping away. I can't tell how many there are, I could really only see two but I think there might be three or four. </span></span></div>
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Make sure to watch these videos. The first one on the left was taken on Tuesday, and note how high pitched the sounds of the babies are. Then the other video was just today, and not only can you see the babes, but you can see the gnarly food their father brought them! </div>
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<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-20357641305640225162013-04-06T13:37:00.000-07:002013-04-06T13:37:01.079-07:00Feelin' BlueToday was the kind of day that is just made for making blueberry muffins. You know what I mean?
So I did!
This recipe from Martha Stewart's baking cookbook are so good...sometimes I just make them so I can lick the batter out of the bowl.<br />
So far I don't feel sick. Yay!<br />
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<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-60058858778147428742013-04-04T15:37:00.002-07:002013-04-04T15:38:23.134-07:00Easter Stroll<div style="text-align: center;">
I hope everyone had a great Easter, and that you're all excited for April! I know we are; besides the beautiful spring weather, we've got Greer's bachelorette party (Giants game, here we come!) and her birthday as well.</div>
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Down here in Orange County, we had a lovely Easter day. We headed to Derek's grandparents for lunch with the family, followed by some jigsaw puzzling, candy and pie eating, and a nice walk through the neighboring <a href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/plants-409226-city-fairview.html" target="_blank">Fairview Park Wetlands</a>. This developing park is a series of man made ponds designed to filter polluted river run off (ironically, city founders had decided to get rid of the wetlands many years ago--now they are putting them back!). They've done a really nice job with the area to turn it into a scenic park with lots of interesting plant life, and plenty of birds are already making their homes. </div>
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--<span style="font-size: x-small;">Jessica</span></div>
<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-3377375703751200882013-03-31T11:20:00.000-07:002013-03-31T11:20:03.695-07:00Happy Easter!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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March was a good month. The weather was beautiful, the flowers bloomed early, and our birds have been busily building their home. And to top it off, we threw Greer a tea party bridal shower and found out the sex of Hannah's baby (oh yeah, she's expecting!) on her own fun filled birthday. </div>
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Here are a couple photos of Greer's bridal shower...delicious pastries and sandwiches made by Hannah!</div>
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The beautiful bride to be with her bridal party.</div>
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The "Milne Girls!"</div>
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Hannah and Kyle's bebe...IT'S A GIRL! How perfect :)</div>
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A snapshot from Hannah's birthday...after a lovely lunch in Yountville, she had her ultrasound (possibly the most amazing thing I've ever witnessed!) and then we went home for presents. </div>
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And lastly, an update on my bird friends on the balcony. Just about a month ago, the male House Wren (my best guess at species with help from Google) started building the nest. Apparently the male builds many "dummy" nests, then shows the female her options. She picks her favorite, and then they go to work making it a real home. Well, she must have liked ours best because the two of them have now been bringing in twigs and cotton for the past couple weeks (well, he brings them in while she tweets out orders)!</div>
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This is the female, I believe. Barking out her directions!</div>
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As far as I can tell, male in the house, doing the building...female down below, telling him what to do!</div>
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The queen. </div>
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Action shot. </div>
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Vintage print <a href="http://www.thecraftedsparrow.com/2013/03/50-easter-printables.html" target="_blank">here</a>.Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-33801269607747488752013-03-15T11:03:00.002-07:002013-04-04T15:38:06.613-07:00Oak Canyon Nature Center<div style="text-align: center;">
A couple weeks ago, during a lovely warm California winter day, Derek and I decided to go for a stroll through the <a href="http://www.anaheim.net/title/Community+Services/Oak+Canyon+Nature+Center/" target="_blank">Oak Canyon Nature Center</a> in Anaheim Hills. I had driven past it before, and was intrigued by all the shady oak trees which I normally associate with Northern California. </div>
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The entrance area to the park. </div>
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Upon entering there is a nature discovery type center for kiddies, and of course I had to partake. And forced Derek to do the same...</div>
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He didn't appear to mind acting like he is being birthed from an egg.</div>
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After our fun we commenced our hike/exploration.</div>
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Did I mention it was a beautiful day?</div>
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Once you emerge from the cool shade of the oak trees, you hike along the ridge of a desert-like hill...</div>
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... and then wind back down to the leafy base of the hills.</div>
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And to top things off, the park is complete with a cute little stream running through.</div>
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There was even a little amphitheater, perfect for weddings or kids performing plays. </div>
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We loved our trip to the Oak Canyon Nature Center, and will definitely be back!</div>
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--Jessica</div>
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Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-60158579969455744912013-03-01T20:25:00.000-08:002013-03-01T20:25:00.767-08:00Happy March!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I love spring, and to me, the beginning of March is the beginning of spring...I don't care if it's technically 21 (ish) days until winter is over; in Irvine it is sunny and warm and beautiful (we might be a bit spoiled here). The birds are chirping and the smell of blooming flowers fills the air. </div>
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And this year, I am even more excited than usual because a bird is nesting in our birdhouse! Peter made me a birdhouse for my birthday (hey, he sells em, too, if you like it!), and I put it out on our balcony when we moved in. The other day I noticed a little bird checking it out, and the very next day he (I assume?) was bringing in sticks! So the last couple days I've been watching him in the morning working hard at building a nest. He is so darn cute that today I had to snap some shots to share with y'all. </div>
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I am so excited about this, I think it may qualify as a smelling the roses type moment.</div>
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Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-24906411639156905172013-02-08T18:16:00.000-08:002013-02-08T20:19:30.995-08:00Aldrich Park in Winter<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple months ago I posted about<a href="http://mainstreetsisters.blogspot.com/search/label/Irvine" target="_blank"> Aldrich Park</a> in the heart of the UCI campus. Walking through the park recently, I've noticed it looks beautiful in winter as well and there is a surprising amount of color alongside the bare-branched trees.</div>
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Derek still sports the short sleeves even on a "cold" Southern California day.</div>
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Neat succulents all around the park...</div>
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Wildlife sighting (hint: look at photo on left...)!</div>
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Citrus, to boot!</div>
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This tree looks fake but it's not...just eerie! </div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">--Jessica </span></i></div>
<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-49202451037971032982013-01-31T20:06:00.003-08:002013-02-08T18:16:30.203-08:00GymnasiumJessica came up this week for our grandma's birthday (Happy Birthday Grammy!!) and today she accompanied me on my favorite Dakota walks. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping- a beautiful California winter day!<br />
We took my new favorite route up to the post office and behind the library that I have been taking for the past couple weeks but today something stood out to me. The town gymnasium that I have passed everyday (and had my birthday in long ago!) looked absolutely perfect. <br />
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Our spunky, hilarious, beautiful, young!,.... etc. etc.....grandmother last night on her birthday with her soon to be grandson-in-law, Austin! <br />
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<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-51626387463268454352013-01-27T10:39:00.000-08:002013-01-27T11:20:19.756-08:00Old Towne Yorba Linda<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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My quest for cute Orange County towns brought me most recently to Yorba Linda. The town sits east of Fullerton and north of Orange. These days Yorba Linda is recognized as one of the richest US cities, with large residential lots and a thriving horse-owning population. </div>
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However, this town has fairly humble origins, and the historic Main Street is neat but very small. </div>
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The area was originally settled by the Spanish in the late 1700s. It became an agricultural draw for future residents, with small farms and big ranch houses blossoming by the early 1900s. Soon the railroad came to town, and a small community center began. </div>
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<a href="http://www.ci.yorba-linda.ca.us/index.php/information/city-facts?id=127:history-of-yorba-linda&catid=1" target="_blank"><i>Main Street in the 1920s.</i></a> </div>
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Yorba Linda was able to maintain this small town atmosphere until 1967, when the population boom of Orange County finally reached this community. The settlement of 4,000 then incorporated and transitioned into a more modern town.</div>
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Main Street is only a couple blocks long and definitely maintains an Old Town feel (it actually reminded me of the main street in <a href="http://sonsofanarchy.wikia.com/wiki/Charming" target="_blank">Charming</a>, SOA fans...).</div>
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Unfortunately a couple of the few buildings on the street sat empty. </div>
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And a mile or two away from the downtown sits <a href="http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/" target="_blank">Nixon's birthplace</a>, now a
library/museum. I'll have to actually go in and check it out one day! </div>
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And of course a tour of one of our small towns wouldn't be complete without a shot of a cute house. This one was right off Main Street. </div>
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<i>--Jessica</i><br />
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<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-19101268593740783282013-01-16T20:30:00.001-08:002013-01-16T20:38:55.071-08:00Mr. Huffman in Park City<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Earlier this month, Derek got to travel to Park City, Utah for a neuroscience conference (he has been getting to take some <a href="http://mainstreetsisters.blogspot.com/search/label/New%20Orleans" target="_blank">fun trips</a> for work lately!). Unfortunately I didn't get to go with him this time, but he kindly snapped some nice shots to share with me, and now I shall share them with you loyal readers. Let's just say I was a bit jealous--I've been craving a snowy trip to the mountains, and Park City looks beautiful! Thankfully he skipped on the skiing so we can go together sometime soon...(fingers crossed!)</div>
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First, a quick history lesson. The area was first explored by Mormon pioneers in 1848, and in the 1860s it experienced a boom with silver mining. Despite mining disasters such as fires and explosions, this continued to be a huge draw to the area until the 1950s, when the price of silver dropped and the place nearly became a ghost town. But luckily, town officials had been developing the town as a premier ski spot, and in 1963 Treasure Mountain ski resort opened and more or less saved the town. Since then, Park City has been a top spot for skiers and vacationers from around the globe.</div>
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A monument to the town's miners on Main Street. </div>
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A nice timeline of the Park City's history can be found <a href="http://oldtownguesthouse.com/a-little-history/" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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Park City now boasts a variety of unique features:</div>
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*Home to the Sundance Film Festival (Derek missed it by just a few weeks!)</div>
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*Site of much of the 2002 Winter Olympics </div>
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*Scenes from <i>Dumb and Dumber</i> filmed here</div>
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*Original home of Mrs. Fields Cookies chain</div>
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*Current home of US ski team</div>
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*Generally larger tourist population than residents</div>
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*Named one of the 20 prettiest towns in <i>Forbes Traveler Magazine</i> (2008)</div>
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*Internationally recognized for its biking trails</div>
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Alright, now time for a stroll down Main Street!</div>
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This was Derek's favorite thing--ski slope that emptied onto a bridge over Main Street with a lift going back up...</div>
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Ski, stop and grab lunch, and back to the slopes! </div>
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<a href="http://burnscowboyshop.com/about-us/" target="_blank">Burn Cowboy Shop</a>--family owned since 1876! </div>
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I would like to eat here please.</div>
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Icicles.</div>
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Did I mention how cold it was?</div>
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<a href="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y499/mainstreetjessica/DSC00657_zpsbe98eb89.jpg" target="_blank">Davanza's Pizza</a>--Derek recommends the Philly cheese steak or the thin crust pizza! </div>
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(A trip can't be complete without some food photography...) </div>
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The local high school. </div>
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Ah, scenic! </div>
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<i>--Jessica (&Derek) </i></div>
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<i>Historic photo <a href="http://oldtownguesthouse.com/a-little-history/" target="_blank">via</a></i><br />
<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-59418725859190936862013-01-11T14:14:00.000-08:002013-01-11T14:14:07.778-08:00Ringing in the New Year with a Bit of Chirstmas...<div style="text-align: center;">
Hello friends! We are finally making our way back to the blog in this lovely new year of 2013. But before I can rid myself of the old and usher in the new, I wanted to quickly share with you all a bit about our Christmas. We had a lovely holiday, and Derek and I were lucky enough to get to spend time with both our families. Before we went up to the Bay Area for the actual day of Christmas, we strolled through Balboa Island with the Huffman clan. We were treated to a dazzling array of Christmas lights, and as we found during our <a href="http://mainstreetsisters.blogspot.com/search/label/Balboa%20Island" target="_blank">Halloween</a> experience there, these residents love to go all out with the decorations. So we grabbed ourselves some hot chocolate from Starbucks and took a nice brisk evening walk around the island. I hope you enjoy the pictures!</div>
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Alright, I'm glad we got that out of our system until next year. Next we'll focus on some snowy trips that recently took place (Park City!) and some that are hopefully yet to come (Big Bear?). Happy January!</div>
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--<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Jessica </span></div>
<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-84000906301448831602012-12-29T10:25:00.001-08:002013-01-11T13:50:51.661-08:00San Francisco TreatI tagged along with Jessica and Derek to the city yesterday.<br />
We walked around Chestnut and poked our head in shops (and bakeries) and then made our way over to Union Street and had lunch at Roam Burgers.<br />
Then we decided to take a peek at the glorious Golden Gate Bridge. What a sight!<br />
The day was finished with a drive to the beach where we sat and watched the waves. We waited to see if any surfers would try to ride a wave...and finally one did! I may have yelled "cowabunga!!!!"<br />
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<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-77714335640105683422012-12-21T15:30:00.000-08:002013-01-11T13:50:35.077-08:00Christmas on First StreetWith real pictures! From a real camera! Wooooh!<br />
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<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-83893744111559488232012-12-17T13:08:00.004-08:002012-12-17T13:08:59.706-08:00Pillow TalkI rarely find pillows in stores that I absolutely love...and if I do they always seem to be VERY expensive. The best way to have exactly what you want is to make it yourself so that's exactly what I have been doing!<br />
I found a tutorial for putting zippers in your pillow <a href="http://www.designsponge.com/2010/03/sewing-101-zippered-throw-pillows.html" target="_blank">here</a> and now I cannot contain my pillow making!!!<br />
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I found this fabric at the local Hancock Fabrics a while ago and fell in love with the way the dots are kind of blurred. I used felt for the letters because it's very easy to work with and doesn't fray like other fabrics do. This pillow is going to go in Austin's house with the two pillows below.<br />
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I have been holding onto these vintage state hankies for a few months because I knew they would be great in some sort of project.<br />
Turns out I was right!<br />
Martha Stewart once had a spread with these sorts of hankies and I always loved the way they used them on pillows.<br />
I had this creamy gingham fabric that I was going to use for another project long ago but never did...I think it works perfectly with the hankies.<br />
After searching online I found that Crate&Barrel has feather down pillow inserts at great prices ($12 for an 18x18) so I used those for these pillows. <br />
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My dad always jokingly asks me if Austin knows I'm making these things for his house and if he has any say in the matter (Austin is what you would call a man's man) but he always says he likes it so I just keep making things!!!<br />
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We spent our Saturday in Sonoma for a family friends Steve and Debbie's 30th anniversary. The pair rented a house for the weekend in the Napa Valley and had a group of family and friends stay with them. It was a very rainy yet beautiful day.<br />
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<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-87490068575090722802012-12-13T18:51:00.004-08:002012-12-14T19:16:01.062-08:00Christmas Parade<br />
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The annual Christmas parade was held last Saturday in downtown Benicia.<br />
I had been before many moons ago and remembered it being very small (so small that Austin didn't didn't even know it existed!) and decided it was exactly how we needed to spend our Saturday morning.<br />
We walked over with Dakota from Austin's house with our Starbucks in hand.<br />
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(Sorry it's a bit grainy...)</div>
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The parade consisted of:</div>
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Boy Scouts</div>
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<br />People with cute pups</div>
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The school band playing "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch" which was magical.</div>
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And a girl holding her dog like a baby</div>
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We continued our walk down to the water where Austin threw the ball for Dakota.<br />
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Cowabunga Rudolph!</div>
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<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-89478036188205235732012-12-13T16:56:00.000-08:002012-12-13T17:01:00.167-08:00Orange, California<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y499/mainstreetjessica/DSC00564.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y499/mainstreetjessica/DSC00564.jpg" width="300" /></a><a href="http://www.cityoforange.org/localhistory/plaza/images/opl123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://www.cityoforange.org/localhistory/plaza/images/opl123.JPG" width="248" /></a></div>
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Our Day in Orange</h4>
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With Christmas fast approaching I had been in need of a shopping trip, and was starting to get pretty sick of the mall. I also tend to have withdrawals from cute downtown life. When I found out Orange has an adorable historic downtown, with cute shops and antique stores, I was sold! (Do I sound like an old lady yet?) </div>
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So last Saturday I set out with Derek, his parents, and his grandmother to explore, shop, and, of course, eat in Orange. </div>
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So, fittingly, we first found ourselves at <a href="http://www.fillingstationcafe.com/" target="_blank">The Filling Station</a>. This neat old restaurant with a cute patio actually used to be a gas station. And the food is diner style, yum!</div>
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The view from our table, note the old car turning down the street!</div>
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One awesome and delicious BLT.</div>
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Cute interior too!</div>
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After our delightful lunch, we embarked on our downtown walk. </div>
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I've always thought that Benicia has a ton of antique stores--child's
play next to Orange. We must have gone in about 10 of them, and it
seemed we hardly made a dent. </div>
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This one was particularly interesting--tons of dark Baroque furniture. The store went on and on!</div>
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We also found this nifty garden store, where we bought a cute little mini bird house to stick in a potted plant. </div>
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<a href="http://www.cityoforange.org/images/plaza_pix_1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://www.cityoforange.org/images/plaza_pix_1.jpg" width="286" /></a><a href="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y499/mainstreetjessica/DSC00560.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y499/mainstreetjessica/DSC00560.jpg" width="300" /> </a></div>
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Posing at the Plaza, then and now. Orange was incorporated in 1888 (after a brief stint with the name
Richland), and was the only city in Orange County to be built up around a plaza. It was
also the first town to be served by the California Southern Railroad. </div>
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I always enjoy finding a Starbucks in an old building!</div>
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Of course I found some cute downtown houses! The Historic District was listed to the National
Register of Historic Places in 1997, and is the largest California
district on the list. It is also unique in that it contains over 1,400
structures built before 1940 (we're talking a one square mile area
here). It also contains Orange County's oldest operating bank and
soda fountain.</div>
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<a href="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y499/mainstreetjessica/DSC00576.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a>One of the best things about our day was that the town was really in the
Christmas spirit. Lots of festive lights and garlands, Chirstmas trees,
and poinsettias. In my opinion there is nothing more adorable than old buildings adorned with string lights. <a href="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y499/mainstreetjessica/DSC00576.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a> <br />
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<a href="http://www.tpccupcakery.com/index2.html" target="_blank">Cupcakery</a> was a fun little shop; too bad we were full when we went in, I'll definitely be getting a cupcake next time! </div>
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And our last stop of the night was <a href="http://www.oldtownegrinder.com/" target="_blank">Old Towne Grinder</a>, which sells the largest selection of bottled sodas I've ever seen.</div>
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All and all, we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Orange. We were there all day, and probably covered only half of the historic district, and didn't even make it to the neighboring<a href="http://www.chapman.edu/" target="_blank"> Chapman University</a>. If you are a history buff who would like to know more about this neat old town, go <a href="http://www.cityoforange.org/localhistory/default.htm" target="_blank">here</a> to see cool old photos and learn some more tidbits. Most of all, I highly recommend a visit!</div>
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--Jessica<br />
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Historic title picture, 1914, <a href="http://www.cityoforange.org/localhistory/default.htm" target="_blank">here</a>. </div>
Historic fountain picture and history tidbits from <a href="http://www.cityoforange.org/about/history.asp" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-55849393916938505552012-12-09T11:35:00.000-08:002012-12-09T11:35:38.131-08:00Our Own Little Tree<div style="text-align: center;">
Last week, Derek and I went out and got our first little Christmas tree to celebrate our first Christmas as a married couple. The tree is about 4 feet tall and super sparse from about 2/3 of the way up to the top, but it is perfect (hey, we don't have that many ornaments yet so the fewer branches the better!) in that special Charlie Brown sort of way. Here are a couple pics (from my phone, sorry for the lack of quality) of our cute lil guy!</div>
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Tada! Ok, he still needs a few more lights (dang dollar store lights are only like a foot long...)...but he's lookin good. Oh and after a few days of being "topless," I decided to simply tie a little red paper ribbon on top--cute, simple and economical. </div>
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Merry Christmas! </div>
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--Jessica</div>
Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-14954551452548884412012-12-06T19:55:00.002-08:002012-12-13T11:25:33.305-08:00A December Day<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH44bt7hZg7p4MYRJiDUXM5cypKR681QfqD_RCoJf7DKdu1r0cS97yEHJBNFp2LDnn1L-GhyCECwQ8teAieETfnBJGCIRZDf1ST4r_m8fW0teyxrD3WvHmOT29wJh3TsthJQFIy39kD6Py/s1600/kota.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>My favorite (only) form of exercise is taking Austin's dog Dakota on walks.<br />
Unlike my family's dogs he will walk right next to you and not even flinch when other dogs walk<br />
past. <br />
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The two of us on a walk</div>
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We always walk from Austin's house a few blocks away from First Street to the bottom of First and back to Austin's. I love the fresh air and the up close view of old houses along the streets and shops down first street. </div>
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We always pass the old Benicia State Capital and today I thought it looked mighty beautiful!</div>
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When I got home from our walk I was in need of some relaxation so I made myself a cup of hot chocolate and worked on some crafts...<br />
It was a good cup of hot cocoa. <br />
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Oh! And here is the wreath I wrote about in the last post that I made from the left over cuttings at the tree lot.<br />
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I feel a connection to it because it resembles my hair when I wake up in the morning. <br />
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Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-2306849418410575862012-12-04T12:01:00.001-08:002012-12-04T12:01:07.496-08:00Christmas Decorating <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I love decorating for holidays.<br />
When Autumn rolls around I usually think that Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love everything about it...spookiness! pumpkins! costumes! pumpkin spice lattes!<br />
But then it passes and Thanksgiving comes and goes (and I eat too much) and boom! it's Christmas! And I start decorating and the Rat Pack Christmas CD starts playing and I think, hmmm maybe Christmas is my favorite.<br />
It troubles me.<br />
It troubles me until I realize that you can have more than one favorite holiday and then I feel good!<br />
Whew!<br />
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Before this year I have always had just my house to decorate for Christmas. We have tons of decorations in the attic so there was no real need to make or buy anything else. But this year Austin lives in his own little cottage down town and it is my responsibility as his fiance to decorate that cottage until it can't be decorated no mo. A few years I started my own little collection of decorations to use when Austin and I are married but because we are not yet (and we don't live together!) we haven't. And though it may have been tempting to break out those boxes and start decorating I had to stop myself because I know it will be much more special to do that once we are married. So what was I supposed to do on this in between year? I had to start getting crafty and decorate his cottage on a mini budget.<br />
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Funny thing is, those crafts usually end up being the most special decorations you have!<br />
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I wanted to post some of those inexpensive crafts and purchases here for anyone who was looking for any ideas for decorating during the holidays.<br />
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The Newlywed Huffmans and the couple that is Hannah&Kyle are also on a budget so we decided to get together to and decorate our own ornaments from the simple brown paper mache ornaments sold at Michaels for less than a dollar. <br />
Hannah got the apple cider started on the stove and we got to crafting.<br />
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Here are our finished ornaments:<br />
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Mine and Austin's </div>
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Hannah's</div>
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Jessica and Derek's</div>
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On one of my many trips to Michaels around the holidays I saw that the simple holly berry garlands were half off (and only $6.99 to begin with!). I grabbed two of those and wrapped them around Austin's front door with a burlap bow on top. I think it is so simple and sweet looking. </div>
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Next I started thinking of how I would wrap my presents this year. I always like to do the brown kraft paper ($1 rolls at the dollar store!) with some sort of topper tied to the ribbon but this year I had a new idea. Why not paint the paper with a little holiday cheer? I love the way these turned out...<br />
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When Austin told me that he wanted to get his own tree this year I started thinking of ways to decorate it without buying a ton of ornaments.<br />
I had an old book I bought from a thrift store earlier this year for less than a dollar and a handy dandy paper cutter so I tore out the pages and cut them into strips to make a paper garland. The book is older (but I paper back so I don't feel TOO guilty cutting it up hehe) so the pages have a nice brownish look to them which ended up looking so pretty when made into a garland. Kerry and I worked on these garlands for a few hours one day and ended up with yards of it!<br />
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Hannah and Kyle went to a tree lot called Grandma Buddy's Christmas Trees up in Sebastopol last week and told us how magical it is so Austin and I knew we had to take the drive up there to check it out and get his tree. It was just as amazing as she described it! There is an old victorian home and barn on the property which has actually been used for Pottery Barn catalogs and a nice lot of trees that you cut down yourself.<br />
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We walked around the whole lot looking for the perfect tree and finally towards the end of our search we found it! I was drawn to it's Charlie Brown qualities, a little sparse but full of love!<br />
I grabbed the cuttings for a future project and we were on our way!<br />
We stopped at Target on our way home where I bought $3 gold tinsel to be used on the tree.<br />
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Last night we decorated that cute lil tree and I am sooo pleased with the results!<br />
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I love the way the tinsel and paper garlands look together. If you don't have a ton of ornaments I also found that tying little pieces of red ribbon on the ends of branches added a nice touch.<br />
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I'll post later about the wreaths and swag I made with the tree cuttings. Austin likes that I made "swag" for his house. He thinks he has "swag."<br />
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And hey! It's only December 4th so I'm sure I will have more crafts in my future...<br />
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<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-654697601973520222012-11-28T22:31:00.000-08:002012-12-13T11:26:26.356-08:00Aldrich Park in Autumn<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y499/mainstreetjessica/DSC00521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="137" src="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y499/mainstreetjessica/DSC00521.jpg" width="640" /> </a>Thanksgiving may be over, Halloween may be long gone, but the fact remains that there are still a couple of days in November and a couple of weeks left in fall. So before we bring in the Christmas carols and the wintery sparkles and snow (well, perhaps not so much of the latter), I thought I would post one last ode to yellow and orange leaves and sunny skies with crisp cool air.</div>
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<a href="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y499/mainstreetjessica/DSC00521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a> <a href="http://irvine.wikispot.org/Aldrich_Park" target="_blank">Aldrich Park</a> lies at the heart of the UC Irvine campus, and I love taking morning strolls through it or sitting and reading a book beneath one of its shady trees. Sometimes when I'm feeling super ambitious I bring a little picnic lunch and meet the husband here on his break to eat on a blanket in the grass. Named after the school's first chancellor, the park spans 19 acres and is positioned as the "bulls-eye" of the campus, with the school's classrooms and dorms forming rings around it. </div>
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I took a few shots of the park on one of these recent said walks; hopefully the photos convey the beauty and tranquility nestled in the middle of this bustling university. </div>
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--Jessica </div>
<br />Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-819564453229940030.post-37906084072254493092012-11-07T17:47:00.001-08:002012-11-07T17:49:44.855-08:00For the Love of Coffee<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A couple weeks ago, I had such a pumpkin craving I just had to go to the store and pick up some canned pumpkin and a bag of chocolate chips in order to make some pumpkin cookies, stat. Of course, for me this usually means the cookies will become my daily breakfast, and I was delighted to find how well they paired with coffee--especially when that coffee contained some pumpkin spice syrup (too much? I think not). </div>
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Once these luscious cookies dwindled away into nothing, I was nearly beside myself--but strangely, not because it was the pumpkin that was gone. It was because I loved that baked treat with my morning coffee. So I set out to find a new accompaniment, and was delighted to find a recipe I could make without even having to travel to the grocery store!</div>
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Introducing...</div>
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Coffee Cake Muffins!!!!</div>
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I used my Williams-Sonoma <a href="http://i1277.photobucket.com/albums/y499/mainstreetjessica/photo24.jpg" target="_blank">cookbook</a> (thanks to the Rivers family), but you can find a similar one <a href="http://www.marthastewart.com/337037/coffee-cake-muffins" target="_blank">here</a>--my recipe just used apricot jam in the middle rather than streusel filling, though either would be fabulous!</div>
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Yum!! Definitely superior when freshly baked...but also scrumptious when reheated briefly! And of course, best with a cup o' joe. </div>
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--Jessica</div>
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Main Streethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01872632646900539304noreply@blogger.com1