A Day at the Beach

Weeks ago, we spent a lovely foggy (yet warmish) December afternoon out at the beach with family to celebrate our Nephew Ryland’s 15th birthday. With all the holiday business though, it’s taken me forever to get around to posting these pics.

As far as outfits go, it doesn‘t get much simpler than this. The jeans were an old GAP purchase that have been with me for years. Paired with my trusty black floppy hat from Milla and this newly thrifted little knit top, I was feelin’ all Jane Birkin goes to the beach. I also really love wearing the wonderful carved feather necklace from Nicole (a Flaming Hag Folkwear original!) with this top.

While the above pics may have a bit of a moody/dramatic vibe, rest assured, it’s all smoke and mirrors (or rather fog and sand), our day was totally light-hearted, care-free, and much fun!

The birthday boy and his cousin Jonathan during some skim boarding action.

Hmm, I guess this makes me the crazy aunt who drinks beer and takes pictures of herself. Ah well... but look how pretty the necklace is!

There was digging.

Seriously, this family does not mess around when it comes to digging.

There was weenie roasting followed up by s'mores. Poor Lucas... it wasn't until we got home and quite by accident that he realized the handle on this multi-dog roasting contraption was retractable all along and extended to twice the size! He kept burning his fingers trying to cook these things.




Luckily, he was able to redeem himself by dominating during a heated game of sand soccer. I realized early on that my skills were better put to use documenting the game rather than actually playing.

That's my brother-in-law Sam (father of the birthday boy) waving at the camera. As we were cleaning up to leave he announced: "I can't wait to read Missa's blog and find out how our day went." Haha, every family needs a smartass. We're lucky enough to have two, Lucas being Sam's smartass partner in crime.

So there you have it Sam. I'd say we had a pretty good day. Sorry you had to wait so long to find out ;)

Well, I suppose this is Thrift Candy signing off for 2010. We'll be welcoming 2011 tonight with friends at Joey's annual New Year's Eve Bash. Fun, fun, fun! The best part is that it's right around the corner, so no driving required, woohoo.

Happy New Year, my friends! Here's to a safe and joyous one :)

A Mary Little Christmas

Clover and I went over to my mom’s on Wednesday for an early Christmas celebration with her and my sisters and the cousins. Here I am by the tree with little Miss Mary Christmas herself.


Mom in the kitchen with my sister Val. For lunch, she cooked up a delicious veggie lasagna with garlic bread and I whipped up my signature salad, super simple and always a crowd pleaser, I'll have to tell you about it sometime.



My mom and her husband love hunting down treasures at flea markets and antique stores and have a home full of wonderful finds. I loved the fun contrast of festive touches and funny little Christmasy critters against their Native American/Mexican/Southwest/folk art inspired decor.

They've got an amazing collection of blankets and rugs too. That was their sweet cat Buddy sprawled out on one of them. Poor thing was limping around all day with an injured paw :(

Kitchen coziness.

Wednesday afternoon was the only time that worked out for all us girls to get together. Unfortunately for our men folk, they had to work, making it just the girls this year, which was actually kind of fun.

Speaking of the girls, I've already introduced my Mom and Val. I'm the oldest of four and Val (closest to me in age) is two years younger. That's my youngest sister Julia (by 10 years) in the gray cardigan on the couch and my niece Sadie (Val's oldest daughter) sitting on the floor in the back.


Mary amidst the flurry of present opening. We just did presents for the kids this year and they had the living room floor covered in paper in a matter of moments. So fun to watch.

That's my sister Shayna (8 years younger) with her son Austin on her lap. He's the youngest of Clover's cousins and we had been convinced that our family could only produce girls, until he came along!


My mom got little fairy dresses and wings for Clover and her cousins Alana and Riley (Val's two youngest). Of course, they were prancing around in them over their clothes pretty much instantly.


Just a couple more cute pics. Here we have Austin entertaining us on the xylophone and Alana and Fairy Mary having a secretive huddle over some stickers.

Christmas day was spent with Lucas' family, and the festivities went very much like last year's. Overall, we've had a fun holiday filled with food, friends, and family... the very best kind, I suppose. Now it's the day after Christmas and we're spending a quiet day at home, recovering from all the excitement.

Hope you and your loved ones enjoyed a wonderful holiday too!

Peace and Love,
Missa

There's Something About Mary

We've been watching the movie The Secret Garden lately. The 1993 version, borrowed from the children's section at our public library. I'd be lying if I said I didn't see this coming...

Oh yes, Mary Lennox is indeed the new Gretel :)

[Movie stills link to flickr sources]

The Artist's Studio

A couple of weeks ago, we took a fun little trip down to San Rafael to visit Helen at her studio. After reading my post about her recent gallery show, she extended an invitation for us to come down and choose one of her pieces to have come and live in our home for awhile!

Rather than have them stored away, she likes to loan pieces out to friends and family so they can be actively enjoyed. I can tell you right now that we have been very actively enjoying the one we chose! More about that though, after I show you some photos I snapped of her dreamy studio…



Bones, bird nests, sticks and stones, creature-like cacti in terra cotta pots, ceramics, woven baskets, books upon books, objects of inspiration at every turn… not to mention all the art supplies and magical paintings in various stages of completion.



Artist’s studio meets natural history museum meets Southwest Trading Post, a curiosity cabinet of creativity… I could have moved in.



An old trunk filled with years and years of notebooks all bursting at the seams with ideas and annotated sketches. Just leafing through a few brought up tales of travel and adventure. Helen is a really great story teller, by the way, with many a great story to tell…

As I'm checking out this gorgeous photograph hanging above the old trunk, she starts to tell me about it. Turns out it was taken in the late sixties by her old roommate, Annie Leibovitz! The cute girl with the pixie-cut on the left is Helen at age nineteen! Helen and Annie were roomates for a couple of years when they both studied at the San Francisco Art Institute.

This was back when Annie (who later became known for such iconic images as this and this) was first getting into photography. They had just come from the very first Bay Area Renaissance Festival, which was coincidentally held at China Camp State Park where we went with Helen following her gallery show. The photo was taken at the Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. You can get a better look here.


Lucas and Clover channeling some of the studio space's palpable creative energy. Helen’s idea to bring out the paints was successful at keeping Clover occupied as I wandered around examining each and every available painting and deliberating over the tough decision at hand.

Lucas gave me final say on the matter and I’ll admit, I’m not the quickest of decision makers, especially when there are so many wonderful choices!

As tough as the decision was though, I’m sure those of you who remember my post about Helen’s gallery show won’t be too surprised to see who is now mischievously peeking out from behind our Christmas tree…

So awesome! We are utterly stoked to be able to enjoy such a unique piece of art in our very own living room for the next year or so… many big thanks to Helen for her generosity and hospitality. She’s currently on a much anticipated trip to Egypt… filling up more of those notebooks no doubt!