Our friends Julianne and Luis, who spent last weekend at a house along the Russian River for Luis’ birthday, invited us and a few other friends over on Saturday afternoon to hang out in this lovely and peaceful spot.
The above photo is looking out at the river from one of the house’s two raised back porches. The lighting and the fact that everything is green including the river itself makes it a bit hard to see the river in the photo but it’s there if you look closely. There was a trail from the house down to a tiny private beach where we chilled out with some beers and watched Clover being very stoked about playing in the water.
Our friends Ben and Julia (you may recall them from the Joan Jett concert the night before) and Mike and Lisa arrived after finishing a 10-mile canoe trip down the River. While the trip was supposed to be pretty leisurely, no scary rapids or anything, Ben and Julia somehow managed to flip their canoe, not once, but twice, along the way! Hence, the contents of Ben’s wallet all laid out to dry and even though there was debate between them as to who was at fault for said flippings, there were clearly no hard feelings in the end, aw :)
Did you spot Lucas and Clover lounging on the hammock?
I caught Clover doing a little interpretive(?) dance as Luis strummed his guitar a bit out on the porch.
Moving over to the other porch, we enjoyed an awesome BBQ dinner accompanied by a bunch of yummy salads and more refreshing beer. Luis hails from the town of Santa Maria, nicknamed the BBQ Capitol of California, where they boast their own original style of BBQ. Needless to say, when he BBQ's it's always super good. Did you notice I even managed to include myself in the group shot, can you spot me?
I wore the same outfit on Sunday, another gorgeous day spent mostly lazing around the homestead, no need for shoes! I added some tiny flowers from the yard to my hair by twisting two pieces in front and pinning them back then just sticking the little stems into my twisted hair. Voila, faux daisy chain! I love that I caught the look on Clover’s face after biting into one of the totally unripe plums that I kept telling her to stop eating.
By the way, that little vintage dress she’s wearing is red velvet, she calls it her “Christmas dress,” and I tried to talk her into wearing something a little more hot-as-heck weather appropriate but on this one she just wasn‘t budging, sometimes you’ve got to choose your battles with these stubborn wee ones ;)
Here’s a close-up of the little floral skirt, which I found last week on half-off day at the Salvation Army ($1.50). It turned out to be my lucky day in the florals department too. I also found a super cute dress that I can’t show you because it’s going into Milla’s next package of goodies and then as I was flipping through the crowded dress rack, I may have actually gasped when I came across this beauty… 
Mixed blue florals, ribbon and lace trim… oh my! Looking closely, you can tell that it was handmade, and beautifully so, no tags, I’m guessing from a Gunne Sax pattern as this dress has Gunne written all over it. Only $3.50 too, I love half-off day!
I also found two sweet little dresses for Clover ($1.50 each). She totally fell in love with the crochet one, as did I, and the corduroy jumper with tiny ruffles and flowers is super adorable too.
Ok, now back to the best dress I’ve come across in a long while... a view of the tie in back and a detail shot of the bodice, I love the delicate lace trim along the neckline and the tiny white rose-shaped buttons attached to the ribbon. This dress was obviously made with much care and love and it’s still in really great shape. Alright, I’ll stop gushing...
Wishing you all a joyful weekend!
