Snowin' and Growin'

We stayed in a little cabin along the south shore of Lake Tahoe with some of Lucas’ family last week. There was a leisurely drive around the lake with my sister-in-law Zoe, stopping at every thrift store my eagle eye spotted along the way (our favorite was Pass It On Thrift in Tahoe City where I made my one and only find, a gift-to-be, which I unfortunately can‘t tell you about).

We stopped at Sand Harbor where I took a peaceful walk along a beautiful little boardwalk trail loop, winding along the lake through trees and amazing snow covered boulders before ending with a view of the picturesque cove in the first photo.


We experienced the spectacular view of Emerald Bay on a clear sunny day. Clover experienced snow for the first time.

Made friends with the most perfect snowman I’ve ever seen. This jolly fella was just steps from the front door of our cabin. Built by previous inhabitants, presumably professional snowman builders.

Our cozy cabin’s big window looked right out at Mr. Happy Snowman with the lake and snowy mountains as his backdrop. It was an incredible view changing drastically from hour to hour and day to day as the light and weather shifted.


Speaking of weather we experienced it all, from fog to sun to snow to rain. On the day that it rained, the sun would peak out from the clouds leaving a gorgeous full rainbow going across the lake. There was even one evening when, as the sun was descending, the mountains off in the distance actually glowed PINK against the darkening sky.

We were also lucky to be in awesome company (love my in-laws), with whom we ate really wonderful meals and played several hilarious and spirited games of Apples to Apples when we weren’t group crossword puzzle solving on Sam’s Nook, ah, the wonders of modern technology.

Ok, so now that I‘ve shown you the pretty pictures and emphasized the positives, I’m gonna level with y’all… this trip was not all rainbows and stunning views… let’s just say three-year-olds can be really tough to deal with, yes, even cute little snow bunnies who like to dress up as adorable characters non-stop.

Clover’s been going through a very clingy phase with me lately, rejecting anyone and everyone (including papa, poor guy) who tries to help out. Grumpy, demanding, super sensitive. It’s true what they say about the “terrible twos” being a myth, it’s the “terrible threes” that are no joke.

Of course it didn’t help that she was sick for part of the trip either. Yeah, so, it ended up being a rough week in which I was surrounded by a winter wonderland that I couldn’t really enjoy, save for the that drive around the lake that Clover slept during most of. Not much relaxation to be had for this mama.

I spent the weekend trying to get back into a normal routine with her, recovering from our “vacation” and she’s actually mellowed out quite a bit since we’ve been home. I think she's going through one of her developmental growth spurts where she gets overwhelmed and it takes her a little while to get used to her newly expanded way of seeing and experiencing the world. That's my take on it anyway.

The day after we got home she was off to the hardware store with her papa dressed like a ballerina mouse... and somehow all the exhaustion and frustration seemed pretty worthwhile ;)

P.S. If you're interested, outfit details and a larger view of me and my pal the snowman can be found here.

Happy New Year!

And that, in a nutshell my friends, was our New Year's Eve :)

The first 3 and last 3 photos were taken with my new canon eos rebel xs (surprise xmas present from Lucas!) Still getting used to all that camera though. All the party pics in between were taken by our friend Julianne who did an amazing job documenting all the fun.

Thanks Julianne for capturing my first ever Karaoke performance! Aura and I, who are sort of known in our group of friends for being the shy quiet ones, rocked out to Joan Jett's "I Love Rock and Roll". I let Aura choose our song and didn't know what we would be singing until we got up there. She chose wisely and I think our audience was pleasantly surprised.

Also, just to clarify, the theme of dress was supposed to be monochromatic. Red was by far the most popular color. I struggled with this theme a bit, monochromatic does not fall easily from my closet!

I ended up cheating a little with my not completely green outfit (green silk dress with lace trim, matching bead necklace and green suede boots, all found a few days prior at Simply Chic, a local consignment shop).

Hope your 2011 is off to a good start!

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 :)