an Afternoon in Tucson

I say this often, but I think it's worth repeating. Sometimes, stepping away from the computer, disengaging from things that take up our time and refocusing that extra time into more meaningful experiences can be renewing. Like a breathe of fresh air. Speaking of which, it's Spring here and with a very rainy Winter it created a very green Spring. A few weeks back a friend on Facebook posted this quote about the desert:

         "In order to find the desert beautiful, you have to have very small eyes."

That is a perfect way to describe life spent here in the desert where our terrain is sometimes hard to see past. I wish someone had pointed that out when I first moved to the Valley, it may have made the transition a tad smoother. :) Now though, I suppose because I passed the 10yr. mark and there appears to be no immediate plans to move out-of-state, I try to take in little details. The cactus buds getting ready to bloom, the tiny hummingbird nest near our front gate, even the way the air smells  in the evening while the golf course is being watered. I think when you stop to appreciate all the small things, much like stopping to smell the flowers, it makes time slow down a bit. 

In honor of Spring, I wanted to take the kids out exploring and we decided to take a day trip down to Tucson to visit the Sonoran Desert Museum. Basically a zoo of native Arizona animals/reptiles, mixed with a Botanical desert garden. It's nestled into the rocky hillsides just outside of Tucson which created a perfect backdrop for photos and we were there in time to see the wild flowers still in bloom! The kids and I thought it was great, a little warm in the mid-afternoon (bring a hat & water and arrive early) - there was lots of walking and even more to see and discover! 

The kids gave the museum 4 thumbs up - Chase liked the animals and Alaina really enjoyed the walk through bird aviary and the hummingbird garden. Definitely worth putting on your list of things to-do when visiting Southern AZ!

Oh! and I even had some time to scrapbook over the Spring Break ~ in case you thought I had given up on scrapbooking :) I did a little guest designing for Little Black Dress kit club. I can post all of the photos later this week, it was a fun color palette to work with!

CHA & Elles Studio

Oh yes, sometimes I scrapbook too! Last month a brown box made it's way from Washington to my front door. Filled with the latest collections from Elles Studio, I had the job of creating a few projects for their booth at CHA this weekend. If you've always loved Elle's tag and journal spots, she's now designed collections of double sided papers in trendy colors and patterns (seems pink and teal is the going trend this season) I got to play with the Serendipity collection!

 
They also have lot's of giveaways going on right now on the Elles Studio blog, don't miss out and you check out the rest of the collections at CHA too! 

I felt like this post should have a song that goes along with it too, so here it is. One that I've been listening to alot lately while packing up all of our Christmas crap  stuff. I don't remember purchasing anything new this year and yet I find myself needing a couple of extra storage containers to make everything fit..... story of my life - much to the dismay of my husband. :)  



Sweet dreams and Happy (almost) Monday to you! ~  Tara

   

 
 

citron faire - update

I wish I could say that our winter break was nothing short of amazing but..... that would only describe the first part of our vacation - the second part, not so much. Christmas was wonderful, the kids and I spent afternoons making cookies, being crafty, evenings spent driving around looking at Christmas lights, it really was a spectacular holiday this year! The week after Christmas though we had some bad luck with various viruses settling into our home. It seemed every time we went out, we brought back a new illness which after 2 weeks of the kids and I being sick it was almost comical - like a bad episode of Punked. You name it, and the kids and I have probably had it. After more rounds of antibiotics that can be counted on one hand, and enough chicken noodle soup to feed a small army, I think the kids and I are slowly on the mend these days!

So, with all of the time I had spent indoors, I put my creative hat on and came up with a small collection of Valentines inspired products for the shop. I love this holiday - any excuse to create using excessive amounts of pinks and reds!

I plan on updating the shop tomorrow morning! I also created a mini scrapbook kit too called Paper Hearts, it's not an overly themed mini and kind of perfect for everyday photos (I'm going to  fill mine with photos of the kids). I'm hoping I can get a chance to work on it a bit more today. (I have Chase home sick with me today, maybe during naptime I can stow away to my craft room - fingers crossed!) 

Happy creative - productive Wednesday to you! ~ Tara

Snow Day

Back in October I had this brilliant idea - I was going to organize a trip up to the high country, to see the snow, ride the Polar Express, visit with Santa, walk through a Reindeer park and, most importantly, to go sledding. Yep, I was going to plan all this plus I was going to keep it a complete surprise from the kids! Well, Chase figured out that we were going to the mountains earlier this week and I asked him to keep it a secret (which he did, the little sweetheart)  but Alaina had no idea what I had planned and just how many people were in on it until we were on the highway and nearing Flagstaff. 

On Wednesday morning, Alaina and I went into school together and on the way into her class she was kind of whining about all of the fun things that Chase's preschool always had planned. (I even heard a few 'it's not fair!') I worked for a few hours at school, told her not to worry that I'd think of something fun to do and I'd be back for lunch. Little did she know, I had already packed a suitcase, all of our snow stuff, a basket of snacks for the kids, printed off directions and hotel info and had thrown it all into the back of the truck. (Have I mentioned how much I love that Alaina is completely oblivious to everything around her, I think she actually had to step over the suitcase that morning to get into my closet and she never thought twice about it. -  It sure makes surprising her really easy!) After running a few last minute errands, Peter, Chase and I went back to her school to pick her up and head up North. I walked into her class, told her to grab her backpack and that I had thought of something fun to do after all! 

 She screamed when she realized we were going up to the snow, "I've never seen snow in my real-life!"  Jumped up and down when she saw that we were going to ride on the Polar Express Train, told Santa that all she wanted for Christmas was a sleigh bell from one of his reindeer's (which Santa gave her on the train ride). She fed lots of deer and even a camel named Gracie! Chase meanwhile was awestruck and his usual quiet self, except when it came to sledding - I've never seen him smile so big or scream so much!

Best "last-minute" mini vacation ever. Enjoy the photos, xo ~ Tara