Long Beach Livin'

Life this week via Iphone photos:

1. The apartments in Long Beach have such unique details that I just love

2. The semmetry of this house is perfect, so are the tiles down the middle

3. My gold card for Starbucks finally came in the mail! Amazing benefits

4. The weather has been so beautiful, perfect for all the walking I've been doing

5. These amazing vintage chairs were 4 for $20! I passed but I still love them

6. Chocolate milk shadows. I've been drinking a lot of it lately

Drey $ Nicole

Long Beach Livin'

My life this week via Iphone photos:

1. A cute little puppy bunny named Tx Bentley!

2. I organized my fall time clothes and it feels so refreshing.

3. Sleeping in and waking up next to this guy on his days off are the very best days.

4. Rainy day thrifty shopping with the cutest.

5. Apple pie a la mode pudding. It's a real thing.

6. Tx Bentley jumped in my arms like scooby doo when a big dog barked.

7. We love Maury here at our house. Even the pups!

8. I still can't believe I get to marry this handsome face just next month. EEk!

9. Post office run with Tx Bentley to send off some of our etsy goods.

10. A cute double date night with our sweet friends.

11. A day after getting nuetured, LB Bentley was back to his puppy self.

12. Downtown Long Beach sometimes reminds me of London, but with palm trees.

13. Tx Bentley snug as a bug in a rug with mama.

14. Wearing this dress with 'November Skies' playing in my ears makes me feel fairy-like.

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Username: dreynicole

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Surprise Visit Day 3: Dinner and Movies on the Beach

After a long day of soakin' in the ocean and the suns warm rays,

we polished up with a shower and hit a local favorite called Berth 55!

It's the freshest seafood in town and it's a true hidden gem!

(Took us a couple re-routes on the maps AND a pull into a gas

station for some help to find it!) It's so good that it's quite the

controversy around town right now! Someone with the city is trying

to out buy the owner of 40 years because the spot is ideal for 

his potential docking plans. This has the town in a fit, posting

pleads rants and raves in their reviews online, and even going so

far as to start a petition to keep the place in business. (Which

we signed after dinner.) 

After stuffing our guts with loads of halibut, calamari and snapper,

we topped the night off with the weekly showing of Movies on the Beach.

Trinity was extra excited over seeing Titanic, having only seen half of it.

She even out did mister and stayed awake until the very end!

I feel a new tradition coming on.

Drey $ Nicole

Too Cute Tuesday: Dog Park

We took a trip to the dog park again today by bike, dogs in tow, and they absolutely love riding in our baskets. They just curl up in the blankets we stuff in there for padding, relax, and let the 30mph wind blow through their hair and flop their ears around, eyes half open and enjoying the warmth of the sun on their backs while we do all the hard peddling up and down these California hills. The life of a spoiled rotten pup. No but I love these trips. Bike riding is so much more fun with a little one in tow, and I feel like I have to be more careful and gentle on the bumps; My maternal instincts come out and I get super protective and pay more attention to my surroundings. Plus the dog park is only a 25 minute bike ride away and not only is it good exercise, it's a chance for me to enjoy the scenery a little more than I would be able to had I been driving a car, cause God knows I've almost slammed into many cars with my wandering eyes in this town. Less about the bike ride there, more about the actual dog park. Here is our trip in pictures:

Mister and TX Bentley have had such the cutest little bond lately. I'm in love with that picture of them together nose to nose! As always he kept running and jumping up in our laps instead of mingling with the other pups like LB Bent. That's okay with us though, we love cuddles and we know he still appreciates getting to go out and enjoy the sun and some fresh air!

Drey $ Nicole

La-La-La-La-Lola

Mister and I tried out a local favorite for lunch today. It's a bright colored Mexican Diner called Lola's, mixed amoungst the wonderful vintage shops of Retro Row. We've passed it loads of times and the look of the place has always caught my eye, so I was super excited to see the inside! Turns out, it's the cutest sugar skull, tattoo themed, catholic decor havin' diner, with bright hair colored waitresses that have the most fun personalities! It became an instant favorite for us and we'll probably end up going weekly.

Even the bathroom is adorable!

Drey $ Nicole

Top Ten Beach Must Haves

Today I'm going to share with you my top ten absolute beachy bare necessities. When I forget even one of the following, my beach trip usually ends up getting cut a bit short, and I can't quite get settled into my sandy little setup. I hope you can use my musts as a checklist to make your next beach trip a complete success!

Sure you put on sunscreen, but a lot of people forget about their lips! After getting the worst blistery lip sunburn of my life, I never skip on the chapstick. Blistex spf is my favorite!

Of course you don't go in the sun without your favorite pair of sunnies!

Reading in the sun is soo relaxing! I always take some sort of reading material whether it be a magazine, novel, or most recently this crafty book!

Sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen! I love this brand because it's infused Aloe moisturizes your skin while preventing burn.

I always put a little dark tanning oil over my sunscreen for a bronzy glow. Never apply without sunscreen underneath, you'll super bake!

Ear buds for my pandora app. Music makes it 100 times better.

Jumping waves builds up a real appetite fast! Even if I have something before I leave, I can always count on needing a snack after some time in the water. I usually take a good ol' PB&J. (When my littles don't get to it first!)

When I'm riding solo I roll up one of our beach towels, otherwise we take a big mexican blanket to share. Forgetting a towel and laying on your clothes is the worst when you put them back on and their damp!

A small lunchbox or purse makes for the perfect head rest while your laying out. I also use it to house my phone or ipod to keep the sand from blowing into my screen. 

Most importantly, lots and lots of water. The salt water, sun, and hot sand will have you parched in minutes and you'll be miserable without something to drink. It is so important to stay hydrated when you're out in the sun sweating all your bodies water away. I always grab the biggest bottle I can find when heading out.

Hope you're having fun in the sun!

Drey $ Nicole

Friday Finds: My favorite local Shop

Mister and I had the day off together today, and we decided early on that we were just going to go with the flow. We went a few blocks down to fourth street, where there's a strip several blocks long of top notch vintage shops that they call "retro row." There's one shop on this strip that takes the cake for me. It's a place I could spend hours exploring, a place that I could go to turn a frown upside down, a place that I would love to one day create in my own space, to call my own shop. They always have the best of the best and nothing less. It's a bit pricey, but I couldn't put a price on the feelings I get being surrounded floor to ceiling in these treasures! Here are some of the pieces I was swooning over today:

Drey $ Nicole

Long Beach Livin'

My life this week via iphone photos:

1. I woke up with a dog in my space and a hand in my face.

2. The yummiest basil chicken curry pizza I've ever tasted.

3. Orange & Spice tea is my all time favorite.

4. Things I love on one of our infamous "after dinner walks."

5. LB Bent has been real clingy toward me this week. (Shabby Apple surfin')

6. Top three favorite breakfast foods: Biscuits & gravy, eggs & sausage.

7. A breezy sea salt chill in the early morning, downtown LB.

8. This is what my heaven will look like. Donuts infinity.

9. A pirate festival on the beach with mohawk wearin' kind of people.

10. Feistin' with friends at our favorite beachside brewery.

11. I made dinner which is rare, being the mrs. of a chef boy.

12. We have our own personal lol dog in real life, all day long.

13. Again with the clingy all over me this week. Again with the lol dog.

14. Our weekly mornings off date, at our favorite LB breakfast spot.

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User Name: DreyNicole

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