Mint Battle and other outdoor musings

The weather in Dallas is perfect right now. B and I have had many a outdoor meals this week. Our (and by our, I mean Ben's) garden is growing like mad, producing all sorts of edible goodies. The back planter is reserved for my Mint Battle. Above is a photo... stay tuned for the YouTube update this weekend.
Here are a few other shots of our outdoor buddies:

Mod Monday-ModFire

My friend Gregg gave me some literature on the Modfire that he and his partner Eric picked up at Modernism week in Palm Springs. He knew it would be right up my alley and he was right! That thing is pretty awesome. There are a few different sizes but I would LOVE to have the bonfire version (the largest). I think it would fit in Perfect with our Cliff May backyard. Don't you agree?!
Is there a way I can put this on our wedding registry? Otherwise I am savin' up for this baby. So cool.

If you need a Holiday...

Once upon a time, 2 girls graduated college with no jobs and the whole world in front of them. What better way to start their new life then a road trip across the United States? With the Honda packed and newly acquired stick-shift driving skills (for one of them), they set off from NC to CA and a lotta places in between.
I could continue to tell you the entire story, but you would need some time and a few cocktails.
The two girls were myself and my bestie/college roommate/ partner in crime Amanda. I learned a lot, had a lot of fun and started my overall journey to Texas (that's another story) on that trip.
What does this all have to do with the photo above you ask? Well, we took A LOT of photos on that trip, but the Holiday Motel photo above was my favorite. Amanda was driving us out of Las Vegas and I snapped this one out the window. I have always wanted to blow it up big, and since I snagged a deal on Daily Candy recently I was able to.
What better place to put it than our guest room? So that's where it now lives. Anytime I need a holiday or a trip down memory lane, I can go gaze. Won't you come join me?



On another note, I picked up that rocking giant S at Junkadoodle last weekend. Pretty sure it's gonna make an appearance at our wedding.

Sometimes I pretend I live in So. California, today I really wish I did

Because if I did live in Southern California, aside from the proximity to beaches and awesome weather, I could pop over to UC Santa Barbara's AD & A Museum to see the current exhibit "Carefree California: Cliff May and the Romance of the Ranch House".  
I could read the books and surf the net all day but there is something about going to an actual exhibit to learn about a topic. I mean... hello? I am a visual person. And although I live in a perfect case study for Cliff May, I want to know more.

So, if you are in or near the Santa Barbara area in the next couple months, pop into the exhibit for me and tell me all about it.
**our neighbor Vanessa (who also lives in a Cliff May) sent this awesome link with more photos and a recap**

A colorful outdoor weekend

Among other things, Ben and I worked out in the yard Saturday, getting our backyard in order. I think it is coming together rather nice. Imagine white rocks around the bottoms of the teal planters and the benches on the table being painted the same color as the Moroso Supernatural chairs we scored a couple weekends ago. **note, the top left photo has been filtered on Instagram It's not that bright. :) see Ben's post for accuracy. Ben is also pretty handy and whipped out some planters for our garden

I also went by the Hoopty Sale at Mary's Finds and got that cute little lamp and dress. Sunday we had a fun outdoor brunch in which my friend, Nico took me out on his Vespa for a spin around the hood. It was an amazing weekend. How was yours?

Yard inspiration

contemporary exterior design by san diego landscape architect Grounded - Richard Risner RLA, ASLA

With all the warmer (freakish) weather lately, I have been dreaming of getting our yard together.
Here are a few inspiration photos I found over on Houzz.

modern landscape design by san diego landscape architect Grounded - Richard Risner RLA, ASLA

modern firepits design by miami showroom Phil C

Mod Monday- Landscaping

Since our fence is done, our next project is landscaping. We want to come up with an official plan, but right now we are in pull inspiration photos mode. Naturally, I started flipping through the photo gallery on RanchoStyle because..... they are ALL Cliff May houses. Here are some photos, I like:

Like the bright green little ferny plant by pool

like how the plants have individual plots surrounded by low maintenance "zero"scape

like the exotic grasses and plant selection here

love the clean "zero"scape on this one.

love the bench and light colored gravel

Like the green pots down the side of the house.

Cliff May

I am so excited that our house is a Cliff May. I just bought this book Cliff May "The Modern Ranch House" to guide me in learning more about him. Apparently our actual floor plan is in the book. Hopefully it will give some inspiration as to what to do with our dirt hole of a front yard. More on that later.

holy crap we own a house!

We have been super busy the last few weeks... because we bought a house! here are a few before photos. I will post some "finished" room photos later.

It is a lovely Cliff May Mid Century Modern ranch house. It checked off all of our wishlist items plus some, we are so lucky!