lost & found

joanie 

is her name.

and she is gorgeous.

she carries grace & elegance, 

and is ahead of her time... 

here she is, once lost

plain, forgotten and overlooked

and here she is, found

and she does it all effortlessly.

she simply walks into a room and all heads turn.

she is for sale.

you can find her in my etsy shop.

you will probably want to see 

more of her details....

remember, she doesn't even have 

to try hard to be stunning.

on a more personal note,

the sky sprinkled beautiful water

on my face yesterday afternoon.

it was lovely.

and the sky was gold and grey.

so wonderful...

and guess what else is wonderful?

jonathan and i are almost at our

one year anniversary !!!

{october 10th}

i cannot believe it has almost been a whole year.

we are celebrating a week early and heading down

to mexico 

{where he proposed to me}

for the entire weekend. we leave tomorrow. i'm so excited.

the best tacos on the entire planet, mexican coke,

beer, sunsets, ocean, spanish, 

second year of marriage goals & my best friend.

i'll try & take some photos when we're down there.

viva al matrimonio! 

{i think that is marriage in spanish.

i need to learn. put that on my goals for 

our second year of marriage}

                       .jessnicole.

poor man's gard[en]

so it has definitely been

way too hot the last

few days to work on

anything in our backyard...

i did get a great new 

poor man's gard[en] find

thanks to a friend 

who was on the lookout for me

{thanks emily!!}

here is miss flourette.

she's french.

i'm going to convert her into

a potting bench for some of our herbs

and plants.

i'm also going to add some succulents to 

the back support of the sofa.

i cannot wait to start working on her. 

just not today, please.

instead i'm going to work on 

 some fun projects for a dear friend's

wedding in a few weeks. 

and i will do this inside the house. thank you.

and i'm going to ship a piece to seattle, washington. 

man, i wish i lived in seattle right now...

and to just remind you of what

autumn weather should normally bring about,

i thought i'd share some fun finds with you...

sewn natural

lacklusterco

seventytwostitches

lowlandoriginals

anthro

swakdesigns

thehopetree

imagine wearing & playing with these items.

in cool weather. while sipping hot apple

cider or chai tea.

near the fire.

with the rain lightly falling.

and the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg.

i'm getting carried away...

so cheers to a great and not-so-hot tuesday.

at least not as hot as the last 

two days.

if you don't live in southern california

like i do, and you haven't been

paying attention to the news,

los angeles reached an all new 

record of 113 degrees yesterday.

highest temperature ever.

today is only supposed to reach 100. 

how cool & refreshing.

                 .jessnicole.

[free]day

sophisticated joanie

is her name.

she is very elegant, polished 

and ahead of her time...

while remaining effortless & sweet.

here she is not quite revealing her

beauty...

and

i found her in front of our neighbor's house.

unwanted.

who could get rid of this beauty?

i am constantly having to convince myself

i don't need her...

cannot wait for you to see

the found joanie.

have a lovely weekend.

my plans are to celebrate my sister-in-law's

birthday, eat good food, drink good beverage,

work & enjoy our little home.

see you tuesday!

                 .jessnicole. 

lost & found

ooohhhh, today's feature

is so much fun.

his name is stevie

remember him?

he was a lost & forgotten

treasure. so sad. lonely stevie.

here he is, so lonely & lost 

this is why i named him stevie.

some sweet little boy outgrew him...

and he was thrown out. 

but i showed him love & restored him

back to life.

and now, he loves holding treasures

& supporting your feet or tray full of

warm beverage.

here he is, so very found 

and

he is very proud 

{or at least i am}

of his patina 

{his exterior finish}

i am so excited about this one.

so much that i had to convince 

myself i don't need him for my own

enjoyment.

i would encourage you to check him out

in my etsy store to see more photos

and his interior. he has something

special inside...

you can go here.

how is today already thursday?

my days get away from me...

so many projects & work.

not to mention time with 

wonderful friends & family.

                    .jessnicole.

poor man's gard[en]

today's poor man's gard[en] 

features the inside garden

{our interior details...}

by special request

i have taken a few photos

of what is inside our 

kitchen cabinets

so, here we go...

we decided to stick to an all white

dish palette. our dishes consist

up of multiple white sets. 

all of our dishes are found from

thrift stores. honestly.

mr. amazing is a genius

at finding the best

items. in fact, nothing we 

own have we paid full price for.

{if you want some tips on how to find such amazing items, 

stay tuned. i will soon have a post featuring tips from jonathan himself.} 

oh, and in case you missed my previous kitchen post

our pantry

and, jonathan and i thought it would be

fun to share some gardening tips with my readers

starting a garden is honestly so rewarding

and super simple. you do not have to be 

a gardener or have a super green thumb...

just love for life & fresh herbs/produce.

some tips & things we have learned so far with 

gardening...

1. use craigslist free for perfect finds

{such as discarded or unwanted plants or pots}

2. try & start your plants from seed. it is much

more enjoyable to watch the process.

3. get an idea of the type of lighting your

gardening area gets 

{morning sun, noon sun, afternoon sun}

4. knowing the type of lighting will help

you understand the type of plants you want

5. basil, mint, chives, oregano, sage & parsley

are the best herbs to start with. 

6. composting is ideal once you get the hang

of gardening. perfect for fertilizing your soil

and providing rich nutrients.

7. use an organic pesticide. jonathan has

found that mild organic dish soap

& water works great to keep bugs away.

8. cultivating your soil is key before you 

start planting  

9. find discounted plants & flowers

in the back section at your local

hardware store's garden center

{even if plants look dead, you would be

surprised with how a little water, new

soil & patience can bring something back to life} 

10. do not be afraid to trim plants. 

they love to be trimmed & will grow even faster.

sort of like hair....{right?}

11. make sure you enjoy your outdoor garden.

sit, read, drink wine, eat meals. 

even in the autumn weather.

we have plenty more tips & experiences

but that is a great start.

remember, even a few pots on your porch

can be a great start to a little garden.

i promise.

and then, you can eventually cook with

the herbs & produce you grew.

have a wonderful tuesday.

don't you feel like doing this all day?

i do. it is just one of those days...

                .jessnicole.

[free]day

today's [free]day 

is a good one.

and when i say good, i mean it.

my friend anna found the

absolute ugliest chairs i've ever seen

on the side of the road.

she is wanting to redeem these chairs

for her kitchen table.

here they are

{there are a total of three

nasty ones and four decent shape ones}

and, you probably don't think 

it can be done.

but just wait.

i've already got ideas brewing

& the vision for redemption.

this is actually my favorite

kind of project because 

most people would simply 

throw these out.

and we are going to give them a 

second life {or third or fourth}.

we are going to prove their 

chair worthiness.

on a more personal note, 

today is going to be a great day.

no work, grocery shopping, cooking,

gardening, eating, resting & time with my 

amazing husband. i mean, mr. amazing.

i recently purchased this adorable notepad

at anthropologie that helps you plan out

your weekly meals. so, of course, i needed it.

i mean, it helps you plan out meals.

who doesn't need help with that?

jonathan, on the other hand, thinks i am 

only planning out meals because i think 

the notepad is adorable. so what. 

maybe i am. but at least he's going to 

get healthy, delicious & inexpensive meals out of it.

and it's magnetic to put up on your

fridge. honestly. how perfect 

can planning weekly meals get?!

hope you enjoy your friday dear friends.

and your lovely weekend.

                         .jessnicole.

lost & found

this week's piece is the lovely

miss josephine

again, one of my favorites

here she is, quite lost

and here she is, wonderfully found

miss josephine is a flower child. 

she loves making flower wreaths 

for her dark brown hair, 

wears floral dresses & loves bob dylan.

i just get swept away to the seventies 

when i look at her. 

if you would like to enjoy 

more of her 

{and to see her fun floral-linen lined drawer}

you should visit her here.

enjoy your thursday lovely friends.

                   .jessnicole.

poor man's gard[en]

this past friday & saturday 

jonathan and i had time to work

on our lovely garden.

of course, mr. amazing 

worked even more and added some

exciting new herbs and vegetables.

and, he was given all of the seeds

from a lovely couple we met via 

craigslist free. 

now you know why i call him mr. amazing?!

here are a few photos of our new additions

to the garden

there are three different
types of peppers, zucchini,
tons of tomatoes, lavender,
& more basil. j planted them.
he's living up to his name.
perfectly.
he even used clothes pins
to label the seeds.
sigh.
and the metal shelving unit

was trash to our neighbor. 

he was throwing it out so, of course,

we asked if we could take it. you know.

it's called the poor man's gard[en] 

for a reason.

here are a few more photos of
our backyard garden

and, we are on the second phase to our 

front yard!! we've torn out the

ugly juniper bushes 

{remember all six of them?!}

and are now beginning to prepare & cultivate

the soil for planting.

once we finish getting the soil ready 

we can move onto the third phase of our

front yard which is planting!!

and then, the final phase of 
the front yard, painting

the outside of the house. 

baby steps though.

for now, we enjoy the salvia

and other wonderful plants 

potted on our front porch.

i hope you are enjoying your tuesday.

it doesn't feel like tuesday to me

but then again my days 

have seemed off for a while.

when my life gets crazy

so do i...haha.

         ciao.

                  .jessnicole.

ps: mr. amazing and i are almost

at our one year anniversary.

any suggestions to what we should do?