When it rains in Southern California

I was a bit bummed when I woke up this morning. Why? Because I had plans. I got someone to cover my regular 7 AM on weekends job so I could wake up with the sun, go on a long walk with my pup and spend the rest of the afternoon reading in the sun, then I had plans to see a shakespeare by the sea play. But there was no sun. Instead, there was rain. To preface: California is in a severe drought. So once I got over myself and got over the fact that there was no sun. I embraced it. Rain is a great thing. It doesn't judge when you are lazy and still in your loungewear at noon and that's A-OK in my book. 

After, the hubs made me brunch. He's a trooper, he's cooked me meals everyday for the last 3 weeks.  I only thought it'd be fair to do the dishes. After I did dishes for what seemed like an eternity. I grabbed my pup and my camera and went exploring our little beach town. I love roaming the neighborhoods and seeing all the houses with character and the pretty gardens. Then I also love that I can walk to the beach. Today was lovely. I watched kids braving the rain and jumping in the water with their clothes on. I listened to the silence of hardly anyone on the sand. And I embraced the pounding of the waves and marveled at how blue the water was. 

At some point in time, I tried to take Buhle on a photoshoot, but she was being a difficult model. The pictures of her are the saddest pictures I think I've ever seen of her outside. So we moved on from that idea. ;) 

Overall, it was a great day. I love exploring my little beach town. I always find something new. I urge you to take a moment and look around your neighborhood. It may surprise you to find out how charming your neighborhood is. 

Happy Weekend, my friends. 

Take what you need.

Take what you need and nothing more. 

Lessons to live by. 

I can't remember if I've mentioned that I moved a couple months ago. I probably have, my brain is a bit fuzzy these days.  As I was saying, we moved a couple of months ago and we downsized. That's really an understatement. Our apartment before wasn't huge per se, but it was big enough that we could hide A LOT of stuff. Right now, I hate stuff.

Our new place is way better but it has it's quirks. By quirks, I mean it's a tiny shack that was built in the 1920's and I'm not sure if it was meant to really be lived in long term. We are roughly about 400 square feet, hardly and natural light, and it has the strangest transitions into any room really. I often walk into people's living rooms that are bigger than our shack. I make it sound bad but it's not. It's 30 seconds of walking distance from the bay and the beach. Jayde, Buhle, and I love it. Obviously, not for forever but it's a great little place. It's not the size that bugs me. 

In fact, I love that it's small but a small space can be huge if the layout is spot on. The layout isn't the best. But it's our tiny shack and we love it. 

I first became drawn to the idea of tiny living from reading the blog Reading My Tea Leaves. (If you don't follow, you're missing out.) It's a simple, lovely blog about a writer who writes what she knows. One of the things she has been writing about for years is tiny living, she shares tips and tricks. Her and her other half lived/live in a tiny apartment on the East Coast and they make it work. They've turned tiny living into a lifestyle that is most attractive to me.

Although currently, you would have no idea that simplicity is my current mantra. We have downsized. We are STILL downsizing. We are basically taking the time to weed out the stuff we don't need and not re-purchasing it if we already have one of something. I'm a bit of a hoarder. I've successfully not bought shampoo for two months because I've been living off of hotel toiletries. Like I said, I'm downsizing one small bottle at a time. 

We are in the evaluation process and when we do make a purchase are purchasing more with intention. Do we really need 8 different pots and pans? Do we have the cabinet space to hold 8 different pots and pans? The answer is no to both questions.  Do I really need 7 different hand lotions? As each one may be different and each have a different soothing scent. I don't need 7. Buy one, finish it, buy another. 

I have sentimental attachments to almost everything, including that receipt that I got last week from buying groceries. Just kidding, or am I? It's definitely going to be hard. But I'm excited to keep simplifying and having a "healthy" amount of necessities. 

Do you all have any tips and tricks to downsizing or tiny living? 

If so, shoot me an email at sammaycreate@gmail.com or leave a comment at the bottom of this post,  I'd love to hear from you.