This week we went to the beach for a family vacation with my husband’s parents.

We stayed in this cute little house with a wonderful view of the ocean. We’d sit out and watch people go by on the board walk, then hop over the gate to play in the surf and sand whenever we wanted.

While on vacation, I had a little “Me Party”!

I decided on this trip, in between visiting with family, watching the kids play, and relaxing with my hubby, I wanted to carve out a little alone time to do some of the things I enjoy.

I started off each morning with an invigorating run before the rest of the family was awake.

I found this great trail not too far from the beach so I tuned in to my iPod and tuned out the world for a few miles. Then I didn’t feel so guilty later when we ate all the yummy family treats.

After checking my emails for the day and making sure things were running smoothly at the shop back home, I’d relax and catch up on some good reading while the kids played.

I was “sew” inspired from all the good quilting books I read this week. But instead of waiting until I got home to start on some projects, I brought my little Singer Featherweight along with me!

I sewed together all of the strips for my Jolly Jelly Roll quilt tutorial I’m starting this week. Any vacation is lovely when I can incorporate some stitching into it!

And I’ll admit, I’ve never had a more relaxing time while sewing on a binding!

I finished up my Li’l Rascals charm quilt in the late afternoon, when the wind picked up and the volleyball players came out to practice. This truly was a little bit of heaven on earth!