adventures . pt 1

This past weekend, we took a couple of my friends to Grand Haven. Matt and Mickey had been there before, but Mickey's boyfriend Matt hadn't yet. Yes, two Matts.

My mom's little flock of chickens roost on the totem pole. Don't they look hilarious?!

Matt is the kitten conqueror.

We went to a local bakery, Elegance of the Seasons, who serve primarily seasonal baked goods and lunch food. We got the most amazing cookies ever. I should've bought some to bring home...

Everyone at Pronto Pup's, the local corn dog hut in GH. They are so darn good.

We spotted a wedding party on our walk to the pier!

I love it when the waves crash up like this. There were some more dramatic ones, but naturally I didn't get them. I don't know those two girls, they were just in the way of the waves.

Eric and Matt wearing sun-hands instead of sunglasses.

Eric and me! His eyes looks funny.

My tootsies and the water.

The beach! Doesn't it look like the ocean?

Waiting for the trolley...

And it came!

Tomorrow, I'll post our tour of my mom's friend's glass & ceramic studio. They built it next to their house. It's so amazing and inspirational. So is their house.

We also went to Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, so I'll post my photos from there too. They have amazing botanical gardens.

Greenfield Village... Again.

But this time it was with Chelsea and Grace. We had so much fun even though it was raining almost the whole time. In fact, I might argue that it was even more fun since it was raining! Running across the village with a stroller and a toddler was pretty hilarious.

Grace loved the chickens. She wouldn't even look at the horses as long as there were chickens to watch. Shortly after we got there, we went on the train to ride out the big thunder that was coming. Except, it didn't even rain while we were on the train. Then, about 15 seconds after we got off to go to the carousel, it started absolutely pouring! That's when we ran. I had the stroller, Chelsea had Grace and we raced to the carousel, or "horsey-rounder."

It was such a great day.

very so loud

I know it's a little dorky, but Eric and I went to the Thunder Over Michigan air show a couple weeks ago and it was so much fun! It's amazing how many really, really old planes are still able to fly.

And the new planes are insane! They had the Blue Angels (the famous Navy stunt pilots) here this year, and it was so exhilarating to watch them fly. They are, in Grace's words, "so very loud." We saw the Blue Angels fly over us when we were in Ann Arbor with Chelsea and Grace for the Art Fair there. They must have been practicing or something; it was a couple days before the air show. Grace loved them.

on the river

My first morning at my family's cottage last week, I woke up to the smell of breakfast. I'm always a little hopeful when we're up there, because my mom is more motivated to make breakfast. Who has time or energy to make breakfast during the week? Actually, sometimes I do. But I don't work every morning. In fact, I rarely do now, sadly. Anyway, the smell was amazing and I quickly dressed and came to the kitchen and had coffee and made the toast for everyone. I'm more motivated too.

We had a farmer's breakfast. You know, kind of like an omelette but just all mixed together. Almost everything was local to Grand Haven, too. Bonus points for mom!

Then, at the suggestion of said mom, we went kayaking. What a great suggestion. We had such a great time. Erika got a little grouchy at the end, but I just sucked it up, since it's only about once a year that I'm on the Muskegon river at that point. And it was the first time I had kayaked down it. We usually float in tubes and stuff.

It was a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold, not too windy. Well, no, it was pretty windy in some parts and it almost stopped us a few times. We saw lots of turtles, mostly painted turtles but one HUGE snapper and three leatherbacks! We also saw a bald eagle. He was pretty awesome.

Oh, what a wonderful trip this was. Great idea mom!

it all began

with a turquoise bracelet.

Knitsquirrel, aka Carlene, bought it from me on Etsy. Needless to say, I was very excited and we talked a bit and she told me she had a loom and we found out we liked each other. Since then, which was quite a while ago, we've been good blog friends. At least I like to think we are! So, when Carlene emailed me in May about making a shibori scarf for her, I said, um, yes!! It took a while for school to calm down, and then I concocted a couple of tests to make sure it would look amazing for her. Then, I made it. You might remember it, I showed you :)

image from carlene's blog

Anyway, she was happy enough with it to write up such a great post about me, so I thought I would return the favor. You should definitely go check her space out. She posts really awesome things, like crazy sweaters and Desk Mondays (where she shows you awesome work spaces!) and her super cool apple/pear tree! She also knits, which gives her major points in my book :)

Carlene, you're the best!

Oh, P.S. She just wrote the best ever post about her obsession with embroidery in the 70s. Love.

two

days in a row! I'm doing so well. Today was so very long. Went to the market, landscaped Eric's great-uncle's house, went to work, came home, posting this. But, tomorrow we're going to the Ann Arbor art fair! Hooray!

Today's photos are a nice little mix. First, a market day on July 2. And then Gracie eating sour blueberries (or bluebs, as my sisters and I call them).

look at that spread!!

that's local honey and my own little garden bouquet in the background :)

hilarious, no?

she started making fake sour faces, too, since we thought it was so darn funny!

What have you been up to in the past couple of weeks? It's hard catching up on blogs after a while... Have you been going to your local farmer's market? What's in season where you are? If not, what have you been cooking/enjoying/reading/listening to (I'm obsessed with Regina Spektor's new album, "Far")/making?

two weeks

exactly. That's how long it's been since I've posted on here. agghhhhh!! I don't even have a decent excuse. I've been working more hours and have had many a commitment the past couple of weeks and have just gotten out of the habit. The weather hasn't even been very nice! At all...

So, I thought I'd pop in to say hi and share a few garden photos with you. Mind you, these are from July 1st! So, my garden has definitely grown since then. I plan on taking some more today and seeing just what has happened :)

Later today, I will also start posting my backlog of photos/happenings from the past couple of weeks. Some of it is way too good to hold back!

My sugar snap peas were really really stunted when I transplanted them from inside to out. So, they aren't very vigorous. I'm going to try planting a fall crop, though, and we'll see what they do.

promote ii

I did some reworking. These are still really nice and clean, but with some interest added. I think I'm happy :)

promote

Tentative business card design. What do you think? Too simple? I really like the clean look, but it is too clean? Boring? There will be a photo on the back, and I will print ones with jewelry and ones with textiles.

Thanks guys :)