the shack

We went up north for the weekend to Lupton, MI with our friends Liz and Elliott. Elliott's friend owns a little cabin on forty acres of undeveloped land so we got to enjoy the great outdoors without interruption from fellow campers.

Elliott described the shack as being completely rustic with only a table and chairs and two bunk beds. He forgot to mention how cute it was...vintage dishes and furniture, and old wood stove, retro hunting posters and Michigan maps and shutters on the windows. Needless to say, I thought it was the perfect weekend cabin. Jon and I would love to own something like this one day...a cozy little place to escape to on the weekends.

We went canoeing on the Rifle River on Saturday afternoon and met quite a few interesting characters journeying down the river along with us! We spent the rest of the weekend building campfires, enjoying the delicious well water (no, really) and playing Settlers of Catan.

the weinermobile

We ran into the weinermobile on Wednesday evening in Royal Oak after my family and Jon and I had dinner at Café Habana.

We, along with a whole slew of people, including a Royal Oak Police officer with a camera phone, stopped to take pictures.

the veggie garden

We gave my family a tour of our vegetable garden earlier this week. It was the first time my sisters have seen it and the first time my parents have seen it since they helped us plant it the first time.

I had to laugh because my sister, Ruth, asked me if the vegetable plants were already here when we moved in.

Uh, not exactly...we dug up the sod, roto-tilled, added compost and planted the whole thing twice...it didn't just come with the house. I wish!

We've had an influx of cucumbers and butternut squash lately. I have been scouring the internet for recipes using these veggies. The tomatoes are getting bigger, but they aren't quite red yet. Jon and I did get to enjoy our first two ripe grape tomatoes on Monday...we ate them to fast too take a picture first. And, our broccoli is starting to bloom.

bias tape purse

Here's a little purse that I made for my sister earlier this week (a belated graduation gift). I found the tutorial at belle epoque whimsy and used an orange print fabric that I found in Japan and a piece of solid green fabric along with pre-made bias tape. After I made it, I was regretting that I did not put a pocket or purse snap inside, but as soon as my sister saw it she was excited that it was reversible...so I guess it was good that I didn't add the extras.

Cupcakes & open house

A few weeks ago my grandparents hosted an open house for my sister, Rachel and cousin, Kari, to celebrate their graduation from high school. Everyone went all out to make it a colorful affair…lots of paper lanterns, flowers and gorgeous desserts. We were pretty much on a sugar high the following week!

You can see the rest of the photos I took here

harry potter & vegetables

Jon and I have been busy re-reading the Harry Potter series. I finished up book 6 on Wednesday night and Jon has about 200 more pages to go before he's done.

The cats have been enjoying our company and somewhat undivided attention these past few weeks while we've been holing up in the living room reading. We're off to Meijer tonight to pick up copies of the final book for our weekend reading marathon. Never in a million years thought I'd be a Harry Potter fan, but two years later here I am all geeked about the new book coming out in less than four hours!

And, we've had a zucchini invasion in our garden. I seriously don't know how we're going to keep up with this crop! And I've got to do a better job of picking them before they get to be so gigantic...

So far we've been eating zucchini bread, sauteed zucchini and zucchini pancakes (recipe from June Better Homes & Gardens).

just a little rain

Who knew that the one day some of my old college roommates and I would pick to go to Cedar Point would just so happen to be the day that this summer's drought would officially end?

It was drizzling at the park when we arrived and we just figured it would blow over. Unfortunately the rain meant that most of the rides were closed for weather conditions. We managed to ride the Iron Dragon and the Mantis before the rain really hit during our lunch break inside. After lunch, we tried to find some drier, inside rides to no avail. After riding a couple of spinning rides, we went for the maXair. As luck would have it, the torrential downpour started just as we got on the ride and took off. 70 mile an hour rides are supposed to be thrilling, but when you're being pelted with raindrops that feel more like sleet because you're moving so fast, it just plain hurts!

We left the park a few hours after we arrived and the four of us were soaked to the bone and running toward our car with squishy tennis shoes! And to think...I told them all that I was planning on avoiding the water rides because I hate being wet all day.

We stopped for lunch at Friendly's on our way home. It's an east coast treat the Amber and I grew up on, so we got to introduce Kate to our beloved conehead sundae...this one had black raspberry ice cream, my favorite.

Despite the bad weather, we definitely had a day to remember and it was fun to have the four of us together again five years later!

a little salsa!

a funny pic from my sister and cousin's h.s. open house this weekend. That's the closest thing to dancing you'll ever see from us. More to come later this week!

photo by my dad

artwork by my mom

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blog update

Jon and I laid down for a nap last night around 7:00 (lame, I know!) and I woke up this morning around 3:00 and couldn't sleep. What better to do than spruce up this blog?

I added a categories bar on the right side and classified all of my posts into the right sections. It was fun reading over everything that I've written in the past two years and it reminded me of a lot of good things...

• my favorite photos from our wedding

• that Mel and I got engaged on the same day

• that Jon almost fell into the Pacific Ocean

• our first sewing project together...all by hand

• all of our little day trips around Michigan

• my failed attempt at a birthday cake for Jon

• my roommates funny cat, Madeleine, looking fondly at a bottle of Corona

• Jon's funny first anniversary card

• remembering Jon learning how to say Worcestershire sauce

• the accidental fire in our bed

• our first christmas tree

• the woody Jeep that Jon will never appreciate as much as I do

We've had some good times together these past two years and it's always nice to have a visual and written record of things that have gone on in our lives!

quilt progress

Jon and I have spent the last few evenings putzing around the house...he's doing some bonsai reading and I've been working on my quilt. I abandoned the project for a few weeks (I guess I can stop something and still come back later on).

I had intended on making this quilt for our summer bed, but seeing as the summer is quickly slipping away and we keep kicking off our down comforter every night, I figured I had better get a move on things!

So, on Monday and Tuesday nights I finished the blocks, trimmed them and sewed them all together.

Then yesterday, I marked the quilting lines (hoping my marker lines don't disappear before I have the chance to quilt them), and basted the three quilt layers.

The quilt is rolled up like a tootsie roll right now ready for the machine quilting and I'm scratching my head wondering how this queen sized quilt is going to fit through my sewing machine - another reason why I prefer free motion quilting...no right angles and no constantly rotating the quilt.

We'll see how it goes. Hopefully I can finish it up by Sunday evening!

overheard this afternoon

Something you probably shouldn't ask your husband while you're sitting in bed with your laptop:

"Will you bring me my credit card, honey?"