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!