8.30.09

Jamison is 2 years old! He is such a boy now - no longer a baby. Steve and Amy had a small gathering to celebrate on Sunday afternoon and we hurried home from Shawano so we could make it to celebrate.

I must note that they had a really delicious cake at this party. Amy just got it at the grocery store, which I would usually scoff at, but I have learned my lesson. The frosting was some delicious mixture of buttercream with marshmallow cream, maybe? I'm not so sure. All I know is it was goooooooood.

8.29.09

Sometimes I just can't handle how cute this kid is. I know I am totally biased, but hear me out. He has a book that shows "signs" for animals and objects. I don't think they are the proper ASL signs, but signs that Cooper has learned nonetheless. Here he is sniffing for the sign for "flower". Are you dying?! So precious.

On the cottage front - the weather was uber crappy. The rain let up for a little while in the afternoon and we were able to play some bags and go to the playground, but the rest of the day was spent indoors. The boys played Wii and Gina and I put together a puzzle. I need to put together more puzzles in my downtime. I love it so much!

The rain let up at night again, so we were able to have a fire and make smores thankfully. The weekend wasn't a complete bust! Hopefully next year, I'll be able to pack my swimsuit instead of my fleece jacket.

8.28.09

Last weekend, my sister and brother-in-law were kind in enough to invite us to Todd's parents' cottages on Shawano Lake. We have had this planned all summer, and of course the weekend we picked turned out to be the coldest weekend of the summer. Yuck! I was so looking forward to lounging on a raft in the lake!

We still managed to have fun despite the frigid temps. Friday night, we settled in, went out for a fish fry, played Loaded Questions and a 3 hour marathon session of Uno.

8.27.09

Target is selling these vintage toys and I'm not sure how I feel about it. On the one hand - I loved seeing that telephone and that carry around tv thing. It warmed my heart for a moment thinking about my childhood. But then I realized the only reason these things were probably made were to appeal to adults like me who feel nostalgic about them, so they buy them for their own children. Sneaky toy companies!

8.26.09

I have been having a really hard time thinking of what to write with this pictures tonight.

Jon just had to change the gas because it ran out while he was cooking. Hate when that happens! See, another great story!

8.25.09

I love this stuff...and seriously, it was $5 well spent because I have had this tin for a couple years. You can find it at your nearest Sephora. You're welcome.

8.24.09

Jon has been a reading machine lately. He even hijacked the book I am reading right now after he finished this one because he had nothing else to read. I know, good story.

8.23.09

Our drive home from our yurting weekend involved a lot of country roads. I made Jon pull over so I could get this shot. For the record, I am a total city girl and HATE country roads.

They scare me.

I don't like how some of them don't have lines, and that the speed limit usually over 40 mph.

I don't like that most of the time you are alone on the road and help is so far away if anything went wrong.

I hate when I cross a car in the opposite lane because I always think they are going to cross over the median.

And don't get me started on driving on them at night! I no likey one bit.

8.22.09

Yurts Day 2 - we had a bags tournament, a washers tournament and a volleyball game. I didn't do the volleyball game though. Instead I stuck to the sidelines, sunbathed and took some action shots.

8.21.09

This weekend was our annual yurting trip. (what is a yurt?) We go every year with pretty much the same group of people. Mostly everyone in the group are related to one another in one way or another to make a full circle. The weekend includes typical camping type activities: cocktails, dancing at the bar at the lake, bags, volleyball, bonfires and often times a midnight swim in the lake (but not this year).

Aaaaand this is Chris and Stacey, who happened to be not related to anyone else in the group.

8.20.09

Nancy found out about a beer tasting going on and decided to get a group of Tyler's friends together to sign up for all the spots in honor of his big 30th bday...and it was a surprise. It was so great! Jon and I walked in and Tyler did a double take when he saw us, then the rest of the group trickled in and he was even more surprised. Such a great idea and we had such a great time. Oh, and yes, he got a Hannah Montana jumbo sized birthday card that played music.

8.19.09

8.18.09

Every now and then I need to do something a little abstract.

8.17.09

On Monday night I was having Pizzeria Piccola withdrawals, so I took my hubby out to Pizza Brutta to try and satisfy my craving.

Look how cute it is!

It is a new restaurant that I heard had good wood fired pizza, so I figured I'd see how it measured up to my beloved Pizza P.

I had to compare apples to apples, so I got the margherita pizza. Jon got the margherita + pepperoni and we got the flatbread to share.

The flatbread was asi asi, bordering on bad, but the pizzas were good. They could use some help on the decor inside though. The outside facade is so adorable, you would think the inside would be equally charming. Instead, I sort of felt like I was in Qdoba. I would give it a B+. I think we'll go back.

8.16.09

Jon and I took a drive through a neighborhood near our apt that have all Frank Lloyd Wright inspired homes last weekend. They are all so great and even though it is a new neighborhood, every one is different from the other.

They were so big and beautiful, but oddly had hardly any yards and mostly alley access garages. We thought that was weird. If you were going to spend a lot of money on a large home, wouldn't you want a yard and a driveway? Interesting city planning to say the least.

8.15.09

This shot was taken totally stealth style. I am sure my dad will have no clue I took it until he checks this blog. I think he was sorting mail, or clipping coupons or something.

8.14.09

Meghan, Tom and I went to Pizzeria Piccola on Friday night. Gosh, I miss that place so much.

My visit on Friday made me miss a lot of things about "home" actually. I saw a lot of people from my childhood, had a hot fudge sundae with pecans from Gille's with two of my best grade school friends, hung out with Dre and to top it off, did some shopping with Meg at Mayfair.

Perhaps one day I will return for good...

8.13.09

Jon gave me this necklace many years ago. maybe 5? I still wear it all the time.

8.12.09

My new favorite thing. Betty Crocker lemon poppy seed muffin mix.

It comes in a pre-mixed bag, you just at water, it makes about 25 mini miffins and it was like 95 cents or something ridiculously cheap like that.

love that value!

8.11.09

this is a pretty standard scenario every night in our house at about 6pm. Jon works the grill and I'm usually getting the side dishes and drinks ready in the kitchen (where I am standing taking this pic). I am already kind of bummed grilling season is almost over too.

What is my problem?

I can't handle that the weather will turn cold in 2 months this year. At all.

8.10.09

We took the day after our anniversary off so we could have an extended weekend of fun. We layed by the pool and for most of the day, we had the whole pool to ourselves. I remember being really pumped about that as a kid - and you know what? As a 28 and 31 year old, we were still pretty pumped. Some things never change.

8.9.09

Sunday the 9th was our 1 year anniversary! We spent the day hanging out at the pool, then we went to Tutto Pasta for dinner and came home and had an anniversary cake made by Aly that was the same flavors as our wedding cupcakes. We also busted out our wedding shoes and wore them to dinner. Such a great day!

8.8.09

We headed to the State Fair last Saturday with Gina and Todd. I had a lot of inner dialogue about how I was going to lug my camera around. After a lot of back and forth, we finally got to the fair, parked the car, started walking to the gate aaaand I realized I didn't put the battery in my camera. eeeeeerrrrrghh! I was in a pretty bad mood for at least 10 mins afterwards.

There are worse things in life obviously though, so I got myself some Saz's and all was ok in the world :)

We checked out the animals, the pig races and the other standard fair stuff. So fun. I am already kind of mourning the coming end of summer and this kind of stuff. I love it so much.

8.7.09

8.6.09

sometimes this is all I can muster. I know. lame.

8.5.09

There was a full moon on Aug 5th. I tried real hard to get a good pic of it, but they all turned into white glowing blobs. I made some first attempts with no luck, went inside to do a little research, came back and readjusted, but still no luck.

I am pretty sure I figured out that to get a clear shot of the moon (with the crevases, dark spots, etc), one needs some equipment that I don't/didn't have at the time (remote and tripod specifically).

8.4.09

We went with the Doritos, of course. Is there ever a competition when Doritos are in the mix? Not in my book.

8.3.09

dang, I'm far behind on posting. On the upside, my birthday plant is still alive!

8.2.09

Jon is the cookie maker in our family. His usually turn out better than mine do.

Usually.

This batch came out looking like flatty boom batties though. Is it because of the humidity? They still tasted good and everything...just flat central.

8.1.09

Check out the new numbers at Culver's. I'm not so much a fan as I was of the blue ones though, to be honest.

The color of the ice cream is throwing me off also. Not a fan.

7.31.09

Another day. Another amazing sunset. Ho hum.

7.30.09

I got this little guy at The Art Fair on the Square a few years ago. The artist who sold it to me told me some folklore about it - that it brings good luck, I would come into money, etc., etc.

BS. None of that happened to me. But that not really the reason I bought it either. I still think it is cute.

7.29.09

Guess whose idea it was for this shot? My husband's. That's right, he has been roped into this little project as well. I think he even suggested the black and white. I think I'll keep him around.

7.28.09

firey sunset. Never gets old. This got me thinking that I need to get up and go to this spot for some sunrise pics.

I'm not so much a morning person though, so while this is a great idea in theory, I will be surprised if I follow through on it.

7.27.09

yikes, I am WAY behind on the picture posting. The lack of posts does not equal lack of picture taking though. Trust.

I am slightly obsessed with sky/sunset/cloud formation/storm/moon pics as of late. On this night, there was a nasty storm that had just rolled through. About an hour after I took this pic, the clouds in the sky looked like a pink and orange billowy blanket. It was so cool, but none of those pics turned out for some reason. boo. This one is cool too though. It has a Six Feet Under vibe to it to me. (God, I love that show)

08.09.09

Happy Anniversary to us!

We are celebrating by eating our 1 year anniversary cake, having a yummy Italian dinner and taking the day off tomorrow.

Love.