6.23.10

Day 2 of Country USA, we had one more comrade join us (Gina), and we saw Darius Rucker. Now, tease all you want about Hootie and the Blowfish, but Gina and I are loud and proud Hootie and the Blowfish fans...but mostly Darius Rucker fans I guess. His voice is awesome. How can you deny the awesomeness that is Hold My Hand?? You cannot. And let me tell you something, not only did he sing Hold My Hand, he also sang Only Wanna Be With You and Let Her Cry. Good...no GREAT....times.

Prior to Darius taking the stage a huge storm rolled through. No worries though - we just packed up our chairs and set them up under a tent. Got ourselves some refreshments and waited it out while we did a little more people watching. These get ups were our faves for sure. 2 guys matching head to toe....except the one on the right added a little pizzaz to his by wearing some white spandex under his cutoffs. Classy.

6.22.10

I have gotten yelled at 2 weeks in a row by a threesome of my nearest and dearest friends for not updating this here blog...and you know what they sort of have a point. It has been a month! This summer is going by so fast, it is kind of ridiculous. So let's take a look back to the end of June, shall we?

On Tuesday, June 22, Jon and I drove to Oshkosh to see the Zac Brown Band at Country USA! Yeeehaw! We met up with my brother in law and 2 of Jon's other friends there. They are old pros at these country festivals - they used to go every year to a different festival in Eau Claire - but it was a first for me. I was warned that I wouldnt be able to see the stage at all, which I definitely couldnt, but I also didn't mind. You see, you bring your own chairs to these festivals, so I was comfy cozy laid back in my own chair toe tappin to Toes and Chicken Fried the whole night instead of being in a tiny chair squished next to a stranger in a huge arena. Great people watching at these festivals too - never saw so many confederate flags in my life! I did not get the memo that the "uniform" for ladies at these events are bikini tops and cutoff shorts though! Geez. I felt so out of place.

6.19.10

We made it through the first of 3 very busy weekends we have ahead of us. Saturday I ran a semi-miserable 5k (it. was. hot. and I was slow) with a group of pals and went out for a fun dinner afterward at Cafe Hollander. My beer came in this fancy glass, but it definitely rivaled Julie's glass (pictured in the background) as fanciest glass at the table.

6.18.10

Woops. I skipped a day. The Friday before the race/fancy beers, I had the day off work. It also happened to be that every one of my girl friends (except 1) also had the day off. A total coincidence that never happens, so we decided to take full advantage and planned a full day of activities. We started the day off having breakfast at Marigold Kitchen, then headed down to State Street Brats for the World Cup game (where this picture was taken), and finished the day off lounging at our pool. A fantastic summer day! It had that no worries, summer vacation from college type feel to it. Good to know that feeling can still exist being so far removed from that time in my life!

6.12.10

Diz, Andy, Charlie and Danny came up to visit on Saturday. We went to the farmer's market, had lunch, did a little shopping and had a Red Mango dessert. It was my first time at Red Mango and I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Upon first taste, I liked it....but then as I continued eating, I realized that I kind of loved it.

6.11.10

So here's the thing. I haven't been keeping up with the 52 project. It's done. I hate myself for not keeping up with it and not seeing it through to the end. But it ended up being something that I dreaded and felt annoyed that I had to do....and I really hate doing things I don't want to do. Other things I hate to do: get my oil changed, put laundry away, getting up in the morning.

I've found that this is the format I like best. One picture. A little caption. So I'm going to keep up with it.

...but maybe I'll at least finish the alphabet...just to make myself feel better.

6.6.10

Rachel is getting married in a couple months, so we did the wedding shower song and dance a couple weeks ago. It was good times - now that I live out of town, it is nice that we have these things to have an excuse to get together. We've missed Rach since she moved to Nashville too, so it was extra great seeing her!

What I really wish I had a picture of was this jello dish they served with lunch. Now, I am not a jello fan so I did not partake in consuming it, but it was impressive. layers and layers of every color/flavor jello that exists. It was a sight to be seen.

5.30.10

We went to Brat Fest last night to do our part of trying to break the record of brats consumed at the fest. Afterward I indulged in the Chocolate Shoppe's signature ice cream specially made for Brat Fest. It is cookie dough ice cream dyed to look like ketchup and mustard. At first glance, I was totally repulsed....but upon further inspection and careful thought, I walked right up to that stand and got myself a cone.

...and it was delicious thankyouverymuch.

5.28.10

On my way out the door the other day, I spotted this hot air balloon floating right over my head at our apartment. Since this is not something I see every day, I ran back inside to get my camera. By the time I got back outside it was about to dip behind the treeline, but thankfully I managed to catch it!

And for the record, I have no interest to ever go in a hot air balloon. ever.

5.23.10

The fam on day 2 at the Blue Harbor resort. This place is awesome, btw. It is less than an hour from Milwaukee and about 2 from Madison, but once you get there, you kind of feel like you are at an coastal town in Massachusetts or something. It is gorgeous!

5.22.10

Last weekend, we went to the Blue Harbor resort in Sheboygan to celebrate my dad, my aunt and my uncle's 60th birthdays! They all happened to have birthdays within a few weeks of each other, so we decided to have a surprise weekend getaway for them. My mom, sister, cousins and I conspired together and got them there for a fun family weekend. I think it is safe to say there were pleasantly surprised.

Upon arrival, we adorned them with these beads and tshirts (the wings are a family joke). We spent the day at the waterpark and the night eating and playing games.

5.10.10

Jon wanted to go to the batting cage to warm up for his upcoming softball season. I accompanied him and took pictures.

5.9.10

My mom and dad came up to Madison to spend Mother's Day with us! We went out for pizza, got some half priced frappuccinos at Starbucks and went for a walk along the lakeshore path. Great day!

5.6.10

Lindsay is one my "new" pals in Madison. As in a brand new friend at the ripe old age of 29. Well, I met her last year, so technically 28. Anyway, brand new friends are kind of rare as you grow older, but I'm glad she was introduced into our group of friends. She is getting married in Keystone, CO in a week, so we had a little "shower" for her. We didnt do the typical wedding shower stuff...instead just celebrated the fact that she is getting married! Nancy was our host and she made it French themed. We all sat around the dinner table and had savory crepes (which were awesome and i have thought about a few times since having them), drank wine, had brie and showered Lindsay with a fun gift basket we put together. Fun!

14/52 - Things that start with K

Keegan, our nephew. And that is the only K I got this week.

You'd think I could have done a self portrait this week. hmmph.

4.25.10

On Sunday, Jon, Todd and their friends went to the Brewer game. I hopped a ride in the car so I could spend the day with the fam. Diz brought Charlie over so Gina and my mom could meet her...and we spent the rest of the day running errands and hanging out at home. Cooper coined the phrase "big night night" in reference to my old bed, which is a loft. It was awesome. He kept saying it over and over and was reeeeally excited to be able to climb up into it.

It was a great day, but it was also really nice to get back to Madison and relax after our very busy weekend

4.24.10

On Saturday, we ran the Crazylegs....

....then we went to celebrate Tim's 30th birthday and did some shotskis

4.23.10

Jon, the lefty, signing up for Crazylegs. Nothing like waiting until the last minute!

4.22.10

I can't get enough of these blooming trees! I wish they stayed this way all summer.

4.20.10

I went out to The Icon with girls last Tuesday night. We are attempting to make this a more regular thing. 1st Monday of the month. Let's hope it sticks!