Fall Leaves, Quality Time, & The Youngest Two

I have so many fond memories of growing up among my seven cousins. Due in part to our shared lake home in Northern Wisconsin, we created bonds and shared many good times. I was the youngest, which meant I had a slew of role models, play mates and even chauffeurs by age six!

Maybe what’s even more special is the closeness we still share today. I hear from many of my cousins on a regular basis. We have gone to each other for advice, taken trips together, and even stood up in each others’ weddings.

Kasey is the second-to-youngest cousin. The two of us spent last Saturday together. Oh how I so loved our one-on-one time together!

Our time together wasn’t technically one-on-one though, as the Little Baby she is carrying was so evidently with us as well!

Here’s to the beautiful fall leaves, semi-sketchy alleys (but who were those weird guys who walked by?) and quality time with my dear cousin.

Does this post make my nails look good?

Believe me, I love my little #apartmentlyfe. HOWEVER. The air conditioning circumstances are a bit dire in our little space that happens to be on the second story of the building.

I should not complain. I can handle a lot of heat and I was raised in a home that had absolutely no AC.

Instead of complaining I’ll say this. Our teeny-tiny singular cooling-fan-window-unit is not cutting it on this 90 some degree humid summer day. Therefore I’ve found myself high and dry (and cool!) in a coffee shop blogging up a storm.

I really wanted to showcase my nails. I got a no-chip sparkly french manicure last weekend and my nails still look fabulous! So I was hoping to get a pic to share with the online world. But, as it turns out, taking pictures in public can be a bit awkward. Or maybe it’s a common thing now, I mean SELFIE STICK, need I say more?

I have yet to invest in a selfie stick, but my computer does have a camera:

If I’m showing off my nails, does this hand pose seem less weird?

OK so maybe this is not the worst pic ever but I obviously failed to include my nails in the pic…

Happy peace sign to also conveniently show off those sparkly french no-chip nails!

I have tried to cut back on washing dishes this week to preserve my manicure, but I have to say I’ve washed quite a few dishes and my nails are still looking good as ever!

NOT COMPLAINING!

The Dutch Trio

I have been blessed with an amazing family. As I grow older, though, I realize that my family consists of more people than just the ones I’m related to.

I have two “bonus sisters,” Kara and Katie. We’ve grown up together. I don’t remember meeting them; like family, they have literally always been there. I could easily find old photos of them (it gets better: Katie’s family has all the video footage!).

In the recent past, when hashtags became a thing, we became the #DutchTrio. I love all of our outings, whether we’re on a road trip or within walking distance from my apartment.

On this particular day the #dutchtrio had our first Bloody Mary’s. Kara doesn’t even like tomato juice in the first place and Katie and I thought the ones we ordered were simply too spicy. On the bright side, we loved the “snacks” that came attached to the drink! #pickles #cheese #sausage #LOL (photo cred, as always, goes to Katie’s BF Sean)

I’ve Got A Little Blog Crush

I love blogs! To be honest, I catch up on my blogs while on the exercise bike as blogs help me forget the pain I subject myself to while buring calories. I find blog-reading while biking to be a productive and fun habit.

1. I love A Beautiful Mess, sometimes just for the pictures! Talk about a well-done blog. ABM is a super polished, professional, fun and crafty blog that I’ve enjoyed for several years. I love that ABM is spearheaded by two sisters (shout-out to my cyber-role-models Elise + Emma!). I love that ABM has a vast variety of content, including home decor, recipes, crafts, and fashion! I also love the personal blogs of some of the contributors.
2. [ABM Contributor] Rachel’s personal blog is Smile and Wave. Rachel is honestly one of the reasons I started to wear my hair curly (!!) and she posts very cute things related to crafts, home decor, and her kids.
3. [ABM Contributor] Katie’s personal blog is Skunkboy and her posts always include really good pictures, and often fashion, crafts and recipes. I think Katie is adorable and she someone I’d love to meet someday.
4. Honest moment on the blog: I just today started following [ABM Contributor] Laura’s blog, The Band Wife. I think Laura is one of the prettiest and classiest ladies ever (read: I want to BE Laura) so I figure I will probably adore her blog, too.
   

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   Jumping off the ABM train:

5. Another blog that I totally love is the Lauren Conrad blog! From Chic of the Week to health tips to Friday Favorites to sneak peaks of Lauren’s clothes line at Kohl’s, I’m always interested in what Lauren posts.
6. I recently discovered His & Hers Daily Grind and I’m really getting into it! I’ve mostly just looked at fashion pictures so far, but I find this couple to be adorable and inspiring…and I admire their polished-looking blog.
7. I love Kendi Everyday because it’s a blog that makes me think about my friend Victoria who shares a love for blogs with me. I love a lot of Kendi’s outfits, and even though I often look at her pictures without reading the posts, Kendi really is a good writer, too.
8. FAVORITE BLOG, COMING RIGHT UP! Katie Did What is my #1-absolute-favorite blog. Katie is so pretty, she loves Jesus, she’s got great taste in fashion, she values her health, she watches the bachelor, and she adores her husband. Her blog features a variety of topics and I really admire Katie’s optimism and cutesy spirit and writing style.

Besides word of mouth from friends, I discover blogs (and keep up with them!) through Bloglovin‘ which can be used on the computer or as an app (or both!).

What other blogs do you follow?

I Turned Twenty-Three

Good morning and happy Friday y’all! Last Friday I was celebrating my 23rd birthday and I have to say it was one of my favorite birthdays yet!

My bro and I went to Madison for a meeting about glass. (Seriously, I need to write a recycling post one of these days. Stay tuned!) We arrived to the city early so we got to go to Colectivo Coffee!

Notice the capitol building perfectly framed in the background. When it comes to pictures, Dan knows what he’s doing!

After our meeting, Dan and I went to lunch with our sister Elizabeth. Talk about double perfection! I loved the quality time we shared together.

I got to squeeze in a workout after lunch, which was ideal. Never had I ever thought I would want to go to the gym on my birthday, but hey! Why not start out 23 on the right foot (wearing Nikes). 😉

Friendship, est. 1992.

I celebrated at night with Kara and Megan, two of my favorite friends. One of our stops was for fondue, and we wore fun hats.

The other thing I completely adored about my birthday was all the texts, instagram posts, facebook comments and messages, emails, and calls from the people I love thinking of me on my day.

I am thankful for my 23rd year. May it be a wonderful one!

xoxo,

sarah

We Did It For The Mug

Can I just say that I love living close to Miller Park? I sure picked a prime season to move to the area, since the Brewers are having such a great season (though I shouldn’t speak too soon- the Brewers tend to start out strong most years). Anyways, I’m so glad that I could celebrate Cinco de Mayo with some of my favorite Wisconsin ladies at the Brewers game!

Overpriced beverages at the stadium.
“We did it for the mug.”

Other bonus features of the evening included “tailgaiting” IN Kara’s car, paying for budget parking but being directed to a VIP spot, annnnnnd meeting a majority of the employees from my local Best Buy.

I loved spending Monday with this great group of girls, and I look forward to more fun times with them this summer (and beyond).

PS: Photo credit for this one is Kara; i’m so happy with how the picture turned out! And a shout-out goes to Katie because she was the fourth and final friend at the game.

Cheers!

Tripiversary

Maybe I should have been a bit more discerning with this blog title. I mean, I trip almost daily so technically most days are a tripiversary in some way, shape, or form for me. But with tripiversary, I was going for one-year-ago-at-this-time-I-was-taking-a-trip-to-Italy.

I started this WordPress blog in order to post while in Italy; [un]fortunately Italian WiFi isn’t the world’s best so I wasn’t able to post as much as I initially wanted to.

I took a lot of pictures, though, so here are a few favorites:

Venice is fabulous. “The City on Stilts” consists of so many bridges as all of the buildings are between water. And the color of the water! I’ve never seen such a rich green-blue.

I consider this picture among my favorites from the trip. Five of us climbed so many stairs to view the city of Florence from up above. What a wonderful sight!

Italy: the one country where your bus can break down in any given town and you can stay there for hours and it’s still beautiful and lovely. Oh, and I was in pretty great company, too, which always improves random down-times.

The Colosseum was larger, and more magnificent, and more special than I’d ever anticipated. Simply amazing!

I am tempted to post several more pictures, but I think you get the idea: I loved Italy…I loved this trip…I loved the people and the places and the sweet memories that all bundle together when I think of Italy.

As the Italians would say, ciao! xoxo

2014: Ringing It In Right

Going “Up North” is something that’s been in my family for a very long time. My mom’s grandma bought a place in northern Wisconsin on a tiny lake several years ago; five generations have now understood what it means to drive through the pine trees, breathe the freshest of air, and REALLY see stars.

Usually most of my cousins, aunts and uncles come up to ring in the new year. Traditionally we’ve had awards, themes, costumes, and Auntie’s Punch. We had a very small crew this year, but we still did our best to have fun. We had a casino night featuring Texas Hold ‘Em and Oceans 13.

I got second place in poker! Unfortunately for me, it was Winner Takes All. I’ll leave that loss in 2013 😉

Raspberry is my new favorite flavor of Wood Chucks. Cheers to gluten-free cider!

Speaking of RINGing in the new year, I was so excited that my former roommate and very good friend Victoria came up to celebrate the new year with me and my family! Victoria got engaged right after Christmas, so I loved sharing the new excitement in her life (and shamelessly browsing Pinterest and other wedding sites to our hearts’ content).

My feeling for 2014 is ever-increasingly good. Great things are in store!

Christmas Wish List

I have a festive family-the kind that all shouts “Timber!” when my dad cuts down the Christmas tree. The kind that sings “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” and “Roll Out The Barrel” at baseball games (even if the game is minor-league and no one else stands to sing). The kind that busts out maracas for our birthdays so we can shake them and exclaim, “it’s my birthday” just for the fun of it and to relive a funny memory from a road trip for good time’s sake.

My dad always jokes that he’s going to make a Christmas list with several pages, probably an appendix, and definitely pictures. So, I now present to you my illustrated Christmas list. Keep in mind this list is not exclusive and is merely ideas.

Here we go:

1. To-Go mug/Tumblr such as this Anne Taintor one.

2. Boots-maybe gray or black.

3. A Beautiful Mess Photo Idea Book.

4. Cute clothes, like this shirt.

5. I love these leg warmers!

6. Scarves, perhaps from Etsy and preferably infinity scarves.

7. Cute dresses like this one. I can’t find the link, but I loooove the gold.

8. Basically anything from Paper Source but especially a calendar!

9. I could see myself wearing some kind of fur scarf like this.

10. I think this is the best sweater ever!

11. Artwork by Marc Johns or other artists I like (ie Kelly Rae Roberts, Leigh Standly, Amy Borrell, etc)

 

And that concludes this year’s illustrated Christmas Wish List. Cheers!

For The Holidays

Funny how you could say “There’s No Place Like Home” and think one thing (WIzard of Oz, anyone?) but then when you add “For The Holidays” you immediately change your train of thought to the cheerful Christmas song.

Well, it’s true–there’s no place like home for the holidays, and I’m glad to be spending this one with my family. I loved yesterday with several of my cousins, aunts, uncles, and a few friends who are more like family. I’m giving thanks for good times that become sweet memories.