Ten Things . . . Totally True Facts About Me According To Online Quizzes

So I might have just justified spending an hour taking online quizzes by telling myself I would write a post about them. Yep that is all the thought I put into this. But you know what these quizzes were like totally 100% true so maybe they are on to something.

1. My life is just like the classic novel Charlotte's Web, I'm just trying to figure out if I'm more like Charlotte or Wilber?
2. I have a brand New Soul. Right.
3. I'm an Independent Woman. Need I say more?
4. I was meant to be a Writer.
5. Zac Efron is my celebrity boyfriend. #backoffgirlshesmine
6. Oh and went Zac and I finally tie the knot I'll be wearing an A-Line Dress.
7. You guys must think I'm really Artsy! 
8. This one says I should have been born in the 90s, but I think they mean I should have lived and loved in the 90s.
9. I look like Pocahontas. Actually when we were kids my brother Andrew thought I was Native American, true story!
10. And finally My 1990s Theme Song is . . . Spice Up Your Life!

P.S. An interview with Ryan Goslings from 1999. You are soooo welcome!

Live: Summer 2014

I think I might be taking this slow blogging thing a little too far,a month and a half might be a little long. But I've been summering and it has been wonderful. So I thought I'd share my Summer 2014 Must List. I know the summer is already half over, but I think it is still worth putting pen to paper or type to screen and getting a little list going.

My first must do this summer is take advantage of all the great things happening in my own back yard this time of year. I've already made it to German Park and the Botanical Gardens and have my mind set on returning to both later in the summer. I also have plans to stroll around The Ann Arbor Art Fair and the Ypsilanti Heritage Festival, maybe catch a free concert, defiantly tour historic homes and I'm pretty sure my nephew is going to need a trip to the petting zoo. Basically find the fun right here.

For whatever reason I haven't being reading much these days. So I'm setting a five book goal for this summer. I'm already 1/2 way through two books so I think this is going to be totally manageable and I hope that it will get me back into the reading groove.

This one is self explanatory. And just a plea to get you to invite me out to your lake house!

Like reading I haven't been flexing my creative muscles as much. So I'm setting a goal here too, one crochet project, one sewing project, one painting project, one diy furniture revamp and one house project!

I've already taken a trip to the zoo and I spent a day traipsing around Boston with my sister in-law Kelsey. It was a great inspiration to fill the rest of the summer with Day Trips to a few Cute Towns and the Great Lakes.

Finally I'm really working on being more intentional in everything I do and this summer is a great time to work on it. To that end, I've been reading a wonderful book, Pursue The Intentional Life, with my sisters and have been really enjoying listening to The Lively Show podcast. I highly recommend both.

There you have it, just a few of they ways that I plan on getting the most out of my summer! And now it is fun ahoy!

Live: Ann Arbor Summer Festival

Really I didn't have any intention to talk about the Ann Arbor Summer Festival this year, but then the ads kept popping up online and I saw the program my parents brought home from the Al Green show they went to on Saturday that was part of the Festival and I was smitten with the art work. A quick google search later and I know that the work was done by Tony Godzik. I love everything about the work that he has done from the colors to the lettering. Doesn't it just scream SUMMER?!?

 Come on this is so good! Plus I heard this morning on the radio that you can still get tickets to see Ira Glass this Saturday - I'll be there so you know all to cool kids are going! So I had to let you know about that. And if you are around you will maybe want to make it out to one of the free concerts or movies shown at Top of the Park as part of the festival. I plan on getting there at least one night this year.

Hummm after all this chatter I'm really looking forward to hanging out in A2 this summer. Anyone else heading out to take part in the festival? Do ever find your self smitten with someones creative work?

p.s. I don't know anything about Nellie McKay, but don't you want to see her show after looking at that ad. Such good work, I tell ya!

Happy Hootlidays!

The theme of our little get away last weekend was "Craft Cabin" so with that in mind I pulled together a very quick and easy craft that we could all do in addition to the crafts we brought with us. Using this pattern found via pinterest and some craft supplies I just had hanging around my house we were each able to make one small owl to adorn our Christmas trees. This project was great because almost any skill level and style of crafter can do it, you can easily talk while working on it, it doesn't take a lot of special materials and you can easily complete it in one sitting. I highly recommend it for social groups that want to work on a little project while spending time in fellowship. I also think it would be great for older kids to do at a birthday party or a play date.

Are you a crafter? Have you ever made a felt Christmas ornament? Please share I'm always looking for fun new projects to do!

Craft Cabin!

Late Friday morning I jumped in the car with a few of my favorite girls to head out of town for the weekend to celebrate my dear friend Mel's 30th Birthday! We drove from our hometown in south eastern Michigan to the beautiful Lake Michigan shoreline. Where we met up with one more gal to craft the weekend away.

Our weekend was filled with chatting and laughing, car dancing and beach walking, blanket stitches and yarn hooking, snacking and game playing.

It is a little late in the year to have a full enjoyment of the lake, but I feel like anytime you can fall asleep to the sound of waves hitting the sand and wake up to pink sun shining on blue water it is worth it!
Saturday morning I took a watch on the beach with my little cousin Peter (seen in a much smaller form here) we both felt like it was a little early, but very pretty (please note that this picture was taken just after he spit up inside - yeah inside - my shirt)!

I'm sure that there will be a little more about the trip showing up this week, so stay tuned for that!

Puzzled

After reading this funny post about "tweenysomethings" over at HelloGiggles I was inspired to share one of my favorite birthday gifts for today's find. I am sure that if I was in middle school when these Japanese Puzzle Erasers came out I would have collected them all, but it seems that for an adult I think one is probably enough, don't you? My sister Phoebe gave me the little gray elephant, and he is just totally cute! I plan on putting it up on a shelf with all my other tiny elephants, but if you are brave you could use them to erase mistakes on this weeks math quiz or remove all those heart encircled JTTs from your trapper keeper!