Pinterest Challenge: I'm at it again!

 You know I loves me some Pinterest! And even more I love taking something I find on Pinterest and making it real. So I am, of course, excited to take part in the Pinterest Challenge (Summer Edition) that Young House Love and Bower Power put on each season.

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After flipping through my pins and the rest of Pinterest I have settled on these map based projects as my pinspiration.

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I'm not completely sure what shape my project will end up taking. I love both the words and the hearts.

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I'm kinda digging the pattern used for this Oklahoma print, so maybe there will be some scrap booking paper involved.

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I my original thought, the one that sent me searching on Pinterest was to cut out a state from a map so I am still really interested in using an actual map for starters.

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But maybe I'll cut my map into something other than an actually shape of the state.

Want to check out my other Pinterest Challenge projects?
You can find my Ombre night stand inspired by a slice of cake here.
And you can see my Cross Stitch painting right here.

Let me know if you are joining in on the Challenge fun, I would LOVE to read all about your project!

List: 4 Favorite Things About the 4th of July

image from here via here

I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July mine is going to be very full and we (like everyone else in the country) are in the middle of a massive heatwave so I am just going to hope that I don't feel melted like a popsicle (on the 4th of July). Now on to my 4 faves!

1. Let's just get it out of the way: FIREWORKS! Love them as much now as I did when I was a child.
2. Marching Bands, extra love if it is from a high school.
3. Tiny people waving tiny flags - there is nothing cuter than a smiling toddler waving a flag to his hearts content! 
4. The way the day puts all the songs from this kids program about the founding of our country.

What are your favorite things about the celebration of our nations Independence? 

Change: 4 Frame Re-Dos

I like to fill my guest bedroom with pictures of the smiling faces of my loved ones. So I'm always on the look out for smallish frames. There are a lot of really cute frames out there, but they are often more than I am willing to spend. There are also a lot of really less than cute or boring frames out there, those are the ones in my price rang. So with that in mind I've been collecting some small scale frames that I could easily refinish. Each of my frames cost less than a dollar and I already had everything I used to redo them in my stock of crafty supplies, so the total project cost was only about $3.50!

Frame #1 got a few layers of gray spray paint.

And a picture of my cute niece doing her best to be Fancy (you know, like Nancy)!

For frame #2 I used some enamel paint, in a light pink and gold.

 It got a picture of my little cousin Fiona swinging around like the monkey that she is!

Frame #3 is my favorite, this tiny blue frame was wrapped in some flowery washi tape (am I the only one that reads that word as Wasabi?). This site isn't where I got mine, but they do have the same tape and a lot of other cuties.

An image of Fiona's older brother Ben as a wee lad was tucked in to finish it off.

Finally I decided that I really liked the gold frame just the way it was so I just popped in a picture of Fiona and Ben's younger brother Jo and it was all set.

 So there you have it, four cute and cheap frames and all finished in less than an hour! Have you been doing any quick refinishing projects?

Live: When you take a road trip with your 12 year old sister

A few weekends ago my sister Phoebe and I took a quick little trip to visit our brother and his family in Virginia. Would you like to take a look-see? You would? Great, lets go! To get started, when you take a road trip with your 12 year old sister you must first stop by the library to pick up a few books on tape (we went with a few Princess Diaries books and a couple  by Sarah Vowell, if this trip wasn't kinda last minute I might have also run out to Target and pick up one of those "Now -eight million and twenty-five" cds, those make for great road trippin' music.) You will also want some snacks and your sun glasses, oh and don't forget to grab money for the tolls.

After quickly getting yourselves out of Dodge (read: Michigan), you might end up feeling lost in Ohio, but once you fix the very unhelpful GPS you will finally feel like you are on your way. (Really it took us a million years to make it through, but we did finally wind our way through the night to the 10th colony. Arriving just after dawn at the Marine base Quanico, where we enjoyed spending time with out niece, nephew, brother and sister in-law. Maybe I'll share some of our VA adventuring later.)

When it is time to head home you might choose to do the drive over an afternoon, as it turns our drive home was perfectly timed, no traffic not much construction easy, easy, easy. You might also want to let your sister take over the camera for the drive home, she will try very hard to grab a shot of every state sigh you drive past (and do an okay job even if they are a little blurry), she will also try and take a picture of all the places that you say are a beautiful view even when they all look the same (none of those will turn out, oh well)!

One thing is for sure you will have to stop at Chick-Fil-A before you leave Maryland, because really how can you go to the south and not grab a chicken sandwich with a pickle on it? Plus they have the really good kind of ice!

When you drive through Pennsylvania you will find yourself saying over and over "isn't that beautiful?" and your sister will say yes even though this beautiful place looks just like the last five and they are all just farms nestled in among mountains and nothing all that great.

When there is a farmers market at one of the rest stops you will have to buy a bag of apples and an assortment of jams, fruit butters and relishes to take home with you. If only so you can say while presenting the gift of spicy Chow-Chow to your dad that you just picked it up at a rest stop!

On your drive you might forget all about getting cash for the tolls before you leave town, so your sister will have to pay them. She might take a picture to help you remember you need to pay her back.

As the sunsets and the land you drive through looks more and more like home, you will think that going someplace for the weekend is great, but getting there is half the fun!

 Finally when you go on a road trip with your 12 year old sister you will have to let her DJ from time to time. So I'll leave you with a little playlist she made of Phoebe's road trippin' jams!

P.S. The Princess Diaries books are a little dated I had to explain many references to my sister.

Also a quick google search tells me that there is a Chick-Fil-A in Toledo, Ohio so I guess they have been working their way into the Midwest. 

 

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!

Watch: Bunheads

Has anyone else checked out the new ABC Family show Bunheads yet? I watched it last night and found it to be all together adorable. It is from the creator of Gilmore Girls (and has GG's own Kelly Bishop as an old school dance teacher!) so you know it is going to have quirky fast talking ladies and a town full of oddfellows. You can still check out the pilot episode on Hulu!
Let me know what you think. I know I'll be watching.

Summer Camp: Write It On Your Heart

When I was a kid going to summer camp meant a lot of things getting new clothes, making new friends, passing the swim test, making the perfect packing list, tagging your luggage so it didn't get dropped off at the wrong bus stop and memorizing scripture. So this week I thought I would share with you my current scripture memory verse(s) Jude 24-25. I've been working on writing these words on my heart, but let me tell you memorizing was a lot easier when I was a lot younger!

p.s. are you wondering what happened to last weeks post? no! well I'll fill you in anyway - the internet ate it, not sure how but when I sent to publish it last week it had just vanished. oh well, better luck next time!

List: Summer Wish List

There is no denying that summer is here. So I've been thinking about my summer wish list. You know a list of things I hope to do this summer. To start though I thought I'd list a few things I have already done.

1. Attend the annual Greek Festival at the Greek Orthodox church in town. I have wanted to check this out for years. It was great fun, next year I'll get together a bunch of folks to head out grab some dinner and enjoy the music and dancing.
2. Watch my youngest brother graduate from high school. Ike not only graduated last Sunday, as class president he gave a speech, that was both funny an moving! The kid also made all state at the State Track and Field meet the day before!
3. Plant some flowers. This isn't actually going all that well. I think I killed some of my tubers before I even put them in the ground (oy!), but my bright pink Geraniums seem to be doing well.
4. Go yard saling. Last Saturday a whole bunch of us girls made a day of it visiting a big neighborhood wide yard sale and grabbing lunch.

Now on to the TO DO list!

1. Take bike rides!
2. Visit my brother's family in Virginia.
3. Have a new profile picture taken for the blog (and all my other online haunts).
4. Grill out.
5. Swim.
6. Spend a day on Big Water (that would be at one of the lovely Great Lakes).
7.  Go to the movies.
8. Visit with old friends.
9. Bake a cake.
10. Go to the fair.
11. Watch fireworks.
12. Paint my front door.
13. Organize the office.
14. Eat outside.
15. Cheer on the Tigers at a game.
16. Visit a big city.
17. Take a road trip.
18. Wear a fancy hat.
19. Drink ice tea.
20. Sew.
21. Read.
22. Walk in a parade.
23. Meet new people.
24. Spend time with my family.
25. Dance.

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Summer Camp

Of course I'm looking forward to this movie, I love Wes Anderson and I love old school summer camps and movies about odd children and Edward Norton and when people say things like "Jimminy Cricket" and Jason Schwartzman and well you get the idea. But that isn't really what this post is about. It is about something else fun that I'm looking forward to. My Friday posts "Summer Camp" each week I'm pulling together a post that has the feeling of my summer camp days of yore. So check back each week for a little bit of camper fun!

P.S. you can hear Mr. Anderson talk about the film here.
P.P.S. who wants to see Moonrise Kingdom with me this weekend? I think I can fit it in between yard sale-ing and watching my littlest bro graduate!

Read: Summer Reading Program

An Elegant Woman Reading Under a Tree by Karl Raupp

When I was younger I loved taking part in our local library's summer reading program. I loved spending time   among the shelves of books, breathing in that glorious old book smell and plotting the books I would read to fill in the lines of my reading chart. I was a real pro and always finished my goal well before it was time to return to school reading. I loved being able to pick all my own books to read without my mom or someone else telling me what I should be reading. So with all that in mind I have decided to embark on a summer reading program all my own this year. I have chosen 12 books to challenge myself with. Some I have wanted to read for a while, some are new and some are from authors I have already fell in love with and am working my way through all their works. 

• The Poisonwood Bible is one of those books that I have been interested in for a long time, but never really did any thing about reading it, until I found a copy at the thrift store for 40 cents, I'll stick it on my bedside table and be through it quickly I'm sure.
• I have listened to three Lisa See books on CD in the last two months, but my library is out so I've moved onto the books in print. Peony in Love is next on my list.
• Under the Tuscan Sun is my "must watch when it is on TV" movies, I have seen at least a dozen times (though the first time I saw the moving was on a flight coming home form Italy) and love that part of the world so much, I'm not sure how I have gone so long without reading it.
• My cousin Elisha recommended The 19th Wife to me on Easter 2011, I just haven't gotten around to reading it yet.

     

• How could I pass up a book called: The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance?
• A Kate Morton book was on my 2011 reading list and I enjoyed it so much that I picked up another for my summer reading.
• Honestly I don't remember why I wanted to read the book Juliet, but when I went to start adding books to my summer reading list this book was already on my list, so it is to be read.
• Talking to Girls About Duran Duran, I love Rob Sheffield, love him, that's it love him!

• Divergent; dystopian YA lit-sign me up!
• I've been meaning to read Erin Morgenstiern's The Night Circus for a while now, I guess I just needed to get it down on a paper (screen) to get to it.
• MWF seeking BFF a full quarter of my books are what I would call "light" non-fiction, that type of book is one of my favorites, I'm really looking forward to reading all of them.
• Arcadia is my number one can't wait to read it book on this list. It sounds so interesting.

I used Goodreads to organize my list, I find the site to be a great way to plot future readings. Are you taking on any summer reading goals? Did you love the summer reading programs when you were a kid? What books would you suggest I or anyone else read this summer?

Make: Painted Bobby Pins

Okay lets get real here. I wear my hair pulled back like this (sorry about weird pictures of me, it is like way harder to take a picture of the top of your own head than I would have ever guessed!) with two bobby pins every single day. Because I do the same thing day in and day out I do like to mix up the look of the bobby pins a little bit. I have some great metallics as well as a few fancy ones with faux pearls and rhinestones, but today we are going to work on a really quick and easy way to add a little pizzazz to you mane with things you already have a round the house.

Namely: Nail Polish, Bobby Pins and a little piece of Cardboard. I'm sure you have all of that hanging around your place. Right?

This project is so easy, it seemed silly to call it a project at all, but here goes. There are two steps.
1. Slip Bobby Pins onto Cardboard
2. Paint top of Pins with Nail Polish, if you want to try the "advanced placement" nail polish bobby pin painting method you will paint three colors on for that color blocked effect. (I wish you could hear the way I am saying this in my please don't take me to seriously voice - okay read the instructions again with that in mind!)

Once the polish has dried you can stack them all up and take a million pictures trying to get one that looks half way good.

Or you can just slip them in your hair. That might be a better plan, but whatever floats your boat!

Watch Out For My Roots or Happy Birthday Kelsey!

Today we are going to get a little personal, we are going to talk about one of my favorite people in all the world. Her name is Kelsey. I think we first met in 2007, though it might have been 2008 - that isn't really the point of this story so we aren't going to worry about it. The story I want to tell you begins in March of 2008, I think it was a Tuesday (I think that, because, if memory serves, at that time Tuesdays were cheap days at our local movie theater), but I could be wrong, what I do know is that is was soggy and dark (am I the only one that has a strong memory of weather around events, I think I can tell you what the weather was like on any given day far better than I could tell you what someone was wearing or what we talked about?). This March night Phoebe and I had plans to see a movie we had been waiting for a long time to see. We were really excited to see the film Penelope and when our brothers girlfriend, in town with him on spring break, said she'd like to come we were happy to have the company. I'll have to ask Phoeb about it, but I think that night we both knew. We knew like you know about a song that you will one day love the first time you hear it on the radio, we knew that we loved Kelsey. I think even then as we drove home talking about Penelope's great clothes and the sweet message of like yourself the way you are, we knew that Kelsey was going to be an important person, the kind of person that even when you don't see them for years they will pop into your mind from time to time, the kind that when you get the chance to spend time together the hours can just slip away because you are having such a wonderful time - we knew Kelsey felt a lot like a sister.

Sometime not that long after that visit Sam and Kelsey broke up and we (my sister and I) didn't see her again for a very long time. But you know sometimes those things have a way of working themselves out. About a year later one of our other brothers, Andrew married a great gal (we LOVE Lauren!!!) and the sister side of our family grew. For a girl that never wanted sisters I had been really blessed with one actually factual sister that was, as we like to say in our family: "Just I need" and the perfect sister in-law to counter act a lifetime of brothers. But I'll say this, some of us (me and Phoebs and maybe that brother) never completely got over Kelsey. I'm not sure you will understand this unless you have brothers of marrying age, but there is this odd thing about sisters in-law, for most of us girls we are closer to our sisters than we are to just about any other persons on earth and in a perfect world your sister in-law can feel just as close as a sister that is your flesh and blood.

So when that day came almost three years later when after a reunion Sam asked Kelsey to marry him. There were at least two people who were secretly saying "I knew it!". They were married last September and now Kelsey really is our sister. She is an amazing woman and her love is one of the best things that has ever happened to our brother. Today is her birthday so it seems right and proper to give her her dues.

Happy Birthday Kelsey - I always knew we were meant to be sisters!

P.S. The post title is a little joke for Kelsey, a line from our favorite commercial that come on a lot while we were watching out favorite show (The Voice!).

So So So So So Cute!

I saw so many cute things today. So I thought I'd hop on for a Saturday afternoon post to share my top three.

1. Just after the sun rose this morning, I was making my usual early Saturday morning drive out to my weekly 7 a.m. meeting, when I drove past a field that has newly become the home of a herd of very beautiful cows, I saw all the sweet little babies nursing. It was so so so so so cute! No really I would have pulled over and taken a picture if I had the time. 
2. This afternoon I found the cutest tiny little hot pink cactus at the store, but I'll share more on that later!
3. On my drive home from the store I saw this super cute older couple riding together on their mower. That would so be my mom and dad, if they didn't live downtown. 

That picture of my brother's dog Amelia has nothing to do with this post. Only she is pretty cute!