Operation Crafty Christmas

In between holiday parties, baking, work, shopping, Junior League and not blogging I some how found time to throw together my parent's Christmas present.

My mom is not really into pictures, or at least archiving them in something other than a shoe box or random drawer. They've lived in their current house for a little over a year and their walls are empty so I thought it'd be nice to spruce them up and document our family's growth and locations. We moved a TON growing up. 9 times for me and going on 11 for them.

When I saw this on Pinterest I thought it was the perfect gift idea.

I had my Grandma's scouring their collections for the pictures, but the scanners turned out to be too much of a challenge for them so I had to turn to my brother. He was able to snoop around my parent's house and find some gems. We found enough frame-ables, others didn't make the cut but were just plain hilarious.

My mom and I circa 1989

My brother and I circa 1997

My brother and I and our cousins circa 2001

Parents circa 2004

When I was planning to do this myself I bought an old school Rand McNally book and scanned in the states. My brother was actually able to take those and photoshop, tint and make perfectly proportioned "cut here dummy" lines for me to match up the maps with the Matting. With the help of an X-Acto knife (and the company printer) I cut them out and glued them to the mattes.

When it was all said and done I had 9 frames! In order from top left:

Huron, Ohio (1984-1985): Wedding Picture
Minneapolis, MN(1985-1988):  my parents and I in front of our house before my baptism
Hudson, WI (1988-1990): My parents, my sister and I & My brother, our dog (Reggie) and I
Grants Pass, OR (1990-1993): My parents, my brother and I on the Rogue River
Wausau, WI (1993-1997): My brother and I with the Wausau Woodchuck mascot
Walnut Creek, CA (1997-2001): The fam at Skipolini's Pizza
River Forest, IL (2001-2005): The fam & the dogs (Sparkles and Miss Mama) in front of our house
Oak Park, IL (2006-2009): The fam at the Capitol One Bowl in Orlando
Madison, WI (2010-2013): All of us at my cousin's wedding

At the Lake...

I hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend! I had an amazingly perfect one!

I spent Labor Day weekend at my family's lake house. I usually go for a week or 2 around the 4th of July, but because of my European adventure I wasn't able to make it. Fiscally responsible me was thinking that I wasn't going to be able to make it at all this summer, but as the last, unofficial, weekend of summer approached my heartstrings got the best of me.

It's about 2 hours northeast of the Minneapolis in the small town of Wascott, Wisconsin. Both my Grandparents grew up 10 minutes north of Wascott in Gordon and after leaving to pursue careers and raise family, returned to live in their retirement. My Grandpa has 3 brothers and they all bought houses on the same lake. Those houses have been full of summer memories for 3 generations now and I quite honestly couldn't turn away a summer without it.

The sound of the water, the birds, the dogs and the thumping of kids feet down the wooden docks followed by a huge splash; the smell of nature mixed with a little boat gasoline; the feel of sandy grass in your toes those have been the only constants in a life full of changes (I've lived in 6 different states and 15 different houses in my 25 years). There's about a foot high step between the living room and the dining room and I can remember being so little I had to sit down to get down it by myself, without falling. There's no where else in the world I have those kinds of memories. That's a kind of comfort and relaxation that I can't get anywhere else. I would say I am truly at peace. It was quiet, but welcome refreshment in a very stressful work environment and allowed me to put a lot of things in perspective that I've been struggling with for a while now.

I can't believe I was there just a week ago. Besides the 3 mosquito bites on my legs and pictures; it feels so far away. T-9 months until next summer!

Hail to The Queen

The Queen of the WASPs one might say, is celebrating her 60th year on the thrown this weekend. People magazine has posted a gallery of her stunning style throughout the years. I was, quite honestly, a little surprised. Her Majesty's personal style is overshadowed by her daughter and granddaughter in-law's style, but when you take a moment to look at it she is quite and elegant and tasteful lady herself.

This picture reminded me of Princess Catherine's look at the Sun Military Awards last December,

Credit: William Hustler and Georgina Hustler/ National Portrait Gallery, London

Memorial Day Weekend!

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!
It's officially summer in my book. I'm missing being at my lake house so much right now. With my European/African adventure this summer, I won't get to go at all :(

With all the people and the dogs and the heat it's amazing that there's a place that can offer so much craziness and tranquility at the same time! I can almost hear the laughter, the yelling, the dogs barking and the splashing.