About Me

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Born a mid western girl but an ocean girl at heart! My soul belongs to the sea....I am obsessed with the color TURQUOISE and all things beachy. I love nature, the outdoors, dogs,cooking,wine,art backpacking, cycling and reading. I also have a passion for photography and I absolutely love photographing the beach that is where my soul is happiest.! I hope you enjoy following me and my adventures so welcome to my blog, I hope you are inspired. HAPPY BLOGGING !

Friday, April 23, 2010

Friday Photo of the Day


So I am saving for a new camera but in the meantime I am taking my camera with me where ever I go (when I can remember) LOL...I recently met two amazing photographers who have so inspired me to just start taking photos and not to be afraid. They take some rockin photos. They have a very similar styling to their photogtaphy that I love and try to achieve. I sometimes get really frustrated while taking photos because I have a vision in my head of how I want the photo to turn out but sometimes I just can't capture my idea. My husband is constantly telling me to just take photos and that even the best photographers don't always get the best shot every time. I guess I never thought of that before.He is so supportive and encouraging. It is so nice to have friends and family who support your creativity. So until I get my new camera which I have been talking about for about the last I don't know how many years I will continue to just get out there and take pictures.I am going to try and post a photo every friday and see what I can capture. So stay tuned, let's just see what my camera see's!

Hope you have a creative weekend!
S~


"A mad, keen photographer needs to get out into the world and work and make mistakes." - Sam Abell

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Spring Break April 2010

Ok so I am so excited about this post. My sister and I and my niece and nephew went to North and South Carolina for spring and I have to say it was FABULOUS! my soul needed it so bad especially after our brutal midwest winter. I was in in sheer bliss the entire week we had amazing weather, we had 8 days straight of sunny beautiful weather. So the little wine shop we stumbled across in Charleston did the cutest dog wine labels and some of the sales went towards dog charity. I am a huge dog lover and guess what they even had a airedale one so naturally that was my wine of choice the one with the Airedale label. So cute .
So this is one of many reasons why I love Charleston , check out this inn how cute is that! One of the reasons I love Charleston all the history and architecture.
So meet my niece and nephew: ~Haley and Noah~ wow they are growing up right before my eyes. The cool thing is that I have been able to introduce them to South Carolina, they have spent most of their lives vacationing there! Now this fountain is one of our annual traditions,we always take our picture there every year then we go to the Godiva Chocolate shop and get some super yummy chocolate. Don't you just love traditions. Anyone who knows me knows this about me I love traditions !!!
Haley and I sharing a grown up moment...
So now meet my sister aka best friend Carrie . We are in sheer bliss relaxing poolside while reading our favorite magazines while sipping vino. I couldn't have been happier that day... well unless our husbands were there! sorry husbands we missed you badly , really we did !
So here we are at our hotel sitting outside enjoying a little vino oh and a dirty martini for my sister.
Now we decided to head over to the Isle of Palms which is a little island just a hop skip and a jump from Charleston. I had to go to the ocean and put my toes in the sand my heart and soul was aching for the ocean.
So I did a little internet research and found a restaurant on the Isle of Palms that was on the water and had outdoor seating. It was super cute and right on the marina.
What a cute little outside bar they had...
So we had a great day on the ocean , and I got a little inspired to be a little creative and drew this little saying in the sand I know it's kind of hard to read but is says " best friends" and yes those are our toes ! We had a picture perfect relaxing day at the ocean. I was so blissfully happy !
Now how cute is this little beach house it is even blue my favorite color!!! I could so live there it is just across from the beach access . Lucky themSpeaking of cute check out my niece and nephew they look like locals! Haley plays volleyball so naturally she wanted to bring her volleyball and get a little beach practice in !
So this was a pleasant new find of a restaurant back in Charleston. Coast how cute is that. I had local fresh caught grouper and it was amazing, I can't wait to go back this June. Yum-0
Ah beautiful sea grass just blowing in the wind.... I just love the ocean.
Check out this pic do you notice something??? yup that is my reflection in the window kind of cool that doesn't happen very often. Love all the window boxes in charleston. So happy .
Check out this place wowzers this is true Charleston charm big historic houses with a lot of southern charm.
I can so see me drinking a glass of vino on this porch. Love it . How cozy .
This is something you see a lot of in Charleston , wrought iron and actually it is a lost art such a shame. This kind of craftsmenship is past down from generation to generation.
What an adorable little yard , more southern charm.
This is a bed and breakfast I would so stay there.... how inviting.
Another inviting porch ....
This set of homes is called Rainbow row because of all the bright colors and these are considered row houses, you see a lot of that in England. I just love rainbow row, I never get tired of photographing it.
While walking around the streets of charleston we were greeted with these little cuties. They were so well behaved we were taking pictures of their house and they quietly walked right up to the fence to greet us without even barking, too cute!
More of that wrought iron that I just love.
Let me introduce you to wisteria if you have never seen it in bloom. This is a first for me it is a spring bloomer and I have never been to Charleston in the spring. Wow was it beautiful, it was hanging from everything .
Me and my sister at one of our favorite pubs Tommy Condons it is a definite must while in Charleston sorry guys wish you were there....
Now for our hotel in Charleston ... what a beautiful historic boutique hotel. I read that Edgar Allen Poe once stayed there how cool is that ???
This was our pool ... super cute and guess what they played jazz all day . I was one happy girl! And check it out the outdoor patio ceiling was aqua my favorite color!

This here is where we had breakfast and after dinner cocktails at out hotel patio, we really enjoyed that.

I highly recommend this hotel to anyone who visits Charleston South Carolina . It is the best western king charles hotel. This hotel is located in the heart of downtown charleston, no need to ever drive anywhere it is so close to everything. We really love this place and highly recommend it. I hope you enjoyed out pics as much as we enjoyed the trip. I can't wait until we go back this June! I raise up my glass to Charleston I LOVE that city .
Cheers!
S~

Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Long Day at Work


Ok so when I got home from work today I decided I wanted to do a little yard work and look what I found!!!! The Airedale decided to dig a huge hole in my garden!!! UGG darn dog she is quite the hole digger as you can see, oh well what can you do

How can you be mad at a face like that. The funny thing is when I went over to fill the hole in she went right over by the hole and sat up against the fence and just looked at me. She knew what she did she is so smart !!!
So after I did all the damage control I decided to break open a bottle of vino and start on some yard and pond work.
So as you can see it's early spring and the pond doesn't look that great so I am taking before and after pictures this year... stayed tuned I will be posting pics of the pond when it is in full swing. I just love my pond, it has brought me a lot of joy. I just love the sound of the waterfall while I am out sitting on my deck. The sound of water trickling is so calming to your soul.
So you know how earlier I was saying that I came home to a huge hole in my garden well I also came home to my tulips blooming yippee! that put a instant smile on my face.
Happy little tulips, I planted 50 bulbs last fall and I was kind of bummed when I saw them come up it didn't look like the were going to have buds on them. I guess they just needed a little more coaxing for some reason. None the less they all opened and that made my day.

I also came home and saw the lilacs, now I was so excited to cut some and bring them in that I didn't even notice they were not completely opened. Oh well there will be more to cut in the next few days when they open. So after a long day at work and all the negatives I focused on the positive things that my own backyard had to offer me. I guess the lesson here is that even when you have a stressful day and you feel all the negatives, there truly is always something positive to appreciate. I guess You just have to be open to discovering it. So thank you happy little tulips and lilacs you made my day brighter. Have a super day tomorrow and remember to look for something positive in your day!
S~

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Fresh Friday


So here we are another fresh friday and today's recipe is a little different than usual. My recipe is for ...

~ A FABULOUS DAY ~

You will need to mix

A whole lot of sunshine.....

A little antiquing....

A little vino...

Some yummy food..

Mix all ingredients and

ENJOY!!!

p.s. I am heading South for spring break see you all in a week!

Have a Fabulous weekend, can't wait to put my toes in the sand :-)