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, July 29, 2011

Random Summer Fun

Happy FRIDAY! wow it's been a hot one here in the mid west I mean like low country hot! I love it now do I love 99.9 % humidity not really but you will never hear me complain. Living in the mid west you just have to soak up each sunny day because we just don't have that many really super sunny days carpe diem! or carpe vino! like I like to say  RIGHT ??? Just live each and everyday doing what makes you happy and your soul sing! So I thought I would share some of my summer escapades and happy times with my hubby. We have the best fun together no matter what we do, this usually includes me coming up with crazy random ideas and lots that are not planned at all and end up being the best times. I always say the best times in life are truly the ones not planned. I just love this pic of us watching the sunset, wasn't planned this night but we were having dinner with some friends of ours up in South Haven and after dinner everyone was so full and I said hey let's all walk down and watch the sunset it will help our food digest. So glad we walked down to do it , it was BEAUTIFUL, gotta enjoy these simple things in life!


Another favorite place of ours The Idler it's a boat/bar on the water. I just love drinking my vino while watching all the boats drift by while day dreaming. My husband and I have been going to South Haven ever since I was in high school it's been our place. We even drive up there in the winter to see all the ice on lake Michigan it has it's specialness in the winter too, plus who doesn't want any opportunity to go to the beach!!! I love photographing the beach in all seasons, but of course summer is my favorite time.

My husband is such a trooper he isn't a fan of being in pictures but he gladly let me take this picture, thanks honey you are cute !
How cute is this place! I have been wanting to go here forever and finally they were open while I was there. I absolutely love it and would buy pretty much anything in there... I did buy some pretty turquoise  sea glass, I couldn't resist!
More random summer fun but with our dog Molly this time! She was so happy to get to come along this day she actually got to go to 2 dog friendly bars, this one and one called Bridges that our friends found and it is just as cute and on the water, Molly says thanks friends for finding it . I always feel bad when we are gone all day galavanting around and having to leave our doggie at home all day. She was a trooper and did very well. Wish there were more dog friendly places in our area. Well anyway I love to cook and I especially love cooking good healthy food. So here is what we had for dinner last night grilled tuna steaks with purple cabbage asian slaw, fresh garden beans from a friends garden and grilled peaches for desert. A simple healthy easy summer meal. Nothing screams summer like grilling your dinner and desert all on the grill.
I hope everyone is having a great summer , I am off to work on some new stuff for my etsy shop stay tuned I hope to have them listed this weekend.     S~    xoxo                                                    


Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Girlogik tanks and a simple ball jar vase project

Happy summer day to you! I am excited to share my friends new etsy shop called Girlogik she will be making custom tanks like these along with make up bags, clutches and some other girly accessories.  You have to check them out at http://www.etsy.com/shop/girlogik?ref=ss_profile she made me this adorable Bliss one for my b-day I just love it, thanks Sara! she also made me my very own custom Beach House Bliss for my etsy shop. She is so very talented you must stop by and check out her shop.
So I was reading flea market style magazine the other day and came across this simple mason jar vase project. For this simple project get yourself a cute blue mason jar a metal clamp,  which you can find at any hardware store usually in or near the plumbing, piece of wood ( I used an old piece of wainscoting I had laying around) and some screws. Screw the metal clamp to a piece of wood then slip the jar threw the metal ring and tighten until the jar holds firm. So simple and I just love it. I am limited on surface space so this is a great way to display your pretty backyard wildflowers . Simple and cute !
Speaking of pretty back yard flowers... My mom gave me these gorgeous hydrangeas they along with peonies and daisies are one of my favorites. Hope you are having a great summer, what have you been up to lately?

"The most beautiful discovery true friends make is that they can grow separately without growing apart. "
~ Elisabeth Foley
 

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th friends, family and fellow bloggers! It is an absolutely beautiful 4th of July weekend here in the mid west! I couldn't be happier. We spent the day on the lake at our families friends house and it was wonderful. We took the canoe around the lake and totally just soaked up all the beauty. It was a perfect day. It's so nice to be around such wonderful people, lots of good food and drink and wonderful stories. Our day ended with some really nice fireworks on the lake, it was a great place to watch them, we had front row seats on the lake!
 On a side note my friend and I just got her etsy shop opened up, she makes the most adorable tanks. She will also be taking custom orders, please take a peak at her shop www.girlogik.etsy.com
Now back to the 4th of July festivities....


 My husband is so sweet he canoed me all around the lake, I have a injured arm so he was so kind to canoe us all around while I happily drank my vino and took photos :-)



How cute is this , this is my parents friends boat it's even has a big paddle on the back like the old riverboats, which you can't see in this pic. The kids love to  jump off the top of the boat and they have even added a slide what kid wouldn't be happy! I just love being on the water no matter where! I hope everyone is having a good holiday weekend, let the festivities continue!
Cheers!
xoxo

Saturday, July 2, 2011

What I've been working on in the Beach House Bliss Studio

Hello and happy 4th of July weekend. It's a busy weekend for everyone. We are headed up to our parents friends house up on the lake for some 4th of July festivities so I just wanted to pop in real quick and tell you what I have been working on for my etsy shop. I have been perfecting these belt buckles and I am almost there. I am excited to sell these in my shop. Like anything you create it's a process and fine tuning, plus I have been wearing this buckle to see how it holds up and so far so good! I have a ton of ideas for my buckles and can't wait to get to them. So what do you think so far? I am open to any creative ideas or tips... so anyway just wanted to give you a peek at what I have been working on in the Beach House Bliss Studio! Stay tuned I will let you know when I get ready to put them in my shop :-)
So I have been in desperate need of something to hang my necklaces on so I just made this simple little picture fame necklace holder. Just take some burlap a simple white frame and staple the burlap tight onto the cardboard backer that comes with the frame . Get yourself some cute little sewing pins( I found these cute little butterflies at Meijer) and hang your necklaces that's it simple and sweet!

Awhile back I did a makeover on my bedroom and the style is what I like to call Shabby Chic Boutique. I got the cutest little shabby chic chandelier to pull it all together. I needed a few more little simple accessories so I made this sweet little frame. I used a 5x7 frame, painted it black and then simply scuffed it up. For the card I used a 5x7 canvas photo card and just stamped my little saying with stampers you can get at any craft store. A simple little frame which I think turned out adorable. So there you have it my latest comings and goings. I'm off to the lake for some drinking vino on the boat time!
Happy 4th of July weekend. Hope you get to get and enjoy this beautiful day. Until next time...
much love xoxo
S~