Summer Always On My Mind

So if you live in the midwest then you know summer is starting to wind down. Now I have to say we had a pretty awesome summer! The last few summers have been a bummer but not this year ! We have done all sorts of fun summer things... days on the beach... Antiqueing...vaca on the ocean... Several trips up at New Buffalo on the lake michigan shore... bike rides , Saugatuck , dinner at Tabor Hill Winery , wine tastings... I could go on and on.... I wish summer never had to end, but it is sadly coming to an end. I am a summer ocean girl through and through and one day I will be moving there.... My heart longs for the ocean and the salty sea air. The smell of fresh shrimp on the grill that was just caught fresh that day, sandy toes and dinner on the beach ,beach crusier rides on the beach and naps in the hammock. That is what I am talking about! That to me is LIVING!!!! that is where my heart is most HAPPY! I was born a midwest girl but a Southern Girl is who I AM!
So here a a few pics from our last weekend trip up to the beach.... the hubby and I at one of our favorite beachy bars The Stray Dog Bar and Grill.... I just love the roof top you get a great view of the lake and the passers by on their way to the beach. I love to people watch, Hee Hee
The bartender was so nice to take our picture.... Oh and there was a duet playing live music , they even played Jimmy Buffet .That really made my heart happy as can be , they even played my favorite Jimmy Buffet song by request Margaritaville! I L*O*V*E that song it always makes me feel like I am on vaca at a warm beachy place. I was so happy this night I didn't want it to end...

My girlies who love the beach as much as me..... isn't my friend in the middle adorable? she is expecting a baby girl this November, that is actaully why we went up to the beach that day. My friend sara asked me my other friend in the picture to take their family photos on the beach, I was so flattered that she asked me. I Love photography. It is so nice to have friends who encourage you no matter what it is you do. I have some amazingly talented friends who are so inspiring to be around, we are always bouncing ideas off of each other.
So here is a little sneak peak of some of the photos I took of the Nunley family.... I had a lot of fun taking their photos I have to say it was a really HOT day so as you can imagine for someone expecting a baby the photo shoot was a little tiring for her but she was a trooper !

This picture of them holding hands is one of my favorites... I had a lot of other photo ideas I wanted to do but everyone had enough picture taking in the heat, guess we will just have to do another photo shoot. Oooh maybe this fall on the beach while the sky is really blue . I hope you had a great summer, I sure have !

4 th of July and Sara's b-day

Well I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th. I know I had a fabulous 4th of July weekend. The weather was absolutely perfect, finally a warm midwest 4th of July !!! I just love summer and everything summer means... friends, family ,grill outs, white wine, warm summer nights, the bats and night hawks. I could go on and on about summer. So my friend Sara's birthday just happens to be on the 4th how cool is that! She had everyone over for a b-day grill out/b-day party. Now all the girls had no idea the theme for her b-day was daisies, which by the way are my favorite! She is such the party planner, we always joke with each other and say it's all about the details and I think it really is!
So she made us these cute daisy flips flops...

She even made these adorable daisy cupcakes, too cute!!!! even the daisy candies were edible

And how cute is this flower box? she grew some grass and arranged the daisies in the box. I think that is so adorable....

And you can't really see them but if you look up a the ceiling she even made those adorable tissue paper daisies and hung them all from the ceiling of her back porch. Great job Sara everything was super cute! I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend, I am off to the beach today to enjoy every last bit of the weekend... Have a fabulous day !
S~

There are friends who pass like ships in the night,
Who meet for a moment then sail out of sight,
With never a backwards glance of regret,
Friends we know briefly, then quickly forget.

Then there are friends that sail together,
Through quiet waters and stormy weather.
Helping each other through joy and strife,
These are the friends who bring meaning to life

Beach Cruiser Love

Hello everyone, so I was busy all last week putting together this beach cruiser for my sister's b-day/going away gift. Now I can't take all the credit , all my girlies and even some of our husbands had a hand in the putting together of the beach cruiser! Whether it was monetarily or having a hand in crafting something for it we all played a part. I think it turned out just adorable. Pink is my sister's favorite color and I think it is just so happy. Now my sister is getting ready to move to Bluffton South Carolina, if you don't know where that is it is just over the bridge from Hilton Head Island. So I had been wanting to find an old beach cruiser and do it up from scratch but since she is moving soon I had to go to plan B. So if you ask me, you can't move to the ocean and not have a super cute little beach cruiser to go tooling around on.

So we all went in on the purchase of the the bike, basket, bell and stickers for it.My friend Sara sewed a super cute fabric basket liner for the basket and even laminated a little sentimental note about friendship on it and attached it to the inside of the basket. I hot glued on some daisies to the basket and put on some really cute flower stickers. I also bought her a bouquet of pink daisies and a bottle of wine and placed them in the basket.It was as simple as that !!! She was so shocked, All my friends including our husbands had been keeping this surprise under wraps all week and let me tell you I was a little stressed that we would not pull it off in time for the big surprise but we Did !!! Thank you friends and husbands you ROCK!!!!
So that's my sister happy to do a little photo opp on her new Bike. She looks ready to roll. I hope you feel the wind in your hair and smell the salty sea air as you cruise on your new bike. Enjoy !!!

And last but not least my girls and even my dog Molly posed so cute for the picture. I have to say I have an awesome group of girlfriends who I love dearly. We are so crazy when we all get together. We call our selves the real housewives of Michiana, minus the money LOL .... We always have a blast no matter what we do. It's so nice having an awesome group of friends, they are so laid back and easy. That is the way all friendships should be simple and easy!
Love you girlies.
S~

"We will be friends... As long as stars twinkle in the sky... As long as angels are there up high...til' oceans run dry, and til the day I die "

Birthday Winter Beach Party!

So I had my 38th b-day on march 14th and my girles threw me very thoughtful winter beach party ! Girls you are the best love you! You made my day. Now as you can see by the looks on our faces we are all very serious about our photo taking abilities LOl... I can only imagine what our husbands are saying at this point! Knowing my hubby he is probably just shaking his head, oh well we had a great time.
Look they even went as far as dying the water blue to look like the ocean! They know me all to well... everything was just so happy, I feel so lucky to have such awesome girls in my life.

They even did a little collage of some of our fun times together they really thought of everything. They really made me feel special.


And yes that is what it looks like in the background a dark chocolate fondue with fruit ! So sweet ....
and of course you can't have a beach party without little umbrellas and cute little drink stirrers...

What a great birthday and I just want to thank everyone who was a part of it and for going out of your way, I can't thank you all enough. It's so nice having people in your life who really know and support you for who you are ! Thank you friends and family you "ROCK"
S~

Happy Crafting

Wow the sun has been shinning for two days now and I couldn't be happier or more inspired! This winter has really been hard. When the sun shines I get a little crazy and want to do a million things, sometimes I get anxiety and I can't decided what project I want to do! Since the sun has been shining I have suddenly been re inspired to be creative. So the other might we had craft night at my friend Sara's house. We made an awesome salad with a mango dressing and some olive tapenade bruschetta, it was YUMMY!
Then we poured some vino and got busy crafting.....
We pulled out the paint and bedazzles and got to crafting!

Now we didn't finish our projects that night but we made a good start, we did however laugh a lot, we laughed so much it hurt! It is so nice to be around such inspiring and crafty girls. When I get this project done I will post it so stay tuned for more craft nights with the girls...

I hope you are inspired I think my creative juices are flowing, must be all the sunshine! I have to say our first craft night was a success. Hope you find something crafty to do this weekend. Check back for more craft nights. Today I am a Happy Crafter! Now get to crafting.
S~

Live Life , Love Life

Sometimes life just doesn't go according to plan an that is OK. I think as I get older I am really learning what really is important. I realize that you may have a certain set of expectations for yourself and sometimes you have to live in the moment and not be tied to the things you think you have to do, its ok to go a little of course. Sometimes when we change our intended plans we end up appreciating certain things that we may take for granted on a daily basis. I had high hopes today to ride the trainer but instead I had some vino with my sister and spent quality time together and just truly appreciated the time I had with my sister. Life get's so crazy and we often just don't make the time to tell our friends and family how much we love and appreciate them. I often think to myself I could step of the curb and get hit by a car or a ceiling tile could fall on my head and that would be the end, so I believe you have to wake up every day and savor it, you may not get the opportunity to do all the things you dream about. You have to make your best effort every day to just appreciate and focus on the GOOD things you have and not the things you wish you had.

So stop procrastinating and just make things happen. Quit making excuses just follow your heart and if your heart says skip the workout and spend time with friends and family then do just that and don't beat yourself up. Love yourself enough to know that you are not perfect and life is not perfect. Life doesn't always go according to plan and as I always say sometimes the best things in life are the ones not planned. If you take the pressure of yourself you will never be disappointed. It's great to have life goals don't get me wrong but I think we get caught up in trying to be the perfect wife the perfect friend, just do what your heart says feels right and stop stressing about the things that really don't matter. when our number is up it won't really matter how much money we have , how successful we are, did we have the big house ,those are just THINGS and they really don't matter, its the memories we created and the time spent with friends and loved ones.

Make every day count and just be YOU...

Have a fabulous Tuesday !!!

" remember your yesterdays, dream your tomorrows and live your todays. "

Christmas Festivities 2009

The holidays are upon us and you know what that means... Cocktails, friends and good times. Just thought I would share some of my holiday festivities.

Yummy Pomegranate martinis ... oh and notice we have the same shirt on, so not planned but too funny!!!!




Wishing all of my friends and family peace , joy and love this Christmas.
Cheers!