Springtime Happiness

Happy tuesday !!! So today was kind of dreary and cold and to be honest I just don't know how much more of this dreary weather my soul can take... I had an ok day nothing special just a ordinary day work day , kind of day where you sit at your job and look out the window and hope for a ray of sunshine a glimmer of warm summer days to come... so no sunshine here today I am sad to say. So when I got home I was happily greeted with these happy little lilacs and I thought to myself here is your sunshine today! You just have to find sunshine in all the beautiful things around YOU!

 

You know what else makes me happy? the ocean so when it's dreary here and I am feeling a little blue I just look at at all my happy beach pictures and I imagine myself on the ocean drifting along the beach collecting my thoughts! Voila I am instantly snapped out of my funk !

I hope you are having a good week. I am off to pour a glass of wine and relax by the chiminea with hopes of warm summer days to come... Until we meet again have a wonderful rest of the week. I have more little projects I am working on so I will post pics when they are done. So many ideas so little time, my creative juices have been a flowin!

Dreams

So lately I have been in a bit of a slump mentally and creatively.I really am affected by winter's harshness. I don't care how positive you try to be in the winter time in the midwest it is just plain HARD!!! I have tried to put on a good face and ignore it but I don't like anything about winter. So the one thing I have been doing is dreaming about one day opening my own little wine beachy boutique with my sister. We both love wine and the beach, just perfect for us.The name of our shop would be SHORE VINO. We would even sell our own little beachy creations along with wine. I can envision our little shop down by the beach with white washed wood floors and turquoise walls. As you walk in you would smell our beachy candles and hear jazz music playing. I would love to even have a small little tasting bar for vino. You could do a little tasting while shopping for fun beachy gifts.The possibilities are endless.How fun would that be to own a little shop with your sister??? so what do you think??? I could be super happy working there could you be happy shopping in our little beachy wine boutique??? Check out this vino... Seaglass just perfect for a day at the Beach. And yes the wine is really yummy.Shore Vino would gladly make you a plate of cheese, some good dark chocolate and a bottle of vino to take down to the beach and watch the sunset.

Yup that's my sister and I happy as can be riding our beach cruisers... being free and sharing all our our hopes and dreams together. Never ever ever give up on your dreams, always follow your heart and never be afraid to be "YOU" and having great friends who support you and your dreams and who are truly happy for you,I thank you for believing in me!!!

So there you have it... my dream to open up Shore Vino with my sister . Oh and by the way a dream has to start somewhere right? We have purchased the domain name Shore Vino. We both came up with the name together one night while having a little vino and brain storming. I just love it, two of our favorite things!!! A dream starts with the smallest of steps but you just have to keep moving forward to make your dreams come true!I hope you take some time to dream everyday, you never know where your dreams will take you!
S~

"Nothing happens unless first we dream."
Carl Sandburg

Just Be... A simple thought

Just a simple thought for today .... Just Be... and do one thing every day that makes you HAPPY !We are in control of our own happiness and our Dreams. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves to simply just Be....be here and be present and enjoy life's simple pleasures. Whether it is a simple stroll on the beach or just sitting quietly and collecting your thoughts, life is too short not to appreciate the simple things. We all need to recharge our minds and spirits and for me that means spending time in the back country for 9 days backpacking. When I am out there it really puts my life into perspective, you have lots of quiet time to evaluate your life and really find what is really important to you. I have found that we really can do with a lot less "things" in life, why do we get so attached to things??? I absolutely love nature and all the free "things" it gives me. I am really trying hard each day to live it to the fullest and be appreciative of the simple things.
So I leave you with this beautiful sunrise to ponder a thought... Now sit back and just Be...

I will be sure to tell you all about my backpack trip up to Isle Royale National Park. I am getting so excited , can't wait to share my adventure with you!

Oh and remember it's the free "things" in life that hold the most value.

Have a wonderful week!
S~

A mid west girl who dreams of the ocean often...

HaPpY fRiDay!!! And happy 4TH of july weekend. So summer is in full swing here in the mid west and I find myself dreaming about the ocean. I say I am a mid west girl with a southern heart who was born in the wrong state. I can't explain it but there is something about the ocean that instantly calms my soul. Have you ever visited a place and instantly you knew that is where you had to live??? It happened to me when my husband first took me to South Carolina and we camped on the ocean at Edisto Beach State park. We also visit Charleston while we are there. I simply adore Charleston and all it's southern charm. Horse drawn carriages take people through the old historic town. As you pass by the old historic homes you can feel how old this town really is. This city is oozing with history , culture, good food and drink and lots of Art. There is something in Charleston for everyone. As you walk through all the old neighborhoods you can see the spanish moss blowing in the warm southern breeze, the trees are simply alive!! The trees are amazing you can feel the life in them.So enough talk of that ... enter Seaglass wine!!! My friend happened upon this fabulous wine at a lawn and garden center, which mind you this is no run of the mill garden center. This place is amazing they have a little bit of everything. So while I was vacationing on the ocean this past june I came across this very wine at the tiniest liquor store on the beach!!! I stopped dead in my tracks and said to my husband look they have seaglass wine. Now before this I have never even heard of seaglass wine until my friend found it.let me tell you it ROCKS!!! and isn't the bottle adorable? it's a keeper for sure. If you love white wine and ever come across this it is a must try.
Now check out this beach house. I simply LOVE~ LOVE ~ LOVE this beach house. I would live in this beach house in a heart beat and it is in my favorite color Turquoise!!!. Every time we drive past this house it puts a big smile on my face. How could you not be happy living there ???

So now we come to a healthy eats part of this post, all this blogging has made me hungry.

Let me introduce you to the mung bean noodle... My same friend who found the fabulous wine also found these awesome noodles. You can find these at your local health food store... usually. They are so healthy and a great alternative to traditional pasta noodles . The only ingredients in them are mung beans and water. kind of crazy. We have been eating them like mad. You can really add about anything to them and they are great. Oh and check out the place mats aren't they cute. All I did was buy the turquoise place mats and I just hot glued the star fish on them. I think they are super cute and they took all of about 10 min to make. So for this recipe ~


I just made the noodles and infused some olive oil with about 5 garlic gloves, snipped some basil,parsley, and mint from my garden and sauteed some shrimp with a little white wine, olive oil and crushed red pepper. I also added artichokes, sun dried tomatoes and topped it all off with some fresh grated parmesan YUMO-O !!!!


Every once in awhile, a casual stroll on the beach yields an unexpected treasure–an unbroken shell, an unusually shaped stone, a piece of sea glass. Occasionally, the same thing happens with wine

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 "

DREAMS

Have you ever wanted something so bad it hurt??? So if you don't know by now my dream is to live near the ocean.I eat sleep and breathe the ocean in my dreams.... I long for that day that I actually move there.I will not, I repeat not EVER give up on this dream. Sometimes in life you feel so beat down and that your dreams will never come true.But I am a firm believer that if you want something bad enough you will make it happen. Where there is a will there is a way right??? My poor friends have heard me talk about moving to the ocean forever and sometimes I think will it ever happen??? I just know in my heart that the ocean is where I have to be and I can't and refuse to ever give up on that DREAM !!!

We are on this earth for a very short blip on the radar so why not be the happiest you can be. I believe we create our own happiness, well at least some of it anyway. So until I can move to the ocean I will continue to hold that dream close to my heart and hopefully some day soon I can share with you my new cottage near the ocean.That is one thing I can promise, I don't know when but when I do make that move to the ocean you can bet your bottom dollar I will be here blogging at the top of my lungs about it . So just remember we are partly responsible for making our dreams come true!

Have a great week...
S~

“Never, never, never, never give up.” Winston Churchill

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 :-)

Happy Frozen Friday!!!

Let me introduce you to the Island Girl Cocktail...

Island Girl

Stir together 8 ounces (1 cup) cranberry juice cocktail, 8 ounces (1 cup) vodka, 4 ounces (½ cup) ginger ale, and 2 ounces (¼ cup) fresh lime juice in a large pitcher. Pour into ice-filled glasses, and garnish with lime wedges. Makes 4 servings.
So winter still has it's nasty little grip on us but.... 22 more days to spring!!! I know we need to stay positive but... it is really hard when the sun doesn't shine for days on end. So I will just keep dreaming about warm beachy places. What I wouldn't give to be lounging in that lounger while reading a good book. I think I am there now in my mind .AHHHH yes I can feel the warm salty sea air blowing through my hair while I sip the Island Girl cocktail. I long for the day when my toes hit the sand.
So for now I will light some candles, pour some vino , put on some jazz and start some spring crafting! So I bought this letter S painted it turquoise then simply glued tiny little sea shells to it. Voila you have a cute little beach inspired project.

Then for the daisy wreath I just bought a simple wreath and hot glued on the daisies and the cute little turquoise butterflies, yes turquoise again I LOVE turquoise. So since the weather is crummy get to crafting it will lift your spirits.

Well I am off to start another craft project... I will keep you posted!
S~
Have a Fabulous Friday !