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, June 18, 2010

Photo Friday & Dinner Oceanside

Happy Friday everyone wooo hoooo, it's gonna be a hot one today in the midwest. Right now it looks we are going to get a little summer thunderstorm. Any who my fresh friday recipe is Shrimp tacos with corn and black bean slaw.


Shrimp Tacos With Corn & Black Bean Slaw


So my husband and I decided to go down to the local shrimper and purchase some fresh shrimp of the day. I have to say there is nothing better than fresh seafood !!!! So we got out our little grill and grilled the shrimp with a little olive oil, white wine and the secret ingredient Old Bay Seasoning. You can't live in the south without this little ingredient. So we grilled our shrimp and I made a corn and black bean slaw. I just bought a bag of pre cut cabbage with shredded carrots added a little vinegar, a little greek yogurt, a titch of olive oil, fresh cilantro, garlic, fresh lime juice and a little crushed red pepper. Yum-o . I then toasted the tortillas and that was it so completely simple and so DELICIOUS!!!!
And for a little side dish I went down to the local farmers market and bought some vine ripe tomatoes and drizzled a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar , fresh basil. I sliced up some watermelon and there you have it one fabulous dinner ocean side. It was a beautiful evening on the ocean, oh and of course it would not be dinner without a little white wine. Just perfect. After we finished dinner we took a few beach pics and just sat and listened to the ocean. I was in pure bliss. I am a very simple girl at heart. Just give me the ocean, a little vino, warm ocean breezes and of course my husband AKA best friend !!! What more could a girl ask for ????


Me and my flops enjoying the view..............

I hope you have a super weekend.My friend and I are off to one of our favorite beachy towns, hope the rain holds off !


"A meal without wine is called breakfast"

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Feeling crafty and inspired


Hello everyone, so I just got back from a fabulous vaca in Edisto Beach South Carolina and I am feeling ocean and beach inspired. So I decided to do a little craft project. I just bought a bag of seaglass and just simply hot glued them onto a picture frame I already had, so simple and I think it turned out really cute. I have to say it was like putting together a puzzle trying to get the seaglass to fit the frame. I had fun doing it. I poured myself a little white wine and starting crafting away. It took me right back to the ocean. AHHHH I could smell the salty sea air and I could see the pelican parade fly over, I just LOVE summer and the ocean !!! I know I have said it a million times but my heart is truly at the ocean. Hope you get inspired to do a little crafting, I know I am. There is something about summer that makes my mind go in a million directions with craft ideas. Hope you have a fun filled week. See you on Photo Friday! I got a lot of great pics from my vaca , can't wait to share them.
S~

"Be Inspired and let your imagination run wild"

Monday, May 31, 2010

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 "

Friday, May 21, 2010

Photo Friday

Happy friday fellow bloggers! well it's raining again in the midwest. Can we just catch a little break and get a little sunshine??? is that too much to ask. So the rain has chased me back in the house darn rain. I was happily sitting out on my deck enjoying a little vino and then here came the rain again. We have had a really cold and rainy spring. So I decided for my photo friday I would post a pic of my favorite place Charleston South Carolina. This pic is what they call rainbow row otherwise known as the painted ladies. I absolutely love this part of town. I am always in sheer bliss when I am walking around this neighborhood, I can wander around for hours and just get lost in all the beauty that surrounds me. Walking through these neighborhoods is like walking through pages of coastal living or southern living. So BEAUTIFUL!Two more weeks and I head on down to Charleston for vaca WOO HOO!!! So I leave you with my fresh friday recipe...
Grilled veggie pizza with goat cheese and pine nuts. Yumo-o !

All I did was buy a pre-made wheat pizza crust,I usually make my own dough but sometimes you just want something quick and easy but still healthy. I just threw the dough on a pre-heated pizza stone on the grill. I topped the pizza with pesto, baby bella mushrooms, asparagus, artichokes,goat cheese and pine nuts, and fresh basil from my garden.Of course I had to have a little white wine with my pizza. Well I think the rain has stopped Yippee. I am off to try and start a little fire. Have a wonderful weekend.
S~

"Be inspired to be creative"

Monday, May 17, 2010

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

Friday, May 7, 2010

Photo Friday


Happy Friday everyone!!! Looks like it is going to be a rainy weekend. I had high hopes of working in the pond and yard, darn rain. Maybe we will catch a break and be able to get outside. So as you know I love photography and I am just a regular girl who loves to be outdoors, especially at the beach. So I am constantly trying to see the world from different angles. I love photography that is slightly off center not perfect. I think you have to think outside the box when taking pictures. I think there is always a photo opp where ever you may be. Sometimes you have to get down to ground level or look up. I think we get so focused on taking photos head on that we miss out on some really interesting things.It really is amazing what is going on all around us, you just have to be willing to see things from a different perspective or angle. So I leave you with my friday photo. This pic was taken on the beach at the Isle of Palms in South Carolina.
Enjoy ~

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, Drink wild air"

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