Friday, July 23, 2010

Kate Spade Inspiration

Over at So about what I said... Melissa Blake posted this great collaboration/installation between St. Louis stationer Cheree Berry and the Kate Spade store there.  Their idea to create a wall of inspirational suggestions, "sing outside of the shower," "eat cake for breakfast," etc. got me thinking about how this could be incorporated into a special event.  I'd love to see this as a guest book at a wedding, where people sign the notes and then insert into the envelopes for just the couple to see.  Alternatively, they'd be great as a seating chart, label the envelopes with the guests' names and inside is their table number.  What do you think?  Can you come up with any other uses for this fun and creative idea?

Friday Flowers (12)

Last weekend's trip provided me with lots of flower pics.  The mix is going to serve as my Friday Flowers post today.  They were lovely in person and I hope you enjoy them too!

These were picked by little Edie (2yrs) especially for our dinner Sunday night at the lake.

KTW's mother has a gorgeous balcony. 
I loved the wild look of these planters against the backdrop of downtown Milwaukee.

A personal fave.

Bright zinnias on the table for KTW's birthday lunch.

What a cool look!  Love all the white against that dark wood table.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Milwaukee Trip

As some of you may know, this past weekend was spent in my boyfriend's hometown, Milwaukee, WI.  Although I had met some of his sweet family before, this was my first trip there and I couldn't have been more pleasantly surprised.  The city had so much more to offer than I originally gave it credit.  And his hometown friends and the rest of the family I was just meeting were welcoming and so fun to hang out with.

Friday and Saturday, he played in a golf tournament with his dad.  So Friday during the day was spent with his mother.  First we went to the Milwaukee Art Museum where they currently are exhibiting a local artist, Warrington Colescott, best known for his satirical etchings.  I could have looked at these for hours.  Afterwards we took a bike ride along Lake Michigan, stopping at the Yacht Club below.  My pictures have come out a little fuzzy unfortunately...


Milwaukee Art Museum, the wings on this building flap at noon.

That evening we joined the guys at the club where the tournament was being hosted for a lobster dinner.  They were huge and I ate wayyy too much, way to impress...


This is along the River Walk on Sunday morning.

After our brunch on the river Sunday, we were invited to visit with some of their family friends at Pine Lake.  This was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  The house, which is absolutely beautiful, sits on the most gorgeous blue-green lake.  As soon as we set up on the pier, there were sailboats racing right out front.  It was a perfect day followed by a top-notch dinner with great company.

A peek from the water up to the house.

And finally, Monday was KTW's bday and his mother had people over for a yummy lunch and presents to celebrate.  Their gorgeous Third Ward home is filled with the most interesting art and is perfect for entertaining.

Lots of outdoor seating on their terrace.

Colorful swiss chard.

The spread.

I didn't take near as many pictures as I wanted to.  One occasion was my first ever golf lesson with Manuel de la Torre, who has been inducted into the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame.  This was a real treat but unfortunately not a good moment for a photo opp.  This guy is all business and it pays off too.  I came away excited and confident to keep learning the game.

One surprising and flattering moment of the trip was when I found out my blog has a big Milwaukee fan base!  So keep reading Milwaukeeans, I have a Friday Flowers post coming up just for you!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

See Ya!

Headed to Milwaukee for a long weekend to visit KTW's family, will be back next week with pics.  Have a great weekend!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Loss and Love; Amongst the Trees

Today started off with some sad news.  Although I've never met her, it feels wrong not to recognize the untimely death of one of our blogging friends, Marija from Holding Court.  Her husband wrote a lovely and touching post on her blog yesterday talking about his beloved, their two young children and their life together.  Many of the blogs I follow have written about her as well, saying how much they'll miss her thoughtful and creative posts and kind comments. 

In addition, shortly after reading that, the news about George Steinbrenner appeared in my google news, a sad loss for New York and more importantly his close family and friends.

In times of loss, it always makes me feel closer than ever to the ones I love.  In recent years, my friends and family's importance in my life really has been magnified and I value it more and more each day.  I couldn't imagine losing any one of them right now and so I'm reminded today to be thankful for the time I do have with them.  Lucky for me, in the next year, I'll be seeing much more of them.  With two best friends engaged, we have so many upcoming memories to be made and the event planner in me cannot get my mind off their weddings!  Although they each plan to have a traditional indoor Catholic ceremony, which I completely respect, these images of ceremonies under the trees are so natural and refreshing and I kind of wish I could convince them to change their minds :)  (This will never happen btw, these girls are Catholic through and through!)

Aren't they just incredibly touching though?
A reminder of what God has given to us and to cherish and take care of it,
just like the love that the couples share on such a special day.





Wow, what an awesome moment to capture!




This tree is appropriately known as "Crooked Tree," and it is where this couple got engaged.



If your outdoor ceremony gets rained out or if you're a city-dweller or if you just love this look like I do, a projected image can also serve as a sweet reminder of the beautiful, romantic appeal of the outdoors.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Our Upper West Side Vacation

This weekend, KTW was asked to watch a friend's dog at his place.  So we took advantage and made a little city vacation out of it, we're clever like that.  Saturday morning, we packed our bags and took the five minute cab ride from the Upper East Side to the Upper West.  Quickest "trip"  I've ever taken.  It was great to experience a different part of town as if we lived there for a couple of days.  There were many things I realized I prefer to the UES, shopping at Fairway for one, incredibly large selection and cheap too!  Saturday night we made steak kebabs, wild rice, corn, and even had a lemon pound cake with berries for dessert, all for $25.00!  Here are some pics from the weekend.

Primo the Weimaraner, I swear his eyes don't glare neon green in real life. 
He was so sweet and got compliments every time we walked him.

The Scene

KTW= Grillmaster

The finished product.  We had the exact meal Sunday night except with chicken,
we had to take advantage of acess to a grill! 
And yes, that's two pats of butter on my corn and yes, I'm aware that it's still swimsuit season...

Friday, July 9, 2010

Friday Flowers(11)

If you hate pink, this post is not for you.

I'm jumping on the Peony bandwagon today, they're pretty spectacular don't you agree?