60 years and still going strong

My grandparents met as seniors in high school. On their first date he accompanied her home from school. Less than a year later, they were married. That was on October 27, 1951. 


Today, my grandparents, Edward and Marion, celebrate 60 years of wedded bliss, as my grandpa called it. I have heard the old say "You don't marry someone you can live with. You marry the person you cannot live without," many times. My grandparents say this is absolutely true. After 60 years together, they would know...


My family all gathered together to celebrate this extraordinary milestone a week ago with family and friends. It was a very large group since during their years together Eddie and Marion has nine children, 26 grandchildren and collected many, many friends. It was so nice to all get together, especially for such a happy occasion. 

Minimalist story posters

When it comes to home decor and design, I tend to be drawn more to the minimalist approach. I like things to be simple, uncluttered. All media now-a-days tends to be a bit overwhelming and over stimulating. I appreciate movie posters and advertisements from the 1950s and 1960s more because they are simple. 


I found these children's story posters on the Square Inch Design Blog and love the simplicity of them. Check out the rest too. 

little letters

dear brewers, 
you had a great run this year. sorry you didn't make it all the way to the world series. but don't fret, we partied like it was 1982. 


dear hailey,
i'm so glad that you and your mom were able to visit from california. your giggle, forehead crawl and scrunched nose are the cutest thing ever. visit again soon. 


dear pumpkin, 
how is it that you make every single thing taste a million times better? your cheesecake is irresistible. and i am madly in love. 


dear grandma and grandpa, 
congratulations on 60 years together. you make fairy tales and true love seem possible. 

{image via}

my weekend

photos from this weekend... activities included celebrating a little boy's third birthday, hanging out with my baby cousin from california, doing massive amounts of research for a project and eating lots and lots of candy. what a fun, childish weekend.  everyone needs those. 

Pumpkins, apple cider and goats

I was lucky enough to take my friend's beautiful one year old daughter to the pumpkin farm for her first time ever. We had a lot of fun looking at all of the different and weird pumpkins. But we had to find a "baby" one for her to carry around for the rest of the day. The entire time we were looking around at the pumpkins, Karina kept asking for the horses. The petting zoo area had pigs, sheep, goats of all sizes and two llamas that Karina was convinced were horses. She was soooooo cute with all of the animals. She would walk up to each one individually, say hello, introduce herself and then show them her Minnie Mouse shirt. I couldn't stop smiling. I tried to get it on video but my phone wouldn't work fast enough. I forgot how great the pumpkin farm is, but Karina reminded me. 

Milwaukee River shenanigans

I had the most ridiculous, crazy night last night. I met a few friends to enjoy a beer and a relaxing sunset boating down the Milwaukee River. It was beautiful-- the sun setting over the downtown Milwaukee skyline. As we turned to float down the river, we were stopped by cops in a boat for being too cautious. Seriously! We had too many lights on that they were "drowning out our other lights." Really?! So after idling for about  15 minutes while talking to the cops {who gave us a warning for the incident}, we put the boat in gear to continue our journey... and it died! We ended up floating "dead in the water" according to the cops until they literally shoved us into a restaurant/bar's dock. The entire incident was extremely comical, honestly, the scene from a movie. We ended up going inside for dinner and left the boat for our friend's dad to figure out. {Oops.} 

I don't think the night could have been any better if we actually made it down the river. It was a blast!

10 things that are making me ridiculously happy

it is wednesday, hump day, the most difficult day of the week to get through. but, surprisingly, i'm having a great week and i choose to focus on that instead. writing things down always makes them seem more real to me, if that makes any sense at all, and so here are my reasons for being so perky on a wednesday. 

1. face-splitting smiles, like the one above 
2. fancy fall drinks... pumpkin spice lattes, carmel apple lattes, carmel apple cider
3. badger football wins
4. wearing cardigans and scarves
5. visiting the pumpkin farm... just like when i was young
6. catching up with old friends from out-of-town
7. long conversations over red wine
8. nostalgia through old photographs
9. family flying in from all over for get-togethers 
10. leaves changing colors and drives on country roads

Fall bucket list

I was recently inspired by a friend to create a 'fall bucket list' of MUST DO activities for fall. I really like the idea as I think it will help get my butt outside instead of lounging on the couch whenever have a free moment {if at all}. I have a few ideas, but I could definitely use a few more. I want to take full advantage of everything fall has to offer. 

• Bake apple and pumpkin pies
• Carve pumpkins
• Jump in a pile of leaves
• Go on a nature walk, possibly with my camera
• Sip hot cider outside
• Go to a pumpkin farm
• Make grandma's cinnamon apple fritters
• Go on a hay ride
• Enjoy a bonfire
• Walk through a corn maize
• Eat a ton of candy corn
• Make leaf art
• Drink fancy fall coffee drinks
• Wear scarves almost daily
• Drink Oktoberfest beers

I already have plans for a few of these this week :)

{Photo via gocanada}

My weekend, according to photos

This weekend, several of my best friends from college were in town from other states.... and we actually all managed to get together! It was fantastic and definitely not something to be taken for granted since it is so difficult to get us all in the same state, let alone the same city or restaurant. I spent Saturday in my old college town wandering around the Capitol Square farmers' market, listening to street musicians, sipping a carmel apple latte and enjoying good conversation. We then ventured to a favorite college bar to face the enormous odds of getting a good viewing spot for the University of Wisconsin vs. University of Nebraska football game. We ended up in a prime spot for Nebraska's massacre. {Welcome to the Big Ten, Nebraska.} It was great to spend such quality time with friends, especially in our old stomping grounds. 

It was a sublimely lovely weekend. Hope you all had a great weekend too!