Switcheroo

These photos crack me up. I just had to share them. The men, especially, are such great sports to jump in women's clothes for a photograph. I doubt I would be able to convince any of my male friends to don their girlfriend's or wife's clothes for fun. Hilarious. To see more, visit the blog.

Karina is two.

Yesterday, Karina turned TWO! She was such a cutie. Her grandmother bought her a Tangled princess dress that she wore throughout the party. Since Karina is a huge Tangled and Minnie Mouse fan, her party was a bit of both, which meant Tangled AND Minnie Mouse cupcakes. She must have had about 6-8 cupcakes! It was also nice spending time with friends who were in town from out of state. Great day.

this week, according to my iphone

it's been a crazy, busy week, but also a lot of fun. it was full of chinese and wine with friends, class, silly stories from silly kids, delicious food, happy hours and more. i wish every week was as eventful as this one. {also, i have to remember to take more pictures.}

hope you have a good weekend!

30 day photo challenge

A while ago I tried taking one picture a day for a year. I did it for a while, but it fizzled out and I gave up. After writing this post, I wanted to do something like that again, but this time, I thought I should start small. I found this '30 day photo challenge' that I've been working on for a bit now. Some of the challenges have been a bit difficult or odd {sunflare or faceless portrait}, but overall, I've had a lot of fun with it. It's fun to have a photography goal for the day, even if it's as simple as 'favorite color' and doesn't require any major camera equipment.

It's a fun idea that I highly recommend!

I thought I'd share a few of my favorite snaps. {The green car represents my favorite color. I thought that would be a bit more interesting than a blank green paper.}

moo, chirp, baaaaaaa.

i found a few more pictures from the state fair and they're the best kind kind... they're of cute animals. I especially love the bunny that looks like chewbacca. i'm not normally a rabbit person, but i'd take that one any day.

Beautiful photography technique

I got my DSLR camera a while ago, but I find new ways of using it all of the time. One technique I've tried, but haven't been too successful, is long exposure photography. I tried it at the local Fourth of July fireworks show the past several years, but my photos always end up looking like a giant, colorful fuzzball instead of distinct fireworks patterns. I have to practice a bit more.

My friend, Sam, found 10 Examples of Fantastic Long Exposure Photography on a blog she frequents. I was so happy she shared them, that I had to share them also. Some of them are simply beautiful.

Aren't they amazing?! I have to figure out how to do that with my camera. Also, doesn't the last one kind of remind you of a Dali painting?

Daring photography

Some people call it spectacular artistry; I call it crazy. But either way, they are some pretty impressive images. This terrifying photography technique puts the photographer on the edge of very tall buildings, often dangling over edges, to capture the striking view from atop.

I recently came across a blog that compiled some of the best of this daring technique and I had to share them. Check out the blog for even more vertigo-inducing photography.

kopps frozen custard

If you ever find yourself in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, forget Summerfest, the world's largest music festival; forget the art museum, an impressive expanse of creative expression; ignore the beautiful lakefront beaches or tailgating parties at Miller Park... the one place you should find yourself is at Kopps Frozen Custard. A Milwaukee landmark {there are two}, Kopps serves the most delicious fast-food burgers, only rivaled by In-and-Out Burger, and deliciously divine frozen custard. The have a different and interesting flavor every day, but I personally believe that when you find perfection, why try anything else? And so I order vanilla every time.

I once heard a rumor that you can order Kopps custard to be shipped to your door if you live too far away to visit. {Or maybe that was just a hope of someone who lives a bit too far away.} Either way, I definitely have to look into that rumor if I ever move far enough away that frequent visits are not possible. {My Dad has already promised that if I ever move to one of the coasts, he will ship me my favorite Wisconsin micro-brews, so I have that covered.}

Anyway, I highly recommend stopping at Kopps if you make a trip to Milwaukee, which you should, just for the custard.

On a boat

On Saturday, my friends and I enjoyed an afternoon boating on Lake Michigan and the Milwaukee River. It was a beautiful day and even prettier scenery. And to add to the afternoon, we completely forgot that the airshow was going on that afternoon. Fighter jet airplanes were flying right above our heads, it was crazy! I can't wait to get back out on the boat again.

Cheese curds, cream puffs and beer.

It's that time of the year again... time for the Wisconsin State Fair. I know it's incredibly cheesy, but I look forward to the fair every year. And why wouldn't I? State Fair = cheese curds, cream puffs {the possible official desert of the state}, roasted corn, brats with sauerkraut, frozen custard and deep fried beer. Sounds healthy and delicious, huh?

After taking the tour of food around the fair grounds, my family and I sat with a few cold beers and listened to a musician perform class rock tunes. It was a great time this year, as it is every year.

And my favorite part of the State Fair: the flavored milk barn. As any true Wisconsinite, I love milk. Especially when it tastes like a rootbeer float. In addition to the typical chocolate and strawberry, they also have banana, cherry vanilla and rootbeer. The last two are my favorite. I wish they sold these flavors in my local grocery store; although, it wouldn't be quite a treat.

Heinies in the Leinies lounger

I never win anything. Well, besides trivia games, but that's not really anything to brag about. {Mostly because you set yourself up to get made fun.} So today when I got a message from the Taste of Wisconsin people that I won some contest, that I didn't even know I entered, I was ecstatic! What did I win, you ask? I don't know yet, but regardless... I won!

So the contest that I won that I didn't know I entered all started with a little Twitter picture post of my sisters and I at the taste:

Root, root, root for... Clint

Friday night my two sisters, cousin and I headed to Miller Park to cheer on the Milwaukee Brewers... and one Houston Astro. You see, years and years ago, the shortstop for the Astros, Clint Barmes, played for the Kenosha Kroakers, a collegiate summer baseball league. During his summers in Kenosha, Clint stayed with my aunt, uncle and cousins and remains pretty close to the family. We went to the game on Friday to cheer on Clint. Unfortunately, he hit into the last out of the game. My cousin Janine made a joke of it though, "Look Clint, they're all cheering for you!"

Even though Clint did not win {I wasn't cheering for the Astros anyway}, it was a great night. We spent hours before the game tailgating, playing games and cracking each other up in the parking lot. And the laughing most definitely continued throughout the game. I love those ladies!

They got the good seats for the Saturday and Sunday games...