Young House Love Book Signing in Minneapolis

A few years back, I used to peruse blogs in search of perfect locations for photo shoots.  A little blog called This Young House (they later had to change the name to Young House Love because of some legal nomenclature issues) was one of my go-to blogs (as in I read it daily, truly for work purposes).  Every once in a while, I would email Sherry if one of her featured reader redesigns would be appropriate to photograph for the magazine for which I worked.  Anyway, once her own budget bathroom makeover was complete (read about the project here), I emailed her and asked if we could photograph it to feature in the magazine (read about Sherry's take on the photo shoot here).  So, I've had lots of email convos with her over the years, but I've never had the opportunity to meet her in person...until Wednesday of this past week.

Wednesday started like any other day.  I woke up to the sound of my alarm; I turned on my bedside lamp.  I pressed snooze on my alarm.  Nine minutes later, I woke up again to the sound of my alarm.  I made coffee...you get the gist.  Around 8:30, I hopped in my trusty Honda Civic, and drove two hours up to Josh's parent's house, where I met Jennifer (remember, she's the mastermind behind Thread).  We then carpooled up to Minneapolis for a fun-filled day revolving around a little book signing.

John and Sherry were on their book tour, and they conveniently had a stop in Minneapolis.  Like any Iowan, a four-hour drive up to Minneaplis is nothing - we do it all the time.  When Jennifer asked if I wanted to head up to Minneapolis for the day, I was game!  So, that's exactly what we did.

We started at Ikea where we enjoyed a lovely meal in their cafeteria (I got the meatballs; Jennifer ate a healthy wrap), and then headed downstairs to peruse the aisles.  After that, we drove over to the  Room & Board showroom.  Um...heaven!  I dream of a whole house furnished in Room & Board...  I digress...  Then, we parked at a parking ramp (conveniently located in the same building as The Container Store), browsed at The Container Store, and then got in line at West Elm...where we stayed for three hours (two outside, one inside).

Snoopy at Ikea

My high-school friend, Lindsay, also attended the book signing along with her friend, Brienna (Lindsay is the one who introduced me to Joia soda this summer).  We met up at the event and chatted for the three hours we waited in line.  It's always fun catching up with old friends!

We braved the Minnesota cold for two hours!

Unsigned copy of the book:  check.

Everyone was served cookies and hot chocolate from Common Roots Bakery while they waited in line.

After waiting three hours in line, it was finally our turn to get our books signed and have a photo taken with John and Sherry.  I introduced myself (knowing full-well they probably forgot who I was) only to have Sherry remember exactly who I was.  We reminisced for a brief moment (there were at least 700 people in line behind me waiting for a signature).  She said she loved my scarf (it's from Francesca's), and that I had great pins on pinterest.  Thanks, Sherry!  You're very kind.  It was a pleasure meeting you.

As Jennifer said, it's like we're five years old and meeting Mickey Mouse - big smiles!

It took about an hour, but Jennifer and I finally came down from our celebrity blogger high (or was it a sugar high?).  After a quick dinner at Good Earth, Jennifer and I drove back to Iowa.  I stayed the night at my in-laws' house; she stayed at her in-laws' house.  It's been two days...I'm still recovering from our awesome whirlwind day trip! 

Anyway, I made a goal to not be too dorky when I met Sherry and John (like I was when I met The Pioneer Woman last year at BlogHer in San Diego).  I hope I succeeded.  I'm pretty sure Ree thought I was highly creepy enthusiastic.  Seriously, my smile is HUGE in the photo below...and I had it pasted on my face for hours after meeting her.  And when I talked to Ree, I am confident I made no sense at all (I'm about 99% sure she did not get the gist that I can relate with her homeschooling stories and the whole rural living thing). At least I was able to have a back-and-forth conversation with John and Sherry...

Ree was SO cool.  I'm pretty sure we could be BFFs.

Read more about the book signing here.

Baby Fever

I haven't caught the baby fever that seems to be sweeping my friends (yet), however I have an appreciation for babies.  I think Jessica's Baby J is super cool (she's like a miniature Jessica), and Heather's sweet Baby T melts my heart (just scroll down to see some adorable pictures).  I had the pleasure of spending Sunday through Wednesday in St. Louis with Heather and her family.  I miss having Heather living less than five minutes from my house, so spending any amount of time with her is always special.  In the past few months, I can't believe how much Baby T has grown and developed.  He can crawl like crazy now (I'm pretty sure he'll be a track star), and pulls himself up on whatever he can grab (furniture, people, etc.).  Here are just a few pictures from my STL adventure (including a trip to the zoo - scratch number 12 off my 30 before 30 list!).  I can't wait to go back and visit again.  STL is actually quite lovely in the fall. 

Happy baby pulled himself up on the sofa.

Baby with bunny ears

STL Zoo

 

He makes the cutest faces!

Sweet Alison loves to cuddle up on the sofa (especially during nap time).

Seriously, you can't help but love this little guy!

Alison missed me very much!

Group photos are hard with kids and dogs.  Lesson learned.

Sweet Baby T

I kept having to back up to take this photo since Baby T kept speeding up his crawl.

Fab Finds: Etsy Love

I have a new favorite blog, The Proper Pinwheel, and decided to read as many posts tonight as I could.  In my reading, I found an amazing post about an etsy seller, January Jones Prints.  She makes super cute posters, and this one in particular reminded me of my high school friend, Jaime, who took a year off work to travel the world and enjoy life.  However, her world map would need more than 10 destinations. 

The roadtrip world edition map

Indiana Family

Back when we visited Indiana (the first time, not when we went back to buy Josh's car), we met up with my dad's cousin, David, and his family.  I love David and his wife, Jenny, and their four kids - Ben, Grace, Josh, and Ellie - are pretty adorable.  Below is a picture Jenny took of me and Josh after we ate at Cracker Barrel, and then another of the group (minus Jenny).

Most people grow up spending lots of time with their family.  I didn't.  The first time I met David and Jenny was at their wedding when I was 13...so 14 years ago.  I've admired and loved them from that very first impression, and cherish moments spent together.

Indiana Roadtrip

After what seemed like the longest week I've had in a while, Josh and I headed out to Indiana after work yesterday.  To catch you up, when we were on our way back from New York a couple of weeks ago, Josh test drove a car in Indiana and really liked it.  So, that's where we were headed after work last night.  We drove about five hours, and then stayed at a Holiday Inn in Joliet, Illinois.  The hotel was at least 20 years old...and it smelled like the boxes my grandma used to send me when I was little (stale smoke).  It's funny how certain smells and memories stick with you.

Anyway, this morning Josh and I drove out to Middlebury, Indiana, and picked up his car.  Then, we turned right around and drove home.  We stopped once for gas, once at Subway for Josh, and one final stop at the Williamsburg Outlet Mall.  Other than that, we were on the road all day.

Josh's car - a 2007 Mazda Speed 6

I did the math.  In 24 hours, we drove more than 900 miles, drove through 3 states, stayed at 1 crappy hotel, and finally made it home with Josh's car.  It only took two cross-country trips to get his car...  So, after spending the last 24 hours getting Josh his car, I'm crossing one off my 30 before 30 list:  Spend a day helping someone else.  So, here is my updated list.

30 before 30

1. Pay off a student loan
2. Learn how to do my eye makeup
3. Go to Alaska
4. Catch a fish
5. Go skiing
6. Make a quilt
7. Sip wine in Sonoma
8. Visit all five Great Lakes {In May 2012, I visited four of the five Great Lakes.  I hope to get Superior in this fall, perhaps on a 50th birthday trip with my mom?!}
9. Sail on a sailboat
10. Learn how to play chess
11. Read Pride & Prejudice
12. Go to a zoo {I'm hoping to go to the St. Louis or Omaha zoo with Heather and Baby T.}
13. Run a 5K {I'm signed up to run the Color Run in October with Kari, Gena and Luke!}
14. Run a 10K
15. Eat lobster in Maine {I may have a photo shoot there this summer...}
16. Build a sandcastle {Hopefully this happens when Emily and I go to Michigan this summer.}
17. Drive down the California coast
18. Try paddle boarding
19. Build a snowman
20. Donate 10" of hair to Locks of Love {I'm growing it out now!}
21. Venture to the bottom of the Grand Canyon {Michaun and I hope to go in September when we visit Las Vegas for my sister's wedding.}
22. Learn how to square dance
23. Grow a garden {Done in May 2012!  Already enjoying the fruits of my labor!}
24. Wear my size 27 J.Crew jeans
25. Visit Yellowstone National Park
26. Go ziplining
27. Be in more than one place at once {Done in May 2012 standing on the International Boundary Line dividing the US and Canada.}
28. Ride a day of RAGBRAI
29. Enter a contest at the Iowa State Fair
30. Spend a day helping someone else {Done today!}

Wedding Season

I mentioned a while back my friend Cassie's wedding is this summer.  Today, I picked up my bridesmaid dress, and now the excitement is starting to build.  It's really coming up soon!  June 24 is Cassie's bridal shower.  Since I will be at the Kappa Convention in Jacksonville, I can't attend.  However, I was able to contribute to her special by designing her bridal shower invitations.  I'm really happy with how they turned out!

I filled in a time by hand on each invitation - I don't have that drawn out on the document.  You can use your imagination.  Thanks to overnightprints.com, they arrived within a week.  And envelopes.com came through with pretty dark purple envelopes. 

I also finished save the date magnets for a couple from Josh's hometown.  They're getting married in October, and it'll be very fun to celebrate with them (they've dated for close to a decade).  I also used overnightprints.com for these.  Next week, I'll work with Tiff on their invitations.  We've worked on them already, but we're not 100% sure on the final design.  Hopefully that'll work itself out when we meet.

Also, tomorrow Josh and I will be going to Indiana to purchase his car (fingers crossed!).  With one roadtrip under our belts in the journey to find Josh the perfect car, I'm really hoping things turn out with this car.

New York Roadtrip

Last week, Josh and I flew to Buffalo, New York, to buy Josh a car (I mentioned it here).  The car didn't work out, but we managed to have a pretty fun time in spite of the disappointment.  More than 18 hours on the road, and more than 1,000 miles later, here's our adventure.

The first day was an adventure.  We arrived a little before noon, and then had the afternoon to spend exploring Buffalo and get up to Niagara Falls.  The Falls were simply amazing.  I've never seen something quite so beautiful in my life...and I don't even like things outside.  That's saying something.  God knew what he was doing when he made this! We walked around the whole park, then ventured over to Canada for a couple of hours.  On our drive back to our hotel, we stopped at Duff's Famous Wings in Amherst.  The Buffalo wings were delicious...not breaded and perfectly spicy.

On, he second day, Friday, we did the car thing in the morning, and then kept our rental car.  We drove from Buffalo, New York, up Lake Ontario and ended up having an amazing late lunch at Baranga's at the Beach in Hamilton, Ontario.  The restaurant, oddly enough, was like being at a Mexican resort.  The stucco building, fresh food, and light beaches along the water felt like the resort Josh and I spent our honeymoon in Mexico.  On a whim, we decided to head up to Toronto, just to say we'd done it.  Then, we drove to Sarnia, Ontario, to see Lake Huron.  After a couple pictures, we hopped back in the car and drove to our hotel near the Detroit airport.

The third day, Saturday, consisted of lots of driving.  We drove from Detroit to Lake Erie for a couple of pictures, and then passed through Toledo (again, just to say we'd done it) on our way to have lunch with my family in Elkhart, Indiana.  After lunch, Josh test drove another car, and then we drove to Chicago to meet Rod and Michaun.  We went to dinner with our Chicago tour guides (aka:  Rod and Michaun), and then walked around Millennium Park.  It was so fun to see the park at night which was very different from when I saw it on a morning walk in April.

The fourth day, Sunday, was filled with lots of sun and outdoor Chicago activities.  After brunch, we went on an architectural boat tour along the Chicago River.  I learned so much about Chicago history and architecture, like Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer was created by Montgomery Ward in Chicago in 1939.  I guess I thought he has been around since Santa...but that's probably just my sheltered childhood coming through.  Once the boat tour was over, Rod and Michaun took me to Lake Michigan to check it off my 30 before 30 list.  We quickly freshened up, and then went to dinner at Chop House.

By the fifth day, Monday and Memorial Day, Josh and I were exhausted, but not too tired to see two more cars before we left Chicago.  Once we returned the rental car at the Des Moines airport and drove home, it was close to 5 PM.  So, from Thursday at 5 AM to Sunday at 5 PM, we logged more miles, experiences, lakes, and memories than I could have ever imagined.  It's a good life I have...  Thanks for being a part of it!

Niagara Falls, New York

I'm in two places at once!

Duff's Famous Buffalo Wings | Amherst, New York

Baranga's at the Beach | Hamilton, Ontario

Lake Huron | Sarnia, Ontario

Rod & Michaun at Buckingham Fountain | Chicago

In front of Buckingham Fountain | Chicago

Chicago Skyline

Chicago River Architectural Boat Tour

Lake Michigan | Chicago