home again

"Where thou art - that- is Home."

Emily Dickinson

We have arrived home from a week of vacay with my family in Montana. So many memories, such a beautiful time. Still, it is so nice to see my dog, my bed, and the familiar comforts of the home we have created.

As always, I have come back from vacation revived and with a million new ideas for my life and home.

Lots of time on planes and during nap-time to read magazines, write, and dream!

I tend to dream big and then get overwhelmed when I cannot seem to get much of what I have planned done. So I decided to go easy on myself this weekend. My to-do will simply have three manageable tasks. Well, in theory.

1. Finish one of the three novels I am currently reading: Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, A Place Called Freedom by Ken Follett and Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. I am excruciatingly ADD when it comes to novels. I always have at least 3 on my nightstand.
2. Replant my hydrangeas (right now they are dying in their poor little clay pots!)
3. Complete my bedroom mini-redo (just got my new West Elm duvet in the mail and luuurve it!) This will likely include various trips to my favorite haunts: Pier 1, Home Goods, and Lowe's. Probably Lowe's at least 5 times.

What three things do you plan to accomplish this weekend? And does anyone else go to Lowe's as much as I do? I swear, that place has some sort of addictive agent pumped in through the vents.

Speaking of, I am off to Lowe's right now! :D

Hope everyone is having a relaxing/productive Saturday!

PBR: beer snob no more

Yes, I realize it is "wine wednesday" and this is NOT a wine...but...

...in the spirit of my Montana mountain adventure, I am going to take the time to plug the beer that has gone from the epitome of college cheap party brew, to the beer that is served at every bar that is any bar.

PBR.

Yes, Pabst Blue Ribbon, the redneck staple, the buy-it-'cause-you're-broke college party necessity, is now chic.

In the past year I started noticing that more and more bars [not dive bars] were serving PBR. My husband all of a sudden was asking for it wherever we went, and lo and behold, every bar had it.

I would stare in wild-eyed awe as he grinned and sipped his ice-cold PBR. I mean, didn't we grow up and get jobs so we didn't have to drink cheap beer anymore? I was a beer snob.

Then recently, while dining at a trendy sushi bar in Big Fork, MT, my husband, brother and I scanned the beer list.

Kirin...Sapporro...trendy local beer...PBR...?!?!?

Yes, for only $1 you could have an ice cold blast back into your past -- served, of course, in a can. After finishing my Sapporo, I couldn't resist. "I'll have one of those," I told our server, pointing to the can in front of my husband, not even able to mutter the initials PBR. He slung the red, white and blue can down in front of me and I popped the top shyly and took a gulp.

Delicious. Crisp. Refreshing. Surprisingly flavorful...and one heck of a deal!

So as we dined on amazing sushi, sake, and edamame, we also sipped our $1 PBR.

Pinkies in the air.

i hear the {baby} train a'comin

We are not on the baby train.

Repeat: not riding the baby train.

Yet.

A week with my family in Montana has me completely in love with the kiddos already in our growing fam. This little guy is just one of reasons why the baby train could be coming for me and the mister, full steam. Maybe.

Who can resist when they look at you like this? (could be the shiny camera...)

Or when it's bedtime and they jump on the bed with you in their pjs?

Or when they get spaghetti all over their face? {The hand and the spaghetti taste goooood!}

Or when they pick dirty things up off the ground?

Kids are adorable. When you get to give them back. Only kidding (pun intended.) Maybe. I am unwilling to commit to any definitive answer to the age-old awkward question: "When are you two gonna have a baby?"

Baby? Maybe. Some fine day. Until then, going to thoroughly enjoy every moment just being "Auntie" and "Unk" to four beautiful babies.

morning in montana

Morning in Montana is...

...flowers waking up...

...an extra-foamy delicious cappuccino...

...and sunlight on the mountains!

Good morning from big sky country!

{more mountain views to come}

:o)

traveling light

{a beach cottage}

"Never travel with anyone you do not love." Ernest Hemingway

As I grow up I realize that it is not how expensive a trip is, or how exotic the locale, but who you are with {whether family, close friends, or interesting souls you meet along the way.}

My favorite trips are those where things are done simply, and spur-of-the-moment. Finding a comfy coffee shop with my sister and chatting for hours. Road-tripping to the Gulf Shores with my husband and sleeping on the beach every night under the stars. Heading home to Minnesota where the family gathers around the kitchen table, eats, talks, eats, laugh, and eat more. {We do lots and lots of “grazing” on the farm.}
I am hoping this week in Montana will hold the same simple, relaxing moments with those that I love.
Packing my suitcase will involve simplicity as well.
Oversized sunglasses…ribbed cotton tank tops {possibly my favorite item of clothing}…a summer scarf (for the cool mountain air)…hiking boots to carry me to the top of a peak...swimsuit and cute coverup to lounge on the dock in...
...laptop to blog with...
Ahem! Did I write that? Well, the camp does have free WIFI....can't blame a girl...
Anyway, I am wishing you a beautiful week of time spent with those that you love...even if it is just to the local coffee shop with your best friend to chat for hours. :o)

wine wednesday: cowboy up!

I love wine.

I luuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrve wine.

So how about every Wednesday I share with you a wine I've tried that is fantastic?

I am not going to lie: I buy wine largely based on how pretty the label is. (I have bought some really horrific wine this way.) However, this week's recommendation was based of a post I read on another blog, The Pioneer Woman. {She is a big-time blogger, famous in the blogosphere, and basically the first blog I started reading. Check her out. You will fall in love!}

Anyway, she plugged Purple Cowboy wine about a year ago, and finally I found a bottle (at Target, no less!) and had to try it. I was hooked by the charming "cowboy legend" on the back label:

"The cowboy met the old man who brought him some cuttings in a damp burlap sack. The old man said plant these in the valley where the fog comes at dusk and the soil in stony and no good for anything else. And someday you'll have some fine dark wine. So dark it turns your teeth purple. So the legend goes."

My teeth didn't turn purple, but the Purple Cowboy 2007 Tenacious Red was absolutely fragrant and delicious from start to finish. Very smooth red, with a spicy kick!

Serve with a slab of beef around the campfire, coyotes [pronounced kaaaaayoates!] howling in the distance.

afternoon delight

"Keep your true love of nature, for that is the way to understand art more and more."

Vincent van Gogh, painter of many sunflowers

No matter where a person lives, there is beauty.

I live in a rather urban neighborhood that, despite the gorgeous historic brick homes, has a lot of distractions. Sometimes I get a little down when I see the rental houses with the trash-strewn across the front lawn, or the paint faded and bricks crumbling on an old gem in need of major love [and cash.] Sometimes it takes me a while to find a shot worth taking.

Then all of a sudden it is there. A cluster of sunflowers in the afternoon sunlight.

So I guess it doesn't need to be an idyllic setting. You just have to open your heart to see the details of the canvas. Let your mind block out the dogs barking, the unsightly power lines, the car horns, the police sirens, the trash...and just see what God is waiting patiently for you to take the time to notice. :o)