And...... I'm back!

I'm embarrassed that I've gone two weeks without posting! Life gets crazy sometimes! And mine just keeps piling higher and higher with stuff!

Here's a quick rundown of the past few weeks:

I was in Kansas City for a night, just in time for the Harry Potter midnight release of the final movie. Courtney, Andrew and I stayed up and watched it, along with a million, obnoxious teenagers. The girl next to us sobbed for the last third of the movie. It was awkward. Movie was great though; well worth the late night!

The next day we went home to my parents house to celebrate the big 125th anniversary for Rozel, Kansas. It was a pretty fun time - we played in a softball tournament, saw lots of old friends and spent some nice family time together. The weather was less than ideal - temps in the 110 degree range and so terribly dry. The grass was cracking under your feet as you walked. Poor western Kansas crops!!

Batter up! We only won one game... but it was still fun (once you got passed the fact that we were all sweaty, dirty messes)!

The anvil shoot! 

Once the anvil landed. It flew up higher than the grain elevators!

Courtney preparing to wow us with her bowling skillz.

And the final scores.... HS 75, AP 71, CM 108 and CS 108.

Courtney, Andrew and Krista all tasted Rocky Mountain Oysters (aka fried bull testicles) for the first time. I think everyone liked them or at the very least, they tasted better than they expected them to.

The plan was for my parents to come back to Chicago with me and spend a few days, so we packed up and headed to Manhattan where we were catching our flight out. Courtney, Andrew, Christian and I hit up the K-State Union for some shuffleboard and bowling. My bowling skills were less than impressive.... I didn't get last (ahem, Andrew....), but we were both 30-40 points below Courtney and Christian. I need to work on my skills and then challenge them to a rematch!

Once we were back in Chicago, my parents and I had several fun days together trying new foods and doing touristy things. We ate at some tasty places that I had been wanting to try - Home Bistro, Tengo Sur and New Tokyo. We also had some tasty ice cream at a candy shop near my apartment. I deviated from my typical selection and ordered birthday cake ice cream in a chocolate-dipped waffle cone (I never order ice cream in a cone - I like eating it out of a cup). It was SO good! And perfect since it was my mom's birthday. Speaking of my mom's birthday, her big gift was an iPad 2. Color me jealous.... I was hoping they would forget it when they left, but unfortunately she remembered to pack it. Dad says that if he can get 85 bushels per acre on his milo, he'll go halfsies with me on mine. Pray for rain people! The likelihood of that happening is not in my favor, but I hope he reads this and sees how sad I am without their iPad (and their company!) and decides to just give me one :) Just kidding, Pops. I'll break down and buy my own one of these days.... And then we'll facetime.

My ice cream treat. And Audrey trying to sneak a bite of it!

The view from our Seadog tour. Love that skyline!

Blueberry bread pudding from Home Bistro. Delicious!

Mussels and truffle fries..... Mmmmmm....

My brother, his friend and Andrew are all coming to town this weekend... And Lindsay is moving in! It is going to be busy again! And next week I have an agency retreat to Michigan and three days of Lollapalooza (and Courtney in town!!), so it might be tough to squeeze in another post... I promise to get more consistent soon!

In case you are worried about my little furball in this hot, muggy weather, he is doing just fine.

Have a great weekend everyone - stay cool!

 love, H&W

For fun - Courtney and Christian playing shuffleboard. Nice v-neck shirt, Chris!

Okay, I Admit It -- I'm a Copier

When my mom was in town a few weeks ago, I was showing her various new clothes and things that I had purchased since seeing her last. With every item I pulled out of my closet, she commented "Oh, that's a Courtney influence" or "Ah, you get that style from me" or "Krista influenced you on that one." With a comment on every item, I started getting kind of perturbed -- I mean, I do have my own style, Mom.... But it did get me thinking - I am a pro at copying.

Not just fashion, but crafts, home decorating and more. I scour blogs to find things that I like so I can try to copy them. I have a really hard time envisioning things - paint color, how things will look in a room, clothes paired together - but if I have the opportunity to see it somewhere, you can bet that I will be an ace at copying it. I love looking through Pottery Barn magazines, not to shop, but to copy. (as if I could afford that anyway!)

I've also been on a bit of a craft kick... I do not know where this came from, but I spend a decent amount of time wandering around Michael's and I have a trip planned to JoAnn's Fabrics today. Ah, another crazy Friday night is in store for me tonight!

I've tried to take photos of some of the stuff I've done. Maybe even some of you will start copying me!

Okay, I didn't really copy this from anywhere, but isn't it so cute!? I found the mustache sign at a street fair and we just had this shelf around the house, just waiting to be used. When I was home, I was scrounging around my mom's basement and stole these homemade topiaries from her (although, she did copy this idea from Darcey, so it all comes full circle!)

New stand in my room - I actually bought this for my bathroom, but it was about 1/4" too big... So into my room it went! I added some baskets from Target to keep all of my random stuff that always seems to clutter my dresser.

Courtney had the idea of putting a shelf above her windows in her room. I loved the idea and NEVER would have thought of it myself. So I put three shelves above my closet. I decorated it with stuff I found in my mom's basement and little things I found in my grandma's house when I was home. I love that I didn't pay anything to decorate this and have pieces on it that mean a little bit more to me than just something I found in a store. Also, I got these three picture frames from IKEA and lined them up between my closet doors. I don't have a lot of wall space in my room (I have a lot of windows), so this was a nice way to add new decorating elements.

While meandering around Michael's, I found these feather balls. I love feathers and I love the look of having decorative balls out in a bowl. These are in a bowl and scattered on a tray on our coffee table. Adds a fun, colorful element to the room.

I moved these two pictures from where I had originally put them because they were always covered up by my open door. Please disregard the clutter on my dresser... Remember - that's what my new baskets are there to hide!

Felt flower/bow hairpieces have been my new crafting obsession.... I've seen this type of thing at street fairs selling for $30-40 and it seems so easy! Some were harder than others and they did take more time than I anticipated, but I'm pretty excited about how they turned out. 

A little, pink rosette pin. So cute and dainty, I'm actually wearing this as we speak!

Poppy headband. I singed the edges of the flowers with a lighter. It gives it a shiny edge and looks less "handmade" I think.

A few bows I made. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to make these... I need to try a few different ways and determine what I like the best. Originally, I didn't really care for the bottom one, but then I put it in my hair and.....

... I loved it! Also important to note, my extra curly hair is copied from Courtney (and I love my hairdress/friend, Christie, for encouraging me to do it!)

The flash makes this one kind of hard to see, but it is a big flower. I'm not sure if this will be fore hair or a pin yet... we'll see.

And another flower headband. 

Okay, sorry for the millions of pictures, but I'm excited for the recent stuff I've made! If you want any of the tutorials I copied for the felt stuff, let me know and I'll try to dig it up.

Have a great weekend everyone!
H&W