Things are happening!

Things are most certainly happening in my world. As I was walking to work this morning and reflecting on my sleepiness, I thought to myself "I wonder when I'll feel caught up." I don't think I'll be back in an actual normal routine until after the New Year.... A ton of things are in queue for the coming months and then we have the holidays. Which is sort of an awesome problem to have. I can't really complain about getting to see my friends and family multiple times over the next few months. Bring it on!

There are a ton of things that I could touch on in this blog, but I'm going to focus on recapping Christian's visit to the Windy City.

Christian hadn't been to Chicago since our family visited way back in the late '90s. It was due time. I wanted to make sure he got a good mix of tourist-y type stuff as well as a real Chicago experience. He and his friend, Adam, got in early Friday morning. We all went for a run on the Lake Shore path and then stopped at the Belmont Dog Beach to let Walter play in the water. Walter was pretty timid at first and afraid to get in all of the way. After a lot of coaxing, he got comfortable and soon he was swimming far out to get the ball. We took him back to the beach a couple of days later and he is officially a water dog - the farther we throw the ball out, the better. After we got cleaned up, we headed down to Millennium Park to see the Bean. The Bean is interesting because it does not sound as cool as it actually is. It's one of those things that you can appreciate much more when you see it in person. Of course, we had to take our photos in the Bean.

Christian in front of the Bean. You can see the skyline in the reflection - pretty cool.

Underneath the Bean

After seeing the Bean, we found a shady spot and made camp for a few hours. We brought an array of delicious beers and snacks - smoked salmon and cream cheese on crackers. It was quite fancy and a great way to just enjoy the scenery.

That night, Andrew found out about an "all you can eat and drink from 6-11 p.m. for $20" deal up in our neighborhood, so we took advantage. It was awesome because we definitely got our money's worth AND we were home and asleep before midnight!

Ah siblings :)

Adam and Christian

Adam photobombing. Andrew being ridiculous.

I had to take them to Wicker Park for brunch at the Southern. As always, it does not disappoint. We wandered around Wicker Park after brunch (we needed to walk off that huge meal!) and we stopped at a little place called iCream. It's a pretty cool little ice cream/fro-yo/sorbet shop where you choose the flavors, add-ins, colors, and more. They use a rapid freezing process, so they are literally making exactly what you want right in front of you. Very interesting concept.

Here he is making our icream!

While I was at work, Christian hung out at the Board of Trade and did some exploring of the city alone. We met for lunch each day, went shopping after work, and also went to North Avenue Beach to watch some sand volleyball one night. We ate at some pretty tasty places while he was here - a couple of sushi places, Ann Sathers for breakfast, Giordanos and Pizano's pizza, just to name a few. He definitely got the "taste of Chicago."

Our feet in the water at North Avenue Beach.

Eating a churro after "the best sandwich he's ever eaten" at Rick Bayless' Xoco

All in all, it was a great trip and I really enjoyed having him visit. I'm still trying to convince him to move here. Maybe eventually he'll realize that I always know what's best :)

I wanted to talk about my first Lollapalooza on this post, but it looks like this one is probably long enough already! Since I've missed a few weeks of posting, perhaps I'll write up another post for later this week. Two posts in one week?! Bananas!! Stay tuned!

Love, H&W

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

Western Kansas Wheat Harvest

I haven't been home during wheat harvest in years, but this past weekend and late last week, I was back in western KS right at its peak. I have missed seeing those combines out cutting that wheat! Unfortunately, my trip home wasn't under the most pleasant circumstances, but it was still great to be back in the area and around family. My grandpa passed away last week at the ripe old age of 99. It was quite fitting that he left us at harvest, so the timing couldn't have been better.

If you recall from my last post, my mom and aunt spent several days visiting us in Chicago two weekends ago. It was fun spending time with them and having a girls weekend. We went to IKEA (it was not as bad as I was anticipating), had a delicious brunch at the Southern, went wholesale shopping, and just had a great time. Christian also happened to be running a race in Indianapolis that Saturday, so we took a quick trip down to see him race. I haven't seen him run in a long time, so it was great to be there. Plus, my cousin lives in Indy, so she came by the track and watched too! It was a small meet, so Christian's fans made up for a decent percentage of the entire crowd :)

Also worth noting in this blog is that I'm employed! Well, kind of employed anyway. I started Monday working at an agency part-time in the account service department. I'm working Monday through Wednesday initially with the hopes that I'll "wow" them and they'll hire me full-time. That's the plan, anyway! I'm really excited to be there and everyone I've met so far has been awesome, so I'm really looking forward to this opportunity.

Check out some of these photos from the girls weekend in Chicago as well as photos from good, ol' western Kansas.

Courtney and I talk a lot about tattoos... A lot. So at the "Taste of Randolph" street festival, Courtney got a fake one.

Also, we kiss our muscles... A lot. Whadya think?  Tough, right?

Christian getting ready to start his race (he is wearing the white jersey). He ran very well, better than he expected to since he's been struggling with some recent injuries. Way to go, man!

Brunch - Spring veggie gumbo, coffee, mimosa and a delicious cucumber-infused vodka bloody mary. 

My favorite purchase from IKEA! Shelves for our spices! We have been talking about doing this since we moved in and I am so happy with how it turned out! I'm considering getting another shelf - how do we have so many spices? Also worth noting are our extensive booze collection and the adorable dog and cat treat jars.

My mom and aunt picking wheat stalks for my grandpa's funeral.

In case you don't know what wheat looks like :)

A photo of my grandma and grandpa on a wedding anniversary.

View from my parents' deck. We spent a lot of time out there just relaxing.

Christian thought it would be hilarious to shave a "monkey tail" on his face. If you look closely, you can see that the hair loops around the side of his face, up and around his mouth and then stops. Classy.

Dirty Miles. Christian brought Olive out to the farm and those two pups had a great time playing! I was sad that I had to leave Walter in Chicago because he would have loved it!

That's it for me. I hope you enjoy the photos from the past few weeks. Happy 4th of July everyone!

Love,
H&W

Sometimes You Just Have to Laugh....

Chicago has seen a fair amount of rain this spring. And while I'm usually pretty prepared with an umbrella or rain boots, in the past couple of weeks, I've been caught outside in a downpour twice, completely unprepared. As I walked home from the train station yesterday in the pouring rain, no umbrella or boots, I just couldn't help but smile and giggle at how ridiculous I looked. I'm sure it made me look even more silly to the people I was meeting on the sidewalk, but at that point, what was there to upset about? I was already soaked and not going anywhere important, so I just embraced the rain and smiled!

Walter and me after getting caught outside in the rain. I stood under a tree and just hoped and hoped he would finish his business as quickly as possible! He also looks a little scary in this picture...

This is how I looked after walking home in the rain. Fortunately, I happened to wear a jacket to work, even though it was warm enough to go without. I'm so glad I wore it anyway!

I feel like that has kind of been my attitude lately. I haven't found that permanent job yet and as scary as that is, I can't help but love the fact that I finally made the plunge and moved to a city that I'm so excited to be living in. In all ways (except the job one), I feel absolutely at home here and I'm just hoping that the job thing works out soon! Fingers crossed!

One of my good friends from college is currently undergoing treatment for leukemia and her battle helps put things in perspective for me. My woes seem pretty insignificant when compared to what she's going through. If anyone is interested about following her fight or making a donation, visit her site by clicking here.

Okay, okay, enough babble about struggles, here's what's happening in my life!

My mom and aunt are driving up today to spend a long weekend in Chicago. I can't wait to spend some quality time with my mom. This time is best spent shopping, I believe :) Also, Christian is hoping to run this Saturday in Indianapolis, so we might make the drive there to watch! I hope it works out because I haven't seen him in forever and would love to see him run! We are also planning a trip to IKEA (which I'm dreading), but I am looking forward to some new stuff :) I hope to have a lot to report next week about what we do!

In past posts, you've seen pictures and videos with Courtney's cat, Ruby, in them. I haven't shown much of Ciaran because he doesn't come out much in the main area. However, suddenly, he has become my little buddy! Check out these pictures that I've taken of him recently. What a snuggler!

Hello! Up in my face one evening.

He LOVES just laying on your chest

Snuggled up in my arm pit one morning. He also licked my face this day! 

I was sleeping this morning and he thought it would be a great idea to sleep on my butt!

Well, that's all for now! I'm hoping to have lots of good stuff to report next week!

Love, H&W

I Am Officially a 26-year-old. Woah.

So sorry for the delayed blog post! Things have been busy (and so hot!) here in Chicago! I've been meaning to write, but haven't had a chance to sit down and do it. So here you go!

First, I want to thank all of the absolutely wonderful people that I have in my life who reached out to me on my birthday last week. I had so many facebook posts, texts and calls that just made my day. To be honest, I had been boo-hooing a little bit and feeling sorry for myself because I was beginning to realize how hard it is to be in a new city and not know very many people. I kept thinking about my last birthday and all of the fun things I did with my friends and I was starting to get a little down because this birthday was going to be different. It was different, but it also made me realize that even though I may not be in the same city as some of my favorite people, thanks to the Internet and social media, they'll always be close by! A huge thank you to everyone who made my day!

Courtney and I enjoyed a yummy lunch at Julius Meinl. I had a slice of quiche which was tasty, but she had Spätzle and hers was SO delicious!! And we got dessert treats, of course. Check out our lunch spread below!

I had to get the lemon tart again. I hate getting the same thing twice in a row when there are so many goodies to choose from, but I couldn't resist! A perfect summer treat! 

Courtney had to work that evening, so Audrey and her law school buddies Erin, Sean and Dan (side note: Erin and Sean are Mabel's owners) celebrated my birthday with me at a Thai place I had been wanting to try. The food was tasty and the company was great, so while my birthday was a little more low-key than it has been in years past, it was still a good one!


Courtney also threw a little party earlier in the week as a sort of birthday/Memorial day celebration. We had a TON of delicious food, so I've included a couple of photos that I took of the spread. It was fun hanging out and having a good time with a big group of people.

Easiest party dessert ever. And people go bananas for them!

Nice, little cheese spread.

Chips, guac, hummus, veggie tray - what more does a party need?

Andrew's homemade bruschetta. Yum!

On a Walter update, it's been pretty toasty warm here and he's been slightly miserable in the heat. But he loves playing outside, so it's a bit of a Catch22 for him. I've begun to notice that he goes directly to the shaded part of the dog park every morning and evening that we go there. Here are a few videos and a photo to illustrate how much he loves his shade!

I'll stay over here, thank you very much.

Walter will now crawl under the fence to go get a ball. I have to lift it up for him though... he's not daring enough to go alone yet. 

Waiting patiently at the door for our walk!

A rare moment at our house! Ciaran and Walter on the couch together! This was big news!

Again, thanks to everyone for the kind words on my birthday. I felt so special! Twenty-six will be a big year for me - new city, new job (let's hope!), new beginnings! It's exciting!

Stay cool! 

H&W