Delightful Blog

Came across

on this lovely blog. It made me laugh. It's funny how too many options makes some things go completely out of hand. If you have a moment or five take a look around and be inspired.

Post-it Inspiration

Stumbled across this video the other day on YouTube. It's been made using stop motion photography and a bunch of post-it notes!




How creative!

Did I mention that I love gardening?

Look how pretty!

Summer Reading

One of my favorite parts of summer is finding the time to sit down with a good book. This year my 'to read' list is pretty ambitious due the fact that I'm not really taking any true vacations. I plan to post updates on my progress throughout the summer and do some small reviews in case anyone is interested. But first, an overview of my selections:

Animal Farm, by George Orwell: I got this at a library book sale in my old town in Michigan for about $1 last year. I haven't read a lot of George Orwell and know I should. It was a toss up between this and Fahrenheit 451, which I bought at the same sale. I've heard less about this book through the years, so felt like I should give it a go.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith: I've always been a fan of series and have heard good things from a few different people about this one. Plus it's kind of a mystery, and I wanted to diversify my genre selections this summer.

Trading Up, by Candace Bushnell: I started reading this book on a flight I took last year and never finished. I'm probably about 1/3 of the way through, so I figured I might as well put it to bed.

Bel Canto, by Ann Patchett: I've probably started reading this book 4 times already. I think the first time I tried to read it was in 2005. It's never been that I haven't enjoyed it, I just seem to get distracted with other things the minute I'm 100 pages in. I figure I either need to finish reading it now or never.

Freedom: The Story of My Second Life, by Malika Oufkir: This is a follow up to the book Stolen Lives: Twenty Years In A Desert Jail (if you haven't read this book yet, add it to your to-read list), which I read in 2002 and was just fascinated with. Malika Oufkir lived an extraordinary early life and I'm excited to see how her life continued after the last book ended.

The Reader, by Bernhard Schlink: I really want to see this movie, but am waiting until after I've finished the book so that I have something to compare it to.

Empire Falls, by Richard Russo: Dan picked this book up recently, and seeing it in my family room the other day reminded me that I had wanted to read it at one time. So, on the list it went!

Chasing Harry Winston, by Lauren Weisberger: Chick lit at it's finest. I just finished this book on Thursday, review to come in the next few weeks :)

Dead Until Dark, by Charlaine Harris: Another one I've finished already. This is the first book in the True Blood series. I picked it up because I heard such good things about the HBO show and enjoyed reading the Twilight books earlier this year. Review to come.

The Fiery Cross, by Diana Gabaldon: The 5th book in the Outlander series, which I've been reading since 2000. It's actually my Mom's and she'd like it back, so I am going to try to finish it by the beginning of August when I'll be going home to see her.

When You Are Engulfed In Flames, by David Sedaris: This is a collection of short stories that Dan and I have actually be reading to each other over the past few months. It's the first time we've both read Sedaris and he seems to be an author that we both like.

The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini: This is my current read. I've heard wonderful things about this book and actually received the sequel already as a gift, so I'm excited to read this one.

One book is missing from the stack above because I've already read it and lent it out. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski. This was my first book of the summer and will probably be my first review on the site. So stay tuned...

What's on your reading list this summer? Does your reading list look as lengthy as this or am I just overly ambitious?

Playdate!

Last weekend we had one of Charlie's friends spend the night while his family was partying it up at a wedding. Redford is a one year old golden retriever and he was a party animal while he was here.

I took the video below of them playing in the yard, which I think is pretty funny as Charlie probably has 50 pounds on Redford, but still manages to be the wimpy one during play time (also please disregard the grass issues in my yard, it's a work in progress):

I'm pretty sure if reincarnation is for real, that exceptionally good people are rewarded and come back as golden retrievers because they are the happiest things ever.

After our day and a half long play date, Charlie did a lot of this:



It can be exhausting to be so fun!

As a side note, I promise I'll start posting about things other than my dog after this post. He just offers such good material!

22

So if you saw my last post, you probably figured out that my Friday has something to do with kickball... Of course, you're right! I participated in a work kickball tournament in the Denver area on Friday and our team placed 2nd! Of course, I forgot my camera, so I have no good images to show you, but overall it was a fun time. I hadn't played kickball in over 10 years so it helped me connect with my school days :)

Another big thing happened on Friday. My sister Melissa turned 22! She's the youngest in the family, so the fact that she is now 22 kind of makes me feel old, but I'm excited for her because it is such a fun age to be. If you haven't been there yet, you should go check out her great blog. She's just getting it started like me and has such creative ideas and great style. The pic below is of her and her boyfriend Eric from a recent trip we took to New York. Aren't they cute?!

Happy Birthday Melis! Love you- xoxo

A Sneak Peak...

Found Here

...at what I'm up to today. I'll update you later. :)

Meet My Best Pal

This weekend Charlie received a new oversize tennis ball toy. True to his mischievous retriever personality, he promptly destroyed it within a few hours... but not before I got out my camera and took some video of him enjoying it...

Oh the life of a pup! It just puts a smile on my face. :)

Dress Hunt

So I have a few weddings coming up this summer and would like to rotate a new dress into my wardrobe to wear to two of them. I love the dress that Cat Deeley wore on last night's, "So You Think You Can Dance"! The picture above is pretty horrible and does not do it justice but it's about all I can find at the moment. Does anyone know who the designer is? It's probably out of my price range, but a girl can dream, right?

On a second note, I'm so excited about SYTYCD this season. It's the first season I'm watching all the way through and the choreography is just awesome to watch. The team that works on this show is so incredibly creative and the dancers are just beautiful and inspiring. Right now my favorites are Jason and Caitlin and Randi and Evan. If you haven't checked out the show ever, I recommend you set your DVR now!

Perfect Summer

As the owner of an old home, I have a natural love for any person who puts their time into fixing up a neglected space. This little lake cottage from Chicago Home and Garden Magazine has been moving around the blogosphere and I am just in love with it.

It was a rundown 11' x 11' space that the owner moved and restored to what you see above. What a beautiful second home this would make! If you're not sold yet, check out the dock that's just down the way.



This would make a perfect summer!