Birthday Surprise

I hope you all had a nice Memorial day weekend! I sure did. On Saturday I flew home to Appleton, WI to surprise my mom for her birthday. My dad was in on the surprise, and told my mom he was off to the grocery store when really he was off to the airport to pick me up. When we got back to the house, he went in first and told my mom to come see what he got on special at the store. Surprise! We've never pulled something like that on her before, and it was a lot of fun.

I had a great weekend relaxing with my parents. Lots-of-pictures-alert:


* Who knew Paris was right in the backyard?*



* the little old lady who rules the roost *


* Little Lake Butte des Morts *



* old railroad bridge *


*Mom and Dad crossing the Friendship Trail, Menasha, WI *


* warehouse on the trail *


* plenty of irises ready for their close-up *


* "Treasure" found in the backyard (it's a deer skull) *


* chairs always getting a new paint makeover *


*homemade strawberry-rhubarb ice cream with the last of the garden rhubarb crop *


*snapdragons *


* half shade/half sun combo is the best for a snooze *


* Testing out Dad's Christmas present on the creek *



* Dad was in on the plan*



* the birthday girl *

Finding Fall

I got a little glimpse of Fall while back in Wisconsin this past weekend. Being in LA, I miss the change of seasons into Fall, so I was happy that some of the trees were changing early.



Another treat was seeing my brother, sister-in-law and nephew. Even though I wasn’t exactly alive-alert-enthusiastic, due to too much wedding fun the previous night, it was fun to see how much baby Miles has changed since I’ve last seen him.



He took his job of picking apples and pears from my parent’s trees very seriously. Thanks for coming by, Ben, Meg and Miles!

Wedding Whirlwind

I’m back from a whirlwind of a wedding weekend in Wisconsin (say that ten times fast). The wedding was beautiful, the weather couldn’t have been more perfect, and the bride and groom had permanent smiles all day.





It was such a nice weekend of catching up with best friends, and I’m so glad I was able to celebrate such a special day with Gretchen and Tom.



It’s back to reality for me…but only for a few days. I’m off to another wedding in Wilmington, North Carolina on Friday!

A Trip Home

I had such a nice trip home in Wisconsin. I got to take in all the irises in my parent’s new (ish) yard…








We scooted on down to Madison, to see Mister Miles, who will make a great dinosaur someday I think (if he decides he can keep this on his head long enough to get it buttoned!):


And went to the bridal shower for my lovely friend Gretchen – who is now the owner of the afghan I made back in the winter, when I could stand to have that much wool on my lap.


Seeing my family and catching up with friends was much needed. The weekend flew by, but I had a great time. There’s a lot of friend visits/more trips to look forward to this summer!

(and really, where else will you find a bar table that is a cribbage board?? I won, by the way. :))

WISCONSIN!!

I'm heading out tonight to the tropical lands of Wisconsin for the next few days to celebrate this lovely lady's bridal shower!



Love you Gretchy Poo, and I can't wait to see everybody!!