so.....it's the end of January and January gets long when you

live in a cold state like Minnesota right?

(can I get an amen?)

like most other Januarys, this one's got me cleaning and de-cluttering.

everyday I make a goal to clean at least one area and

toss out some "stuff". I am a packrat... and even tho i'm old

i wasn't born in the 30's- so we can't quite blame it on the great depression.

you can probably tell that I've been a little burnt out on blogging lately.
after more than 5 years i've blabbered on and on about what i'm up to, but
this winter has just been pretty boring in my neck of the woods.
when something fun happens it's easy-peasy to
knock out a post that i think you (my peeps) will enjoy, but sometimes
it's just a  biiiiig stretch.

today is one of those stretches, but hey! i'm just going to throw some
photos your way and see what else comes to mind as i'm typing.

:   )



one of the things that gets me through the winter is flowers~

when you live in MN your gardens are covered in snow, so i buy myself flowers.
i got this fab pitcher from a dear friend for Christmas and it makes a good vase.

i corralled these 3 pups under glass.

another thing that brings a smile to my face all winter is feeding the birds.

(i think the finch on the bottom is getting scolded?)

and appreciating the different kind of softer light that winter brings.

the front door

this is our dog koda. he's a chesapeake bay retriever and lars's bff.

he is a pretty good dog, but he barks too much. drives me nuts some days,

but he turned 3 last week.  i told him that i expect better behavior now~

the terrible twos should be in the past.    ~hey a girl can dream.

: )

lars surprised me with these flowers last week.

he knows the way to my heart. it's not with jewelry (have to pick that

out myself cause i'm fussy. same with clothes)... but bring me flowers

and you've made my day!

that's about all i've got for you today, other than one cool trick i saw on

pinterest that i tried and would like to share.

if your bathroom mirror fogs up when you shower, and your

hubbie wipes it off with his towel so he can see to shave or comb his hair,
 it leaves it smeared right? well, try this:

you take a dry bar of soap and rub it on the mirror.

(ours is large so i just did a big area in the middle, but not the whole

thing). then you clean off the soap with windex and a dish towel or

paper towels and voila! it's some kind of magic, but it doesn't fog

up in that area anymore. I guess hotels do it.

*cool tip and although cleaning the soap off took a bit of work,

the not needing to clean it all the time when your

roommates use their towel on it is totally worth it!

well, i'm working on my photography website so have to go make

a couple phone calls~ have a great week friends! 

ta ta for now,

xo beth

a bridal brunch

there are parties~

and then there are par--tays!

no one throws a party quite like my friend annie, except maybe

martha stewart- but come on...that chick has staff.

she has people. assistants, helpers, crew.

annie pulls this kind of a party off single-handedly.

none of us can quite figure out how. it's practically magic.

(*i suspect she has staff too~ they're just hiding in the bedroom).

this is a bridal brunch she hosted for her one and only daughter jessica.

first of all i wish i had taken a picture of the invitation.

when it came, gold glitter started to sift out of the envelope before i even opened it.

it was exquisite and had components like a real pressed maple leaf, gold glitter

and thin sparkly gold thread wrapped around it.

it set the tone for what was to come... just wait till you see all the

glittery details of the party and as if that wasn't enough, the food

was over the top!

all that glitters is not gold, or is it?

beautiful gold cake topper

cake pops with yep-- gold glitter

cream filled ginger cookies

French toast-my favorite part... i need to ask annie for the recipe.

miss annie always has games at her events and this one involved guessing

jessicas ages from a whole line of photos. there is always great prizes so the games

get very competitive. ; )

beautiful wrapped gifts lined up waiting to be opened...

another game was pin the diamond on jess's finger. the person who got

it closest to where it belonged was the winner.

oh, by the way- this is the beautiful bride to be. (now a Mrs.)

here is jess with the mommas. carol, her new mother in law is on the left, and her own

mom annie on the right. jessica's dad is guatemalan and she was born there, so

she and fiancé tim chose to have their wedding there over new years weekend.

i was invited, but not able to attend. the few photos that have trickled in

are so amazing that i probably would have died over the beauty of it all and

never made it home!

here are the bridesmaids with jess

(minus two).

game cards

about a month before the shower, annie sent all of us a secret request to

please record a video with words of advice about marriage for jess and tim.

she then compiled it all into a movie for them. it was so fun to watch it together

and hear the great love the people in that room have for this remarkable, lovable girl.

jess had no idea and was overcome with emotion. she cried...

and she laughed~

and she cried some more.

it was just a delightful party for a girl i care deeply about and i was so

thrilled to be a part of it.

annie, if you're reading this please know how much i admire the

loving details you put into everything you do.

you make it all look so effortless and spoil all of us

so abundantly. it was a lovely day in every way- and

"gurl!!! you are one talented party thrower"

(party thrower, sort of like a flame thrower, only you don't need a fire extinguisher).

: )  b.

this kind of laughing till you cry is one of the best things in life.

i got to spend new years weekend at my friend maggie's farm.

"marge" and her family moved to this fabulous place last may and

i hadn't been there yet to see it blanketed in snow. they still had their

christmas decorations up and i loved seeing how she (and her momma) 

made their wonderful home pretty for the holidays.

this old weather vane got a big red bow~

love their sparkly tree topper

how fun would it be to look out at this view every morning? (and there
are about 6 more red buildings).

one whole wall of their house is windows~atrium doors~ windows so the view is aah-mazing.

Maggie's daughter Josie was home with us too and she and i love to do projects.

girlfriend is 7 and super creative! i brought ingredients to make bars (we didn't get

to that), yarn and a crochet hook to teach her to crochet...and thought it would be

fun to show them how to make ice luminaries. she was all about it!

momma m. got josie a scissors and a great basket and she bundled up and

headed out to forage for what we would put in our pails.

before she could start collecting berries and boughs though, she had to attend

to the 4 kitties that thought it would be fun to play.

to make ice luminaries, you start with a pail filled with water. next you add whatever you want

that will freeze down in the water and look pretty.

*the pails sat ready filled with water~ check.

i was inside in my robe, taking photos through the screens. lol

hey! it was bitterly cold out.

bailey-- the coolest yellow lab in the land-- was out there foraging with jos.

we knew berries from their flowering crab would look pretty~

kitty crawled up the tree to oversee the project.  : )

jos came in with her loot and she and momma started assembling their

pails. Maggie had cut up some oranges to add- i could tell

their luminaries were going to be really colorful and pretty.

the last step before freezing them is to find something to push down in the middle of the water,

that will make the hole to put a candle in.

you have to tape it down or it won't stay in place. we thought they would freeze in a few

hours... it was below zero outside, but nope... not even being out overnight did the trick.

they took about two days to freeze rock hard and then when they do, you bring them in and

put some hot water in the jar or container you taped down in the center, and then that

will pop out and you tip over the pail and tip out the whole thing and

it's ready to put outside and add a candle to the middle at night and

voila! they are soo pretty and if it stays cold- will last for a long time.

don't you just love the finished product? i wasn't sure if having so

much in them would be "too much"- but i  really love how partial branches

were sticking up on the top.

new years eve- masks were involved and bailey let me put one on her for

about a minute...

a quick trip to goodwill so we could each pick out our "party glasses" for the evening,

we ate pizza and watched a movie (sully) and it was just a perfect way to

ring in the new year-

jos has some of the cutest stuffed animals and i always like to snuggle with them.

there is a pig and this penguin that are particular favorites and i teased her that

i needed one to sleep with- but she said "nooooo, i need them to sleep"!

well, my little friend went to bed before me and look what i found when i went to

my room later.

: )

that's a good friend right there~ and i swear i slept better with this little fella next to me.

oh  and teaching  jos to crochet went great. she caught on immediately (she's 7!) and

she never stopped all weekend. she crocheted in applebees and in church, girlfriend's probably

made an afghan by now!

Maggie was out on the deck giving jos some direction while she was gathering

the goods for luminaries and i snapped this picture of her loving on a kitten.

 

wishing you a great weekend,

January is already half over guys. if you live in a cold

state like i do, put your face to the sun and keep your chin up~

xox, beth