Garden Variety Thievery

Over the last several weeks we've been dealing with some thieves!  Just your average, garden variety thieves. 

The girls have been stealing snap peas straight off the trellis and aren't the least bit remorseful! 

Don't let those sweet faces fool you!  They're dirty, rotten, four pawed thieves.

"What?  My tongue didn't actually touch it!"

You might be wondering how on Earth did they decide they like snow peas?  

I'd point you in Matt's direction.  Years ago he was out in the garden and decide to throw a snow pea pod in Bella's direction... She's been salivating at them ever since! 

Obviously, Matt had to clue Haddie in on the wonder of the snow pea and now they're both hooked.  It's like crack to them!  They don't even wait for us to pick the pods off for them, it's a doggie buffet!

In addition to the snow peas, they also eat strawberries.  To be clear, they have to be ripe strawberries!  If they're not at their peak, they won't eat them.  Rotten.

Please confirm that our dogs aren't the most spoiled ones on the planet?

Vacation Recap, Days 5-7

The last half of my vacation to the East Coast was spent in New York City.  I had originally planned to fly home Tuesday midday, but everyone convinced me to stay a little longer so they could take me to the city.  Let me tell you, they really had to twist my arm!  I was able to get things squared away with work and graduate school to stay the extra time so I did and boy am I glad it worked out!!

Tuesday morning after breakfast, all five of us loaded up and hit the road to the big city.  It takes about an hour to get from Dan and Laura's to the outskirts of NYC, but obviously with traffic and what not it took longer to get into the actual city.  When we first got to town we headed to SoHo to go to Kelsey's favorite store.  From there we headed to Little Italy and Chinatown and did some window shopping and browsing at the store fronts there.  We ended up finding some cute purses and jewelry that no one could say "No" too.  By this time we were all starving and decided that lunch was next on our To-Do List.  The last time Laura and Dan were in NYC they found Heartland Brewery and wanted to share it with us.  I had the most amazing plate of Tex Mex Nachos and a delicious adult beverage, sorry no pictures.  After lunch we wandered in and out of some of the boutiques and shops around Seaport.  I was also able to see the Brooklyn Bridge!

I had great luck shopping in that area and ended up with three dresses and a bunch of accessories thanks to Dan and Laura.  I'm telling you these two people are the best EVER!

After leaving the Seaport area we headed to our hotel.  For our impromptu trip to the city we stayed here...

The hotel was commissioned by William Randolph Heart in 1926 as a statement of love for Marian Davies, whose picture is located everywhere through the hotel.  Many old time Hollywood celebs have stayed at this iconic hotel back in the day and it really is beautiful!

Around 6:00PM we hit the city streets to walk to supper, but along the way we went by...

 For supper we went to Gallagher's NY Prime Steakhouse.  This particular restaurant has been serving great steaks in NY for 85 years!  That's a lot of beef!

We dined on clams, crab cakes, crab cocktail, sauteed baby spinach, sauteed mushrooms and of course some very delicious steak!  I had the signature "The New York Strip" which is dry aged to perfection for 21 days.  To wash it all down we drank several bottles of champagne and toasted to great trips, great friends and a great meal.  After we left the restaurant we headed to Times Square, which was really magical at night.

Times Square is certainly a big draw for tourists and I had no shame picking out magnets, key chains and signs to bring home for Matt!  Somehow we also found ourselves in this store with giant statues, where Kelsey found some of her relatives!

Isn't the resemblance striking?!?!  Love you Kels!

By this time the rain set in and we took refuge in the the BIGGEST M&M store I have ever seen!  There was just about every colored M&M you could imagine, as well as clothes, jewelry, and statues of the characters.  Do you have a favorite character?  I've always like Yellow, he crack's me up.  I also had the opportunity to try the Dark Chocolate Mint M&M's, holy cow they were yummy!  The rain had begun to let up and we decided to brave the sprinkles and head back to our hotel.  Along the way, Kelsey climbed into a fountain on a dare.  Did you know you can get arrested for that?  Oppsy!  Thankfully, we didn't get caught.  To wrap up a great day we all had dessert and drinks in the bar of the hotel and then headed to bed.

Wednesday morning Dan and Laura headed back New Jersey and left Kelsey, Luke and I in the city to be collected by Tommy, my chaffuere.  We had breakfast downstairs in the hotel and then headed towards Central Park for a carriage ride.  While it may be touristy, I didn't care I needed some horse-time!  Joey took us on a great trip and our driver Ian told us all about the park and neighborhood.

 After leaving Joey, Kels and I broke off from the boys who wanted food and headed to Forever 21 and did some more serious shopping!  We both did really well here and came home with some cute clothes.  From Forever we walked down the block to Macy's.

This store is seriously HUGE!  Seven floors and a whole city block huge!  Ladies, there is TWO floors of just SHOES!  The building itself is really cool, my favorite feature is the old wooden escalators.  Talk about historic. 

This is the last photo I snapped in the city and it's very "New York"...

Someday I hope to come back with Matt and actually go up inside.  That and do some of the serious tourist attractions too like the Statue of Liberty and a Broadway show!  Crowds aren't really Matts thing so it might be more like dragging him...

Leaving the city we went through the Lincoln Tunnel, which spurred an entire conversation of Elf quotes!

"I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel."

" I'm a cotton-headed ninny-muggins."

"SANTA! OH MY GOD! SANTA'S COMING! I KNOW HIM! I KNOW HIM!"

I seriously love love love this movie!

Once we were back in NJ we were all spent!  Exhausted hardly covers it.  The evening was spent watching movies, eating Chocolate Covered Pretzel ice cream, and relaxing. 

Thursday after packing and breakfast, Tommy showed up and took me back to the airport in Philly.   Matt and Bella both showed up in Bloomington to collect me, talk about the welcome wagon!  I'm not sure who was more excited to see me, Matt or Bella?  The trip out to New Jersey was wonderful and I'm so grateful for the Muirhead/Young family for having me out to see them!  I'm ready to come again whenever you are! 

Another Weekend. Another Adventure.

Have you noticed a trend?

I'm not real big on sticking around home, especially during the summer!  There's just too many fun things going on to be cooped up in the house.  And summer provides the perfect backdrop for things like traveling, horse shows, and day drinking!  Pepper in some gal pals and I'm a happy camper.

Speaking of day drinking, isn't Little Big Town's song the perfect summer anthem?

Tomorrow I'm on the road again.  Five of my girlfriends and I are heading down to Carbondale to partake in some college reminiscing and wine trailing! 

The wineries of southern Illinois really came to life while I was in college at SIU.  Some are quaint and homey, others are quite grand!  In college (if I remember right... but with all the wine some of the memories are a bit hazy) I spent at least one day a week parked on a patio with a bottle of wine or pitcher of sangria.  Since graduating, Matt and I try to go down at least once a year! 

Technically, I may go more than Matt...

 

We've rented a cabin smack in the middle of all the winery goodness and I have created what may be the. perfect. itinerary!  And it just so happens to be the weekend before I celebrate the THREE-OH! 

Yep, I'll be "thirty, flirty and thriving" come Monday!  Name that movie.  

Okay, I'm off to work knock out a few more items from my 30 BY 30 list before I run out of time...

Have a great weekend!! 








 

Weekend Replay

I'm all for a quiet weekend at home, but given the option I'd choose fun and friends any day!  Who's with me?!?

After work we loaded up the car and hit the road south bound for Missouri.  Matt and I were both anxious to see our college pals and the four hour road trip was the only thing standing in our way!

Thankfully, the trip down was pretty uneventful.  We dealt with a little rain and some traffic around St. Louis, but nothing too terrible.  Come to find out, we timed everything just right and missed all the Cardinal baseball traffic as we went through!

When we got to Eric and Jamie's the party was already in full swing.  The bonfire was blazing, the beer was flowing and as predicted, so were the stories!!  Honestly, those stories may be old and tired, but they still bring a smile to my face!  

Saturday morning came a little too early for some, but for the most part we were all up and at 'em in pretty good time (and shape)!  After lighting a fire under the slower movers, we lit out to meet the company we rent the canoes from.  

I've only ever floated/canoed with this company, but how they typically organize everything generally goes like this:

1. Pay for your group.

2. Drive down the hill and park vehicles where we will finish on the canoes.

3. Load coolers and people into a large wagon and ride down to the river.

4. Organize canoes and float off.

This year we had a bit of a snafu between 3 and 4.  

Everything was all fine and dandy.  We had loaded the excessive amount of beer all our coolers and were on the way to the river.

 

When there was a bit of a problem... 

Now, you can't convince me that the hitch broke just because of the weight of 17 people and all those frickin coolers, but it sure didn't help!  And it makes for another funny story that will be told for years to come.  

We finally managed to make it to the river.  Hallelujah!

This year, Matt and I decided to shake things up and not be each others partners.  Sometimes it's just for the best.  Jamie and I decided that we were going to pair up and the husbands could be partners.  Best. Decision. Ever.  

Laughing at you and your partners mistakes is WAY more fun that being PO'd at the end of the day because you (or your significant other) did something dumb.  And this way, Jamie and I could chit-chat and gossip for the next six hours!  It worked out perfectly.  Jamie and I had a blast and I was still speaking to Matt by the time we were done!  

Being the lone 'girls only' canoe you can also get away with certain things too!!  

"Paddle boys, paddle!"

After countless laughs, multiple cans of beer and several miles spent on the river, a few of us took the lazy way out and fast-tracked to the finish. 

 

In our defense, there is always an amazing spread of food waiting for us back at the house.  That and a hot shower!  After we got back, cleaned up and our bellies were full of food most of us retreated to the bonfire and you guessed it... more old stories resurfaced!  And because it's what Illinois men do when they get together, there was also euchre into the wee hours of the night.

By 9 o'clock Sunday morning, everyone had packed up and headed for home, but it's tradition for us to stick around and have brunch with Jamie, Eric and his parents.  Mostly we relive the float trip and make notes for next year (t-shirts and music on the river!), share what's new or swap recipes.  This year, I came home with a new recipe for pasta sauce that I'm anxious to try!  And since there's 30 tomato plants in our garden, I think we will have an opportunity to make something new this year!

On our way home, we stopped at our friend's house for their daughter's 1st birthday party.  Jill out did herself decorating and everything looked spectacular!  Even more exciting than the decorations, Adelynn's last gift that she opened announced that she would be getting a new baby BROTHER in December!  The family is obviously excited, but I think John is super stoked for a boy to even up the score at home.  

So tell me, did you go-go-go this weekend or did you recharge your batteries?  

Linking up with Biana and Meghan.

Five Float Trip Faves

Another weekend, another adventure.

This weekend we are headed to Missouri for Matt's annual AGR Float Trip!  As soon as work is over, we're beating feet to join up with our college pals for a couple days of fun.  And for today's link-up, I'm highlighting some of my favorite parts about this trip...

The Crew.  Once upon a time, I saw many of the people who attend the float trip no less than 5 or 6 days a week.  It may have been in class or at a fraternity/sorority function or it could have very well been at the bar... but sadly, those days are long gone! 

Which brings me to my next point. Playing Catch Up.  A good portion of this evening we will spend sitting in lawn chairs around a bonfire figuring out all the who, what and where's of life in the last year since we've all seen each other.  In the early years it was dominated with wedding details and first jobs, but we're progressing to stories of buying houses and first, second (or in some cases), third kids.  Gracious, things have changed. 

Our host, lovingly referred to as Crazy Legs, and his wife also do a spectacular job feeding everyone all weekend long.  Crazy Legs, yes an old college nickname, is a grill/smoker connoisseur and never disappoints in The Eats department.  My mouth is watering just thinking about pork barbecue!

Hands down, my favorite part of the whole weekend is all the Reminiscing that goes on.  No matter how many years post college we are, as the drinks begin to flow... so will the stories from our college days.  These stories are old, tired and should probably be laid to rest, but there is no doubt in my mind we will talk about the fun times we had dancing at Fred's Dance Barn, partying in the basement of the AGR house and the general college craziness which includes stories of fraternity streaking!

And the actual, physical Float Trip is pretty fun too!

How are you spending your weekend??

Linking up with Karli, Amy and Amanda. 

Friday. Friday. Friday!

Today's post is a nod to all the fun I had out in Colorado the last few days!

Thursday night after getting into town we sat on the patio and enjoyed a bottle of wine and some snacks.

Friday all the fun really kicked off!

The day started off with an epic breakfast at Snooze.  Seriously, if there's one near you GO!  Delicious.  In Fort Collins, we did as the locals do... ride bikes to the cideries and breweries and partake in the drinking festivities during what would be most peoples normal work day!  After spending way too long the day drinking and biking, we decided it would be best to head back to the house.  After making it HOURS without any biking incidents I missed a curb and tumbled not so gracefully off my bike!  Oh the memories!

Saturday we slothed around the house, Allis and I did get a workout in, watched 8 Seconds (duh!), took a nap and then got ourselves all gussied up for the Lady Antebellum concert up in Cheyenne!  It's a pretty quick trip from FTC to Cheyenne which we passed singing our hearts out to the radio and gabbing.  We had some time to kill before the concert and decided to go check out the saloon for drinks and two-stepping!  I mean when in Rome Cheyenne...

The concert was amazing!  Lady A put on a fantastic show and it was great to hear Clay Walker again!  In my opinion, nothing beats 'old country'.

Sunday Allis, Maggie and I headed back to CFD.  This time to do some shopping and watch the rodeo.  Each day during CFD, they lead a 'Behind the Chutes' tour of the facility.  You get to hear about the history of the event, see the stock and learn about rodeo events.  We went last year, but it was something that Maggie absolutely had to see.  Plus we needed our second annual buckin' shoots photo!

Dress from Cowgirl Crush.

 The rodeo at Cheyenne never disappoints!  It really is the Daddy of 'em All!

*Just a quick shout-out to Ree for sharing the magic of Slo-Mo videos on the iPhone!

After we got home from the rodeo, some of Allis's girlfriends in FTC came over for an ol' fashion hen chackle.  Obviously we busted out more wine and snacks to soak up the drinks.  I may have ridden a kids tricycle around the yard.  Good times.

Monday we pampered ourselves with a pedicure downtown.  The plan was to enjoy some bubbly during, but we may have been over-served the night before and just weren't feeling up to it!  But by lunchtime it was game on!  Speaking of lunch, we also saw Jesus.  It says he will come again...

And because we're awesome, before heading home we went for a hike at Horsetooth Reservoir.  We hiked into the falls, played around in the water and then headed back.  On the return trip, we were treated with a rattlesnake on the path!!  Eek!  Not cool Colorado, not cool.

But with blue skies and views like this, I can forgive one snake!  Two would be pushing it though!

Linking up with September F A R M and The Farmer's Wife.

Westward Ho!

I'm wrapping up my month of travels by spending some time in Colorado with my friends Allis and Maggie.  There's a lot of really important things on our agenda like:

• Drinking copious amounts of adult beverages.  Red wine.  White wine.  Cider.  Craft beer. Moscow Mules.  The list goes on...
• Pedicures.
• Breakfast at Snooze.  I'm already dreaming about a flight of pancakes!
• Bonfires and gab sessions.
• Going to see Lady Antebellum and watch one of the go rounds at Cheyenne Frontier Days.
• Biking brewery and cidery tour.  Sampling new varieties and burning calories?  Sign me up!

I'll catch you up on our adventures when I get back next week! 

I hope you enjoy what's left of your week and have a fantastic weekend!  Got anything fun planned?

Over and out.

Celebrating the 4th on the 5th

Well before leaving to visit my friends in Jersey I added their hometown to my 'favorites' list on the weather app on my phone.  Just to be prepared. Other people do that too, right?

Okay, anyways prior to even boarding the plane I had seen that there was a pretty significant chance of rain on the 4th.  Thumbs down.  It turns out that while meteorologists may only get the weather right half the time, Hurricane Arthur wouldn't be deterred.  Damn him.

Just to spite the rain we packed up and headed to Dan's brother's house anyway!  It took two cars to get all the gear, food, drinks and dogs down there. 

Mmm, pie!

Obligatory red, white and blue food.

The rain finally quit late afternoon, but the fireworks had already been moved to Friday.  And it honestly worked out for the best!  It was a beautiful day!

Practically perfect, actually.  

Hot roddin'!

Yep.  This didn't suck.

PSA: In that red cup there, one of the tastiest margaritas I've ever had!  My friend Laura perfected this recipe before I got to town.  We made one EPIC modification, pureed strawberries.  Just do it!

While floating in the pool drinking Laura's dog Sailor went from a position on the pool deck much like this...

 

To this in nothing short of a millisecond!  It should be noted that I successfully handed off my margarita, without spilling a drop mind you, after I was pounced on!  Then Laura snapped that gem of a pic.

Sailor, the floating silver Labrador.

We finally lost the sun, but were treated with a pretty fantastic sunset over the water.  All the boats... they're just biding for the fireworks to start.  Nothing like a front row seat for the show!

Did you get to watch fireworks on Independence Day?  Or like me, did Mother Nature have other plans for you?

Cape May, NJ

This past weekend while I was visiting friends in Jersey one of the things we did was drive down to Cape May.  Cape May is as far south as you can get in New Jersey without cruising straight into the Atlantic!

This seashore town oozes curb appeal with its gorgeous homes and gingerbread cottages!  While there are many private residences, most of the big homes near the water are B&Bs.  The restaurants are all very unique and offer a completely different selection compared to what this Midwesterner can get at home!

One of my favorite places was the Cape May Peanut Butter Co. 

 

Not only was there grinding stations for all different kinds of nut butters (almond, cashew, and hazelnut to name a few!), they had packaged and baked goodies to take with you or enjoy as you walked around town.  Hands down the coolest part was the custom PB&J's made to order!  It took everything I had to not get the s'more inspired sandwich!!

Another awesome shop that we found was Sea Bags.  All of the bags are made in Maine from recycled boat sails!  Pretty neat stuff!

If you're still undecided on where you're headed for summer vacation, give Cape May some serious thought!  We only spent the day down there, but I know you could spend several days enjoying the beaches, shops, restaurants and wineries!

And in July I...

Vacation.

And show horses. 

Fine by me!

I literally will be working approximately 15 days this month and traveling the rest.  I'm headed to New Jersey for the Fourth of July and then to Colorado later in the month.  And the other weekends I'll be showing that fine horse you see above!

I hope you're July is going to be as great as mine!

Front Porch Decor

It's a rainy, cool day here in Illinois and all I really wanted to do this morning was stay snuggled up in bed!

Unfortunately, that wasn't a reality so I'm sharing some pictures of the pretty flowers and tasty herbs I've potted up and have sitting on my porch at home.  While I don't always appreciate the rain, they sure do!

 

Linking up with Tuesday Tea!