Fun « Girly Muse

Archive for the ‘Fun’ Category

I Heart Meredith

August 15, 2012

This little one has me wrapped.

It’s been that way from day one.

She loves me. Passionately. (It’s true.) And I love her. Just as passionately. (Also true.)

Ask her mom how Meredith kisses me and maybe you’ll believe it.

We just click. It’s weird how that happens with babies and kids just like adults. They’re people too, can you believe it?

Meredith turned one and the little peanut has all our hearts so full. She’s been a ray of sunshine in my life this past year.

OK, she loves other people too…

Like Courtney…

Almost as much as me.

I’m kidding.

Kind of.

No, no, really. I am.

And her mama…I think she might love her too.

Happy Birthday, dear Meredith. May you always have your sweet spirit, your magnetic smile, soulful eyes that go to the depths, your gentle determination to be heard, a good appetite for food and fun, and love for others that is so true it heals. May you always be this way, only a thousand times more as you grow.

Posted in August 2012, Birthdays, Family, Friends, Fun, Heartwarming Events | 2 Comments »

I’ll Take That Mansion Right There, Please. Next to Tarryn’s.

July 23, 2012

Besides seeing Jesus…and David, Joseph and Esther…Ruth too, she rocks…in heaven, I’m excited that I can see Tarryn every day. I love this girl so much. In heaven~ God, are you hearing this?~ I’d like my mansion to be close to hers, please. It will save on texting…

Tarryn’s mom, Cynthia, was married a week ago in a beautiful beach wedding. The hot, humid, rainy day cleared up and cooled off just in time for the sweetest ceremony. Jeff, the lucky man Cynthia married, is wonderful in his own right. No, we can’t say he’s a blond female Mary Poppins, but he is special too. For real special, not *wink* special…

Look at this little dream…

The food was spectacular. The candy bar was divine…

I’m so happy for this couple. They feel like family to me already~ it’s amazing how that can happen so quickly with some people, but it’s just the way it is with this whole family. For keeps.

Other very important things happened in my visit…just for one, I picked up my phone and found about 25 of these fabulous treasures:

Imagine every face possible and you will know what I’m talking about…

I think I might have met my face-making match.

She has my heart.

And this guy…oh, don’t even get me started on him. I can’t even take his cuteness. He makes my guts squeeze every time I look at him.

To new starts, adventures and chasing dreams…true wuv.

And now it’s back to missing…it’s hard to miss. Day after day, miss, miss, miss. So if we could hurry up on the heaven deal, God, that would be great.

Posted in Family, Friends, Fun, Grateful Heart, Heartwarming Events, July 2012, Travel | 4 Comments »

Friends, Downton Abbey and Christmas

June 25, 2012

The past weekend was one of the best and busiest I’ve had in a long time…summer has taken off with a bang.

I FINALLY took action with my unruly yard. It’s sad~ my gardening skills have gotten worse over the years instead of better. I can’t tell you how many perennials I’ve tried in our garden beds. Sigh. My garden at my first house was so cute and colorful. Now I have a huge yard and it’s like pulling teeth to get things to flourish. We dug up a ton, moved things around…it was a family affair. One flower bed looks fantastic; the others still have to be finished. Any tips on VERY HARDY plants for zone 4?

Friday night, I spent time with my girls Courtney, Tosha and Halima…hang with just one of them and hilarity ensues, but put the four of us in a room together and it’s, well…I don’t even have a word for it. Suffice it to say, I am still laughing a few days later. I love these women and thank God for true friends.

My dear friend, Amy, from college days, was in town and we had breakfast Saturday morning. It has been far too long since I’ve seen her and oh my, what a treat. I will make sure I see her before another decade goes by! We reminisced for hours and it felt as if no time had passed. Another friend, Wendy, who I have known forever, but never really knew~ know what I mean? ~ she joined us and I am so glad I finally got to know her better.

We saw Brave~ did any of you see it yet? The red hair is mesmerizing!

Our two great nephews, Jordan and Caleb, graduated and had such a fun party on Saturday, complete with music from our nephews, Chris and Andrew. Take a look at our new great niece…isn’t she a beauty?

Yep, she’s dreamy.

And then after months and months of staying up way too late and waking up way too early, it caught up with me. I fell asleep on the couch at 7:30 P.M. Can you believe it? I dragged myself to bed around midnight and wonder of wonders~ I went back to sleep until 6:30 A.M.! I was a new woman, I tell you!

After church, we had a group of 9 or 10 record BGVs on a song for Jason Gray’s Christmas project. We tried to invoke the good cheer of Christmas in the heat of the studio and I think we might have managed to pull it off. I do love a day of singing in the studio. Even though it’s usually sweaty and sometimes crowded, your feet get tired and it can be a LONG day, good memories are always made.

Last night, we started watching the series Downton Abbey at Steve and Jill’s house. I’ve wanted to see this for a long time and it did not disappoint…I am hooked. I saw four episodes and I’m going to get after the rest in speedy fashion.

I feel that I sufficiently wrung out the goodness of the entire weekend as best I could. Now…on to a hopefully mellow week. I can only handle so much fun.

Posted in ABC Youth Choir, Family, Friends, Fun, June 2012, Life, Movies, Music | 8 Comments »

Coffee Photos

June 8, 2012

My new friend, Alyssa, came over for coffee last week~ I have a regular coffee date with a few girls every Thursday morning~ and she brought her fabulous camera skills along! She’s a professional photographer and I am enjoying catching up and seeing all her beautiful pictures on her website.

She featured a few of us on her blog…to see some of the fun pictures, click HERE.

And since you’re so nice to read Girly Muse, I’ll give you a sneak peek…

Thanks, Alyssa! You perfectly captured our fun day. XO

Posted in Coffee Love, Friends, Fun, June 2012, Photography | 7 Comments »

Florida trip

May 7, 2012

It’s been a week since I’ve been home from Florida and I’m still smiling over the memories. What a great trip…I love it when things come together unexpectedly~ everything about this trip suddenly lined up and worked OUT. All thanks to our respective husbands~ Nate, Matt and James. Tosha’s been wanting us to go on a trip for my birthday since last year and at times it seemed iffy that it would happen. Now I can’t believe it’s all over…

Tosh and I dragged our sleepy, excited selves to the airport and giddily talked all the way to Florida.

Our God-given SMFFL (Soul Mate Friend For Life) Tarryn, met us at the airport and then we all three did our part to ensure we got our 120,000 words in for the day. I never knew I could talk so much. There’s something about these two that draws it all out of me. That and the fact that I go days without talking more than 1,000 words a day, so it was time to catch up.

Tosha and Tarryn at Jaxson’s~ aren’t they both so pretty?

The BEST ice cream ever!!!

Crunchy Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Hot Peanut Butter and Hot Fudge Topping~ OH MY!

We ran into two of these in different parking lots. I thought they were some kind of turkey, but they’re ducks and very common in Florida, I guess. Very interesting~ it looks like its eyes got hit by a turkey’s waddle and the duck was left with the repercussions.

The next day, we made our way out to Sunny Isles, which is a fun little jaunt. If you’re ever in the Fort Lauderdale area, you should go over to Sunny Isles just to see the skyscraper penthouses on the main strip. Unbelievable. Donald Trump has some landscape there and let me tell you, it’s spectacular. Tarryn found a Groupon for a spa day~Seven Seas Spa & Salon~ in one of the hotels and this tiki hut was involved. Also included: lunch, massage, and facial. Yes, I felt SPOILED rotten.

Glorious

All the cares melted away…

Look at the bubbles coming out of the ceiling…

After we were thoroughly relaxed and pampered, we met Madison and Traci at Tatu~ a gorgeous sushi place in the Hard Rock Hotel. DELICIOUS.

Look at our pretty dessert. (It was delicious too.)

The next morning, we took our time before checking out and then headed to Starbucks. We also went to Ross, as in, Ross Dress for Less…we don’t have these in Minnesota and I love them. Found some cute things! They have so many more dresses than TJ Maxx or Marshall’s…

The next couple of nights we stayed at Tarryn’s house. Her dog, Willow, found a home at Tosha’s feet…

We met Tarryn’s mom, Cynthia, who is such a lovely woman. I wish I’d gotten a picture of her. She is from South Africa and has the greatest accent ever. Cynthia reminded me of a blond Mary Poppins, only much, MUCH sweeter…

We laughed a lot and cried some too. We ate great food and played a game or two…we talked about God and life and trouble and writing and heartache and all that is good and bad and fantastic and sad. I’m pretty sure we could have covered much more…

It was hard to say good-bye.

On the way home…

My heart is full.

Thanks, girls. xoxo

Posted in Birthdays, Friends, Fun, May 2012, Travel | 2 Comments »

Be There Or Be A Dork!

May 3, 2012

So much has been happening~ I promise to catch you up very soon. I’ve been out of town, sort of going in a new direction with a couple book-related projects (others’ books, not mine…YET), enjoying this nice weather we’ve been having, getting ready for company (tonight!) to be here for a couple of weeks~Staci Frenes, woohoo!, and working my bohunkus off for the Wild Ruffle Pop Up Shop.

My trip away will get its own post~ it was magical. I desperately needed the break and it was absolutely wonderful.

TONIGHT is the Pop Up Shop! I can hardly believe it’s already here. It seems all good things are happening TONIGHT~ why is it always that way? I’m missing some great things…BUT the place to be is downtown Prior Lake. The cute, quaint shops in downtown Prior Lake~ near the cross point of Hwy 13 and Cty Rd 21~ are partnering with local vendors (that’s me!) for this boutique crawl. If it’s raining, the vendors will be inside the shops. If it’s perfect weather, like yesterday, the vendors will be in front of the shops. Snacks, beverages and fun conversation will be flowing. I know from the last Wild Ruffle Pop Up Shop I was part of, it will all be GOOD STUFF.

Greyley will hopefully be there with me tonight~ she was feeling punky during the night, so I’m not sure what to expect this morning. As I write this, I do hear her rustling around, getting ready for school, so that’s a good sign. Her headbands are kickin’ this time. And I love having her by my side~ we can be nervous, silly geeks together.

My new jewelry is workin’…I know this because I want to keep just about every piece. This is my method of selling~ make what I love and be fine about selling out because I can always make more OR be happy when I don’t sell out because I have a brand new collection of necklaces. I do get attached to some! But, tonight, don’t worry, you’ll be able to pry my fingers off the lovelies when I hand them to you in a nice little drawstring bag.

Please come say hi~ I’ll be at Flowers Naturally on Main Avenue.

Click HERE to see all the participating shops and vendors…

Posted in Fashion, Fun, Headbands, Jewelry, May 2012, Minnesota, Shopping, The Arts | 2 Comments »

Boutique Crawl

April 12, 2012

Three weeks from today~ Thursday, May 3rd from 5:30-9:00 PM~ I will be part of a boutique crawl in downtown Prior Lake. The Wild Ruffle Pop-Up Shop!

Greyley and I were part of the last Wild Ruffle Pop-Up Shop and had such a great time that we were excited when Cate invited us again. I wasn’t even sure where Prior Lake was located and found myself pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t too far from my house. The town is so cute and for this next event, the downtown shops are going to be as much a part of the evening as the vendors lining the streets. Hopefully the weather will be perfection and we will make new friends and shop ’til we drop.

I’ll give you a little reminder about it in a couple of weeks. Greyley and I would love to see some familiar faces. We’ve got lots to do between now and then. There’s jewelry and headbands to be made, folks! We both have a good amount of inventory going already, but it seems we always get inspired with some NEW HAREBRAINED IDEAS OF FABULOUSNESS at the very last minute before every new show. What will it be this time? I’m scared to even let my mind go there…but there’s still time…a little bit of precious time…

Cate is featuring us today on her blog for the upcoming event. For more details, you can also check out the Wild Ruffle Pop-Up Shop Facebook page…and while you’re on Facebook, why don’t you visit my new Girly Muse Facebook page too. Feel free to “LIKE” it! It will come in handy one day, I promise.

Since today seems to be Happy Link Day~ I may as well add a few more, so you can click to your heart’s content. Greyley made it through the first round of speeches at her school for the Optimist International Oratorical Contest. It’s an honor and we’re tickled pink for her. This morning, she will go through another round. As soon as she is finished, we’re off to sing/play with the ABC Youth Choir at Concordia. Tonight, I will be attending the Madame Butterfly Blogger Preview night. Maybe I will see some of you lovely bloggers there.

Have a glorious Thursday. XO

Posted in ABC Youth Choir, April 2012, Bloggers, Creativity, Fashion, Fun, Headbands, Jewelry, Shopping | 2 Comments »

Cousins, Sun Grins and Urchins

April 9, 2012

Happy Monday!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. The only sadness in my weekend was the missing camera charger…ugh. Missed a LOT of picture moments over the last few days. I’m thankful for my phone~ it will work in a pinch.

Our family Easter egg hunt was so fun. The older kids were so sweet~ this is the first year they wanted to help hide eggs for the little ones. Alas, they’re growing up.

Cheri took this sweet picture of the cousins…

Axel & Indigo

As always, with our family gatherings, there was a delicious FEAST, lots of laughter and a high hum of VOLUME that lasted throughout the day. I really do love these people. Met some new friends this time too and that was fun. (Yes, I do approve, if it counts at all.)

We had a great church service yesterday morning. We changed the name of our church at the beginning of the year to Grace Place and our website launched yesterday. Pretty excited about that…a lot of good things are happening there.

I was privileged to see this on the way to church~

She makes my heart go all aflutter.

Every single picture of my boy looked like this~

And this~

A serious case of the Suns and Burny Eyes…but he still makes me feel all twitterpated. They have my heart completely wrapped up and tied with a huge PINK bow. Seriously.

One more. Just because. Every day I look at her and think she’s grown a little bit more. My little woman.

Sigh.

The rest of the day we spent at Matt & Tosha’s house. Such fun. We had another feast. I got garlic’d, oh yes I did. If you haven’t had Matt’s garlic sauce, you haven’t lived. But maybe you can live vicariously through me if you happen to catch a whiff of me anytime this week.

It’s a brisk, but sunny day here in the Twin Cities. I’m going to pile on warm fuzzy clothes and go edit videos with my buddy, Steve. Have a great day! XO

Posted in April 2012, Easter, Family, Friends, Fun, Mama Musings | 3 Comments »

Monday Muse

March 12, 2012

A lot has happened since we were together last…I hope all is well in your worlds.

To update you on the last couple of posts I wrote about Stacey and Elaina’s babies…

Baby Bailey is doing well and growing! There is no new bleeding in her brain and they will continue to check the clots that are there every week. Hopefully those will just disappear!

Elaina had her twin boys Saturday night and everyone is doing well. The boys are both around 1 lb. 8/9 oz. and are doing amazing thus far. They were born just a day short of 26 weeks and still need a lot of prayer.

And onto completely frivolous (and not so) matters…

I stayed up all night Saturday finishing the 7th Harry Potter book. It was worth the exhaustion I felt yesterday. I see Jesus all over that series, as with Lord of the Rings and of course, the Narnia books. I think the Potter ones mostly get a bad rap from people who haven’t read them. I know this is a controversial topic and we can agree to disagree…but if you haven’t read them, I dare you to give them a try.

We’ve been in the studio a lot, especially Nate, but I’ve done my share in there lately and will get more time in this week. Excited about the music we’re doing!

Had a lovely time with our friends, Crock and Terri…the fun and therapy flowed that night.

The flood in the basement continues. It rained all night and is still raining and there was a point in the night that Nate was able to stop it from coming in, but looks like it made its way back…in a big way. Ugh.

Saw a dear friend of ours and his beautiful family yesterday…Lee Her. We enjoyed sushi together and got caught up after not seeing each other for a LONG time! On a side note, Lee’s promoting an upcoming event in Maplewood~ Big Daddy Weave, mikeschair and Kerrie Roberts will be performing at the Hmong American Alliance Church on March 20th. It looks like a great night. For more information about that, click here.

We are wrapping up the last week of my daughter’s spring musical at school. I am so ready to have my girl back. I miss her! One more crazy week and then the play starts Thursday.

My husband is preparing for a trip to the Dominican Republic. It all happened quickly~ he got a passport just in time~ and will be going with our pastor and 2 other men from our church. They were originally supposed to go to Haiti, but right now visitors are discouraged, so they’re going to the DR. Please keep them in your prayers. They’ll be teaching DR and Haitian pastors for almost a week. I’m concerned that they all stay healthy~ no malaria, no dengue fever, no other weird diseases~ and that their time there is productive and fun.

If I ever wear out my black fuzzy hooded sweater, I don’t know what I’ll do. It is my security blanket. This is something that has been concerning me ever since it started leaving fuzzies all over everything it touched last Thursday night. Boo.

The kids were off school last Friday and I watched Carrie’s little girl, Anna. She was so fun. She made up beautiful songs and played harmonica and has big visions of her monarch butterfly birthday party coming up in…November. Yes, this girl plans ahead. She knew right away that she wanted Indigo to be Monarch King~ she’s Monarch Queen, of course. He has agreed and they are working on what he will have to wear to sufficiently fill his role.

Speaking of Indigo…he had a play day with Nora…remember her?

They are so hilarious and adorable together. Makes me smile, the way they get along…they’re like two little bookends, aren’t they!

Well, if that doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will. Have a happy Monday, my friends. xo

Posted in Family, Friends, Fun, Grateful Heart, Kids, Life, Prayer Requests | 6 Comments »

March 2, 2012

So a ton of people are all about Pinterest these days and I don’t blame them~ it’s a lot of fun. It’s the next big thing and another addicting vice. I’ve tried to limit myself on there because before I know it, I can get sucked into a world of pretty pictures and huge chunks of time have passed.

A friend sent me this link yesterday and if you like Pinterest like I do, you must check it out. Click HERE to read the post on Fashion Copious from Business Insider. It makes me extremely nervous, especially the fact that it’s not enough to give a photographer credit~ you actually should be getting their permission. Eek!

I’d really like your thoughts. Did you know about these legality terms? Do you follow them? Does it make you reconsider using Pinterest?

Please discuss.

Posted in Fashion, Fun, March 2012, Photography, Recipes | 15 Comments »