capture2011 :: no. 147 :: 7.27.11 :: phlox

capture2011 :: no. 146 :: 7.25.11 :: pillow #1

part of the living room design plan is for a better color scheme to brighten up our ho-hum brown couch and chair. i'm taking out all the green that is currently in the room, including the green pillows. i sewed this new pillow cover yesterday (with a zipper if i want to swap it out later). it was pretty much a freebie, because i already had the pillow form from an old pillow and the fabric is left over from this roman shade. i just had to buy the zipper, which was like a dollar at joann's with a coupon. score!

here are the instructions i used (clipped ages ago in evernote for when the day would come!). and on a side note, ben said the way i fluffed the pillow looked like rabbit ears or the "m in mugatu." :)

capture2011 :: no. 145 :: 7.23.11 :: jewelry and cuff links

sometimes the strangest things congregate on the kitchen counter.

capture2011 :: no. 144 :: 7.23.11 :: maggie's nursery

happy saturday! today, my sister-in-law maggie and i worked on decorating her baby boy's nursery. maggie is due in just under three weeks and the nursery is looking SO cute! she and her husband decided on a transportation theme and she found all sorts of cute art from etsy, including these adorable decals. can't wait to meet this little guy!

capture2011 :: no. 143 :: 7.22.11 :: poolside

my sister took the day off yesterday and invited me to hang out at her apartment's pool. it was swarming with kids, and frankly, it was so hot that i didn't mind getting splashed one bit.

capture2011 :: no. 142 :: 7.21.11 :: new kicks

ben had a specific list for the mall last night, and we had a pretty successful trip. i especially like the nikes. gave 'em all a good spray today.

capture2011 :: no. 141 :: 7.19.11 :: it starts

before the end of the summer, i'm hoping to finish rearranging and decorating the living room, which has been in a ragged state for a long time. my mom and i went on an ikea run yesterday to get things rolling. fun fun!

facelift!

yup. my blog has a new look. i accidentally deleted my blog header a few weeks ago, which set in motion an entire blog changeup today between loads of laundry. in researching how to add tabs, i realized that blogger has made it a lot easier to customize their blogs. so if you want to fiddle with yours, just head to design/template designer and go at it. in fact, i might keep fiddling. that's what i do. because right now it is strange to me that i have a photoless header. we'll see if that changes.

as for the text, i gave in to courier new. it's been my favorite since high school. (i used it to make my papers seem longer. i thought i was fooling my teachers. and i turned out to be an english major. what?) anyways, it is an old-fashioned yet hip font. i like.

and p.s. the tabs up top don't lead anywhere good. yet.

the story of one day

i feel great this morning. today is the deadline for a 20,000-word writing project i have been working on for the past few months, and by God's grace, i wrapped it up and submitted it yesterday. needless to say, i slept very well last night!

in the busy-ness of writing last week, i apparently took a week off from blogging. i needed it. BUT—triumph!—we had my family (minus my brother) over for lunch last sunday and i took pictures then. thankfully, i have five good ones, so they will be my five for the week—all from one day. hey, i make the rules, so i am allowed to bend them. and since this project is kind of turning out to be a visual diary of the year, five pictures from one great day is fine with me because the only thing i really did last week was pack up my laptop and a lunch and visit libraries and coffee shops to get that thing done.

these pictures tell the story of a family tradition we like to call "second sunday supper." or something like that. the point is that we get together once a month (wait for it) on the second sunday. ;) it is one of my favorite traditions and i hope we NEVER stop doing it. we rotate houses, and this month, it was our turn to host. here we go!

capture2011: no. 136 :: 7.10.11 :: the fatted calf

we usually collaborate for the meal. i made tacos and rice and cut up some fruit fruit. yes! when ben walked in the kitchen and saw this he asked if i had "killed the fatted calf." nope, just a super-juicy watermelon! tyler brought some amazing guacamole and salsa, lauren brought a beautiful salad, and kristen made a scrumptious trifle (we happened to be celebrating my mom's birthday this month but really, we eat a pretty over-the-top dessert every month, birthday or not).

capture2011: no. 137 :: 7.10.11 :: view from the top

even though we all go to the same church, we go to different campuses at different times. playing, snacking, and raucous laughter (at least from me) are usually involved as we wait for everyone to arrive.

capture2011: no. 138 :: 7.10.11 :: pure bliss

this picture—and what it represents—makes me so happy. seeing family around our dining table is just such a wonderful thing. when we were renovating and decorating, this was the goal: to have a comfortable, beautiful, welcoming place to do things like this. so thank you, God, for family and a place to gather.

capture2011: no. 139 :: 7.10.11 :: good eats

yup. my sister-in-law lauren is the absolute queen of salads. just look at this guy: delicious and gorgeous.

capture2011: no. 140 :: 7.10.11 :: comatose

after the meal, we head to the living room for more playing and talking and laughing . . . and more eating. this month, my mom opened her presents, we ate dessert, and slowly slipped into a food-induced coma. it really is the best. can't wait to do it again next month! and the month after that, and after that . . .

i love my family! i'm off to do the laundry and dishes that were pushed to the back burner last week! stay cool and thanks for reading. :)

capture2011 :: no. 135 :: 7.9.11 :: cheers!

i haven't had one of these in a long, long time.

capture2011 :: no. 134 :: 7.9.11 :: couponing

i'm still learning the ropes, but handing the cashier a stack of coupons and watching my total decrease is so satisfying!

capture2011 :: no. 133 :: 7.6.11 :: summer fruit

mmmmm mmmmm. enjoying it while it lasts.

capture2011 :: no. 132 :: 7.4.11 :: sparkler fun

i'm getting the hang of aperture settings, but i haven't experimented much with shutter speed. what better way to learn than to write my name backwards in the air with a sparkler while my shutter is open for 4 seconds? we only had one sparkler (left over from someone's wedding) so i'm glad this worked!

capture2011 :: no. 131 :: 7.3.11 :: baby love

we had lots of visitors at the cabin this weekend, including this darling girl. wow, look at those eyes!

wrapping up last week

we were up north for the weekend and i was having too much fun to pull out my computer and blog. :) here are the last two shots for last week. i'm halfway done!

capture2011 :: no. 129 :: 7.1.11 :: at stone arch

capture2011 :: no. 130 :: 7.2.11 :: victory!

at the cabin, the young boys got up on the ski board. it was fun to watch them face their fears.

happy fourth!

capture2011 :: no. 128 :: 7.1.11:: four years

our anniversary is june 15, but ben and i celebrated this week. last night we went to dinner at pizza lucé and stayed at the nicollet island inn (a living social deal). this morning we walked along the stone arch bridge and enjoyed the minneapolis skyline. it was a sweet way to celebrate our fourth anniversary. i love you, benji!