10 Things You Take For Granted Growing Up In Michigan

The Landmarks - Michigan is full of beautiful places and vacation spots that people come from all over the world to see.  When you grow up hitting Mackinaw Island every summer and crossing the majestic Mackinaw Bridge a couple times a year, its easy to become blase about these glorious sights.

The Water - there is water everywhere around here.  My brother commented often when he went to Twentynine Palms and then Iraq while in the Marines about how much he missed the water.  We have not just water but fresh water - some of the most beautiful lakes, rivers, waterfalls, streams, ponds anywhere.

Farmers Market Friday - Big and Small

Welcome back to Farmers Market Friday!  

After a couple of weeks focused on the house I finally have some more farmers market finds to share with you.  

This is the perfect time to hit your local farmers markets - big and small.  

The summer produce is a little behind here in Michigan this year due to the wetter, cooler summer but goodies like tomatoes, squash and peppers are coming out in force.  

Its the tail end of sweet corn, peaches and blueberries so if you see some, grab them now.

Roadside tables and stands are popping up with extra garden goodies all over the place.  

Many times folks with extra garden produce will only be asking a pittance for these awesomely fresh and tasty morsels - 

How I Do It All - A Confession

Sometimes people ask how I do it all.  Here's the answer.

I don't.

I fail.

I am usually washing pots and pans before I can start cooking the next meal.  

My daughter reminded me halfway to school that I have not packed silverware in her lunch all week even though it has contained things like fruit cups and yogurt.  

While work paperwork is neatly organized and I have a whiteboard I use as a project manager, paperwork at home tends to be in piles or might ride around in my shoulder bag for 3 months until it gets too heavy to carry around.

Done!

Hello sweet friends!  I have so much to tell you and show you but have not had a free hand to take pictures and type it all up for you yet.  

Exciting news is that the house is COMPLETE (well, as complete as any house ever gets) and it is beautiful.  Carpet was laid yesterday and it was totally the icing on the cake, the topper on the wedding cake, the cherry on the sundae and more!  

I've got a kitchen backsplash to show you, you haven't seen the new floor in the fireplace room, there is an awesome hand-painted mural of Jimmy Howard (you Red Wings fans will drool!) that my brother is working on, the carpet, a hutch with a great back story that I'm working on refinishing, window coverings, and much more ground to cover.  

I've been tackling sorting one area at a time with the mindset that if I don't love it, use it, wear it, or its broken - out the door you go.  Which feels great but takes time and results in the old house filled with piles of stuff waiting to be able to move to the new house or haul away.  

We expect to finish moving by Labor Day so you may not hear a lot from me until after that but expect a blitz of posts once we are done!

Closet Door Becomes Hockey Lockers

If you will just indulge me with a mommy story as to why I even did this project...  You see, my little boy is totally obsessed with hockey - how that happened from birth I have no idea.  This is a kid who at the age of 3 months was laying on the floor actively watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs , "Goal!" may have been among his first words, by the time he could walk was trying to copy the moves the hockey players made and chanted "Let's Go Red Wings!", and when he was 2, he took the white press-board cover off his car table (the kind with the roads built in) and laid it on the floor and proceeded to "skate" in his socks...  

Things I Never Thought I Would Be Excited About...

New Cement

New House Update and Ceiling Fan Makeover

We've been pounding away at the new house and with the major projects out of the way we have been working on some of the finishing touches while we wait for new carpet to be installed.  One of the rooms that needed the least amount of work was my daughter's room.  She had floors in good shape and the walls didn't need much patching.  The trim had also been redone and just needed a gloss coat.

She was not thrilled with my "boring" colors in the rest of the house and went for a bold bright pink called "Sweet Sixteen" (big surprise, right?) for her own room.  

The Pallet Garden

Farmers Market Friday on Monday! Who are the Vendors?

Did you miss Farmers Market Friday last week?  Well, the USDA is celebrating National Farmers Market Week all week long so you'll probably see lots about farmers markets around the country this week.  If you are looking for a market near you, the USDA has a list of over 8,000 farm markets across the country in their searchable directory.  The directory even contains information on what products are offered and what types of payment are accepted.

So who are the vendors at your local farmer's market?

Turn an Old Trunk into a Cute Side Table

This great little trunk was something I found at a garage sale a few years ago for I think $2 and just couldn't resist.  It had already been painted a very pale yellow but was generally in good shape so I had high hopes for it.  I started painting it a pale green but got distracted and never got back to finishing - spray paint is becoming my new best friend!