{daily grind}

Well hello and Happy Monday to you:)
Guess what....
i'm back at work today.
but here's a little photo post of how I spent my last weekend of freedom:) :) :)
I'd say we had a great time!

Hope you have a happy week. I'll check in with you later:) :)

"Summer afternoon, summer afternoon;
to me those have always been the two most beautiful
words in the English language."
- Henry James

{simple summer days}

Well hello there:)
Have I mentioned just how much I love summer?!!? Just kidding:) I know you know that already!!!
The other night I coaxed my husband into having "date night" with just the two of us!! Do you ever do that with your other???
It's not always easy for us because we are people people!! We love to have our friends around us but every once in awhile it's nice to re-connect and just do something together!
Guess what I wanted to do.....
you got it.....go to the beach:)

I love this beach.
It's secluded a little challenging to get to and usually there aren't too many other people there:)
Let me tell you....there were almost no people there because it was HOT & HUMID...just the way I like it!

We weren't there too long....just long enough to have a little vino for me & a margarita for him!

But it was absolutely beautiful & even better since there were hardly any people there!

I love the huge dunes at this beach.....

We didn't climb them this time....it was just too hot!

All I know....is that this was the perfect summer evening too me:)
tinkering on the beach...taking photos...drinking wine & spending time with my honey:)

These are all the photos that I go back to time and time again during the long midwestern winters. They help me remember just how pretty it is here int he summer & that happy times will happen again:)

I do feel happy that if I must live in Indiana at least I am only a half an hour from the beautiful Lake Michigan:)
And I do feel super lucky to have such a wonderful husband! He is so easy going and is "mostly" willing to put up with my antics.

Hey...let's do this....can you do that....don't mind me I just tore out the "you name it".....I have a project in mind...can you drop everything you're doing and help me:)

Like...let's go to the beach when it's a million degrees out and look for beach rocks....{I have a project in mind}

But see....he's always willing to do it!! There is nothing like being married to your best friend and most proud supporter:)
and every once in awhile....I compromise too:)

I wish we had pelican's ....we don't....but we do have seagulls!! And they are pretty happy too:)

Too me there is just nothing like having a little sand on your toes:)

And for goodness sakes....why didn't anyone ever prepare me to have to shave my toes when I got older....

I am learning that as I get older...hair just grows everywhere:)

Owell....at least I am getting pretty handy with the razor:)

PS...I know a couple of you asked about a close up of the flip flops...here it is:)

I am going to try and whip up a similar pair of these soon:) Along with all the other things I have rolling! But really....I think it would be pretty simple to do! I'll let you know:)

And our evening ended at the happiest place that we just ended up finding:)

A cute little bar on the water!!

We will be back....oh and they are dog friendly....so we could bring the girls:)

couldn't resist a Summer Shandy....love it:)

And on a side note....

even the frogs are "happy" in the summertime!!!

Now those are some happy frogs....and the tiny flower in the photo makes it look even happier! Who knew moss bloomed:)

Hope you have a really fabulous weekend!! I know I am soaking up every bit of summer that I can!!!!!

Take care~

The trouble with simple living is that, though it can be joyful, rich, and creative, it isn't simple. ~Doris Janzen Longacre

{simple summer weekends}

Hello and Happy Monday to you!!!!
What a weekend it was:)

I love summer....have I mentioned that to you!?!?!?
I just love everything little thing about summer....going to the beach....fun times with friends {and having the energy to have fun times with friends}....listening to music outside...just being able to be outside.!!!

This weekend my friend and I went to the beach and it was perfect.
The morning started off pouring buckets of rain.....but lucky for us...things cleared up into a fabulous day:)
You can tell the sand was still wet when we got there!


and it was super hot and humid....my kind of weather:) Maybe that's why the beach was pretty empty!
After the beach....we went to The Stray Dog and had a little lunch!

Then we cleaned up and went out to see one my most FAVORITE local bands.
Little Frank:)

I love...love...love music! If you were to ever stop over on a whim....you'd never catch me watching t.v. but you might find that I have music playing:)
and I love the music of Little Frank... I call it bluesy funky!


I also found a new beer I love! It's not often that I drink beer....you know I am a wine girl.
But this beer is so light and refreshing....give it a whirl ....you might like it:)

Happy....Happy:)

And them my stars aligned...

I got to meet Little Frank!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I realized he is younger than me......I would have thought that he would be older...but ....nope...i'm the older one:) Thank goodness my husband was kind enough to take lots of photos for me!

He's not super famous or maybe he is!?!? Who knows....but i've really admired his music for at least 10 years!!! And that night was the night that I got to chat with him! How fun:)

and he was kind enough to let us take lots of pictures!!!!!!!!

Did I mention that I love summer!?!!? It's just such a fun season! And it's always the little things that make me the happiest:)

Sure hope you had a fabulous weekend too!!!!!!!!!!

"The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not
that we seize them, but they seize us." - Ashley Montagu

{a perfect day}

Good morning blogger friends~
Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. I know I am!
Friday morning my friend and I got up super early to ride 23 miles! You know it's been hot here so we thought the earlier the better. Well it was perfect! We saw so much nature and when were finished we went down to the beach in New Buffalo and then after that went to my favorite beachy place that we have around here ~ The Stray Dog ~

They have an upper deck that is just so happy and cute!It overlooks a marina and if you look in the bottom left-hand corner of this photo you can see our bikes on her truck!

I know it's not the ocean....but it still makes my heart happy! The breeze..the water...the wine...
What.. that's not three glasses of wine that I had! At least I skipped the pizza this time...still working towards my goal from my birthday~
Look at all the happy people on a gorgeous Friday afternoon~
I love that they have umbrellas everywhere because it gets really hot in the sun. If you look really hard over the tops of everything you can see Lake Michigan in the distance! I just love that~I was super happy that I could actually be warm in a little sundress and sandals...it really doesn't take much to make me happy~ I think we clean up pretty well after sweating out 23 miles!
It great to have fun while still working towards fitness goals...at least I think it is! This week's long ride will be 30 miles.....getting closer to that century!

"If you want something, don't wish for it, work for it. Life is too short to wait." ~ Stephen Hines

{it's hot}

And I couldn't be happier!!

The pool is finally warm enough to swim in....

After a nice swim it's great to take a little nap on the loungers!
Oh who am I kidding I don't nap....I have too much energy to nap~

Maybe Ruby will take a nap on them!
Speaking of Ruby....she's growing like a weed~
My little baby is growing up. She doesn't even look like a puppy anymore...



Life in the Midwest is interesting for sure! We go from this...
To all of this~
Flowers bursting out everywhere~
I love geraniums...they always make me think of my grandma~
Black eyed susans are just so happy~
The lemon yellow of a daylilly~
Makes me think of a perfectly sunny morning~

I think clematis blossoms are really charming and cute! I wish I could plant them everywhere!The astilbees just glow in the morning sun! I don't think I could be any happier! Lots of people that live in the Midwest start complaining when the temperatures start climbing like they have been....me...I just enjoy it!! We wait all winter for this....

To me there is nothing happier than just tinkering around in the yard all day sweating..I am in pure bliss right now!

Hope you have a super happy day~

"Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it." William Feather