Prussia in June

This past June I was fortunate enough to be able to spend five days on tour with my fiance's band Prussia. We traveled from Michigan to Pittsburgh, then to New York where we spent two days. From there we drove to a friend's house just outside of Philadelphia. After Philly came D.C. and then finally Pittsburgh and home.

New York was hot and crowded. The van broke down in Philadelphia. D.C. had good pizza and beer. Pittsburgh had better pizza and hotter weather.

We drove through an incredible storm on the way home and at 2am, lightening struck the toll booth that we were stopped at and the highway went dark. This would have been my favorite part of the trip if I hadn't slept through it.

All of the photos above were taken in NYC, if you'd like to see more from the rest of the trip please visit my flickr.

Just a Little Something

This is our dog Psymon. He loves to chase feet and gets worried when he thinks there is a fly in the room. He spent his puppy years locked in a cage but now he's happy and healthy. We've rescued dogs for as long as I can remember and I really think that they make the best pets. I think I like Psymon the most of all of our dogs because we have the same color hair.

I'm Telling Ya'

This little girl never stops amazing me. With cold days approaching, I've been trying to pack our days full of outdoor adventures. Autumn is my favorite season. I just love the warm colors and cool air, the pumpkin ice cream and hot coffee.

We've been visiting a lot of parks. I try to visit a new one each day since we live by so many. Lydia has been having so much fun feeding ducks and playing in creeks.

Winter will be here soon, so do yourself a favor and enjoy fall to the fullest!

A Trip to the Children's Museum

This past Wednesday my wonderful friend Sara organized a play date at the Children's Museum in Flint, MI. It was a sunny, beautiful day and the kids were all so excited to play together.

This is the perfect place to relax and let your children explore. There were so many different rooms, each with a different theme.

Lydia loved this room. Each of those yellow dots make a sound when you step on them. You can also change the tone of each sound with a button panel on the wall.

This was her other favorite, the music room. A huge wooden bin in the center held all different types of instruments and those tubes behind her were part of a handmade organ where the children could hit the ends of the tubes and make music. She spent a lot of time testing out instruments and singing.

There was also a "My Town" which was, in my opinion, the cutest part of the whole museum. It was a small town with a grocery store and pizzeria. The kids had a lot of fun making and serving pizza to each other.

After exploring each of the rooms, we all went outside to the fenced in courtyard and ate lunch. There was a beautiful garden, sandpit, and rock garden.

The children all had a great time, I highly recommend this museum if you are looking for an inexpensive and exciting afternoon out of the house!

I will be blogging a lot today so check back tonight for more updates about Home Ec class and some vintage inspiration.

THIS THURSDAY...

This past thursday, I packed up my car with some vintage clothing, grabbed a cup of coffee, and met up with these two lovely ladies. Lily of LoveCharlesVintage and Abby Fiscus of Brainbow. We explored an abandoned house and another (seen below) that was a vintage time capsule.

I was a little nervous about leaving Lydia and having some personal time, but her and her daddy had a wonderful morning together so maybe I'll have to sneak in some "me" time more often. Besides, being with friends makes me feel giddy and sixteen all over again.

The last three pieces of clothing will be available in our Etsy shop by the end of this weekend and I will also be updating with photographs from the abandoned house so check back soon!

THIS FALL IS ABOUT CHANGE

I've been doing a lot of thinking recently in terms of consumerism. We all know that feeling of joy that a couple of packages at your doorstep can cause, but is that really true happiness? I want Lydia to know that buying new things doesn't solve boredom or loneliness. I want her to be able to find happiness within herself, at the drop of a hat, whenever she needs to. I want to be able to give her the tools to do that.

Starting this fall we will become smarter consumers. We will continue making our coffee at home and using washable mugs and thermoses. We will continue using washable diapers and training pants. We will buy used when possible (this includes vintage) and only buy what is absolutely necessary.

Yes, I know that there will be times when Lydia just HAS to have that toy at the store or I just HAVE to have that new sweater, but this is about change. It's not necessarily easy but it is valuable. What we learn and become will far surpass those things that we thought we needed and it will feel so rewarding to throw away less garbage and have less things around us.

To think that your actions are not important is ridiculous. With every action comes a reaction, what will yours be?

This fall is about change.

So it's 4:55am and we are currently watching Spongebob dvds and eating cereal. Lydia woke up at 2am and after an hour and a half of fighting to keep her calm and quiet, I finally gave in and got out of bed. I've been spending this time researching reasons for sleep disturbances, as this has been happening for two weeks now. It goes something like, down for bed at 9pm, up at 2am wide awake ready to start the day, awake until 12pm for a nap, then all over again. Luckily, I am a night owl of sorts and can easily wake up and stay awake. The same cannot be said for my fiance.

I have come to the conclusion that it's from a developmental milestone. Lydia has been doing very well with potty training, has also been learning to let go of her abstract artistic qualities (I'm going to miss those drawings), and has been doing a lot of growing up in general.

I can only hope that this is a phase, and if not, there is always the drive-thru Starbucks that opens at 4am. ;)