a shower

This weekend I had my bridal shower. All of a sudden this wedding is getting real to me, and I am becoming less overwhelmed with details and planning and more overwhelmed with the sheer emotion of the whole thing. The shower was everything I could have expected plus more, and I was humbled by the sheer love that was poured on me by the closest women in my life.

I am blessed :)

july, july

 Illinois sunset

 Lemon blueberry muffins from fresh picked Michigan berries

 Roses at the English teagarden

 Making friends at the zoo

 Baby giraffe. Need I say more?

Girls night out with some of my best friends and my sister--who doesn't really have red hair, but found the perfect color to blend in with the rest of the family. {I love this picture because our outfits describe our personalities perfectly}

Is it just me, or has July flown by extra fast?? 

This week I have been trapped in wedding invitation purgatory. I have no idea how an element of the wedding that I "didn't really care about" turned into this huge encompassing art project....but more on that when I'm done. Which will hopefully be tomorrow!

The past week or two have included lots of muffins to use up the 11.5 pounds of blueberries Ben and I picked in Michigan (I get a little overexcited with U-Pick experiences), hot days spent inside, and a visit from my best friends and sister. We went to the zoo, ate ice cream, watched Batman and Austin Powers movies on tv, and got a liiiiittle too crazy at the martini and daiquiri bars, which I paid for. Can't hang like the old college days.

I hope you are staying cool and enjoying the last few days of the midsummer month!

her majesty's tea room

Yesterday was my sister Ella's 23rd birthday. She actually just arrived home for the summer from Bratislava, Slovakia, where she's teaching English. We're obviously very excited to have her around for a few weeks since we only get to see her a couple times a year :)

For her birthday she requested a girls' visit to Her Majesty's Tea Room, which is basically a British/Victorian emporium just oozing with kitschy floral extravagance. That's the best I can describe it I think... We drank three kinds of tea and ate trays and trays of tea sandwiches and little sweets, and we each got our own tiara to wear.

Well, I've been unemployed for 7 months now for a variety of reasons, not counting a couple months substitute teaching this spring. Sometimes it's frustrating and stressful BUT I will say I greatly appreciate the flexibility to travel around the Midwest all summer to catch up with family.

Off to nurse my sugar coma!