Happy Birthday, Garrett!!

 

My baby boy is turned nineteen this weekend! :)  He's now a college freshman, as handsome as ever and has the world by a string.  Happy birthday, my sweet Garrett.  I'm so proud to be your momma!

It's coming.......

In case you were thinking of visiting, it's almost time for the peak Fall colors! Come on up......we have a room ready for you. :)

It's finally here!

 

 

Chik-fil-a has finally come to Minnesota!! :)  This is my favorite fast-food chain ever.  Yesterday was the grand opening and I am not at all embarrassed to say that I have eaten their every day it's been open. 

 

 

All Time Low

Delanie got the once-in-a-lifetime chance to meet her favorite band this week!! Garrett turned Delanie on to the band All Time Low several years ago. Since then, she's been hooked! :)

 

 

The group played a show in Minneapolis this week.  Before the concert, they stopped by the Electric Fetus record store to sign a few autographs.  Guess who was #4 in line???  Delanie was over the moon!  Check out her Instagram post below.  I love the caption!  

 

Meet the band.....Alex, Rian, Zachary and Jack. 

 

 

 

Delanie asked them to sign their latest CD and she kept the Sharpies they used!  She won't be coming down from Cloud 9 for quite a while. 

 

Junk Bonanza

This weekend was the 7th annual Junk Bonanza held at Canterbury Park in Shakopee, MN. I have been on such a flea market kick lately. This was right up my alley! There were hundreds of vendors selling re-purposed "junk". Needless to say, I was in Heaven!! :) 

 

 

Jim decided to go with me because Canterbury Park is known for their horse racing simulcast.  Even though we went our separate ways, it was an awesome day!!  I spent hours browsing and taking pictures for future projects.  He spent hours betting on the horses.  Win-win!! :)

 

I have decided to redecorate the main floor of our house. This floor is made up of one large room split up into the den (my favorite place to hang out), the dining room and the kitchen. We have chocolate brown leather furniture now so it's my plan to brighten/cozy it up. I am going with a cottage-y feel similar to my favorite blog - www.theletteredcottage.net . You should check it out......Layla is an awesome decorator.

 

I found the cubbie frame pictured above and knew I had to have it.  It is exactly the color I want to bring into the main floor.  The blue inspiration came from the vintage mason jars I love so much (below).  I knew when I first saw it that it would make an incredible wine rack.  So......after a little negotiating - which would make my dad proud! - I loaded it into the truck. 

 

 

I can't get enough of mason jars so I had to pick up some of those up.  You can find the "new" version of the blue mason jars at Target but the lids don't have the oxidation that I really love. 

 

My only other big purchase was a great black, distressed deacon's bench I found.  This beauty now has a home right inside my front door in the foyer.  Well......almost.  It's about 18" too long so my sweet husband and I are going to have to find a way to cut it down.  I think I see a few new tools in Jim's future.  :)

 

 

More knick-knacks, burlap and linens I couldn't pass up.....

 

I'm already looking forward to next year!! :)

Fort Snelling

I have this thing for cemeteries.  Weird, right?  There's just something about them that peaks my interest.  Maybe it's the history buff in me but I'm always so interested to find out the story behind the people resting there. 

On my way to pick Denise up from the airport last month, I decided to take a detour. Fort Snelling National Cemetery runs along the route to the airport.  Needless to say, it was simply breathtaking.

 

The fort/cemetery is located at the juncture of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. The US military built a fort back in the early 1800's. Now, it is home to over 180,000 soldiers as their final resting place.

 

What hit me the hardest was the inscriptions on the stones.  I wasn't expecting the soldiers' spouses to be buried with them much less to see their names carved into the stones too. 

Scrapfest 2013

 

Whew......what a wonderful weekend!! :)  Delanie and I attended our first ever Scrapfest at the Mall of America.  We didn't know what to expect when we signed up be we were definitely not disappointed!!

 

 

What could be better than spending two days at the biggest mall in America scrapbooking with my favorite girl?!  We arrived bright and early Saturday morning to shop shop shop our way through the hundreds of booths.  We brought so many cute projects home. 

 

Back story:  I started scrapbooking the year Garrett turned four......1998.  Debbie Smith - the director at Garrett's preschool - got me hooked!  We would have monthly crop nights at First Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, TX.  Several of our friends would gather and work on our scrapbooks until the early hours of the morning.  Those memories are among some of my fondest. 

 

Way back then, I fell in love with the work of a "celebrity" scrapbooker named Becky Higgins.  I could relate to her style and her get-it-done attitude so it's been fun to follow her career over the years.  Guess who I met at Scrapfest???  OMG......Becky Higgins!! :)

 

Let me tell you, it takes a lot for me to be starstruck.  That being said......when I saw Becky in Archivers I started shrieking and giggling like a school girl.  Thank goodness Delanie had my camera (because I would never have been brave enough to ask for a photo!).  After our chat, I was on Cloud 9 for hours!

The mall was absolutely packed!  The photo below is one of the workshops being held throughout the weekend.  Is this awesome or what?!  Thank goodness this only comes around once a year because we were completely exhausted by the time we were done. 

 

 

Delanie and I signed up to take a workshop Sunday afternoon.  I really love mini-albums.  What a great way to showcase a special event in one awesome little package.  This is what our completed album would look like.....

The hour-long class sped by.  Seriously, it felt like we were in the classroom for five minutes.  We have tons to do to complete our scrapbook.  I can't wait to get started! 

 

P.S.  Isn't this little lady the cutest scrapbooker you've ever seen?? :)