Swizzle Sticks

My first swizzle stick was from the John Hancock building in Chicago. I was with Nick when we were dating and I kept the swizzle stick as a memento of our special time together.

That was in 2002.

From there has blossomed a swizzle stick love.

If I had to tell you why I love these little boogers so much, here's my reasoning:

Kitschy

These delightful items were known to be over the top. The gaudier the more memorable and that is something I can appreciate when it comes to design.

Colorful

I'm a bright color lover through and through. There's something so magical about a glass full of multicolored sticks. They make for great conversation!

Portable

The reason swizzle Sticks remain for all of us to collect is because they are so small and portable. After an evening out anyone could easily stick one in their suit coat or evening bag to remember a fond evening out.

Cheap

These have never broken my bank to purchase. They're small, simple pieces that are easy to find when you're out antiquing.

Thanks for the memories

Perhaps this thinking is from my Hancock swizzle but I like to think that each sizzle stick I have in my connection has some memorable evening attached to it. And that makes me know how much I love vintage.

Indiana’s State Nature Passport

Mondays are our adventure days.

Or our exploring days.

I’m not really sure what we’re calling it but what I do know is that Mondays are days that we don’t have a traditional school days but instead find something fun to do. Sometimes we spend the day hiking at a park. Oher times we find a museum to visit. Occasionally we have a day of just kicking it around the house in our jammies. And sometimes we clean the house from top to bottom when I get really sick of teenage messiness.

Today we decided to visit an Indiana State Park.

For Christmas we purchased an Indiana State Park pass. This was a great idea. Here’s what we did:

For a family Christmas gift we purchased a park pass gift pack. I believe it was $99 last year. With that we received a magazine subscription to the Indiana Parks mag, an annual pass to the Indiana State Parks (read: you get in for free at all of the parks), and we got a $60 gift card to the Indiana Parks Inns. So that was a wonderful gift for us. We now have an incentive to visit the parks as a family and we can stay at one of the inns or cabins with our gift card. Such a great gift!

Anywho… today we decided to go to Pokagon State Park. The four of us had never been! Since Nick was with us I decided it would be fun to go somewhere a little further away from home as I always feel safest when he’s with us (I am not a change a flat on the side of the toll road kind of gal!).

We drove up to Angola, Indiana and we found somewhere super fancy to eat lunch…Moe’s Southwest Grill!

We then entered into the park for our day of exploring! We went on a wonderful hike (Trail 1) that started near the Nature Center. We walked around to where there was an apple orchard, then looped back around to our car. We then drove through the park to see what all was around. We checked out the campgrounds for future trip ideas, scoped out the beach area, and then spent some time at the CCC Pavilion. It was a gorgeous, sunhiney day, where everything nearly glistens with the hope of spring coming. It felt so great to be able to run around in fresh air with the kiddos and Leroy (the dog with the biggest ears).

All in all it was a wonderful day! While we were there we “checked-in” on our phone to the Pokagon Park for the State Nature Passport through Visit Indiana. By checking into 60 different nature areas designated in the program you can be entered into giveaways and contests throughout the year.

It is a free program and although this was our very first check-in we’re all excited to participate throughout the rest of the year.

After we drove the length of the park we made our way back to the Potawatomi Inn, the hotel in the park. Opened in 1927 this inn has such a rich history within the state of Indiana. They have a reader board outside of the front door. On it we learned that during the World War II, Indiana didn’t have a waiting period to get married after you got your marriage license. Because of that the inn became a popular place for couples from Ohio and Michigan to sneak away and get married before the grooms were deployed. Isn’t that just the cutest thing?

The hotel was fun to walk around and explore with it’s sunning deck, pool, craft room, and recreation room. Lots to do and such a quaint, old world kind of charm!

And then it was back home! We had such a fun, laid back day of adventuring and we can’t wait to add on more places for our State Nature Passport!

Palm Sunday

When I was a little girl growing up in the church of God, I remember Palm Sunday so well. We would get Palm branches to wave and put down for Jesus. And I remember getting these cardboard boxes filled with hard candy. They were so beautiful and precious. I can remember handling a box so delicately, hardly able to believe it had been gifted to me.

Now here we are 30 years later and Palm Sunday barely even seems to be a thing anyone remembers.

But we do.

I love Palm Sunday but it's also do sad thinking of all that was ahead of our Lord in the week to come. So much.

Our Palm Sunday was fun. We started the morning getting ready for church. It did not go well. Getting the family out of the house in time for church is like herding cats during a hailstorm. Add in the fact that our kids were supposed to be at the church and hour and half early and only one of the remembered compounded the problem exponentially.

We did all make it however. Praise the Lord!

After church Nick had found a water purifier for #thecozycottage that he drove up into Michigan to purchase. Thank you Marketplace for good deals. And the hidden blessing of the day was that, with one kid running behind and one on time to church meant that we took two cars to worship. So I got to go home and didn’t have to travel for water.

We spent some time relaxing at home before we set out on our next adventure…we drove about an hour towards Chicago to check out a vintage trailer for sale.

We have been looking for a trailer to renovate. We would love a vintage one because of course, all things vintage!

We hem-hawed around and decided that the trailer was too far out of our expertise to have finished by the time we leave for Acadia this year. So we’re going to pass and wait until something comes along next year.

As much as we wanted a project we were not quite ready for one so soon. We’ve talked about renovating a trailer but perhaps after our renovations to the cottage and the Manor are completed. If you are a home renovator too you should be laughing at my last sentence too. Things are never done!

It was fun however to drive together in the back roads of Indiana. On the way back we saw the most gorgeous full moon, hanging low and pink at the horizon. It was a truly gorgeous site to see. Ultimately it was a great end to the day and I feel blessed to be starting the week with my guy.

Until tomorrow…

Saturdays struggle

I clearly remember the loveliness of Saturdays before we had children. Most were comprised of us sleeping in, rolling out of bed to get to the farmers market, then an afternoon of either exploring Indianapolis or more napping. As twilight fell gently around us you would have found us either trying a newly discovered bistro or at home, making from-scratch meals with our market finds in larger portions than we'd ever hope to finish.

It was a Lully, dreamy part of our life together. And as the children near leaving the nest, I must admit that I find myself dreaming of days like that again.

Now however, our days are the complete opposite of those tranquil adventures. Today for example is a Saturday they consists of waking up with an alarm set at 6am. From the moment our feet hit the hardwood, we've been running kids to volunteering, scouts, ballet, and Easter outfit shopping. (I write this from the pickup lot while I wait for Emma).

I am trying to savor these times. They are fast moving and fleeting. Knowing these Saturdays are numbered I sing loudly in the car while toting teens, am a soft touch at stopping for doughnuts, and do my best to make the children feel cherished (and equally embarrassed).

The epic downside of these spring Saturdays is not having enough time for fun, let alone all of the projects that need attention.

Our oven has stopped working. Our home is 67% repainted. Our yard looks like we hosted a hillbilly jamboree that decidedly did not end well. And don't even get me started on all that needs done at our lake house, The Cozy Cottage.

It's easy to feel over whelmed by all there is to do. In times like these I often forget what's my mission: to keep the main thing the main thing.

The projects are never ending but the days are few and fleeting. So today I'll go home, unload the dishwasher, and get done what I can. Giving thanks for all we have that vies for our attention. 😉

Friday Night Lights… at Costco

Tonight we went to Costco and spent over $500.

There, I feel better getting that off my chest.

No self respecting adult should subject themselves to buying two giant sqyishmallow Yodas and a large ream of toilet paper on a night that should be reserved only for cocktails and sushi on some al fresco dining patio. But there we were, being un self-respecting.

But here we are. Trying to figure out where to store 3 more tubs of peanut butter. Sure they're jars, but when said jars are big enough for your dog to fit their entire head in, we classify it as a tub.

When we got home we ate really sexy food too… Wit had Chex that they could hear him crunching all the way in Reno and I had a microwavable ramen bowl. Like I said… Sexy.

This is 30s/40s folks. When you value your success by the satisfaction you feel when you remember to buy laundry soap before you're officially out out. Success is the hill we have conquered tonight. Tide is my trophy.

When we finished the meal of the century, only one thing remained… To discuss buying an r.v. we found this mess of a vintage camper and are debating if we should go and see it or if we should just let it slide.

More details to come…