snap. crackle. pop.

it's the end of november. already.
how can this be!? i feel like fall has passed me by & i'm not thrilled about it.
i didn't even get to have a glass of wine outside by the fire pit with Chris!
the smell of a crackling campfire will never grow old on this little soul.

neither will the smell of:
chicken noodle soup. a new magazine. crisp air. fresh flowers.
chris' cologne. the lake. the musk of old family photos. fall scented candles.
baking cupcakes. sharpened pencils. cheetos. hinkle fieldhouse.

& the smell of a memory. when, for a fleeting second,
a scent is inhaled that immediately takes me back to a certain time/place.
my favorite? the smell of my college dorm room right when we moved in.
newly decorated. fresh. young. full of potential.
that smell, that vivid memory, i will never forget.
thank goodness, as it is a time that i cannot relive {as much as i would love to}.

for now, i eagerly await the spring & the weather to stay above freezing.
so that we can once again bring out the fire pit, pull up some chairs,
take in the smell of the crackling fire pit & the memories made around it.

snap. crackle. pop.
photo via from me-to you. love love love.

happy thanksgiving

happy thanksgiving my dear readers & bloggity blog friends.
may your plate {& wheelbarrow} be filled with goodness today & everyday.

i'm spending thanksgiving at the lake this year w/ my little family.
i fully plan on stuffing myself with turkey & mashed potatoes.
i suggest you do the same.

on black friday we'll be shopping for a new mattress.
not exactly what i envisioned shopping for on black friday.
{especially since target doesn't sell mattresses}
but it's a necessity as my mom is gifting us a new {king} bedset for christmas.
happy thanksgiving indeed!

photo via jamie, the talented nyc photographer, of from me to you.
see more of her adorable pumpkin patch photos here

happy campers & friday pow-wows

ever since i was all of 6 years old, i spent time at a little day camp each summer.
some years it was one week others nine weeks of the summer.
i started out as a camper. i loved each one of my counselors.
i progressed to a counselor in training & then to a counselor.

camp taught camping skills, nature education & Native American lore.
each day, campers worked together to
create & set up their campsite and build & start a fire to cook their lunch.
afterwords they played in creeks, slid down mudslides & sang camp songs.
all while learning & enjoying a little bit of nature.

to counselors, camp provided days in the sun & an excuse to get muddy.
pigs in a blanket, tinfoil stew, cheese toasties cooked over a fire for lunch.
the undevoted admiration of 15 kids, each week & pow wow fridays.
fellow campers over the years turned friends turned co-workers
to hang out with during the day and party with at night.
a chance to sing, laugh, skip, play tag, act a fool & breathe in the fresh air
all while wearing jeans and t-shirts. every single day of the summer.
also known to a college student as the perfect summer job.

the picture above reminded me of those such days.
those summers spent as a counselor were, hands down, the best.
on the eve of thanksgiving, first shared between Native Americans & pilgrims,
i wanted to reflect back on the simple things abbout camp i was thankful for.

jeans. warmth of a campfire. tee pees. the ability to run & play outside.
perfect summer jobs. nature. friends. feathered headdresses. sunshine.
camp songs. traditions. laughter. wooded trails. a paycheck.
happy campers & friday pow-wows.

to this day, i'm still thankful for those things & those days.
how could i not be?

photo via the design crush blog

looking good

someday, i will have children.
at some point, for whatever reason,
they might have difficulty believing that i was ever hip/cool/young.
i don't know why, but it might happen.
hear me now, children, at one time {from the ages of 19-26}
i did, infact, live it up.
one of my favorite memories from this summer involved a keith urban concert.
a hot summer night & floor seats at the show from the indiana state fair?!
it just doesn't get any better than that.
chris weaseled his way out of going with me so i took my best friend.
we "car bared" before the concert & sang along, recklessly, to every song.
and we looked good doing it.


tuesday keith urban's new cd went on sale. naturally i rushed to target to get it.
this morning i blared it in my car on my way to work. & i sang along.
with reckless abandon.
for the record, i looked good doing it.
{especially within the safety of tinted windows.}

remember that, kids, when i'm 46 & you just can't bare to imagine
that i was once a hot little one rocking out in my twenty-somethings.

photo of keith urban taken by me at the concert.
for some reason i couldn't hold the camera steady. or get it in focus.
i blame it on the car bar.

more shoes

i have a confession to make.
my husband has more shoes than i do. & that, my friends, is a problem.
it literally pains me to spend money. especially on shoes.
{except for spending money at target, i have no problem doing that.}
now, there are worse problems to have, but this is kind of an embarrassing one.


i have three pairs of standard heels for work {black, brown & tan}.
sperrys for the fall & knock-off uggs from target in the winter.
flip flops for the summer {but those don't really count as shoes}.
cowboy boots for the occasional country concert or trip to nashville
& about 5 pairs of fun heels for nights out on the town.
that's it.

i would love a cute collection of flats like the ones above.
but i can never seem to find the right ones for the right price at the right time.
further, i can never justify the patterned/fun shoes as being practical.
like i said, there are worse problems to have.
i just wish that it was chris that had this problem instead of me.

lucky duck wine

i blame it on my maid of honor & the 4.5 years that i lived with her.
i like my glass of wine {or two} at night while relaxing & unwinding.
when it's warm outside, it's white zin. when it's chilly its cabernet or shiraz.

i've been stocking up on the darker reds for the last few months.
my new favorite is the "lucky duck" bottle i found the other weekend.
i haven't uncorked it yet, i just love the label. that's the reason why i bought it.
a cute duck with a little winter hat & some skis?!? sold & sold.
and with a name like lucky duck it's like the bottle was made just for me!
because, you know, i consider myself one little lucky duck.

i have other favorites {mostly based off of how much i like the label/name}
like cupcake, mad housewife, happy camper, 3 blind moose & his fault.
but this lucky duck fully intends to enjoy a little lucky duck wine this weekend.
so from one lucky duck to another, cheers & happy weekend!

hello november

in the blink of an eye, summer turned to fall & fall lasted for five seconds.
3 weeks might be a better approximation, but it felt like five seconds.
& here we are. november.
the good news?
mashed potatoes + time with family + black friday shopping =
thanksgiving in just 21 days.

photo via bippity boppity boo.

halloween. football. beer.

these days halloween is just an excuse to hang out with friends.
we used to dress up for the occasion. not this year.
{p.s. husband's best costume is a toss-up between a nerd & a 90's pe teacher}
this year we, somehow, had no plans for halloween weekend.
so we went up to Indy and lounged around w/ friends Friday & Saturday.
we watched the college football games @ the bars on saturday.
in normal clothes & before the witching hours began & costumes came out.
fact: we were home & asleep before most people went out to the bars.
not necessarily something i'm proud of at the age of 26,
but there are worse things in life than missing out on the halloween bar scene.

we headed home to cincinnati bright & early on sunday {halloween itself}.
i put together 15 little bags of candy in hopes of at least a few trick-or-treaters.
we had one. our next door neighbor.
our subdivision just isn't cut out for trick or treaters {20 spreadout houses}.
but that's alright with us. we had the perfect sunday anyway.
halloween, football & beer.

photo via bippity boppity boo.