My trip to Michigan last week wasn’t all running around with kids in fields of tulips! My mom and I did some spontaneous kitchen painting, specifically some custom shelving with some pretty hideous kountry klasic wallpaper.
Me in Action!
Since the shelves were custom made for the space, there was no way to strip the wallpaper without taking apart the shelving, which we weren’t about to do, so I just got a tiny paint brush and carefully primered over each wallpaper section.
AWESOME Wallpaper!
It covered pretty well! I let that dry overnight, and in the morning painted a very light green over the primer.
After!
Pretty nice, right?
Looking So Much Better!
Nothing too fancy, but a pretty welcomed improvement.
I spent last week hanging with my family in Michigan, where spring really means one thing! Tulips.
Ryenn and a LOT of Tulips!
I grew up 20 minutes from Holland, MI, and last week was their annual Tulip Time Festival, where Dutch people from all over the world come to pay tribute to my favorite flower, and all the traditional Dutch pageantry that goes along with it.
Ryenn and Fries!
My niece Ryenn wasn’t very interested in the the pageantry, however. She took turns running up to each blossom to give it a squeeze, and running up to our huge cup of fries to shove one in her mouth!
Emily and Baby Nolan!
Which is a lot more than Baby Nolan did! My nephew wasn’t as into it.
PS – My sister in law Emily here is using her son to hide her baby bump! She is having another little boy in August!
Me and Ryenn STYLIN’
And I’m still getting use to there being TWO babies to play with! Here I told Ryenn to pout her lips because we just put lip gloss on, but she still isn’t too good with words.
Right now I’m sitting in a blizzard, so it’s hard to believe that just a week ago I was sitting in sunny California hanging out with my good friend Katie Canavan of Under the Red Umbrella.
Prepared!
I came prepared! Lots of knitting and barely anything else. I just planned the trip to get some sunshine and do some knitting, so I totally went to the right place!
Palm Tree, Bluest Sky
Distant Orange Fields
Ventura: Mountains and Surfers
English Tea Time with Katie!
The Pool at Katie’s Apartment
My CRAZY White Legs in the Sunshine
Up a Mountain, Beach View
Katie’s New Bunny
I had a really fun time! I ate a TON, explored on my own, I met up with a lot of friends and family who have all settled in southern California, and soaked up a ton of Vitamin D. And now fully prepared to wait out the rest of this snowy Midwestern winter.
I’m off to Michigan tomorrow for Christmas with my family. I’ve promised to not be drunk or hungover. I think, though, that they will wish I was drunk when I show up – the very sad sack that I am.
Mochimochi Land
For now, let’s just think about these hilarious santas! And the 40 greatest dog GIFs of all time. And the 69 most mouthwatering Ryan Gosling moments of the year. And 30 lessons we’ve learned from Amy Poehler in 2012. Merry Christmas FROM THE INTERNET!
Happy holidays, y’all! I hope you are all surrounded by people totally freaking out about how amazing your handmade gifts are. See you in 2013!
From Detroit I Megabus’ed to Grand Rapids to visit my family. From Grand Rapids I Amtrak’ed to Chicago to party really hard at Vogue Knitting Live and for Halloween!
Me and Lily!
Vogue Knitting Live was really fun! My friend Lily Ubbelohde of The Owl and the Bee and I met up and hit preview day on Friday and went back on Saturday for fashion shows and more yarny shopping.
Vogue Fashion Show
One of the best parts was catching fashion shows throughout the day. Naturally Lily and I were right up front, texting like Anna Wintour and shielding our eyes from the bright runway lights like Heidi Klum. It was so fun to see so many knits from Vogue, Skacel, and other designers and yarn companies close up and styled for the runway.
Bounty!
And naturally the shopping was pretty awesome! I snagged a skein of green Madelinetosh for a new winter hat, and splurged on a Soak Box! It was also amazing to put a ton of faces to twitter accounts and blogs. I got a chance to meet and chat with Cirilia Rose, Shannon Okey, Rohn Strong, Ann Weaver, and hang out with my friends Lori and Ann Leachman, and made a new friend in Kirsten of Kalanag.
Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum
And, magically, it was Halloween weekend in Chicago, and the absolute best place to be in the world for Halloween. My friend (and new blogger!) Tara Shade had the amazing idea to rock the Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum couples costume, and rock it out we did.
Jerome George Washington!
Only to be outdone by Tara’s dog Jerome dressed as George Washington. But if you are going to be outdone, you might as well be outdone by a dog dressed as George Washington!
