living the dream

check out the Catalog Living blog. you can thank me later, after you wipe the happy tears from your eyes.

where you come from?

alright, alright...it's time for those mulberry lane gals to get off the theme song throne. and remember that "i love nebraska" video? well, try this one on for local size, all you omahoneys!

any Twi-hards?

...fans of Twilight that is.

I'm not a die hard Twi-hard, but for the sake of my younger sister Lindsay, I stay interested. She lives in L.A. and authors the most popular Twilight blog out there. She will be on the red carpet for the L.A. premiere of Eclipse on Thursday (tonight!) and will be interviewing all the stars in her red carpet attire. It will be streaming live on her website!

Anyway, HERE she is making her red carpet announcement (with a little help from her sponsors), and HERE she is updating. She's so cute!

exiles of illinois

there were two options for last night: open stage @ old chicago (outdoors!) or open mic @ the red barn, a really cool bar (indoors). earlier starting time + being outside won my vote and we met at old chicago. the great thing about living in a "new" town is taking a chance on a location and being pleasantly surprised. the music we heard was fantastic, as were the folks hanging out to listen. some people were playing "bags", others this plinko-style game, and many more were enjoying the different styles of music. i played a coupla songs by myself and kate gave some kickin' harmony vocals on a few at the end. all of this under a cloudless, bright moon night sky.

and then we ate some nachos.

kate & her really great roomie/colleague, "t-bone".

roasting

while the girls were at VBS yesterday morning, i roasted my first batch of coffee beans on the front porch in a west bend popcorn popper that my brother-in-law, cam, gave me. there are easy-to-follow instructions & a wide selection of beans for purchase at sweet maria's.

after two cups, i have no complaints.

work's canceled menu

red pepper & feta omelettes. toasted mini bagel. berries. coffee.

Owl Ride

Anyone want to try to do this?  It starts at 11pm on Saturday, July 17 and is a ride around downtown and midtown that includes snacks at various restaurants along the way.  Click on the title for a link to the event page. 

It costs $25, but the funds benefit the Meyer Foundation for Disabilities...

There's even a team option--we could have Team Whocares!

I know the time of day (or, rather, night) is inconvenient...but.  How fun!  Lemme know if you're interested.

Calling all breakfast lovers!

Here is a wonderful blog you should all check out. Just photos of her beautiful breakfasts.

P.S. Speaking of breakfasts, we should have another!

here she is!

Many congratulations to Jim and Darci! Word came through church email: Abigail Grace Gamerl was born on June 12th at 6:29 am. 7lbs, 3oz. Everyone is doing well. We're so happy for you two! Can't wait to meet her.

WHERE IS DARCI'S BABY?!

this morning i was remarking aloud, "SHEESH! WHERE IS DARCI'S BABY, ANYHOW?". no one in this house had an answer.

THEN...minutes ago...i received a thrilling text: "Hey pal! How are you? Water just broke and we're headed to the hospital.".

so. being the really considerate and understanding friend, i had to call right away. darci's so cool-headed. "oh yeah, no real contractions," she said real nonchalant. i love it! so, darth maul, hope your little gal glides her way outta the shoot at top speed & you are just relaxing & watching "scrubs" & yuckin it up with ole rebecca jacobi. what a day!! what a day!!

Memories

Call it what you will, but I've been nesting/purging lately (I prefer purging), but I found this photo of my brother and Grandpa. The dirt to the left is our "lawn". We had just moved down the road into our new house. I think this may have been my first roll of film because 99% of the photos were terrible.



Here is another picture from the roll of a sunset (ca. 4 p.m. that far north). For all you SAD folks, I apologize for the reminder of the season, but we have it pretty good in comparision.

spell it, sister

last night, petey and i watched the national spelling bee from our hotel room in iowa city (we're here to celebrate the graduation of my friend michelle). we cheered for anamika veeramani, who out-spelled her competitors with the word "stromuhr" (which is a rheometer designed to measure the amount and speed of blood flow through an artery, according to the internet). the best part was watching the sweet, earnest, bespectacled spellers. i heart nerds.  

raunchy sign campaign

here's the raunchiest sign in hanna city. it's for a plumbing company, burton plumbing. i thought you would be both repulsed and laugh loud at the same time. but, cmon, mostly repulsed because slogans like that are so trashy.