Things have been a little more on the quiet side here the past few weeks. Life has just been so busy lately I've barely had time to sit down and write. So now that things are quieting down ... sort of ... I'm going to catch you up! Has it been as crazy for you this summer? I feel like I need a summer vacation from my summer vacations ha.
1. Kevin's Birthday
Last month we celebrated Kevin's 34th birthday. Yeah he's an old man right? Ha. Shh don't tell him I said that. We enjoyed cupcakes from Smallcakes. Kevin definitely picked out winners. My favorite is the Sundae cupcake in the bottom middle. All in all he really enjoyed his birthday.
2. The Metropolitan
I got the opportunity through Windy City Blogger Collective to check out the redo of the restaurants at the Metropolitan. The views were amazing! Even though the event was amazing the best part was connecting with a couple of other bloggers. We had some amazing conversations and I've got some new favorites to follow.
3. Gamma Phi Happy Hour
Gamma Phi decided this summer to get together for a couple happy hours. The first one was right by my work at the Saddle Room. I had been there a couple times and knew they had a great patio and seemed to have a good happy hour. We all had a blast. The patio was amazing and the food fantastic. They had some delicious sliders. Who doesn't love a slider?
4. Adulting like a champ
My adulting lately has been amazing. I had earned a $50 Amazon gift card through a panel I was on and decided I was going to use it for practical things. This included a really highly recommended OXO Good Grips Deep Clean Brush Set
and Multipurpose Cargo Organizer Blocks Car Trunk Storage Organizer Blocks. These are probably some of the best purchases I've made in quite a while! Although it took a while to clean the grout the results are definitely visible. I need to work on the bathroom floors too they weren't as bad as the kitchen.Since I'm a bag lady I always have things moving around in my trunk. Things spill and are flung about. Bethany has had something similar to these for years. I finally decided to invest in a set and I'm so thankful I did just in time for watermelon season. Another fantastic adult purchase.
5. Family time
There has been plenty of fun family time this summer! We got to hang out with Bethany's parents while they were in town. There has been dinners at Russell's and other delicious restaurants. Time with Kevin's parents and just good family time.
6. Charleston trip
Kevin and I had a blast during our Charleston trip! I tried to keep up with all the happenings through Instagram so be sure to check out some of the trip there. We enjoyed waaaaay too much delicious southern food, I had fried chicken three times on the trip haha. Saw the couple of sights that were on the top of my list and have decided we need to go back to see more. It was a wonderful trip heat and all.
7. Museum conference
After months of helping with the planning of the Association for Midwest Museums and Illinois Association of Museums conference it was finally time for the conference itself! It was a really good conference. I had the opportunity to connect with colleagues I already knew and met lots of new museum friends, the sessions were great and the events at the museums were fantastic.
I finally got to see Maximo in his new Stanley Field Hall home. The photos don't even do him justice!
8. Pumpkins
My mom's front garden has an unexpected invasive species. Large vines with large leaves have taken over. We thought it was a zucchini plant but it seems like it's a much bigger squash. Now we know that it's a pumpkin! There is this large guy and several smaller ones. Hopefully the squirrels will stay away and we can carve some of them this fall.
9. Garage sale
Mom and I really worked this year to purge even more. I'm so proud of how much she got rid of this go around. After three days of garage sale and a decent amount sold we filled up the back of the van to donate. It definitely felt good to send all this stuff along that we don't need. We finally got rid of the large solid oak desk as well.
10. Nature at work
The nature at work has been spectacular this summer. The swans had babies so we've been loving that we get to see them. They're growing so quickly so every time I see them I have to snap a bunch of photos. Finally found a fish in the pond, Kevin was definitely interested to hear about that even though there is no fishing. Soon all of the tadpoles will be frogs! Plenty of lovely foliage as well, the lily pads always make for a pretty photo too. I'm glad I've been making time at lunch to enjoy the weather and scenery.
Those are just a few of the happenings that have happened since the beginning of the summer. I could share photo after photo for sure! What have you been up to this summer?
Thanks so much for stopping by! You can also join me on Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. In addition to life-capades and doing it for yourself, I love all things 'real life' so use the hashtag #museumfanatic on social media so I can see your beautiful unstaged life. Oh and on the top of the side bar to your right, you can follow me on Bloglovin or on social media to be alerted to each new post!
Post a Comment