Friday, April 26, 2013

THE CITY OF FOUNTAINS

I'm wearing: Dress,shoes: Old Navy. Tights, blazer: Target. Belt: H&M. Headband: Handmade by me.


Did you know that Kansas City has the most fountains in the world, second only to Rome?  They are turned off during the winter, but have sprung back to life in the last few weeks.  On the way to the one of the best dinner parties (picutres to come), we stopped in front of one of the fountains to take a few pictures.  Everything felt alive with the sun out, and the trees blooming.  Magical.  

We're on our way on a mini road trip this weekend to visit some family, so things will be quiet over here for a few days.  Follow us along on our adventure through Instagram, name adventurelog.

Have a great weekend! 

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

OUT AND ABOUT IN KANSAS CITY: THE RIVER MARKET

The weekend before last was sunny and warmer than it has been in KC for months.  So we decided it was time to go explore some parts of the city we haven’t been to for a while.  Along with my parents, we headed past downtown to the historic river market area.  This was actually the area Kansas City was first founded, because settlers would do their trading along the Missouri river.  Nowadays there’s usually a farmer’s market in the morning, but the real reason I love going down there is to go to the most amazing antique store I’ve ever been to.  You want it, they’ve got it.  Three floors of junk…I mean hidden treasure.  

Wade actually took me here for our first wedding anniversary.  I had never been before, so was completely enthralled when we walked in by all the amazing things.  He laughed at my reaction and said that I could pick out anything I wanted.  Sky’s the limit!  Without requiring much effort on his part, this was THE BEST surprise ever!  I found exactly what I wanted within 20 minutes, but scoured the place for another hour just to make sure.  The prize I selected was a vintage typewriter from the 1930s.  It was deep green and still worked!  Whenever I look at the typewriter in my sunroom, I always smile.

Back to the present.  Big surprise, I’m sure, but the antique store was our first stop.  We didn’t buy anything, but it was fun just to look around.  We even saw some stuff that my parents have in their basement.  Think of all the money they could make!  After we looked around the store, we headed to the open space where the farmer’s market is in the mornings.  The weather was nice and there were plenty of fake flowers to look at.  I know that soon enough the area will be ablaze with real blooms to smell. 
We were craving margaritas with our dinner, so headed over to Southwest Boulevard just a few minutes away.  There are tons of Mexican restaurants down this one street, but there is one in particular that is a crowd pleaser due to its deliciously intoxicating margaritas.  Well, that place had way too long of a line.  45 minutes?  No, thank you.  I will eat your arm off before that happens.  So we ran across the street, trying to avoid getting hit by oncoming traffic, to El Patron.  There was only a 25 minute wait at this place, which seemed a bit more reasonable.  We got our drinks at the 2nd floor bar and enjoyed the cool breeze blowing in from the balcony.  The dinner was delicious, and we were even seated next to a guy that had seen us at the antique store a few hours before.  Small world!
Luckily, my dad is always our DD
The night was completely wonderful, and I enjoyed every minute of it.  I love hanging out with my parents.  They make everything more fun and always graciously take pictures of me and let me take pictures of them to post to the blog.  My dad was my first (and still favorite) photographer, and my mom was my first (and still favorite) tour guide, since she started taking me to explore the city one lunch place at a time during my summer vacations.  Man, I loved trying BLTs at all the restaurants around town. 
Still holding hands:)

Monday, April 22, 2013

HAPPY DAY, EARTH




While purchasing a few craft supplies today, I was given a free tote bag!  I couldn’t figure out why I was getting a free bag, but I’m not one to ask too many questions about free stuff.  The cashier must have seen my ridiculously excited expression, because she replied that it’s Earth Day, so they’re giving out free tote bags to every customer (not just me) in an effort to reduce plastic bag usage. 

Earth Day!  It was one of those things where I knew it was coming, but forgot about it this morning.  Well, I’m glad we have a day to honor this great big ball of wonderful we live on.  It’s a good reminder to myself to look around more and truly appreciate this place.  The fact that I can run outside in my bare feet and feel the soft blades of grass between my toes as I inhale deeply and breathe in the first scents of spring is one of life’s greatest treasures.  I know I don’t do enough “green” stuff, but I want to do better.  I want all our future generations to be able to experience this incredible place.
Time to stop and smell the "flowers".  They're fake, but the closest thing we have to real blooms at this time.

Being in the Midwest, we don’t have any oceans or mountains around us, but we do have a lot of grass and trees…and space.  While I wish I could get to the ocean in less than 24 hours, I think that every place has something beautiful to offer.  Something that makes that part of the country unique.  As a kid, I loved nothing more than lying beneath a tree in the summer and just staring through the leaves.  It always seems that in nature you have the solitude you need to find yourself. 

There was a hidden spot I used to go to camp in college.  It took my friend and me a half a day to initially find the place, and that was only after we enlisted my brother’s help.  Brothers are way better than GPS.  It was worth the trouble, though.  I remember going here a few times and just really enjoying the quiet and the isolation.  There was a hiking path that went from the camp site to the nearby lake.  It was such a satisfying experience as I pushed myself through the woods, not knowing exactly where I was going or how long it would take to get there, and then reaching the clearing and seeing the lake.  At the time I thought of it as a metaphor for life as I was making my way through college and didn’t know what my future held.  There are times you have to push yourself through the branches, up the hills, and over the logs to make it to the clearing where everything makes sense.  I still think that’s true today, but that clearing seems to be ever elusive.

Soaked in sweat, there was nothing better than jumping in the lake and feeling the sun beat down on my face.  It made me forget about everything.  I was living in the moment and appreciating where I was.  It also made walking through that giant spider web so worth itJ

What are some of the things specific to your region that you enjoy?


Friday, April 19, 2013

WELCOME TO INSTAGRAM


Hello Instagram!  Well, I’m about 3 years late to the party, but I’m here.  I was reading a blog post somewhere that said that that there is no one under the age of 40 who does not have Instagram.  I’m sure that’s not entirely true, but I figured it was high time to jump on this bandwagon, even though I’m clawing my way up from the back.  I don’t know why I fought it so long, because by first accounts it seems pretty cool.  That detail booster works surprisingly well.  I always think my iPhone camera photos look a bit blurry in posts (like the picture above), so I'm hoping this will help.

So who wants to be the first follower to the Adventure Log (username adventurelog)?  Would it change your tune if there was a prize involved?  You can see awesome photos like the one of my Nalgene bottle below.  Apparently my favorite item at the office.

The first photo I took and shared on Instagram.  Look at that detail.

Wow!  The colors just pop! 


Thursday, April 18, 2013

THE PINK DOOR

Outfit details: Dress, shirt: Old Navy. Shoes: Converse. Scarf headband: Vintage (from my mom).

After a recent lunch outing, we were driving around and saw this pink door.  The sun was out and it was warm, so I made the hubs pull over and take a multitude of pictures of me in front of it.  Begrudgingly taking copious amounts of pictures of you in front of abandoned businesses are what husbands are for, right?  Well, that and watching your stuff while you pee, as Hannah over at Hannah J. Holmes awesomely pointed out. 

The business isn’t open anymore, but it used to be a little boutique.  I had visited a few times and found some cute gifts.  I wish more of these smaller mom and pop type places would be able to make it.  There’s so much competition in the form of big businesses, though, that I can’t imagine how hard it is for these places to stay open.  It’s sad, because they are usually the coolest places.  It’s a tough balance, because ask if I would be willing to pay more money at a boutique than at one of the bigger stores, and my answer would probably be no. 

A really nice antique store just closed down the street from us.  I loved walking over there in the summer to see what they had.  I was more of a window shopper, but did find two repurposed desks there that I bought about a year ago.  There’s just something about a neighborhood store down the street with one of a kind items for sale that feels so small town dreamy.  That sounds like a technical term, doesn't it?

We have so many options available to us now for our every need.  Don’t get me wrong, I love Target and its cheap clothes.  I guess I’m a hypocrite, but how am I supposed to pass up a cute skirt for $15?  Darn Target and Old Navy with their trendy, reduced price fashion.  There’s a shop in Lawrence called Made that sells Etsy type items from area artists.  It’s where I sell my necklaces.  It’s the most perfect shop, and I really hope it makes it.  In fact, I hope the owners want to expand to Kansas City and hire me to run the store.  Then I could ride my bike to work and listen to records all day and it would always be sunny.  Dare to dream, right?  What are some of your favorite local places?

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

PROJECTS EVEN I CAN DO (PEICD): HANGING ORB



When I first thought up the idea for this project, I thought I was so innovative.  A hanging orb made out of cupcake liners!  Surely no one else has thought of that!  Alas, when I typed in the description in Pinterest, I saw a lot of similar results as mine.  Is there anything original left to create?  Oh, well.  While there might be similar projects out there, I thought it would be fun to share this project.  It’s a cool decorative ball that you can hang or customize in whatever color you like.  It would also look cute if you used solid colored cupcake liners and dipped the tips in paint to make a two-toned effect.

Supplies:
--Styrofoam ball from craft store in any size
--Cupcake liners in one color or complimentary patterns
--Pack of straight pins


Step 1:  Take a cupcake liner and flip it inside out.  Then just take a straight pin and stick it through the cupcake liner and the ball.  Do this around the entire ball until you can’t see the Styrofoam anymore.  That’s pretty much it.  Easy, huh?   





Step 2:  You can just place the ball on a table or shelf for decoration or hang it.  I chose to hang mine and just used a straight pin to hold a piece of yarn that I could use to hang the orb anywhere around my house. 

I’d love to make more of these in different sizes and hang from the ceiling.  They add such a fun splash of color.  This was a quick and easy project—my favorite kind to do while watching TV on a lazy afternoon!