Oaxaca :: Day 01

Brian and I just got back from the most amazing trip to Oaxaca, Mexico with six of our best friends. The purpose of the trip was to celebrate Penny and Mel's 50th birthdays this year. Oaxaca has been on our list of places that would be interesting to visit for awhile. Sharing it with our friends was something special. It isn't necessarily an easy journey getting there. Leif arranged for a car to pick us up at their place, which was such a treat. We met the rest of the "Ocho" at the airport then traveled to Mexico City for our transfer to Oaxaca. What I can only imagine was an apology from Delta for the Porto, Portugal debacle (needing to purchase crazy expensive airline tickets to get home a day later due to food poisoning), Brian and I were upgraded to first class! Three out of the four flights, to be honest. It was almost comical -- except, also very fun. I've been bumped to first class once in my lifetime before this. Never on an international flight. It was dreamy. Mexico City is enormous. Hopefully we'll get to go some day, because I understand it's quite the scene. We had a bit of a layover, then arrived in Oaxaca fairly late. It was dark, but we knew we'd be in for a treat the next morning. The compound we stayed in was perfect. Casa Penny was stunning. Amy & Graham also stayed there. Casa Mel was cute, quirky and charming. We were their housemates. Buddy, one of the four dogs on the property (yay!) made sure we knew he was there and introduced himself that night. Such a cutie. 

Moments 07 24 :: Week 04

We spent last weekend working around the house. We ended one of the evenings with a bonfire and s'mores. Love looking back at our house from that spot. 

Van Duke being a good boy and not getting too close. 

After wedding dress shopping with Emma, I started looking through some of my photos. I remember going to three shops ranging from high end to off the rack (I ended up going for a dress in the middle), but couldn't remember much more than that. Funny enough, look who was with me. Mel! Don't worry, she didn't remember either. We got a big laugh out of it to be honest. 

Cole spent the weekend in Iowa with Zoe and her family, and brought these home for us. Almond and puff pastry. The kid knows the way to win my heart. 

Finally finished another book. I was on a roll, but this one took forever. It's about the AIDS epidemic in the 80s. It's set right before my time in Chicago, but I have friends who were in it and have stories to tell.  I liked it, but found it a little boring. 

Moments 07 24 :: Week 03

Hudson was in town and our kitchen is torn up, so we went out for pizza. Had to try the cheeseburger pizza. Don't knock it. It was pretty darn delicious. 

The van hasn't gotten much love this summer, so Brian and I decided to drive her to Madison to go to the Farmer's Market. Once a year, the farmer's market moves locations due to an art fair. We've made this mistake before, and did it again. It was moved inside Breese Stevens Soccer Stadium.

It was still pretty good though. Of course we had to pick up some cheese bread.

Bonus - we also walked the art fair, which very hot, but very impressive.

Just a cool random shot of a fabulous plant store.

We also went to one of our favorite restaurants there -- Ahan. So pretty and really good. 

Later the day, Cole and I went over to feed our buddy Lemmy. When it's time to go, it's hard to leave that guy. He just loves love. 

That night, Leif and Mel invited us over for dinner with Andrew + Shelly, Scott + Ali. We watched the Canada vs. Uruguay soccer game, and enjoyed a crazy good dinner. 

Mel's famous dumplings. Yum.

And this salmon! It was so refreshing and delicious. 

I went to Costco and found these chickens. Felt like the dogs needed them, and I was right. They love them. Van can be a little jerk with toys though, and kind of hoards them. 

This guy needs a vacation. Up bright and early to work on the house. He's been up late every single night this week working too. Lots going around over here. 

Spent the afternoon with these lovely ladies. Emma is in town visiting from New York. It's always amazing to see her. 

She got engaged recently, and I got invited to tag along today to do this. I can't stop smiling.

Moments 07 24 :: Week 02

Box of treasures. It puts such a smile on my face. 

More. These were the eggs we had to remove when we painted the house. 

Our temporary kitchen. It's finally happening - a kitchen remodel. It's going to be chaos for a few weeks, but this is so exciting. We absolutely cannot wait. 

Cole had a soccer game on Wednesday. It was against a really strong team, and a blast too watch. 

He made the starting lineup again. There's only been one time that he hasn't. It's a strong group of players. Most of these guys are heading to D1 schools to play, or already play D2 or D3.

There's our guy. Still can't believe he plays in the back, but he seems to really like it there. 

My mom invited me to play tennis at guest day. We missed last year, so it's been a couple since I last played. Wish I were better, but I held my own. It's always such a fun a day. 

Hudson is in town. Only for a couple days. He's actually here for a bachelor party so we won't see much of him, but we're all soaking up as much as possible before he heads back. He's a working man now, and moving soon. Lots of great stuff happening. 

Gretel appreciation photo. She's just the sweetest. 

Moments 07 24 :: Week 01

Got up for a second, and this one took over my spot. 

Yummy toast with pistachio butter and Hagelslag, a gift from Cole when he visited his friends in The Netherlands earlier this summer. 

Still cannot get over the gorgeous flowers from our friends. 

Brian and I made it to Summerfest on Saturday to watch The Church. They were really quite amazing. The last time I saw them play was freshman year in college.

Met up with this crew, which was a total blast. 

Cole had a friend from college visit him this weekend. They went to Madison to visit another friend on Saturday, and he was dropped off in Delafield for Taylor's graduation party on Sunday. That night, he decided to stay home and even suggested a fire. It was seriously the second time this entire summer that he stayed in with nothing to do. It was so nice. 

The summer team Cole is playing on had a game.  They won 9-0. Always so much fun getting to watch him play.

Brian and I started 4th of July out by walking Van to the Fox Point parade. Our parade isn't much of anything. Basically the neighborhood decorating bikes and walking to a park for ice cream. 

Later, we rode bikes to Whitefish Bay to join our friends for the parade and a party they always host afterwards. 

It's always pretty impressive how many people come out to it and how many people participate. We were excited to see our friend Brad and his dog Ginger in it! Pretty cute. 

Later that night, Leif and Mel invited us over for dinner. Amy, Graham, Gracie and Sophie were in town. Finn even decided to come home for a couple days. Fun catching up with everyone. When it got dark, we went to the rooftop to watch all of the neighboring fireworks. 

These cuties even came and joined us.

Seriously, these views are crazy. What a fun, full day. 

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The entire week was a blast. Not pictured: Taylor's graduation party, dinner with Andrew + Shelly, Scott + Ali, Leif + Melissa, our friends annual Hot Dog party that we went to after Cole's soccer game. 

Moments 06 24 :: Week 04

Our friend Jesse is coach of the Canadian Men's National Soccer Team. Canada played Peru in Kansas City in the Copa America tournament, so Hudson and his friend Sam drove down to watch them game. Jesse hooked him up with 5th row tickets. They even got to say hi to each other for a few minutes later after the game. It's probably been four years since these two have seen each other, but Jesse and Kim have known Hudson since he was a couple days old. Our friends are the best.  

We are getting our house painted, so a nest that was on our house needed to be taken down. Unfortunately, it had these little guys in it. There's another one we need to tackle too, that I'm pretty sure has babies in it. Boo...

Speaking of the painters, of course it was the old lady who had to get herself in a little trouble. It came off easily with a little Dawn, thank goodness.

Received the nicest surprise today. This gorgeous flower bouquet from Amy, Penny and Mel, along with the sweetest note of thanks for our weekend in St. Louis. I don't think I've ever seen anything so lovely. I cannot stop staring and smiling at it. Have I mentioned we have the sweetest friends ever?