a trip to the windy city

Since I'm new to blogging, I thought I'd post some old stuff too, that we've done so far in 2011. Back in February, Baylor & I took a trip to Chicago to see my little brother graduate boot camp for the Navy. GO NAVY! Being the daughter and granddaughter of Navy Captain, both P3 pilots, as was my dad, and my stepfather was a Blue Angel mechanic, you could say the Navy pride runs strong in my family :)

My brother and I lived with my dad for a few years in Chicago, but its been almost seventeen years since we've been back, so it was alot of fun to go around and see if we recognized any of the places from before.

Along with getting see my brother graduate, we also visited the Field Museum, the American Girl Store, and of course stopped by Uno's for lunch.

finished projects

So I have a bad tendency to start projects, and then prolong their completion. I love finding things and then trying to make them on my own. Finally I sat down this past weekend and finished up a few items that have been hanging out in my craft room.

My daughter Baylor wanted letters for her room, and not knowing the extent of what I was taking on, purchased the largest ones they had. We purchased everything from JoAnns Fabric Store, 24" Cardboard letters, Pink Acrylic Paint, Scrap book paper and Decoupage Solution. After painstakingly cutting out all the designs and graphics Baylor liked, we ended up with a pretty cute finished product.

Flowers, zebra, swirls, all in Black & Pink, Baylor's favorite colors!

Proudly displaying her work, she helped place all the designs

This driftwood art idea I got from a piece I saw at Duh Pensacola, a store I absolutely love! Most of their beautiful home decor is pretty pricey, but I love to get design and arrangement ideas from looking through their showroom. The hubby and kids helped me collect all the driftwood from our beautiful beaches at Fort Pickens.

I would have liked the arms slightly thicker, but ran out of driftwood

Hanging in our guest bathroom

Lastly is an idea I got from HGTV's Color Splash. With a blank Canvas, some painters tape and a paint brush, I made a cute little "eye-chart" with our family's names for our Garage hallway.

Carefully taped out and painted......

The finished product

tasty bits from 4th of july

I love to cook when I can......not everything always turns out great, but I enjoy the experience of being in the kitchen and trying new things. My husband has quite a sweet tooth, so many times when I get the chance to try new things, its end up a dessert, per his request. Nothing fancy this time just William Sonoma Vanilla Sugar Cookies recipe I tried, with this lemon royal icing. The lemon extract in the icing really made them a tasty summer treat. The kiddos helped me decorate with edible pearls, also from William Sonoma, and once we had them all arranged, they doubled as a festive counter top decoration too.

Yummy, these did not last long....

Matching shirts, cheesy, I know, but I still love :)