fall-ing

It's officially fall!! 

I'm excited for the pretty leaves to change along the river in downtown Milwaukee.... that would make my living room view so very wonderful. And the bedroom view too

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How Bad We Need Each Other by Marc Scibilia looooove his voice :)

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I'm pretty much obsessed with "Up" and the love story between Carl & Ellie. It is so sweet!!

And I want that been-together-forever-with-your-best-friend-acting-silly-and-filling-up-the-pages-of-your-adventure-book-grow-old-together-love, minus the dying at the end.








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There comes a time in every girl's life (I would imagine), where she takes a look at where/who/what she is and decides if she's kosher with it.

Who she's with. Her circle of friends. Where she's living. Hobbies. Job....

So, maybe she finds that the day-to-day is generally just dandy, but there's no possibility of going somewhere with it long term. "Where you are is where you are" in some cases. But if you're not growing and changing, then what are  you doing? I'm not okay with being stagnant... it's driving me wild.

So maybe this girl is going to do something about it-- take what she's had and done and realize that even though it's not where she thought she would be, she was there. She learned, she grew, she had an experience.

But maybe it's time for something else.

xoxo, b

 

pumpkin lager

Splendid fall day today! The smell of crisp fall leaves, and the gentle loving embrace of malted barley and specialty craft beer wafting through the air and hugging my senses.....


Living next to a brewery rocks. I love you, Milwaukee.



xoxo, b

winter [wi] in september

Road Trip:

After Ben got home from work on Friday night (around 7:30ish), we packed up the tiny Speck of a rental car (which he had managed to get for 40 bucks or something outlandish like that) and went about driving north to Winter, WI.

Of course, I was feeling spaz-tastic about going on a trip, playing my new burned CD filled with country music and Justin Bieber's "Boyfriend," and being able to spend some adventure time with the mister.

It was while I was in the middle of a good headbanging, belting out the lyrics-- or just my own words-- to "Boyfriend" that I saw Ben scratching his nose with my peripheral vision. I then saw him start to reach towards my face. NATURALLY, I figured he was coming at me with a booger, so I whipped my head into the "holy shit" handle in the tiny Speck of a car and gave myself and insta-bruise, insta-bump in the middle of my forehead. All this approximately 28 minutes into our trip.

I started up some bipolar combination of laughing/crying because my self-inflicted injury hurt so bad.... and then I was emotionally puzzled because I really was not sure if I was laughing or crying.We stopped and Ben bought me a Starbucks, because Starbucks is like a mental band aid when you are suffering from a surefire concussion.

Moving on........

We made it to the cabin by roughly 2am... after seeing racoons, deer, a cat, a red fox, a family of skunks gathered in the middle of the road, and a creature crossing the road which Ben insists was a baby llama.

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On Saturday, we went "downtown" for breakfast. Then we all got into the Speck and drove to Hayward. First things first, we went to a candy store. Every time I walk into that place I smile.... so gorgeous, so filled with sugar!

We bought some chocolate fudge, cashew turtles, and caramel filled chocolate balls. Then my mom & I did some shopping in the little stores in the area while my dad & Ben wandered around behind us complaining that their boxes of fudge were melting.

After complaining cut our shopping excursion short, we hit up a little wine tasting at Hook Stone Winery.

wine tasting with the goofy 'rents

On the way back to Winter, we stopped at a casino and bought a bunch of cheap fireworks to light off that evening while sitting around a bonfire and sipping.


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bear!!

 
Sunday morning was pretty laid back. While "downtown," Ben and I saw some guys pull up with a black bear they had just shot. That thing was scary huge, which is exactly why I insist that we start campfires in the middle of the day and go inside by dusk. Those creepy bears are lurking in the bushes waiting to eat me.

We left the cabin around noon. Driving back was so pretty with all the leaves changing, the windows down, and the country music up. I really had to tone down my in-car dancing since the Speck was so tiny and filled with hazardous possibilities.

About 2 hours into the trip, we stopped at a little place along the way with some really cool metal artwork. This guy gets random stuff from salvage yards, old farms, etc and makes bird baths, flowers, caterpillars, turtles, and abstract oddities. 

Ned and some flowers

My mom and dad bought a sweet little bird bath. Ben and I got a grouping of flowers and a turtle who I immediately named Ned. According to inside sources, that was the shortest amount of time for me to name an inanimate object.





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And now it's Tuesday. Paris is laying on the table next to the computer smacking random keys as I try to type. She's Grade A Brat this morning.

xoxo, b (&Paris)

24 hours

sooo........ I spent 24 hours in Chicago. OH MY GOSH It was so much fun!!! And I just want to say "THANK YOU" to the guys and girls who made it so amazing! luv ya! Hopefully we can all get together again...... soon!!!

seriously.... too. much. fun. 

I was able to cross off "ride a mechanical bull" from the good ole L.T.D. list.

& only 24 hours! hmm.... maybe we should go somewhere and make a weekend out of it? :)
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Tonight, Ben and I are going up to Winter, WI  to spend the weekend        up nort' with the Tom&Steph combo. Pretty dang pumped... Mama Steph is bringing s'more stuff, games, and steaks. I'm bringing wine. Should be fun! I'm planning on hitting up the brewery tour in Hayward.... are you with me?!

6 hour drive tonight after Ben gets home at 7-ish.....
..... thank goodness we are in our 20's.

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Met up with Jessica today for lunch in "mexico" and some margaritas on the patio. Kinda sucks that summer is drawing to a close and we won't be able to patio-sip here in the near future. HOWEVER, we did have a great brainstorm session, where we decided we will be going to a Packer's game and making a "how to tailgate, Ellen please come and tailgate with us!" video. OOoooh if only.... I LOVE ELLEN! I also got to hear about how jess is going to mexico.... actual mexico.... to film disaster relief footage for the area. so cool :) I hope she doesn't get eaten up by a giant snake or lizard monster

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"springsteen" is still stuck in my head. & on repeat in my vudoo on the way to work and home each night.

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xoxo, b

springsteen

This song has literally been on my mental replay consistently for the last week or so: Springsteen

It makes me feel so happy... and think about the pretty drive Ben & I did from Vegas to Phoenix where this song was on every radio station (which I was absolutely A-okay with)

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I'm doing a solo mission to color my hair this afternoon. Gutsy? Yes. But with big risks come big rewards.... or bigger issues to deal with.... we'll see

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Happiness is kinda a funny little thing.
Here's my personal thoughts on that jazz:

1) you can't always control the situation or the outcome, but you can control your reaction

2) spend more time right now.

3) quality over quantity in your relationships... have a sanity structure (aka family/friends) you could literally melt into a puddle in front of, and they'd help you back to your solid state

4) figure out who you are, and your quirks, and own it. dance to your own symphony.... because marching to the beat of a drum is lame.

5) do what you want. you  know you  best

6) define yourself by your actions, not your income

7) 'fess up when you're wrong, and make it right

8) everything happens for a reason, I'm positive of that.

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Tomorrow I'm going to Chicago for the night with a couple of girl friends. I will be hitting up a hot tub, a club, and any impromptu dance floor I find. Mmmmmmmmmmm yeah!!

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free birthday mug

Ben's 27th birthday was a couple of weeks ago. I got him an adorable tiny little dwarf hamster which he named Forest (run Forest, run!) He also got cupcakes, tshirts, long sleeved lounge shirts, and a sweet volcano for the fishtank that blows bubbles and glows red like lava.

Ben with the look of mischief plastered on his face

the boys tried very strange beer

It was two days of presents and celebration for the Benjamin creature. Day 1 was presents. Day 2 (the actual bday) we went to Rosie's so Ben could get his free bday mug... then to Ben's current most favoritest place: World of Beer on Brady Street. Jessica came with us to Rosie's, and then had to leave. Then we met up with Branners and Weiner for the remainder of the evening

Ben had an enjoyable, drunken night telling everyone that it was his BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!! and running down Brady Street pretending he was an airplane. He later whispered to me that his face hurt because he was smiling so much. It can be very entertaining Ben-sitting





**Forest is no longer with us. She was too little for her cage, and while climbing the sides of the wire cage and trying to chew her way out like it was Alcatraz, she decided to wiggle out between the bars. P&N figured this was a bedtime snack, went nuts, tried to help her wiggle out, and knocked the cage over onto her.... killing Forest at approximately 4am. I was and still am extremely upset by this, and have only recently began to talk to P&N again because they are murderers in my book. I want them to have teardrop tattoos by their eyeballs. Ben also is very upset... and wants a look-a-like that will be named Forrest (two R's) that he can love. However, it needs to be a glass cage with barbed wire so the furry black monsters stay back at least 50 feet and the tiny dwarf hamster can't go shimmying out between the wires. Then I can get to pretending that the whole thing never happened.

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We got to see fireworks this Labor Day weekend, since LM's fireworks had been cancelled on the 4th due to the blessed drought. Ben & I were back in the LM, and my mom roped us into helping at the brat stand.... again. 

Ben and my mom, making brats and doggies

The LM Fire Department was there too, with their firetrucks and ladders and such. I asked one of the firefighters if I could climb the giant ladder. He said I have to pass Basic first. Pure disappointment.

It's all good though... because it makes me think of how Ben&I have been roped into it for as long as the non-profit 4th of July fireworks committee has been doing the brat stand.... and how it was after goofing around at the brat stand one year, watching the fireworks, and then going to a little park to watch the stars together that Ben proposed to me. aaaaaaaaaaawwww small town life

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xoxo, b