Wordless Wednesday - HOT

Happy hump day! And hump day = Wordless Wednesday! 

This about sums it up for me. I like summer & all it offers, but I don't do "hot" very well. I feel like I'm melting. I actually took this photo a few summers ago. Clearly, it was a steamy day. This poor squirrel just sacked out on our deck railing & didn't move. I think if I had gone out with a mister & some ice water, he would have welcomed me with open arms. Paws. 

Linking up with: 

Wordless Wednesday

Wonderful Wednesday

Wake Up Wednesday

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Friday randoms

TGIF! It has been a loooong week! Mostly good.... just long. Here are my 5 random tidbits for the week:

1: Baseball season is over. Sad .... but I think it was just long enough. These poor kids were rained out so many times, so we had to squeeze in make up games whenever we could. They lost their last game, but they fought hard & ended up in 2nd place. So proud of my boy!

2: Our reservations for Disney have been made for next year! I can't wait, we went 3 years ago & had the best time ever. I'm especially excited to visit Universal again & spend some time at Diagon Alley (or is it diagonally? LOL)

3: I've really been into makeup the last couple of years. I spent 11 years at home with my kids, & I went with the natural look more often than I probably should have. Since I've been working I've slowly gotten back into actually caring what I look like. This includes make up, hair & clothes. In fact, where I used to follow just crafty blogs, these days my favorites are all about beauty. One thing that's been on my wish list for a long time is the Urban Decay Naked Palette. However, I am still very frugal & just couldn't justify the price tag. I've been searching for a good dupe & I think I found it. These palettes found their way into my home this week, & I'm thrilled! 

I used them the past couple of days & I love them. I had done some research before buying, & I didn't read too many negatives so I went for it. The less-than-$10 on Amazon price tag didn't hurt. If you're looking for some UD Naked dupes, give these a try!

4: Speaking of work (I think I briefly mentioned work in #3), I celebrated 5 years at my job this week! Wow, that went fast! I love my job & I love my co-workers & I'm so happy to have found my forever place. 

5: I didn't gain weight this week. Since I've been rapidly gaining the last few months, I'm happy to get through a week without gaining any more. Yes kids, this is what working out 3-4 times a week will get you. #itsnotmuscle

Linking up with:

High Five For Friday

Five On Friday

Friday Blog Booster Party


Hope you have a spectacular weekend!! 

A quiet weekend

For I think the first time this summer, we didn't have a ton of plans for the weekend. Well, we HAD planned to go to the county fair on Saturday, but a big ole storm came through here Saturday afternoon, & I pretty much lost my desire to leave the house even after it stopped. The humidity rose sky high & everything was .... well, WET. Ick. So we skipped it. This is the first year in 5 years we haven't gone. We've been in 4H the last few years & the boys have always had projects in the fair. We sorta decided to NOT this year. Fine by me, there was a lot less stresss in the house than there usually is the week of the fair. 

So .... we stayed home & just enjoyed the yard. I really have so much work to do in the yard, but I don't do well in humidity. I will not be moving south any time soon.

I have no idea what kind of bug this is ... but he was enjoying my flower & I thought he was rather unique. 

My lovely petunias .... one of the many plants that do well in pots for me, but not in the ground. I'm thinking we have B-A-D soil.

Rose breasted grosbeak .... nice of him to pose for me!

And these guys .... omg they made me laugh. The turkey babies were taking dirt baths :)  They are SO cute when they're little! 

We're building a fire pit & my kids had just finished raking the dirt smooth so we could lay the brick. This guy probably thought "Hey!! Really nice of you guys to make it pretty for us, thanks!"

That's really all I did this weekend ... take pictures in my yard LOL. We all need to just relax once in a while, right? 

Linking up with:

Monday Madness

Merry Monday

Something To Talk About

What did you do this weekend?

My brother's 50th

I wish I could say I can't believe my brother is now 50 & how time flies & all that .... but since I just met him last year .... that wouldn't make much sense lol.

So the day after we went to Summerfest & didn't get home until almost 1:00 am (way too old for this chick), we ventured to Madison for my brother's 50th birthday party. For someone who didn't know if he was going to do *anything* special for his birthday, it was quite a party. I got to meet his dad & his other sister (also named Michelle) ... I was so nervious about those meetings, but they were both super nice & I can't wait to get to know them better. 

My sister in law loaded me up with Sangria. Wasn't even sure I like Sangria, I'm not very wine-y ... but it was good. Well ok, it was tart, but after about the 10th cup (as you can see the cups were *small*) I really liked it! And how about that "table". We have stumps in our yard .... never thought of making them into little tables. #anotherproject

This is Dooley, their Golden Retriever/ Maremma mix. One of the most beautiful, most gentle dogs I've ever met. He's HUGE ... it seems the bigger the dog, the bigger the baby. 

And this is Lily, the beagledor they acquired last summer. She's pretty small, which is a good thing because as you can see, she loves laps! 

Here's my brother and me, after about my 5th cup of Sangria. Which is probably why I'm leaning LOL ...

Happy 50th to my brother .... it was a great day .... & another late one! We didn't get home until about 1:00 am. Again. 

Wordless Wednesday ~ Blood Moon

When my son & I were coming home from a festival the other night, he said "Holy cow! Look at the moon!" I looked up & saw this:

Whoa ..... a blood moon!! So cool! I was "oohing" & "aahing" all the way home. Even though it was almost midnight when we got home .... I trekked outside with my camera & tripod, & got this shot:

This blood moon was a bit different than the usual ~ this one was caused by the wildfires in Canada rather than a lunar eclipse. You can read about it HERE. 

Linking up with: 

Wordless Wednesday

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Wonderful Wednesday

Wake Up Wednesday

Fourth of July fun

To say that I had THE most fun this weekend that I've had in a long time is an understatement. We had something going on every day except today, thankfully. I needed today to recuperate. I'm almost happy to go to work tomorrow to get some rest! 

I will do a separate post for each day .... because you know .... I'm a little wordy AND I like to share pictures :)

So we'll start with Wednesday. After hubby & I got home from work, we drove downtown & attended a little music festival in Milwaukee called Summerfest. Perhaps you've heard of it?? OK, it's actually the world's largest music festival. 11 days .... 11 stages ... big names, smaller names & in between names. I used to go every year, a few times each year, when I was a young whippersnapper. Then we had kids, & we just didn't go anymore. I do have to say, it's probably not a place I'd take small children. People do, and they do have a kids area. But, the amount of beer & um.... other things (I'm pretty sure I got high just walking through the crowd) make it not so G rated.

But my 16 year old really wanted to go see Halestorm, so we went. He met some friends there, & my hubby & I just hung back & enjoyed the concert as well. Again, not exactly G rated, but since he listens to them all the time nothing was really too surprising.

Here are a few pictures from our day (all taken with my phone so not the best, but you'll get the idea):

We had perfect weather -- 63 degrees & sunny. 

My son was extremely disgruntled when I asked him to stand in front of the fountain for a picture. I reminded him of how much these tickets cost, the painful drive downtown (construction, construction construction) & the very late night that would be had by all of us. Look, I got a picture :)

Sitting on the lakefront. That's the main stage pavilion behind him. I believe Kendrick Lamar was the big act that night. Um, no thanks.

This was our stage for the night .... the Harley stage! Can you see the cycles on the stage? 

Harley-Davidson is one of our biggest accounts at work so I had to take this picture (that's my hubby).

We spent so much on this day, why not spend a little more & get some t-shirts .... we HAD to, right? 

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of Halestorm. We really weren't that far from the stage, but we were way to the side so it was hard to get a good picture. They really were awesome & boy, do they draw a crowd! I think there were more people here for this concert than the main stage! 

We ended up getting home around 1:00 am. The first of a few late nights..... which I have discovered I am way too old for! 

Have you ever been to Summerfest?? If so, who did you see? 

Next up ... a 50th birthday party in Madison.