Good times up North

I uploaded these photos ages ago, and then forgot to finish the post! Oops! I've been in full-on nesting mode at home these days, which has resulted in a little blog neglect.

The week that Todd was on the fishing trip, Nathan and I headed up to Northport for a few days with Grandma Florence and Grandpa Basil. Even though the weather was not the warm sunny beach-friendly setting I had hoped for, we still had a ton of fun!

I was sure that N would be terrified of the leaf blower. Instead, he loved it, and had a blast helping Grandma clear the driveway.

One day we bundled up and headed to the playground in the chilly drizzle.

After running around like a maniac (Nathan), going down a very wet slide holding a toddler (me), and chasing after all of us (Florence), we decided to head to Barb's bakery to warm up and have some donuts, coffee and juice.

Nathan spent over an hour pushing his stroller up and down the driveway!

On Sunday morning, after Todd and Dan had joined us at the cottage, the four of us headed out to breakfast in Suttons Bay, and then ran around at the marina there, checking out the boats and water.

Ryan and Anne's Wedding

Last Saturday we were lucky enough to attend Ryan and Anne's wedding. The ceremony and reception were held at the beautiful Cherry Basket Farm, in Omena, just a mile or two from our cottage in Northport--super convenient for us! :) The setting was beautiful, the ceremony was really sweet, and the food was outstanding. All in all it was a wonderful celebration!

Toby, Joey and Todd--they clean up nicely! :)

Me and Pepper clean up nicely too! :)

Isn't baby George ridiculously adorable in that little suit?? What a sweetie, and he was such a good boy during the whole ceremony.

Here comes the bride!

Ryan seeing Anne in her wedding dress for the first time.

Mr. and Mrs. McMorrow!

Interior of the barn.

Lovely!

Barn entrance

Ryan and his mom, Marcia

Dresser Refinishing

Warning for all you folks who only read this blog because Nathan is adorable: This is one of my rare, Nathan-free posts. Feel free to skip it if you'd like. However, lately I have been inspired by the impending arrival of another human into our mix to do some reorganizing and furniture reallocation. As part of the increase in Fowle family population, my sewing room has been moved down to a sort-of finished room in the basement, which does not have a closet. So I decided that I should move the armoire from our bedroom down there to serve as a closet stand-in. This necessitates a different dresser for our bedroom.

One of the things I do for fun/to waste time is troll the furniture section of Craigslist (yeah, I know, you wish your life was as exotic as mine). When I saw this dresser listed for $40, I could instantly picture it painted a fun color with some new knobs. It had to be mine!

I have some vacation time this week, so I decided to use some of it to refinish the dresser and do a bunch of other odds and ends around the house. As you can see from the photos above, the dresser has been well loved throughout its life, and needed a little TLC, starting with sanding to remove the finish and some of the blemishes.

Safety first! This little mask was my constant companion throughout this project. You're welcome, Pepper! :)

All sanded and wiped down, ready for some primer. I moved the project into the shop for the rest of its duration so that it would be protected in case it rained.

Primer applied! Exhausted Jessica. This whole home improvement plus growing a human thing wears a girl out!

The next day, rejuvenated, I got to tackle the make-it-pretty part: painting! Well, before I got to the pretty making step I did sand the primer with a finer grit sandpaper, wiped everything down, and vacuumed all the nooks and crannies with the shop vac. Here it is after the first coat--looking good already!

I put a second coat of paint on it and let it dry overnight. This morning I sprayed clear enamel sealer on it and let it dry until late afternoon. Then I installed the new drawer pulls, moved everything to the bedroom and put it all together. TA DA!!!!!

I think it looks awesome with our gray walls and the yellow/gold of our curtains and bedspread. It's not in its final location yet, as I need Todd's muscles to move the armoire, but I can't wait to "move in!" Perhaps this project will inspire me to actually do some decorating in here. I repainted a year and a half ago, and still haven't hung anything on the walls--such a procrastinator!

Fantastic Weekend

The first weekend in June is my favorite time to be a Kalamazoo resident. The centerpiece of the weekend is what's affectionately known as "Super Saturday," and it is aptly named, because there is a TON of stuff going on downtown that day: the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts Art Fair in Bronson Park, Greek Fest in the Arcadia Creek Festival Site, Art on the Mall, the Kalamazoo Public Library used book sale, the Farmer's Market and the silliest of all--the Do-Dah parade! This is a parade that goes right through downtown, and it is a "just because" parade--no major holiday, just local businesses and organizations dressing up in wacky costumes, playing music and handing out candy. The kids love it!

As you can imagine, with a toddler in tow, I skipped the fine art fair, and prioritized the parade! Nancy came with us, and we ended up running into Suzanne, her sister-in-law Kathleen, Gavin, Jessie, Lizzie, Evelyn, and even two families whose kiddos go to daycare with Nathan. I love Kalamazoo!

Grandma and Nathan watching as a group of friends from Zeke's dog training class approach.

Gavin scored some play-doh as well as candy as part of his parade loot.

Kathleen, Gavin and Suz. Gavin looks like he's really hot--he was, it was a scorcher by early June standards!

Baby Evelyn. Didn't get a pic with Jessie and Lizzie. Oops. Guess I was busy watching the parade!

Grandma, Nathan, and the aftermath of eating melty chocolate on a hot day.

The highlight of the parade for me was that N sat on my lap the entire time--he was too entranced with the police cars and other entertainment to notice that he was cuddling!

After nap time on Saturday (a three-hour long affair; I guess parades are exhausting!) Nathan and I went out to accomplish productive goal #1 for the weekend: get N some summer sandals and tennis shoes. This kid is growing like a weed! We went to Little Chick Shoe Shop, which is a Kalamazoo institution--all the Kzoo natives I know got their shoes there when they were kids. And these folks are professionals--they are completely unfazed by toddlers rearranging their shoe displays, and quickly and efficiently measure foot size, show you the options, get them fitted and get you out the door. It makes shoe shopping with a 2 1/2 year old almost painless!

Saturday evening my friend Jenn was in town, and she and our mutual friends Patti and Robert and their kiddos Teah and Carter came over for a potluck dinner. The kids had fun playing, and we had fun eating and catching up. I (gasp!) did not take any pictures, so you'll just have to use your imagination to picture us all hanging out, talking and laughing--it was a great night!

On Sunday Nathan and I accomplished productive goal #2 for the weekend: get Nathan a summer haircut. He is blessed with a very thick mop of hair, for which I am sure he will be grateful in middle age, but when you run everywhere you go, it's summer, and you tend to be sweaty all the time anyway, a thick mop of hair just increases the sweatiness factor! So we headed over to Great Clips and N got his summer 'do. Luckily places like Great Clips are a virtual revolving door of little kids getting their hair cut, so the stylist was completely unfazed by the fact that N tried his best to sit really still, but didn't quite succeed.

Here's the handsome man himself--his short hair is so much more practical, but it makes him look so much older!

After we successfully met our weekend productivity quota, Nathan and I celebrated with a backyard picnic. SUCH a great weekend!!