Last night was another fun night of live theater. Celebrating with my niece Taylor home from college for Spring Break… and for what we found out was my Cousin Kim’s first Broadway musical?! Wait, what?! We had no idea… and she LOVED it. Thanks to a fun production of JOSEPH by the Marriott Lincolnshire Theater. Now we need to get Kim to even more live theater! She had no idea of what she’s been missing!!!

My cousin Kim went hiking at Illinois Beach State Park and found a couple fortune cookies along the way! Braving the bitter breeze & bone-chilling temperatures to play along with my silly little game. So fun to see people enjoying the scavenger hunt & kicking off their New Year searching for fortune… cookies!!!

So typically I’m the “dessert guy” at my family holiday gatherings. But this year my sister Jen mixed it up and I became the “two side dish” guy. New culinary terrain for me to tackle. As our family meals are frequently a bit “beige”… I decided to go with a colorful & loaded kale salad! Full of yumminess like grilled chicken, roasted sweet potatoes & brussel sprouts, wild rice, apples, goat cheese & nuts!

Looks like it went over well with my family… healthy & beautiful in a handmade pottery bowl!!!

This Fall my cousin Kim came over & we planted a LOT of new plants in my front garden. This is my first time trying hellebores & I’m kind of excited to see them flowering at the end of Winter. But I just saw these cuties this morning. Are they going to bloom too soon?… or are they just getting ready to impress me in very Early Spring?! Novice gardeners want to know!!!

So close… but no wins for us!!! Last night was the final game of BINGO at IKEA for the year. I went with my niece Taylor with plenty of daubers in-hand. We had a great time despite not winning a round… but, we did each get a fun IKEA bucket hat made from recycled IKEA big blue shopping bags. Only after chatting & trading with IKEA Amanda! Happy holidays at IKEA!!!

Welcome to December!
Time to start the advent calendar that my Grandma Kitty made many years ago.
And so it begins…

More Autumn Fun at the orchard! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Indian Corn… or I think we now appropriately call it Ornamental Corn… still on the corn stalk?! Plus a lot of apples no longer on the trees!!!

They had a birthday party yesterday for him… while I was selling pots at ART IN THE GARDEN. Many of you have known him for years as one of my art fair assistants & pottery-loaded van driver!

So here’s his birthday update… he’s still enjoying his time at Friendship Village in Schaumburg. His eyesight is not great, but he’s still very active around the place, loves excursions, karaoke & dance classes. Sure it help that he also has the cutest gal-pal in Bonnie. They’ve been together for quite some time now… ADORABLE! It’s great see them both so happy together. So here’s to many more years to come!

And it looks like my cousin Kim had all of the frosting to herself as I wasn’t there to eat it first!!!

My cousin Kim was outside enjoying her garden… and decided to take a few blooms to enjoy inside as well. Good thing she had one of my flat textured ikebana vases to put them in… using the small pin frog inside to prop-up the flowers! Thanks for sharing your beautiful garden Kim!

One of the highlights of the Fourth of July in Chenoa, Illinois is the parade through town. It’s such a retro-flashback parade with people tossing candy to the kids, one marching band, one kid on a decorated bike (Ryann), clowns with water hoses, the Shriners in their little cars… and seemingly every old tractor, vintage car, or semi-truck that wanted to be part of the festivities. It’s a loud parade… but so much fun to see the parade with the little kids having fun along the route. Excited about the candy & festivities… not so much about the LOUD noises!

The weather had cleared up & held it’s own until the very end when a small cloud of drizzle passed over. Luckily, Mimi was there to hold “down the fort” while they shuttled the kids back to the house! I was more about the AMAZING hand-dipped & freshly fried corn dog that followed downtown… a little sprinkle of rain didn’t deter me!