Celebrating another MUGSHOT MONDAY… with a nice post my friend & talented photographer who posted this on Instagram. Great photos, great eye, great guy. You should definitely check out his work on Instagram @ericcraigstudios

You can also check-out his work on his website… www.ericcraigstudioscom

And there we have it… the “finale” to the BIG CORN-GRATULATIONS PARTY for Martin! Big winner of The Great American Baking Show! So much fun honoring his win, celebrating Martin and meeting his new best buddies & fellow contestants Sarah & Nirali… and seeing just how cute the three of them are together! I can’t wait to see how their “15 minutes of fame” continues… as they are all celebrities to me!!! Thanks for playing!

… or just an AMAZING COINCIDENCE?!!!

So I was hiking through Illinois Beach State Park yesterday… headed back towards my car in the North Unit of the park. I had already hidden the first half of my fortune cookies. I decided to take a little side path back to the parking lot instead of along the lake… as I had a done that headed the other direction. The park is always pretty secluded – not a lot of people around. So it was kind of surprising when I ran into these two… Heidi & Steve who live up in the area. Steve even joked about there being no one else out there!

So we talked for awhile about Illinois Beach State Park… and how I “found it” as one my Covid excursions during quarantine. They kept telling me about other areas I need to check-out up there… parks, boardwalks, sweet shops, etc. They were the nicest… and only... people I chatted with all day. Like I said, Illinois Beach State Park is pretty isolated without a lot of people!

And then as we continued to talk, I told them that I would let them “in on a little secret”… I told them that I was a potter… and then I told them that I was there hiding my clay fortune cookies! Twenty-three for 2023!

Hold on… wait for it…
Then Heidi stopped me in the middle of my story and said that she found a fortune cookie like that two years ago at the Sand Pond fishing area of the park. She was even impressed that they rattled! I think it took her a second for it all to come together… but what a randomly strange coincidence that I would run into a random new friend out there… who just happened to randomly find one of my fortune cookies TWO YEARS AGO in a random state park covering over six random square miles!!! Crazy coincidence, right?!

We continued to chat on our way back to the parking lot. When we crossed a little wooden footbridge, I pointed out to Heidi that someone else has been hiding things out there too. Like this little Christmas Tree painted rock… that I had seen earlier while I was headed the other way!!! Heidi was so excited… another fun find for her collection!

What better way to celebrate the Fourth of July than sharing cotton candy with a friend?!

Spent the day with My Talented Friend & master metalsmith Sarah Chapman today down at the ONE OF A KIND SHOW. So much fun to surround yourself with such talent & beautiful jewelry! I love having talented friends!!!

Check out more of her work online at www.chapmanmetals.com …
or follow her on Instagram : @chapmanmetals

You gotta love when your friends come to the Holiday Home Show bearing gifts… and super sweet gifts at that!!! Keith & Julie brought me a yummy goodie bag from their candy store in Eureka, Illinois!!! Homemade fudge & marshmallow s’mores pops from MAURIE’S SUGAR SHOPPE!!! Let me just say… the goodie bag is a little “lighter” than it was when they dropped it off… burp!

So while I was unloading the kiln last Friday with my new Little Red Devils, one of my studio mates said she had a bunch of red devil hats in her studio for no apparent reason. Someone had just dropped them off hoping she could do something with them… and she offered them to me! Crazy coincidence, huh?

So of course I took them… and gave them away with some of the Little Red Devils during ART IN THE BARN last weekend. Too funny!!! But I’m not sure if little Teagan is more into the Red Devils, or the caramel apple lollipop?! She’s still ADORABLE either way!

This sign makes me laugh EVERY time!!!

Literally where the path ends!!! Not sure we really need a sign for this… I think it’s kind of obvious?! Good place to stop… breath… set our next destination… and notice Nancy’s cool shadow on the ground!!!

I’ve always said that “the best part about biking, is STOPPING.”

Stopping to appreciate your surroundings.
Stopping to enjoy time with friends.
Or in this case… stopping to see Nancy sitting on a large egg in an even larger nest!!! Silly moments with friends… part of a perfect day on our bikes.

Stopping. Relaxing. Friends.

And what better way to end an evening with friends than with some yummy deep dish pizza from Lou Malnati’s?! Great fun & conversation combined with gooey cheese, tomatoes, spinach, butter crust & garlic dressing as a dipping sauce!!!

And if that weren’t enough… there “might” have been some frozen custard at Lickety Split that followed… allegedly.