Archive for August 2011

Whew! Has anyone else felt like these past two weeks have flown by?
With a full calendar and never ending projects to work on, life has been crazy.
If you follow me on Twitter, you might have noticed this weekend I got to hit up Chicago to work the Lifetime Chicago Triathlon Expo with Pearl Izumi!  Lucky for me, my friends Ryan, Anna, Kent, and Emily...along with Zachary, came up as well and we got to party...just a little. This week I'm playing catch up, so please excuse the lack of posts.  I promise I'll be back with some projects I'm working on. :)
Tonight, I'll leave you with just a few of my favorite photos from the weekend.

I've been having a killer time surfing Pinterest.

It is such an amazing site for inspiration on just about any faucet of life! Especially with decorating a new house, getting recipe ideas, and staying on top of the latest fashion trends.  With Fall being my favorite season, I'm gearing up towards wearing comfy long sleeves, boots, light scarves, and pinning every adorable fall outfit I see.  Right now, I'm drooling over all types of plaid for Fall.
See for yourself.

Images via Pinterest 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

I've had plaid on my mind and can't wait to bust out plaid button downs with chunky sweaters.
Is anyone else feeling the plaid trend? I think it looks especially sexy on men. You hear that Zach?!
Feel free to follow me on Pinterest for more pinning goodness.
If you don't have Pinterest; shoot me an email to get an invitation. :)

-KateLainey

There are so many tiny details that add charm and character to our home.

Along with the location and layout of the house, these details are what sold us on it.

Here are just a few.

The coalburning fireplace.

The wood, everywhere.

Antique and stained glass windows.

The old lights.

This thingy.

And the staircase.


Are there pieces of your house that you adore?
Are there little bits of character that make your house so charming?
I hope so!

Even though we will eventually convert the fireplace to gas, we are planning on keeping the original wood mantel (not shown) and adding white tile around it. We want to keep the character of our house, while bringing in modern, vintage, and rustic elements of design. Progress on the house has been extremely slow and frankly, pretty discouraging. We've had serious issues with our ceiling paint, a leaky second floor bathroom, and other minor problems which have delayed us from painting the walls in the dining room, living room, and den for about two weeks. BUT, last night Zach and I knocked out the painting on two ceilings and hope to start the major wall painting soon!!! If you want to see our progress, feel free to follow me on Twitter as I gripe, celebrate, and share these awesome memories we are creating!

Have a wonderful night!


-KateLainey

Love, love, love all our wedding photos, but especially these beach photos. Bryan and Mae were so accommodating when we asked if Zach and I could sneak away during the wedding, right before sunset, to capture some more photos of us newlyweds! Seriously, if anyone is ever looking for photographers, regardless of where you live, you should give Bryan and Mae a shout out. 

I promise you'll be ecstatic with them! 

What photo is your favorite? 

-KateLainey

Did you guys have a great weekend? 

Zach and I have been trying to enjoy our new neighborhood and everything it offers by taking walks and exploring the area.  On these pleasant summer nights we've been taking advantage of our screened in porch to  eat on, read, and surf the internet. I can already picture myself creating a little blogging nest out here. 

Have a lovely Monday night! 

-KateLainey

To be honest, I don't remember the last time I made a pie. 

In college, I made apple pies quite often in an attempt to woo Zach's heart.  

I found out pretty quickly that I didn't need to waste the time. :) 

With blueberry season slowly coming to an end, a blueberry pie seemed fitting.
My mother-in law has been the best, giving us tons of blueberries when we didn't have time to go picking this summer. So I took the last bag of frozen goodies out of the fridge to use for this pie.



First I let these babies thaw.


Then I made the crust...with whole wheat pastry flour of course. :)


Then, this came out of the oven!


 Oh, and this! Isn't it cute?!
I put the remaining dough into a cupcake pan. Mini pies!


Then I ate it!


The end.
So, what is your favorite pie?


-KateLainey

This weekend I got to revisit the college days - dancing, beers, french fries, good laughs, and no responsibilities.  A break from all the work on the house was a relief and a reunion with old college buddies was long overdue. Granted I saw most of them at the wedding, but Zach and I didn't get near enough time to catch up.  If only they all lived in Grand Rapids!

We headed out to a few of our old stopping grounds in Saugatuck - Wally's and The Annex.
It was nice to dress up after a long day of wearing my sweaty work clothes.


 
 


Looking forward to another great weekend coming up... celebrating Anna's birthday in Kalamazoo!
It's these little parties, adventures, and meet-ups that have made my summer.
Without them, I'd be a hermit and just work on our house non-stop. :)

-KateLainey