Missing This...

Morning! Hope you're all enjoying the last days of summer! Here's something I'm missing about the end of summer in Michigan...

While we were home a couple of weekends ago, we stopped at one of our favorite apple orchards to see if they had any picked apples yet. They did, so we got those and as we were leaving the employees at Blakes Big Apple were handing out free hot corn on the cob!  It was soooo good!!! We cannot find corn any where, that is as good as Michigan's sweet corn, here in the Chicago area. We even drove an hour to a farm selling Mirai sweet corn which is suppose to be great, well it was good but nothing like the corn from home.

We sure are missing some things from Michigan (including family and friends) but when we do go home once a month we make sure to stop at our favorite places.

Today, after paying bills (ugh), I will be crafting. Hope my visions turn out as good as they are in my head!

Enjoy your day!!!
Hugs!
Kim

A Sneak Peek!

Hello! Last week some of besties from MI came to visit me. We had a blast! Little did we know there was a real blast happening one street away from our hotel! There was a film crew setting up scenes for Transformers 3 on N. Wacker. Have a looksie....

We got to get up real close that night. Very cool!

The next morning, we decided to head up Wacker again to find some breakfast and to see if they were filming...THEY WERE!

We just missed this scene being filmed. See the smoke?

Some of the actors being dressed in their costumes. Very cool! We walked right along side them!

That was a fun experience. We didn't see the star of the film but it was still really cool to see how things are done. More pics of our girl vacation coming up soon!

Have a great day!!! Fall is in the air for a few more days at least. The heat returns Sunday.

Hugs!

Kim

Feeling Crafty and Sick

Hello!!! I have so much to share with you all but I've been sick with a summer cold. Today, I was feeling a bit better so I decided to make some thank yous that owe to a handful of people.

Cards are from Target's Dollar Spot a while back. The stamp is from Stampin' Up, Wonderful Wings. The cording (is it baker's cord or butcher's cord, I can't remember) came from Sundance Catalog last holiday season. (I am hoping they have more ribbon this Christmas!)

I like how they turned out. Simple and quick.

I hope to be posting more this week! I spent 3 days in downtown Chicago with my girlfriends and went home to MI for 2 days and have pics of things I miss from there. I may even have a tutorial coming up for some yummy delish homemade caramel corn! So, fingers crossed, I will feel better tomorrow to post again.

Have a great day~it sure feels like fall is coming!

Hugs!

Kim

IKEA

IKEA, need I say more? Going from 2800 sq. ft. house with a basement to a 635 sq. ft. apartment with no basement and limited storage was making me a little nutty. Where to put everything???? Then the new fall IKEA catalog appeared in my mailbox. ***Lghtbulb moment***!!! This catalog has been a big inspiration to me! So off to IKEA we went on Saturday morning!

IKEA, Schaumburg, IL

Our living room needs a lot of help! Who am I kidding the whole place needs a lot of help! We decided a wall unit is in order.

We saw this one and it goes well with our hand me down IKEA dining set but I think I want a little different look for the living area. We found one we like...too many people near it to photograph. We decided it will be our Christmas gift to each other. Pictures to come in December! I can't wait to decorate it for the holidays!

Next, the dark dank hallway to the door. We don't have an entry closet and I hate coats hanging on the back of dining room chairs and the dog leash laying on the table. Then there was the shoe issue. Here is our IKEA-esque solution...

Before

After. IKEA uses lots of shelves for storage. I found these cute bamboo and steel shoe racks at Costco. Costco ended up being less expensive than IKEA for the look I wanted. I found the shelf above it at Marshall's and the hooks for the coats and leash at Hobby Lobby along with the monogram "V" above it. Much better if I say so myself.

Close up of the coat hooks and "V".

This is the true color of all our walls. I can't get good pictures in here.

The shoe rack and shelf (yet to be properly accessorized). Why the pair of shoes on the floor? I cannot convince the hubs to leave them on the rack. These are his "go to" shoes when the dog needs to go out or the trash has to go out. He can just slip them on faster this way *SIGH*.

Next up, the only area we have to store our drinkables. For 3 years (prior to my arrival here) hubs kept them on the floor here behind the dining room table. Yuck! Ugly!

Ugly, agreed?

I found this bench in the IKEA catalog and thought it would fit perfect in this very narrow space. Everything enclosed was to wide for here. So this was the solution...

Much better, not perfect but better and neater.

This was just the beginning of my adjusting and making do with small spaces. Stay tuned in the coming 6 months or so as we keep IKEA-ing our space.

Have a great day!!!

Hugs!

Kim

Polka Dot Swap and Back to Yo-yo-ing!

Recently, I participated in a Polka Dot Swap hostessed by Lori at Morning Glories and Moonflowers and my partner was Michelle at Gingham World. This was a fun swap to participate in, I only wish I had had more time to hand make Michelle some things. I totally forgot to take pics of what I sent her but I can tell you what I sent her...a black and white polka dot casserole with lid, a set of towels with a red and white polka dot oven mitt to which I added a red yo-yo, a pink hat with yo-yos attached, a polka dot water bottle, polka dot tags and ribbon. I hope she enjoyed her package! I know I enjoyed mine. Here are some pictures of what I received...

Michelle made me a really cute reversible bag, a hair clip and an orange pin, a super cute frog and a polka dot note book. She, also, included coffee mug holders and a polka dot glass which is perfect for my daily iced tea. :-)

Here is a close up of the frog. She is hanging out in my kitchen.

A close up of the pin and hair clip. I really need to try and make some of these.

Thank you, Michelle!!!!!

Now that I have more time on my hands, I decided to make some yo-yos. I sure have missed making them. I decided to attach them to a reusable shopping bag and send it off to a friend. It's a surprise for her, hope she likes it! Here's a pic of part of it. The lighting in this apartment is really, really bad so my pics aren't so great, sorry!

Yo-yo bag closeup.

The weekend is already here! On the agenda tomorrow...IKEA to get some organizing things which we really need! Tomorrow night...the Detroit Tigers against the White Sox at Cellular Field. I cannot wait! I haven't been to a Tiger game in weeks! I miss those boys!

Thank you for all your sweet comments about Kitty. Abby is doing so much better, she is still very needy but she is letting me sleep at night now. Poor old girl!

Hope you all have a great weekend!!!

Hugs!

Kim

Sad Kitty

My kitty, Abby is having the hardest time adjusting to our new home. I haven't slept a night through since we arrived.  She cries almost all night long. Last night she did better but she is still having issues. She uses her box, thank goodness but now she cries to be fed. She has her food which she has always loved but now refuses to eat. Yesterday, she settled for hot dog, but not today. I guess I will pick up a couple of cans of cat food tonight and see if she'll eat that. I hope she will end up eating her own food soon. When I Google cat issues with moving they say it can take a cat a looooong time. If she decides to never like it here we may take her back home to be with my daughter and her cat. Maybe she just misses them. I don't know what else to do.

Hope you're all doing well!

Hugs!
Kim

Tomatoes and Patio Spruce

Happy Monday! Well, this is my first full week of living in the Chicago area. I miss my house, my veg garden, my yard, the farm up the road with the awesome corn, my friends and family. So, to learn to love it here we went exploring this weekend. We needed to find a farmer's market, Costco and Home Depot...my I- phone came in very handy! I got some great veggies and have plans to make yummy dinners...I haven't really cooked in 3 years while hubby was here and I was in our house in MI. It does feel good to cook again and to be here with hubby. We do wish we could still be in MI, though. Sigh. Darn economy.

Here are some pics and a recipe from my weekend...

Tiny heirloom tomatoes from the farmer's market.

Halved tomatoes, green onions and minced garlic.

Finished product...It looks bland but boy is it GOOD!

I got this recipe from the Phyllis Hoffman Celebrate Summer magazine. I adapted it a bit...

Heirloom Tomatoes and Pasta

(Makes 6 to 8 servings)

2/3 cups chopped green onion

6 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley (I didn't have any)

1 tablespoon roasted garlic (recipe follows) I minced 1 clove of garlic instead

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

2 1/2 pounds heirloom tomatoes, cut in half and wedges

1 pound angle hair pasta (cooked according to package directions) I used 1/2 pound

In a large bowl, whisk together green onion, oil, parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and pasta, toss to evenly coat. Serve warm or cold.

Roasted Garlic

1 garlic bulb

1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 425. Cut of pointed end of garlic; place garlic on a piece of aluminum foil, and drizzle with olive oil. Fold foil to seal. Bake for 30 minutes; let cool for 5 minutes. Squeeze pulp from garlic cloves into a bowl. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator.

On our visit to Costco, we saw these really cool solar lanterns for only $32.99. They are a perfect addition to our apartment patio. It really makes it feel special and more like our home in MI.

The trip to Home Depot was for the hanging hooks for our lanterns. That's our weekend in a nut shell. Let me know if you try the recipe! Have a great day!!!

Hugs!
Kim