i whipped up a batch of new cards recently for a special order.  i’m pretty happy with the way they turned out.  i love the vintage look and used a 1956 school dictionary in some of these designs.

a thank you card

a wedding card

for a boy’s second birthday

a boy’s first birthday

and a girl’s second birthday

as you can see, i don’t get into really baby or child like designs even for kids’ cards.  it bothers me.  aesthetically. 

i’ve also been working on wedding programs (fans), menus and table cards.  can’t wait to show you the final designs!

well i guess i can say that fall is officially here.  not only has the season changed on the calendar but it is feeling soooo cool and the leaves are starting to change.  also, i noticed christmas decorations at michael’s which usually indicates it is late september or early october.  haha!

anyways, i’ve marked some seasonal cards down.  send a fall greeting to a friend today.  find them here.

last weekend i made polenta pizzas.  with a salad, this was such a quick and yummy meal.

i bought the organic polenta premade that comes in a tube usually found near the pastas and canned spagetti sauces.  i cut in 1/4 inch slices and placed on a baking pan that i had brushed with olive oil.  i then put a bit of olive oil on top of the polenta slices, some garlic salt, ground pepper, spagetti suace, fresh herbs from the garden and low-fat shredded mozzarella cheese.  on a few of them i put slices of eggplant before the cheese. 

then i baked them for about 15 to 20 minutes in the oven at 400 degrees.  and these are actually even better warmed up the next day.  yum!

here are some cards i made over the weekend:

 our first assignment in my photography class was to take a picture of our favorite beverage.  for me that would be a cup o’ joe (especially now that the weather has turned cool and fall-like).

sunday morning i took about 40 pictures of my weekend* coffee.  this is the image i chose to submit.   in class i think the teacher is going to critique the images in front of everyone.  kinda nervous.

*just in case you are wondering what weekend coffee is: in our home, we get regular coffee during the week, a.k.a. folgers or something equally crappy (in my opinion) unflavored.  but, i suppose as a reward, we drink folgers flavored cofffee on the weekends.  thereby earning the moniker “weekend” coffee. 

shelby loves the cooler weather. 

happy fall!

anyone get that reference to the 4 non blondes song from the 90’s?  i’m totally showing my age here….but in my defense i’m pretty sure i didn’t have my driver’s license yet when that song was popular.  i heard it yesterday on the radio yesterday and turned the volume up really loud and sang to it.  it’s a good one.

this is actually a post on what has been happening this week while i’ve been slacking on my blogging duties.

know what these are?  my running shoes.  without my feet in them.  that is what my training for the half-marathon has succumbed to these days.  all because of a (painful) tear in my right arch.  i started physical therapy yesterday.  the verdict is still out on whether or not i’ll be running the 13.1 miles in a mere 22 days.  you can’t possibly know how upset i am about this.  i did already run 12.1 miles so i think i could do it again in a few weeks if my foot is feeling better.  wish me luck!

these are the scraps of my husband pruning our crabapple trees.  i thought they would look great on the front porch.  so homey. 

i started my photography class this week.  our first assignment is to take a picture of our favorite beverage.  right now i’m wavering between a cup of coffee and a stella artois (not at the same time, of course).  i’ll probably just have to suffer through both and see what picture comes out best.  i’ll post it when i finish the assignment!

happy friday!

sorry i’ve been MIA lately.  lots happening, as usual.

also, i’m a bit worried because i’m becoming obsessed with taking pictures of food.  check out some of the things we’ve made lately:

butternut squash soup.  fresh from my CSA share.

my husband brought me this omelet he made me for breakfast.  i love how he added the sprigs of parsley from our yard.

raspberry pie.  last weekend i picked raspberries from my mom’s garden and finally used my cute 5″ tangerine fiesta pie plate i got a few years ago for Christmas.  the pie was yummy!!!  i’m going to miss summer.

recently i posted about some used books i bought online.  i bought them through half.com and i paid a little over $9 in shipping.  when i reviewed my invoice i noticed i actually bought them through a seller located in Indiana and that they advertised free shipping.  no big deal, i thought.  i’ll just note the website and in the future i’ll just purchase directly from them. 

after perusing their site for a few i can’t believe that i haven’t known about this place before now.  not only are the books cheap, the shipping free and is it in Indiana but the store has a soul.  really.

Better World Books was formed by three friends from Notre Dame.  libraries, universities, and thrift stores hold book drives for the store.  the books are either sold to raise money for non-profit literacy programs around the world, sent to a non-profit for use in one of their programs or recylced.  and shipping is carbon neutral.  it is not a non-profit but a for-profit venture that helps combat literacy issues, helps find homes for lonely books and helps reduce all the crap we send to the landfills. 

omg.  what could be better????  from now on i’m purchasing all of my books here.

as promised, pics of our Labor Day Weekend in Chicago!

view from the Sears (ahem, Willis) Tower

looking down 103 stories above the street

another view of the city

Navy Pier – tons of people, the weather was super fabulous

the skyline from the end of Navy Pier, we just sat and enjoyed the views and the weather

Navy Pier

my husband.  kidding.  really.

we took a bus to the Lincoln Park Zoo.  my first time there since i was 2.  it was so beautiful and…free!

loved this cute cottage on the zoo grounds.  the zoo is really old so there are tons of historic buildings scattered throughout the zoo.

can i tell you my heart breaks a little each time i see this pic?  she was in no pain but years ago she had a surgery on her jaw which makes her tongue hang out now.  she seemed so happy though.  more like she was so satisfied to sit and people watch.

Millenium Park

Buckingham Fountain in Grant Park

chad and jared waiting in line for yummy carmel popcorn

a view of the public library.  i’ve been by the huge copper statue topped building several times.  we went inside to see what it was like.  it was just okay.

jared and sarah waiting for stuffed chicago pizza.  a must have on every chicago visit.

chad took this…i just think it is a really cool picture.