Summer Weekend Adventures

July 6, 2021July 6, 2021 | terriaw

Weekends are never long enough, especially in summer.

Spending a long holiday weekend at my parents’ house on Lake Michigan is always full of adventures, from kayaking to hiking. This time we also hiked The Ridges and the Mink River Trail.

Exploring the variety of flora is a fun treasure hunt throughout the seasons.

Noticing the wildlife is an exciting outdoor activity too, finding birds, wildlife and insects.

Some critters are hard to capture with the camera, like this pileated woodpecker, and other critters are fun to watch their shenanigans, like these cute little red squirrels chomping on cones right outside our kitchen door.

And of course, there are many varieties of butterflies and dragonflies to follow. I’ve never seen this particular 12-Spotted skimmer dragonfly before. I had fun following a tiger swallowtail and a few monarchs too.

I always cherish these weekend getaways and wish I could stay longer. I’m already looking forward to the next one! Cheers to more summer weekend adventures!

Spring Break 2016

March 18, 2016March 18, 2016 | terriaw

It’s a rare event when I get to take a trip, so I feel lucky to have traveled to the Sunshine State for Spring Break again this year.

beach views

Mornings and evenings at the pool are a wonderful way to start and end the day.

Afternoons and sunsets at the beach are the best! Wish I could do that everyday.

sunset at the beach

sunset on the beach

The lush, tropical vegetation is always a treat to see in March when everything in my neighborhood is just waking up from being dormant all winter.

red hibiscus

I spent a beautiful day at the Naples Botanical Gardens.

Now I’m brainstorming ways I can arrange to visit the beach more often. Vacations are great, aren’t they?!

Terri

Field Notes: Weekend at the Lake

August 10, 2015 | terriaw

I just spent a fabulous weekend at my parents’ house on Lake Michigan. It was chock-full of eating, shopping and adventures. The weather was nice so we could took the boat out for some sightseeing from the water and swimming, even though the water was breathtakingly cold.

We used to spend a lot of time playing and exploring on Lake Michigan when we were kids, so I always miss it since it’s the closest thing to an ocean around here. Hope you’re out enjoying these last few weeks of summer!

Terri

Vintage Suitcase

August 10, 2011August 9, 2011 | terriaw

Remember when I showed you a couple antique boxes recently that I found at an antique shop? I have also been looking for a small vintage suitcase to carry as a briefcase for my art supplies or to use as a fun carry-on bag when traveling.

My niece and cousin were shopping together and found this fabulous vintage suitcase for me. It measures about 16 inches wide by 11 inches tall, so it’s a nice small size with a comfy handle for carrying around.

I’m so excited to have such a stylish way to travel now!

Art Cards – Week 23 – Gardens and Travels

June 12, 2011June 12, 2011 | terriaw

What a difference the sunshine makes to me! I had the most unproductive Saturday in my history, which I’m blaming on the damp, cloudy weather. Today the sun in shining, so naturally, I feel 100 percent better.

I didn’t do anything significant last week, other than apply for jobs and make a couple new bags. We had a really big thunderstorm come through our area that caused the power to go out for several hours. That would have made cool inspiration for a set of art cards, but I didn’t think about that idea until I started writing this post. Doh!

I had two different sources of inspiration for my art cards this weekend.

My first inspiration came from my garden, which is always changing. I did a messy little illustration of a few alliums, and then I found a perfect quote that I just wrote in my natural handwriting, which I’m trying to like better. I’ve never been a fan of my own handwriting, whether it’s cursive or printing. But with all these art projects I’ve been working on lately, I really want to like my own handwriting!

My second inspiration came from my travels and my terrible packing skills. I tend to overpack my suitcase, or just don’t put things in there in a more compact way. I’ve been thinking about buying a smaller suitcase, just to limit the amount of stuff I can actually bring on a trip. How much stuff do you need anyway?!

Check out what my art card buddies Michelle and Sandra have been adding to our Flickr group – so cool to see our variety of styles, inspirations and techniques.

Wishing you a sunny day too!

Living It Up in Vegas

May 30, 2011May 30, 2011 | terriaw

Even though I lived in Las Vegas after graduating from college (that’s my old apartment building pictured below!),

and I have returned many times over the years, I still managed to take tons (hundreds!) of pictures this time around.

There are always fun new adventures to capture.

I promise, I won’t share boring vacation pictures; just the fun stuff. (added more pictures here)

The main reason we went to Vegas was to celebrate our 10-year wedding anniversary.

What better way to celebrate than going to a burlesque show!

We had fun seeing the Crazy Horse Paris show at the MGM Grand casino. Yes, burlesque = risque and very impressive.

We enjoyed a lot of great food over the course of the week, including this opera cake at Le Provencal at the Paris casino,

and a lot of fun drinks, like these Swedish Fish and Root Beer Float martinis at the Sugar Factory American Brasserie.

We at and drank at the Sugar Factory many times, since it was attached to the Paris casino, and we always walked past it on our way out of the hotel. The best place for people watching is at one of those outside tables.

They also have a cool chocolate bar, stocked with top shelf liquor for chocolate martinis.

We shared this one, an Almond Joy martini, for dessert.

Okay, back to some sights.

We rode to the top of the Eiffel Tower to see some fabulous views of the strip at night. Definitely get a 2-for-1 coupon if you try this.

The cool thing about many of these casino resorts is that you could be anywhere in the world.

You could be in ancient Rome (or just at Caesar’s).

You could be in Paris (or just at the Paris casino) looking up at the Eiffel Tower.

You could be walking down the street in Paris admiring the windows and flower boxes.

You could be shopping for a cool car, if you have an spare $150,000 lying around.

You could be in Italy (or just at the Bellagio casino) looking for a carousel to ride.

You could be in a city looking at a gorgeous crystal curtain (or just at The Cosmopolitan casino).

You could be looking for a place to take classes on how to be a stripper.

(I didn’t! I just posed next to a giant stripper statute – how could I resist!)

You could find yourself in vintage Vegas, in front of the old Neon signs.

You could be a graphic design and illustration student, admiring all the lovely illustrations on signs and murals.

You could be an art student who is excited to find out Vegas has a Blicks’s Art Supply store so you can stock up on a few supplies to work on your travelog.

See what I mean? So many cool things to see and do in Vegas!

We walked a lot, we ate some great food, we drank a few interesting drinks, we did a little shopping, we did a lot of laughing, we saw lots of cool sights, and we spent a lot of time people watching, always good entertainment no matter where you are.

Stay tuned for another post coming later this week featuring our day of hiking at Red Rock Canyon.

A Couple More Pictures

February 25, 2010February 25, 2010 | terriaw

I have to confess that I still haven’t touched any fabric or my sewing machine all week. I don’t even have any UFOs hanging over my head; just one unfinished purse I started to design before vacation.

I have been so busy at work this week, and so tired when I get home. I took a two-hour nap after dinner last night, and then it was time to get ready for bed. I hope I didn’t catch a bug from some unknown sick person.

Would you mind if I showed you a couple more pictures from our trip to Vegas? I really love these so I wanted to share them.

These statues are from the side of the building at the Paris casino.

Maybe if you have been to Paris and seen these statues in person, you’re not impressed. But I love them! They are beautiful, and such a contrast to the rest of the glitz and glam of Vegas. They remind me of all the ornate architecture and sculptures we see on our visits to New York City.

I just love these old neon signs in the Glitter Gultch of Vegas.

We didn’t have enough time to see more, which I hope we can do on the next trip.

We walked down Fremont Street in the direction away from the old strip, where more of the old neon signs are on display.

I heard that the city of Las Vegas is finally doing something with the Neon boneyard, an empty lot where all these old neon signs have been sitting over the years, with the creation of a Neon Museum where those treasures will be on display.

For now, you have to pay and get special permission to get into the locked area they are stored.

Last but certainly not least, I love this picture of Dave from our hike in Red Rock Canyon.

He always freezes when someone points a camera at him, so he doesn’t usually have such a natural look on his face in pictures.

Thanks for indulging me!

We’re Baaack

February 23, 2010February 23, 2010 | terriaw

We didn’t win a million dollars, but we sure had a fabulous time in fabulous Las Vegas.

I took 254 pictures, so I won’t bore you with all of them here. My camera is just barely hanging on, so we took lots of pictures to make sure we would end up with a couple decent ones. I added a few more pictures to my Flickr page if you’re interested.

We toured the Hoover Dam, which was the highlight of the trip for Dave.

It was cool to see the new bridge they have been constructing over the Hoover Dam to ease the traffic jams from Arizona to Nevada.

We hiked at Red Rock Canyon. I am still amazed at the contrast from the glitz and glam of the strip to the rugged, barren environment of this canyon.

We had drinks in Paris. (Someday I would like to travel to the real Paris.)

We enjoyed dinner in Venice a couple times.

We saw a traditional showgirl show, which was the highlight of the trip for me. The costumes were amazing, the dancing was classy, yet oh so Vegas!

Jubilee

(no pictures allowed during that show *wink wink* so I had to borrow this little one from their website)

We shopped for souvenirs. (neither of us gamble but this was a fun place to check out)

In between all the hustle and bustle, we simply appreciated a lot of sunshine and blue skies.

No matter where we travel to, the people-watching is always the best. Oh, the stories I could tell, the skimpy outfits I saw. Like they say, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. It’s still nice to be home again.

Vegas Baby!

February 16, 2010 | terriaw

It was relatively easy coming up with a reason to be happy this Monday. I only have to work one and a half days this week because we are headed to Las Vegas for vacation!

We are looking forward to warm, sunny days, since our winter in Wisconsin has been cloudy and damp and cold. I am going to spend the week eating, drinking, shopping, and sightseeing.

I don’t have any photos (yet) to celebrate vacation or Vegas, so I will share a sneak peak of some new products I have coming out in my shop soon.

See you all in a week!

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