Traditions

Happy Weekend All! This summer is flying by!

Ever since I was a little girl, I have loved traditions. I loved waking up on Christmas morning, knowing we would open gifts, look in our stockings, then eat breakfast. I loved knowing that we would spend Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my mom's family, eating kielbasa. And that between Christmas and New Year's, we would see one of my dad's brothers and his family.

I loved waking up to Easter baskets and Easter egg hunts on Easter. I loved waking up to a donut on my birthday. I even loved knowing that every summer morning my mom would leave us a note starting with "Good Morning Girls" and containing instructions for chores to do and food to eat that day.

Mostly, I loved the summer traditions of my family. Every week, my Grandma or one of my mom's sisters would pick us up on a weekday morning. We would spend all day swimming in my Grandma's pool, spend the night, and swim until my parents picked us up after work. 

I loved spending a week each summer with my Grandma on my dad's side. We would go out on the boat, swim, play mini golf, get ice cream, and roast marshmallows. 

My parents would take us camping several times in the summer. There were always trips that lasted a week or two, exploring new areas, hiking, reading, Pizza Hut lunches, and a trip or two to Dairy Queen. 

The other week, my sister, my niece, Jeremy, and I headed up to my parent's cottage to spend some time together. My parents live on the same lake that my Grandma on my dad's side did, which makes it even more special to go up there.

While we were up there, I realized that now that we are adults, it's up to us to be a part of making our traditions. And I realized that we have already started making traditions for ourselves and the next generation.

Traditions like:

making the long trek up north,

Campfires by the lake,

playing with "cousins",

relaxing with Jeremy's parents,

hanging out on the boat,

gathering generations,

Mary Louise, Paula Louise, Emily Louise, Sofia Louise

kayaking trips,

enjoying sunsets,

and hanging out on the same dunes that I have since I was a little girl.

Jeremy and I have decided to make some traditions with our anniversary. In my last post, I mentioned that we were in Milwaukee as part of a new tradition. 

Jeremy and I were in Europe for our honeymoon. While we were there, we decided that we would like to spend every fifth anniversary visiting a new continent.

Right before our first anniversary, we decided that we want to spend all of our other anniversaries exploring a new city. We made this decision in June, so we decided to go to a place pretty close. So, we set off for Milwaukee.

We also decided that we should get a picture of us in front of some sort of sign or famous symbol that showed which city we were in last.

We started our tradition by posing in front of the Milwaukee Public Market.

When we got home, we had the picture blown up to an 8x10 and framed it.

We are looking forward to exploring new places together for years to come!

Next week, we are heading out to our first neighborhood of the month! 

Keep cool!

Mosby enjoying an ice cube

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB

Neighborhood of the Month

Happy July everyone!

WOW! I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted! June flew by. Jeremy started his new management position (still at the same company) and is loving it, I finished up a rocky school year, and Mosby turned TWO! 

There was also some "not as much fun" stuff that took up A LOT of time. You know, life gets in the way of being crafty sometimes.

BUT, I'm back. And ready to craft.

So, as an introduction back, I'm sharing some photos of Jeremy and I took in Milwaukee over the weekend. We were in Milwaukee for our first anniversary. (More on our budding anniversary traditions in a post later this month.)

We had a great time. It was Summerfest weekend (Milwaukee's big music fest), and while we didn't partake in those festivities, we still felt the effects.

We ended up staying in a Bed and Breakfast in the Historical Bed and Breakfast district (i.e. the ghetto) because all of the hotels closer to downtown were full and/or VERY expensive.

The B&B was great. However, we had some trouble getting a cab pick us up from the hotel. The pictures below are taken at the beginning of waiting for our cab. Our faces were not so happy after an hour of waiting.

*We decided to take cabs as we are both big beer drinkers and Milwaukee is a beer town. Don't drink and drive folks!

Anyway, eventually we were picked up by a very friendly cab driver who was just starting his shift. After running a couple errands with him (yup, really did!) and picking up three more stranded travelers (yup, did that too!), we made it to the Milwaukee Ale House in the Historic 3rd Ward. 

We went based on a recommendation from a native of Milwaukee who works with Jeremy. It was great! Good beers, good pretzels, great atmosphere!

After a beer or two in the 3rd Ward, we hailed a cab (with much more ease) and headed to Bay View, an up and coming, funky neighborhood on the south side. We had a top notch dinner at The Odd Duck. The restaurant focused on small plates, which Jeremy and I both love because you get to try more food on their menu!

The next morning, we enjoyed the breakfast half of the "bed and breakfast" and headed on our way.

We were told that we couldn't leave Milwaukee without enjoying a bloody mary (twist our arms!). So, on another recommendation, we ended up back in the 3rd Ward at The Wicked Hop. One of the best bloody marys I have ever had. Plus it came with lots of food accessories, which is the real reason everyone drinks bloodies in the first place! 

*Those are cheese whips, not fries on top. God bless Wisconsin and their love of cheese.

Our last stop was The Lakefront Brewery Tour. The tour was awesome. Our tour guide was hilarious!

We enjoyed their art....

Their silent disco...

*People wore wireless headphones that all played the same music. No one else could hear it; it was hilariously silly to watch people dance around in silence.

And of course, their beer!

We had a great, but short time. We were gone about 24 hours (thus all of our pictures included eating or drinking).

Of course, while we were gone, we exchanged gifts.

Jeremy made me a really thoughtful photo album with pictures from our first year of marriage.

My gift centered more on our upcoming year. Jeremy and I LOVE to go out to eat. It's the time where we really focus on each other and chatting. However, we have fallen into a rut. We go out to the same few restaurants in our neighborhood ALL the time. 

A couple weeks ago, we were in a different neighborhood grabbing dinner before the Of Monsters and Men concert (remember Jeremy's birthday gift?). Jeremy mentioned that it was fun to be in a different neighborhood and we should try to do it more often.

I agreed.

So I decided that would be his gift. I researched 12 different neighborhoods and very close cities around Chicago. I found something interesting to do in each place and a different restaurant.

*I can only show July, because Jeremy reads this blog too.

So, every month Jeremy gets one of these envelopes. 

When he opens it, the front of the card tells the name of the city or neighborhood.

And inside the card tells the restaurant, the activity, and the time of day we need to go.

He'll open the envelope on the first of every month and we will plan the day to go and put it on our calendars.

And there you have it, a gift that keeps giving. I'm thinking of doing monthly updates on which neighborhood we went to.

I'll leave you with some good advice from Milwaukee!

Until next time, keep crafting!

SB