so summer

mike bike

joelio

umber

"you're going to regret letting me take this." "no i'm not!"

nothing says class like wine out of a plastic cup

"do you guys like my haircut?"

peep game

coffee app

pre-phoenix

before we were too sweaty for words

bed buddy

bride-to-be

groom-to-be

birthday boy

from the boat



old friends

yellow jersey

old abode

state street

dunn brothers muscle

summer

i am happy to report to all of you that my neice-to-be, lydia (or lyddie, as ann has taken to calling her) is healthy, as is my fabulous sister. i am thrilled to be getting closer to my destiny as the BEST AUNTIE EVER and can't wait until my august 15th trip to madison for ann's baby shower.

it's been a crazy summer already and it's only just started to get hot. last night was hump day and fancy dinner at cafe levain with the lovely lauren manke. earlier in the day i had lunch with abby and then we went to blb and bowled a couple of games. my skills are improving!

tuesday night was the phoenix show and triple double. phoenix live+95 degrees+hundreds of excited people=BEST CONCERT EVER. they killed it. we killed it. i've never been that hot though...seriously.

this weekend is paint color selection with lauren, heather's birthday, beauty and the beast with mom and hopefully some beach time. still to come: oconomowoc for the 4th of july, madison for an afternoon, moving to NE, a possible visit from laura knepper and the triumphant return of laura. i want peru to give her back already!

hope you're all well, let's go to the beach soon!

don't mess with jewelry addicts. seriously.

a good friend of mine recently travelled to seattle to visit her family and take a little vacation. for weeks before her trip she talked about visiting her favorite jewelry store in the area, TWIST. twist has a ton of awesome designers, and sells everything from inexpensive to really high-end jewelry.

as you may know, i have a little bit of a jewelry problem. luckily, i have a lot of friends who ALSO have jewelry problems, and this friend, let's call her red, is part of the club.

so, red went to seattle and went to visit TWIST. she purchased a beautiful, one-of-a-kind ring from a lebonese designer. excited about her purchase, she wore the ring out to lunch. midway through her meal she was examining her new bauble and noticed that several of the diamonds were chipped or cracked. now, it's typical for diamonds to have inclusions, or birthmarks, and often the inclusions can be interesting and important parts of the design. these diamonds, however, were not just included, but damaged.

red called the store to talk to the manager just a few hours after she had initially purchased the ring and was told that no refunds were available. after many conversations with multiple employees and the manager, a few days later she ended up exchanging the damaged ring for a new piece that cost almost twice as much money. almost immediately upon leaving the store she felt ill about her purchase and when she got back to minnesota she wrote a letter to the store manager explaining why she wanted to return the ring.

even after several phone calls and emails, the TWIST store of seattle is refusing to make the situation right for red and she is stuck with a ring that she does not want to wear. twist is a small store and it is understandable that they don't want to handle returns on a regular basis, but when jewelry is damaged or a customer feels bad about a purchase, the only acceptable thing to do is take care of them.

please consider this when you make decisions about jewelry purchases in the future!

adventure with rachel

minnehaha falls

urban oasis?


this guy wrote a long poem. epic, you might even say.
this is my favorite part:

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,
By the shining Big-Sea-Water,
Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,
Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.
Dark behind it rose the forest,
Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,
Rose the firs with cones upon them;
Bright before it beat the water,
Beat the clear and sunny water,
Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

we found a spot with a fallen tree here. we sat and ate lunch and read part of the poem

few things could be better for the soul

there was swinging

lots of swinging

happy trees

perfect adventure

throwback songs

WATCH THIS. HAHAHAHAAH.

odds and ends for ann and laura

it has come to my attention (thanks, sisters) that my blog has been lackluster lately. i keep meaning to put up some new photos from a recent adventure trip to minnehaha falls, but that will have to wait.

interesting tidbits for the day:

1. laura: you did spell fiend correctly. well done.
2. Main Entry:
fiend Listen to the pronunciation of fiend
Pronunciation:
\ˈfēnd\
Function:
noun
Etymology:
Middle English, from Old English fīend; akin to Old High German fīant enemy, Sanskrit pīyati he reviles, blames
Date:
before 12th century

1 a: devil 1 b: demon c: a person of great wickedness or maliciousness2: a person extremely devoted to a pursuit or study : fanatic a golf fiend 3: addict a dope fiend 4: wizard 3 a fiend at mathematics

3. lauren and joe bought a house!
4. tucker and mike got skateboards. they rule.
5. i am moving. to a convent. i'm not kidding about this.
6. ami newman-paul is coming to visit me tomorrow and i am hyped.
7. rachel levitt and i have been killing it lately.
8. ryan lyle and i went shopping yesterday for new man digs. he looks sexified, as promised.
9. if your cats (i won't name names, but it's ernest) won't stop scratching the carpet right outside your door at 4:45 every single morning try spraying them in the face with water. if that doesn't work, pile stuff outside your door in hopes that they can't reach the spot they're trying to destroy. if that doesn't work, try putting cajun seasoning on the ground. when your cats are freaks, vacuum up the cajun seasoning and try chili powder. sleep through the night.
10.the spicy tuna roll at fujiya doesn't hold a candle to muramoto.
11. i am still the worst bowler in the world, but someone has to come in last, right?
12. adventure post and photos coming soon.

memorial day

josh's non-sexy face

josh's seductive eyes

ami!!!

ami in his natural habitat