I Love Renegade

We went to the Renegade Holiday Sale today. Renegade is my favorite. There were over 150 vendors and I just love to see their handmade items. It gives me such inspiration. Here are my goodies from today.



There is also a Renegade Craft Fair each fall. This year, Katie and Rob were in town and joined us. It was so much fun...even though it rained the whole day. Here are my goodies from the Renegade Craft Fair.

Jason and Rob waited so patiently while Katie and I ran from booth to booth in the rain. Such great memories!

Can't wait to go next year!!

Happy Holidays!

We had a nice relaxing and productive weekend...we did some shopping, crafting (I'll have to add pictures after the holidays), and we put up our Christmas tree! Isn't it great! Now we really have the Christmas Spirit!


And Jason blew bubbles!

Thanksgiving Day + Parade = Thanksgiving Day Parade!

We are thankful for all our family, our friends, our health and all the opportunities we have that so many others don't. Like the Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Yesterday Mom, Jenee, and I went to the Chicago Thanksgiving Day Parade. It was busy and people were pushy. I have a feeling Jenee and I were the only locals in the 400,000-ish people there. Seriously. Lots of people threatening to take their kids back to the hotel. Which... doesn't seem like such a bad way to watch the parade, if only because it is less cramped. But it was a pretty good time, not too cold. Here are a couple of pictures of things we saw from our corner by the VIP area... and the little gas-powered generator that left us feeling a little queasy. Again, it was a good time... we'll just plan a little differently if we go again.


Mom and Me


Jenee and Me



Three story tall turkey



Elmo with Dorothy (that's the fish)



Budweiser Horsies


Cookie Monster acting like he doesn't still owe me money. Addict...




CM PUNK. Grand Marshal. Wrestler Extraordinaire.


And finally Animal!

Good stuff. Everyone should come for next year's parade.

Nice Weekend

Yesterday we went to an Italian dinner party hosted by someone we used to work with. It was so nice to see everyone again! We offered to bring an Italian dessert and after a failed attempt at Italian Lemon Knot Cookies, we decided to make Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie. Not really Italian...but it tasted far better than the cookies.

Today we took the Metra train south and visited my cousin Marcy. She recently moved to Frankfort and is much closer to where she works. She also has a nice new apartment and some of the wonderful luxuries that are so much harder to find in the city (dishwasher, washing machine, heated garage, lots of space). Her place is very nice. We took her this little gift to add to her kitchen.

Back from Vacation

We're watching the election and FINALLY updating the blog. We returned from the most wonderful vacation in Kauai recently. We attended Jenny and Josh's wedding and had so much fun vacationing. Here are a few pictures.

I am gloved... erm, loved

Hey, everyone. Just wanted to put up a picture or two of my new glove. One day it will have a mate, but untill then I will wear just the one. Gaze upon it and be jealous. Oh, and have I mentioned that Jenee is absolutely amazing? 'Cause she is, and cute, too.

Pretty cool, huh?

Special Wedding Gift

After navigating through the US Postal Service for over a week, it finally made it! This is a special wedding gift made for Jenny and Josh. We are getting so excited to travel to Hawaii and witness this wonderful event. Only two weeks away!