It's Much Too Late

I'm up way past my bedtime, but I just had to post one more of my little Bean.

I Really Like Them

And so does Extranjera's mom,
so I will continue to post my sweet little birds.

And speaking of sweet little birds... here's another.

Birds on a Wire

We've Moved

I took this recently in downtown Detroit, Michigan.
Downtown was really hoppin' that weekend and it gave me some insight into how I'd imagine Detroit once was.
A thriving, happenin' city that gave us Motown music,
gritty rock and roll
and the Ford Mustang.
Not the dirty and abandoned city it is today.

It's as if the American Dream packed up
and moved out of Detroit.

Tori Amos in Detroit

I was fortunate enough to see Tori Amos play at the Detroit Opera House on August 8th. She was AMAZING! I've been a fan for many years. I've collected 27 of her cds, most being singles I've picked up here and there. She is such an amazing musician. So theatrical and talented. I actually cried during some of her songs that have sentimental memories attached.




It was a Tori themed birthday for me this year. My kids presented me with her latest cd and a poster, which will hang with my other Tori posters in the art/craft studio, and then my husband surprised me with tickets to her show. We had such great seats if you couldn't tell from the photos. I took a ton of photos and might post more later on. If you were one of the nice people sitting next to us that I told my blog address to, please be sure to comment and say "hi". It was nice chatting with you.

Boardwalkin'

It seemed like it was a slow day for the charter boats. Most were docked and waiting to take out out customers for a day of fishing on Lake Michigan. I wish we could have been the $$$ they were waiting for. All of those fishing poles looked rather tempting.


A couple of trumpeters were practicing along the boardwalk. I love how this photo turned out.

Arrrrrr!

This is supposed to be one of a series of photos taken on a recent walk along our town's boardwalk, but alas... the internet is being sooo slow and uncooperative that the rest will have to wait.

Someone should be walking the plank for this mutiny!

"Damn you, Internet!!!"

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

We have so many wonderful new neighbors, but I believe that this fellow and his wife are our favorites. We call him Cardinal, for obvious reasons, and his wife is Carla. I hope I can capture her in a photo someday soon. She's a bit more shy than Cardinal. They often sit on our fence near the bird feeder and share seeds. It's quite sweet to watch them "kiss". They live in the wooded area behind our next door neighbor of the human variety, but they visit our yard often, probably because we provide lunch.

Let's Get It Started

My talented husband catered our friend's wedding rehearsal dinner. He did a great job!

Some more shots from the past weekend's festivities.

(the father of the groom, awaiting the parade of groomsmen & bride's maids)

(The groom's niece singing Ave Maria and quite beautifully!
The bride is standing behind her and her veil is blowing gently in the breeze.)

Another Wedding Weekend

We were fortunate enough to spend another weekend celebrating the marriage of some good friends. We had a great time and I'm a bit exhausted from all the merriment. We're not used to having SO much fun. : ) The photo above is a few of the wonderful friends who made the festivities of the last week and a half so memorable!

The Gentle Giant on the Beach

Like Children

We went to one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever been to last weekend and had a FABULOUS time! Maybe it was all the Scarlettinis I drank. (a refreshing blueberry cocktail, that I swore I'd only drink one or two of, but ended up drinking closer to ten) Anyway, we haven't partied like that in ages and it was soooo needed. We played like kids on the carousel and these are just the photos of my husband and I. I'm not sure if I should post the others, to protect the not-so innocent. None of these photos are great quality. They are all a little blurry, which speaks to my state of mind when shooting them.

Downtown Grand Rapids

Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

Independence Day

There was a beautiful, burning orange sunset on the 4th of July this year. What a beautiful day!


*note: The color in the photos were not exaggerated during the editing process. I did some blurring around the edges and added some graininess (is that a word?) to the last photo, but the sky really was that Orange! It was beautiful!

Little Bohemian.

I am a Finnish-American.

I'm also Norwegian-American and well... the American part has a bit of English, Irish, maybe some Scottish and I do believe just a pinch of Native-American. So yeah, I'm really just American. A melting pot, if you will. But my mother (above) is half Finn, half Norwegian. She has always been very proud of her heritage and has instilled the same in her children.

I recently spent some time at my mother's home in Minnesota and thought it would be interesting to document the various Finland inspired items around her home. My step-father is also a Finnish-American and they are Finnish Folk Dancers. So basically, what I'm saying is, we're more Finnish than you!

(Finn's are known for the sauna. I'm pretty sure they invented it. Next time you're in one, check out the temperature gauge to see where it was made... most likely in Finland. P.S. I was made in Washington State, U.S.A. Not Finland.)

The only person I "know" who is more Finnish than we are is my favorite blogger, Extranjera. You may have heard of her. She simply wonders What Will I Ever Do With My Life and Blogger finally saw the light and made her a recent Blog of Note. Please read every word she writes. She is riotously funny and well... she's Finnish.

(Marimekko is only one of the coolest design houses in the world AND they are from Finland! Booyah! The text underneath my Marimekko coffee mug is Finn-glish. A decidedly perfect blend of Finnish & English. I just decided it was perfect.)

(I love how not only is there a Finnish Flag in two corners of this mirror, but also on top of the kitchen hutch across the room in the reflection. I didn't plan that, but it's perfect!)

(I believe the people in the portrait above are my step-father's Finnish grandparents.)

(When my mother inquired what in the world I was taking photos of, she directed me to this and the last photo, saying that they are quintessential Finnish crafts. She would know better than I and I do think they are pretty cool. Especially this one. I have a Christmas ornament just like it, but much smaller.)

(It was 9:06 A.M. when I went on my photo taking spree.)