cookies galore!!!

When I was growing up, the Krull/Cordes/VanDeest girls (basically the ladies on my mom's side of the family) would all get together and make cookies. I remember baking in my grandma's huge kitchen and seeing sprinkles and frosting go everywhere. My favorite moments were cracking the eggs, decorating the cookies and then eating as many cookies as my mom would let me...DUH!!!! Anyhow, now that I live a ways away and am not surrounded by nearest and dearest people, I decided to start this tradition with my girlfriends and added a little twist....the twist being we drink copious amounts of wine while we bake, decorate and get caught up!! :) The tradition actually began last year while we were living in Chicago, however I brought it West with me and continued it in Denver this year.

So last Wednesday a houseful of my best girlfriends in Denver came over and we baked, decorated, chatted, drank and kicked off the holiday season with some laughter and cheer!!!

The idea was everyone bring cookie dough and the cookie fixins (frosting, sprinkles, red hots, candy canes, etc) and we baked the cookies in my kitchen and then decorated/frosted together. As I was preparing for the party, I went to my recipe book, given to me by my momma in hopes I would some day honor the art of cooking/baking (it worked...finally!!), and I found my two go-to recipes that remind me of Christmas...Chocolate Drop cookies which are like chocolate cake but in a cookie (YUMM-O!!) and peanut butter star cookies (now known as peanut butter chocolate kiss cookies b/c you can no longer find the chocolate candy stars). At one point, I called my mom (okay lets be honest, at a few points, I called her) and requested her secrets...and she responded with, "well great grandma always used margarine instead of butter because it leavse the cookies softer!" I instantly teared up thinking of my little old Grandma Krull mixing these cookies, rolling them into balls and baking them in her kitchen 30-40 years ago. It was one little moment among many that made my heart happy. And little did I know that evening would bring moments just like that....I heard many 'o times, "ginger bread cookies remind me of Christmas" or "cornflake christmas wreaths make me think of my grandma's on Christmas!" I think for a group of girls who are primarily from the Midwest, the cookie exchange 2012 was a success and a way to bring a little piece of home to Denver!!!

a little dark, but you get the idea!!!

we got wine, cookies, frosting, girlsfriends....boom!!!

pretty ladies!

lots of smiles and wine....where are the cookies???

jen said, give me your biggest smile....i think we all listened!!! ;)

group shot....i love this!!!

one more looking down!!

and then the evening turned late and all of a sudden the disney songs were blaring....and. I. MEAN. BLARING!!! 

Such a fun evening with some of my favorite girls. We missed the ones who could not make it and I obviously missed the ladies that instilled the baking genes in me, but for now the Denver girls did the trick. And on top of that everyone left with a box full of goodies and happy hearts!!!
#lovetheholidays!!

Thankful!!!

We spent this past weekend celebrating Thanksgiving with AK's family, and I must say we are thankful for them and for my family. We are thankful for our parents/families for obvious reasons (raising us, supporting us, feeding us...you know basic things), but even more so that our parents have created an environment we want to come back to. Not everyone is close to their families and I'm glad that we are. This was my first holiday away from my own family, except for when I was required to work, and it was a bit rough for me, but they Kays took me in and made me one of the group. That's a great feeling. We had a very relaxing weekend that involved eating way too much homemade food, watching lots of football and taking just the right amount of naps. I'm pretty sure I hardly took off my sweatpants.....so hats off to the Kays, because that is how you should spend Thanksgiving. On the flip side, I heard my peeps in Iowa had some fun of their own.....and that they had a great Thanksgiving as well....hard to believe, without me, but the holiday had to go on I guess!! ;)). Despite the naps, food, and football, AK and I were a bit productive regarding the wedding plans and I have included a snip it that will be featured on our wedding website which we will launch soon, but for now enjoy this little masterpiece!!! I took very few pics of the weekend, so this will have to do....

Oops, we did it again!

No, I'm not a serious Britney Spears fan, but crazily enough we have "done it again!" Done what, you ask? Well we have successfully moved across country, unpacked all our belongings and made our home look/feel like a cozy place to live. I think we could seriously start our own moving company after experiencing two cross country moves in one year, but we are so glad to know Denver is a spot we will be for a while.....and is a city we will always call "home" no matter what!!

One thing we learned when moving the first time was that you need a little help to manage a big move, so I give lots of credit to the fabulous moving company who drove our things out here and stored them until we were ready for them to be delivered. I also give lots of credit to AK for being a master planner and super duper organized, meaning the move was so strategically thought out and planned that all I had to do was refer to the moving spread sheet if I got confused or off track!! :) #loveyoubabe! And then last but certainly not least we have to give a huge thank you and shout out to our interior designers/decorators who flew all the way from the farm fields of Iowa to give our place some much needed TLC. Mom and Jacki (a.k.a Fancy), your contributions to our humble abode are so appreciated!! We are so lucky to have awesome people like you in our lives to help support us when we need it most.

Now more about the weekend with the decorators......

Mom and Fancy arrived Friday afternoon and we hit the ground running! In the beginning we were going for a low key weekend that would require very little maintenance and lots of DIY home projects. I would say after surviving the weekend, we met somewhere in the middle!! :).

Friday: After landing in DEN on time, I quickly shuttled the decorators/designers to our place and we started with inspiration....ideas, pottery barn pictures,  past experiences, etc. Once we had a vision, we realized we had some shopping to do, so we wasted no time....per usual. Friday evening we hit up Cherry Creek and all cashed in at Lululemon and browsed the amazing home stores Cherry Creek has to offer. Way out of my price range, but inspiration, nonetheless!! Friday night we met our friends Steph/Nick for some wine at Vinue (more about that in sec) and we were lucky enough to have them join us for dinner at the Cherry Creek Grille....yummo!! But back to Vinue....this may be my new little spot. It's such a cute place that offers tons of different wines and champagnes. The concept is you prepay and put money on a card and then walk around the wine bar and decide which wine/champagne you want and how much. Once you decide you insert your wine card into the slot and then make your selection....basically you control if you want to taste a wine, have half a glass or go for the full pour. I'm summarizing it as a Vegas style wine bar.....you pay the slot and get what you want!! Perfection!!! The night did end in great fashion and Steph and Nick were an absolute treat to dine with as they were both so funny. Even though Nick had to make a mad dash for a cell phone recovery (eh hem, Fancy), I would say they enjoyed themselves as well and Steph, Nick and myself learned a thing or two about Butt Quarters (if you don't know, don't ask)!! Craziness, but either way, I'm pretty sure they secured themselves a place at the Jasper Farm for the weekend of the wedding!!! :)

Saturday: We all started off a bit slow on Saturday. The decorators had a little jet lag and I was just plain old tired. But we still accomplished a lot. After a walk and a delicious bagel we ready to take on the home goods isle of Target, Home Depot, Crate and Barrel, etc. We made major tracks and found so many wonderful treasures that added a great deal to our little place (see pics below). As if shopping for the home wasn't enough, we also were gearing up to host a little cocktail party/dinner. Bridget, Jen and Meg were all able to join us along with Jules and Suze....all the usual suspects!! We drank wine, ate great food and chatted until the wee hours of the morning!! Fun times!!

Sunday: I personally felt like I blinked and Sunday was over. It went so fast....we began the day at Snooze and had a wonderful brunch. I mean we waited for an hour to get in, and it did not disappoint! If you're ever in Denver, it's a "must eat" for sure!! After that we trekked around picking up our final pieces and finishing touches to make the house "perfect!" (curtains, curtain rods, pillows, etc.) Basically we picked up all the "little" things that add up to a lot!! As momma said once: "no DIY home project is ever fast or cheap!!" She is a wise one I tell ya!!! But suffice it to say, after multiple trips (what felt like 100) to Target and a few mishaps with the curtain rod, our little place is put together and couldn't look better. AK hung the final pieces, so we are now able to call this project a wrap....well until a few weeks when we will rearrange for Christmas deccos!!!!! :)))

Thanks again to the decorators...mom and fancy!! I had so much fun with you and our place looks, feels and smells like home.....always my goal and exactly the kind of house I grew up in!!!!

Yes we did it again, but this time, we're here to stay....(for a while at least!!) :)
please take a quick peek of the very unprofessional pictures of our place below. For a birds eye view, come and visit. We have plenty of room for guests!!!!

our bedroom....a little tight or cozy we like to say, but a great little space nonetheless!

our little sitting area when you walk in the front door!!!

kitchen/breakfast nook

dining room/living room. the bottom left of the pic shows a little peek of our burlap curtains which cover a wall of windows. LOVE!!

decorating/interior design is not easy....needless to say the jeep was full!!!

Denver Time!!!

I'm hoping this will be short and sweet as my past few posts have been a little lengthy!! But there is some really good news and updates to share.....

So as you know, Andy and I are in a bit of transition so I'm currently in Iowa for a few weeks before we go to Denver for good and he is finishing up his gig in Chicago. This past weekend however we met in Denver to find a place to live for at least the next year, which will also be the first place we live in as a married couple. Sentimental, I know, but I just can't help myself. Anyhow, I was terrified of finding a place. A few of our friends recently relocated to different places within the city and said it was a bit of a challenge. Meaning, there wasn't a lot available and if something decent popped up, it usually rents within 24 hours. In fact, it was so difficult that a few of our friends ended up buying a place because they were frustrated with the rental market. Plus while I lived in Denver, I was lucky enough to live in a super cool spot and never had to move, nor did I want to. And we lucked out in Chicago and fell into something great, so I was beginning to think our luck was almost out when it came to finding good rentals. I looked all night on Thursday, all day on Friday and nearly had a breakdown after seeing some of the grossest places Denver had to offer. AK arrived late Friday night and was sick and tired of me saying: "we're going to be homeless because I will not sleep in one place I looked at!" Lucky him, huh?? ;). So out of desperation early Saturday morning AK did one last expanded search on Craigslist (meaning he upped our range in what we would pay in rent) and we came across this great looking house in a pretty cool neighborhood. Not a neighborhood either of us had lived in before (a little nerve racking for me) but still a cute little street and fairly close to all things important...work, friends, grocery stores, etc. Luckily we drove by and let ourselves in as the current tenant was moving out and fell in L-O-V-E with the place. The owners of the house met us at a nearby Starbucks shortly after that and we fell in love with them too.....very nice young couple, wife is a nurse (at Children's, where I worked in the past and will start back in a few weeks) and he seemed like a kind man who wanted responsible people to live in their home and love it as much as they did. Sounded good to me....I've never hated a place with a remodeled kitchen, a nice bathroom, a big living room and a big yard+patio!!!! :)) So we totally scored on a great place and they even dropped the rent by a $100/month because AK said he was handy (Handy Andy, duh!!) and would maintain basic things, the biggest being the yard in the summer!!!! Booya!!!!

Our next thrill of the weekend was getting to see some of our friends who we have missed oh so much over the past year. When I started at Children's long ago, I was lucky enough to start with some pretty cool people and three of them have become some of my best friends to date. Such good friends actually, that this weekend I was honored enough to be able to ask them to be bridesmaids in our wedding in June!!!! Such a fun moment even though I had just spilled a half bottle of champagne all over myself and all over Bridget's new floor (she and Chris just bought a house).....those champagne bottles are tricky little things things, just sayin!! Sorry B & C, but thanks for hosting a fabulous wine/champagne+cheese party!!! After the little cocktail party we all went to Sushi Den to celebrate lots of things (Bridget/Chris's engagment, Meg/Micah returning home safely from NZ, Jen almost turning 30, Bridget/Chris just buying a house, and our engagment!!). Leaving on Sunday made me really realize how special these cool cats are and how lucky AK and I are to have them in our life. Such fun things going on and I'm so glad we are all around to share in the celebrations. First up, Jen's 30th birthday bash on October 19....great way to get back in the Denver groove!!!!!! Can't wait!!! :))

Another little perk of the trip was being able to house/car swap with Matt+Kaiti Bush. These great people let us stay in their cute little home while they went to Napa to celebrate their 1st wedding anniversary!!! We car swapped at the airport as we came and left at similar times so it really worked out well. In exchange for a free house we dog sat their yellow lab, Izzo and that was so much fun. AK and I have grown up with labs all our life, so we knew what we were in for and it made us that much more eager to buy a dog of our own. Izzo is still a puppy but has a great personality, loved to be petted and played with and was amazingly happy drinking insane amounts of water and chewing on numerous bones!!! We loved him!!! Thanks Matt and Kaiti and happy anniversary!! We had so much fun celebrating with you 1 year ago today and we wish you so much happiness!!! 

And that's all folks.....we were so busy trying to find a place to live and catching up with friends, that I did not take one picture, NOT ONE!!! So this is just a worded post and I will try and not let it happen again!!! :))

As always, cheers!!!

Facelift!!!

For my regular blog followers you will notice we did a little facelift to our blog. We changed the theme, the colors, the pictures and made it a bit more polished and professional. I know a great gal that is in the photography bizz (you can find her here) and she was a doll in helping me come up with a cool new look. And this came just in time for so many facelifts going on in our life right now. Obviously you all know we are engaged on the path to marriage (so fun!), but I'm not sure if many of you know we are also in route to moving back to Denver, CO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm sure this comes as quite a surprise to some, but to those of you who have walked every step with us, I'm sure it's quite obvious. This past year in Chicago has been a tough one for sure. If you ask me, I knew on minute 1 of driving into the city we would be going in reverse in 1 year, but if you ask AK he liked it for a while, and then it got old. I think the combination of two terrible jobs for me and all the big city inconveniences (hour long commutes to go 12 miles, over priced everything, drinking and eating being the favorite past time, rude people, constant hustle bustle, etc) put us over the edge. I think we are fairly outdoorsy/Colorado people at heart and one year ago we made a promise to trade cars for trains and mountains for lakes, but we also made a promise that if we were not happy we would go straight back to where we came from. Turns out neither of us worked in convenient locations to ride the train and we don't own a boat, so the lake was only so much fun after a while!!! ;) But in all seriousness, we lived a good year where there were many ups and downs (personally and professionally) and we did it together and came out on top. We now know where we want to live, we learned we can survive hard things and prefer to survive them together, and we learned a valuable lesson in that some things work out and some things don't, but how would you ever know if you NEVER tried!! Some may say we failed or we didn't try that hard, but I give us credit....one year ago we had only been dating but a year and we packed up our lives, moved in together in a brand new city, and tried to conquer what is Chicago. After a full year of living together we still like each other, we managed to get engaged despite all the stress of Chicago and we managed to see and do a lot of the positive things Chicago has to offer. So with a transfer to the Denver office made possible by Andy's company and with the luxury of me having a flexible career....we are headed back West and could not be more thrilled. We have some great friends in Denver who we missed very much this past year and it is time to reunite.....

So I start my new gig on October 23 and since our lease was up Oct 1, I am spending some much needed time at home with my fam and am trying to crank out some serious wedding plans!!! AK is finishing up his gig in Chicago and also bunking up with his parents and hoping to be out in Denver no later than the end of November!!!! This weekend we are meeting in Denver to find our first Denver place together and to get reacquainted with the city!! And if you have caught on....we are not at all embarrassed about each being 28 and 29 years old, engaged and living with our parents.....isn't that how most you have done it!?!? HA!! Thanks goodness for them though....who else would take us in during transition for free!?!? #Lovethemsomuch!!!

So without saying much more, our Facelift has been a bit intense and we have chosen a lot of change, but we definitely don't take the easy road and I'm beginning to believe we thrive on change!! :) Good thing, because the next 12 months will offer a lot of that!! :)

Cheers to us, cheers to Denver being great, cheers to Chicago being a great place to visit, cheers to the great fall weather, and cheers to a much needed Facelift!!!!!!!!!


**Enjoy some pics below of our last days in Chicago and the first few days in Iowa**

one of our last El rides....waiting at the "chicago stop"

last cupcake at work!!

last morning on school street....and saying good bye to our first home together!

our lovely landlords....alan and susan. delightful people!

good bye skyline!

my niece emma rocking the fun run!!!! go em!!!!

colors!!

a little fall walk!

Go Cader....#33. his name is announced all the time.....he's such a stud!!

Dreams....Do Come True!!!

I don't know if I'm turning into an old sap or if all this engagement/wedding stuff has me all lovey dovey and full of warmth, but I'm finally getting married and so far feel like it's a dream come true. And I'm not really sure I had an idea in mind of what it would be like to be in the planning/shopping stages of a wedding, but I think I dreamed of that "feeling" and it feels really good. A feeling I've never had before (obviously) and the anticipation and excitement of wedding day is already building up.....even though the big day is not until June 2013!!!!! The anticipation of what it will look like, how will the weather be, what will AK's expression be when he sees me, will I be a blubbering mess or will I hold it together, how will it feel to say "I DO" and the list goes on and on and on!!!

So with all this anticipation and so many things going on in our lives we have really wasted no time in planning or SHOPPING....believe it or not!! :) And this past weekend, one of my dreams came true....

Thursday night my momma and Jacki (a.k.a Fancy/Aunt Jacki) drove the big rig (my mom's big pick up) to Chicago for a weekend of wedding dress shopping, concert going, food eating fun!!! We kicked off the weekend late Thursday night with champagne, snacks and ideas....imagine three girls who love to plan a party that have access to Pintrest....poor AK, it was as if he wasn't even in the house. In fact he was so quiet watching TV (sports, I'm sure) that I forgot he was still awake until he came back to our room at midnight and said "that's it girls, move it to the spare room, I'm tired!" Ha, so we kindly obliged. We picked up our laptops and magazines and headed to the empty bed where we continued "the wedding meeting!" Super fun and I'm not sure what a girl would do without Pintrest these days or a wonderful Mom and a super duper Fancy!?? We closed our peepers at about 1:30a and decided to get as much beauty rest as possible, because Friday would begin the journey of wedding dress shopping.....in downtown CHICAGO!!!! :)))

Friday morning came way quicker than it should have, but we were up and off. We were headed to our first appointment at 11a and the day never stopped. The first place we went was fabulous....from our assistant to the space to the dresses.....it was fabulous. I easily could have bought the first dress I tried on, but boy I'm glad I waited!! Next stop was a different atmosphere but just as wonderful and found a definite winner there, but I still couldn't pull the trigger. I mean we still had 2 places to go and 4 more appointments total for the weekend, so how could I say yes so early?? After the second place we were in dire need of some food and a beverage (champagne and diet pepsi, duh!!) so we grabbed some lunch, hashed over the first few spots and were off to the next place. Our third place was a bust for me regarding wedding dresses, but the two positives were: 1. they served champagne (Fancy and I were tipsy by the end) and 2. My mom found a great dress option for herself...didn't buy it, but "we always know it's there!" (famous last words). Anyhow the fourth and final place was amazing, but I'm gonna just throw it out there....EXPENSIVE!! But think of bridal boutique, fancy gowns everywhere you looked, big mirrors and windows, and adorable assistants. This place had me hooked....I loved a dress there so much, I was willing to join a detasseling crew next summer just to pay it off....that's how gorgeous it was. Luckily for me, I was shopping with the voice of reason or reasons, and let the dress go. It was gorgeous, but little did I know Saturday morning.....we would beat it. Friday ended with a flying trip to Nordstrom (I mean why not?) and the longest cab ride ever to get home (Fancy and mom aren't much for the El, so cabs it was!). The night was supposed to end with a nice dinner in Bucktown, however the shopping took it out of us, so we ordered the Art of Pizza (fabulous deep dish), popped our own bottle of vino and ate and talked "wedding" a bit more. Again....poor AK. Before we knew it, it was lights out and we were preparing for round 2 on Saturday!!!!

Saturday was super fun....start to finish!!! We had one appointment scheduled for Saturday at 11a at a place I was really excited to experience!! We walked in and I'm not kidding I almost knew it was going to be special. Again the atmosphere was so fun, the designer of the boutique was in the store, our assistant was lovely, the gowns were gorgeous (and affordable! :)))....I could feel it!! I told her what we were looking for, explained the over priced experience from the night before and we were off. We snagged a few gowns as options and sure enough the first one I tried WAS THE DRESS!!!!!! I knew the second she zipped it up. I almost ran out of my dressing room just so my mom and Jacki could see my initial reaction. This is where my mom started to cry....I got teary with the first dress I tried on on Friday, but my mom hadn't shed a tear....NOT ONE until this dress!!! It's perfect, and I can't wait for AK to see it!! It's going to be so hard, because he is the one person who always knows everything and this is a pretty big secret to keep!!! And you see, so many times as a little girl I would dream of wedding dress shopping in downtown Chicago and not only did I get to shop, I got to buy......dreams do come true!!! ;) Corny I know, but so fun and so fun to say Yes to the Dress!!! So after that we were on a "dress high" and headed no where else to calm ourselves other than, you guessed it, J. Crew!!! Ha, my mom can't stay away and let's be honest, neither could we!! So after dropping some cashola and a little jolt of Starbucks it was about time to call it a day....of shopping that is. Because Saturday night, we had tickets to Bruce Springsteen (a.k.a The Boss) at Wrigley Field and my mom for one was not about to let that pass her by!!! :)) AK made us dinner (grilled fillets and sauteed potatoes and asparagus...yummo) and we were off to the concert. It was a blast....I'm not sure what we (AK & I) enjoyed more, The Boss putting on a good show or watching 40-50-60 somethings rockin out!!! Too funny, but all in all wonderful!!!

Sunday came and went quick, but not without a brunch stop at Southport Grocery (also YUMMO) and a shopping stop at Lululemon. I never need a reason to go in there, but my mom and Jacki are only by a Lulu every so often, so it was a must do!!:) We all left with a few new duds (lucky us) and we were on our way. The weekend came to a quick close unfortunately. But hopefully they both left knowing how grateful I was for them coming and taking time to shop with me. It was definitely an experience I will never EVER forget!!!!! Check out a few photos below....not many, because of the pics were of me in dresses and those will remain confidential until wedding day!!!!!!!! June 15, 2013!!!!!

out and about....dress shopping!!!

the friendly confines....hosted The Boss!! so fun!

pretty cool set up at Wrigley!!

pre concert pic!!!

the crowd on the ground dancing in the rain....pretty fun to watch, but luckily we were under the railing!!

Days of Awesomeness.....

I'm just going to warn you right now that this is going to be a marathon post, so if you don't have ample time to read start to finish, I suggest you come back when you do. This past week, was one of the best weeks of my adult life so prepare yourselves.....it's going to be long and detailed as I would hate to skip a beat. So without further ado, here goes nothin.....

This past week AK and I experienced what you call a true road trip. We packed up the Jeep and headed north to explore a part of the country I had never seen or been to....a little place people call "Northern Michigan!!" Now I had heard nothing but wonderful things about Northern Michigan, but again I had mostly heard these wonderful things from Michigan folks, so I chalked it up to nothing more than obsessive state pride once again! ;). Now that I've been, I can honestly say it's a pretty great place and one I will never forget. Will I ever call it the Caribbean, probably not, but we can settle for the Caribbean of the Midwest. Either way, it's gorgeous and I had no idea places like that existed so close to home!! We divided our trip into three legs: Traverse City, MI (Sat-Wed morning), Mackinac Island. MI (Wed afternoon-Friday morning), "The Cottage" (Friday afternoon-Sunday)....so I will try and summarize each leg, but as I mentioned, this won't be brief so brace yourselves!!!

Traverse City, MI

Traverse City is a pretty special place for many reasons, but the main one being it is the place that AK graduated high school and transformed into the every day stud muffin he is today! ;) He claims Traverse is the place that cracked his shell and made him a "cool kid", but you know I never confirmed that with any of his friends, so we'll just let him talk and go with it. Anyhow, AK is lucky enough to still have friends there, so we were welcomed with open arms. We stayed with his good friend Alicia and her husband Kyle and they are some of the kindest most generous people I have come across. They were both in the middle of their busiest season of the year and they did nothing but make us feel right at home...it. was. lovely!! And how can I forget their dog Murphy....a beautiful Golden with a fantastic personality who I swore talked back to me when I would talk to him!! :)) While in Traverse we hit up lots of delicious eateries (a few AK must eats and a few reccos from Alicia....all were finger lickin good!), we spent lots of time at the lake, and I finally got to take a walk down memory lane with my man and see where he went to high school, and where he played football, and where he lived and where he had bon fires....you get the picture. It was so fun to see him in his element and hear some pretty great high school stories of his!!
The first full day in Traverse the weather was just a bit cool so we took it upon ourselves to hit up the wineries....I mean, when in Rome, right? We did our own little winery tour and had just the best time bopping around and taking in some pretty spectacular sights. The next day we hit up the beach and made a day of it watching sail boats, playing Frisbee in the water, and catching some much needed rays!! We ended day 2 with AK's good buddy Robby and his girlfriend who made us a wonderful dinner and were so fun to hang with!! My favorite Traverse day was going to the Sleeping Bear Dunes, hitting up this inland lake called North Bar/Lake Michigan and paddle boarding with AK, and then rounding off the evening with a BBQ with Alicia and Kyle. It was one of those perfect summer days that ended under the stars with good wine and even better company....delightful. The entire Traverse experience was just so fabulous that even I was a little annoyed that AK's family had to relocate 8+ years ago!!! :))) Needless to say, I was sad to leave but was excited to experience Mackinac.....

love the view

2 lad winery.....so beautiful!!

grapes....yum!

sleeping bear dunes!!! pretty cool

lovey!

grapes make wine.....yes!!!

love the chairs and the view of the vineyard....please notice AK posing!!

Lake Michigan or the Caribbean.....you be the judge!!

wishing that was his boat!!! ;)

shadows!

North Bar.....a.k.a Heave on Earth

Lake Michigan!!

shoreline

paddle boarding!

lookin good!!

tree pose!

super cute!!

Mackinac Island

How do I even begin talking about Mackinac Island, which as of today is one of my favorite places on Earth. We arrived on the Island with Island time in mind and rest and relaxation on the agenda.....or so I thought! ;). Anyhow we arrived on the island early afternoon on Wednesday and were instantly in love with the quaint little place that is Mackinac. We immediately dropped off our bags and hit our 2 wheelers as cars and motorized vehicles are not allowed on the island and the preferred modes of transportation are bikes, feet and horses! :). So we took to the bikes and toured the island, but not without stopping more than a few times to take numerous pictures, test out the new camera tripod, and capture all the beautiful sites the island had to offer. After pedaling all 8 miles of the entire island we headed back to our B&B to freshen up. Then we painted the town red, hitting up the Seabiscuit Cafe for a fun little dinner and then headed to the Pink Poney for a nightcap but not without a little fudge from Ryba's Fudge Shop. Day/Night 1 was a success.
Now I'm not sure how I can summarize day 2, but I will do my best. Right after we woke up, AK had ants in his pants (now I know why) so we were up and at 'em!! We were off to brunch and then went for a little run through the middle part of the island that is easier to navigate by foot. After the run we decided to put on warmer clothes (little chilly on the island that day) and headed out for more exploring....or so I thought again! After not showering and putting on dirty jeans, a dirty sweatshirt and a ball cap....I was ready, much to AK's dismay! ;) If I had only known! Anyhow, we decided to pedal the island in the opposite direction than we did the day before. We had not really been riding that long when AK requested to stop on the rocky peninsula that overlooks the Mackinac Bridge. I thought it was a little soon to take a break, but I went with it. The minute we got off our bikes, AK was immediately snapping pictures, and I was a little annoyed he wouldn't just put the camera down and enjoy the beautiful sites. So the camera snapping continued and in just a few short minutes I knew why!! Once we were perfectly situated, AK busted out the camera tripod once again (nerd alert) and started setting the timer on the camera and was jumping in and out of pictures and then convinced me to pose for a "look away" picture....you know those pics that are taken from the back as people are looking out to beautiful scenery? Yeah that was me and I fell for it. But instead of taking my picture he pressed the record button on his fancy camera and jumped in the screen. At that moment, he said "Spieks" and I turned around to find him on one knee saying lots of lovey things (I wish I could remember) with a beautiful diamond ring in his hand!!!!! So he asked and I. SAID. YES!!! After that the day is a blur but I do remember housing a burger at the Chuckwagon and calling and talking to everyone who would listen to us. After making it Facebook official and chatting with all of our nearest and dearest, I decided to shower and practice some personal hygiene (FINALLY....had I only known!) and we donned some of our finest duds and went to the Grand Hotel for cocktails before having dinner at the Carriage House. Both were lovely and delicious and I was just so happy to celebrate that moment and reminisce how tough I made it for AK at times and how he skated around the city diamond shopping and proposal planning without me knowing!!! Needless to say, I'm a lucky lady and could not be more thrilled!!!!

mackinac bridge

AK loves sailboats!

pedaling around on day 1

just crusin!

gorgeous views!

jump....

bikes parked....beginning of proposal!!!!!!!!

walking down to peninsula.....

standing, posing and clueless!!!

hii.....why are you taking so many pics???

quick shot before....still clueless!

silly girl about 1 minute before the proposal

and immediately afterward

engaged and jumping for joy!!!!!!!!!

"AK"

calling all family and friends.....so fun!!!!!

a view of the carriage house where we had dinner after the proposal!!

the island!

silliness!

arch rock!

again!

atop of the island...looking down!!

celebrating our engagement at the Grand Hotel

the fancy bar atop the hotel with a 360 view of the island.....super cool!!!

we loved the flowers and AK made me pose! ;)

the Grand Hotel is quite grand!!!

call me.....maybe??? ;))

 

proposal video!!!!!!!!!! 

The Cottage

Thursday night ended pretty late so we tried our hardest to get up and get going, but it was nearly impossible. The combination of celebration, lots of champagne, and too much food made for a bit of a late rise. However, after grabbing a quick brunch we boarded our fairy and headed back to the mainland to begin our trek to Andy's parent's cottage. When we arrived at the cottage we were greeted with open arms, lots of decorations and more than enough champagne and goodies to go around. In the beginning, Andy's parents were the only ones there, but as time went on, more and more people trickled in and it really was lovely to celebrate with AK's family. Everyone was so excited for us and enjoyed listening to our story and looking at our pictures and the engagement video!! Even though the weather was a bit cool, we didn't let that ruin the fun. And by Sunday the sun came out and we enjoyed a little lake time before it was time to return to Chicago!!

family celebration!!!

big catch!!!

cottage!

kayaking!

selfie.....we got good at those!!!

pretty view of the lake!!!

 
So as you can see this past week brought quite a bit of excitement and definitely was a life changing experience. After traveling over 1200 miles in 9 days, becoming engaged and seeing the beauty Michigan has to offer we were exhausted. These last few days we have been in the beginning stages of wedding planning and trying to enjoy being newly engaged. And this weekend we are taking the AK/AS show back on the road to Eldora to celebrate with all my family and friends, so the fun continues!!! Cheers everyone!