Conneaut Lake and North Park

First- Music talk- loving this song above... like obsessing...

okay.

I ventured to Conneaut Lake Friday night after I got off of work.  I stopped home for a quick bite to eat and pick up Chance (Bri stayed at home to help his parents Saturday morning).  We got on the road at about 7pm and was at the lake by 8:30pm.  My mom and I stayed up, had some wine and played Telepathy! We had a blast!

Chance got all sorts of love and cuddles from his grandparents! 

Saturday morning we got up, took a walk and ate breakfast! 

My grandfather built this cottage.  That big front window use to slide up so we could store the pontoon boat during the winter in the living room, now it's sealed and we no longer do that, but it was a great idea to do that!

The cottage has 5 bedrooms and as children we would go up there often- my Aunts, Uncles and Cousins would be there also- it was always a full house!

It was so beautiful out and my mother and I needed to get some fit bit steps in so we took a nice, long walk around the neighborhood and looked at all the cute cottages! 

Midway is the beach we belong to.  They keep it so nice - it use to be a very popular place to go in the summers but as I grew up, it became less and less of a place people went... It's kinda sad that it's not a destination place anymore.  I have had some of my very favorite memories there and would never trade spending my summers there for anything!

We arrived back to the cottage, changed and headed down to enjoy some beach time!

We call this "The Shed" and it opens around noon daily- they have all sorts of snack foods, slushies and games to play- When you go inside, you see writing all over the walls- people sign it with permanent marker that they have visited - our names are EVERYWHERE IN THERE! I mean we had so many friends and we would all sign it each time we were together for each year! ---AHHHH the good ol' days!

 Saw this in the book I am reading and it really resonated with me: 

Haha- just for fun ;) 

My Dad made me a blood mary! Thanks Dad!

Chance and I left Saturday night around 7:30pm and it took us two and a half hours to get home when it should only be an hour and a half.  The construction is TERRIBLE! 

But - once you get on the road up there- it's truly dreamy views:

On Sunday, Brian and I went to North Park with our new bike rack and Brian's new bike to meet our good friends Nikki and Matt!  

I made a video of us riding- I think next time I will stick the go pro to my helmet, I apologize for the rocking and shaking - I wanted to try it on the handle bars first... 

Side Note: Look how crazy this is- I checked it out while I was at the lake and while I was biking, I had to think how grateful I am to myself for quitting.  I mean it- I give myself a big old pat on the back for that one! 

You CAN quit if you really want to! Trust me, you're bigger than that! 

We biked about 9 miles - it says 8.31 since we forgot to sync our fit bits when we started. We remembered about a half mile in! 

Bear destroyed his new toy! Stuffing Everywhere! 

Summer nights :) 

My Sister graduated from Cal U! I am so proud of her!

I made her a big poster to show at the party

It's pretty busy around here lately- Summer is finally feeling like it's here and there are always loads of projects! I painted my dresser I have been wanting to paint for over a year today! I will show a before and after once I get all the hardware back on it.  

I hope things are going good for you, anything fun planned this summer? Leave me a comment! 

Do what makes you happy...

Starting out the post with a song I've been rocking out to- yes, it's a cover and I think they did amazing!

     It's nice to have time off of work to blog and take photos.  It's amazing how much a job, working for someone else, takes up so MUCH time! Since I had a few days off, my Mom and I made plans to spend a day together! I love her so much, she is always willing to do and try new things and have some fun!  I took her kayaking for the first time two years ago and we haven't been able to go since but she absolutely loved it!  She was mad that I made her do it at first but once we rented the boat and got out on the lake, she wanted to do it again!  We finally got around to going again and we had Lunch at Over the Bar and then rented our kayak.  We saw so many Blue Heron's and had a lovely time- an hour rental is truly not enough!  We then walked around North Park (I've been spending more time there now than I did when I lived in walking distance of it) and explored the Go Ape course they have set up there.   I think my Mom wants to try it but is a little nervous about the heights.  Maybe, just maybe, I can get her to try it sometime!  

So - here is our day in photos: 

Chance being angry that I was leaving him on my day off... if I could have taken him kayaking I would have!  

Eating at Over the Bar

Needed Fuel. 

It's so beautiful to eat by the lake and it wasn't crowded yet!

Best BLT EVER with eggs and avocado! 

The weather was PERFECT!

I mean, come on! 

She's so happy! <3

One of the Blue Herons- I only brought my point-n-shoot and we got pretty close but this was one of those times I had wished I packed my better camera. 

My Mom exploring the Go Ape course- the photo above shows all the tree obstacles - if you look closely, you will be able to see them!

 I really lucked out with an amazing family.  My mom is so much fun! I didn't want my time off of work to end, I've been so productive...but...back to reality 

See you all in the next post! 

Zodiac Prints

So. It's 1:30 am and I have no idea when it got this late.   I suffer from OCD and it time gets away from me a lot.  I was finishing up my Galaxy Prints tonight ... 

You know how they say, "you waste __(amount)__ of time sitting at red lights your whole life"  or "you waste __(amount)___ of time watching tv your whole life"....well - I am sure I surpass all of that with my OCD.  I get so lost in it sometimes and the worst part is that I know I do... I wish I was blind to it but I'm not. So - if you suffer like I do, just know that you are not alone.  

Before I call it a night, I wanted to post my finished galaxy prints that I am so proud of and will have up for sale in my Etsy store which I am currently setting up! :) Coming VERY soon, I hope! 

You can refer to THIS post for a behind the scenes video when I first started this project. 

So without further ado - here are all 12 Galaxy/Zodiac Prints(I will make a post when they officially go up for sale on my Etsy page):  

           

Biking 5.5 miles at North Park and so long May!

Well, I can't believe May is basically over.  I really love May and not just because it's my Birthday but because it's always so beautiful in Pittsburgh.  The weather is always perfect and it's not too hot or not too cold - all the leaves and flowers are out and it just makes me so happy to see this!

I want to start by saying that I started a new book called In Order To Live by Yeonmi Park.  I am not finished yet but I can't seem to put it down.  She went through so much and it truly tells you the struggles in North Korea and what goes on in the country we know so little about.  She is an incredible human being for going what she went through and still being such a positive voice.  I am sure I will finish it in the next day or two but I highly recommend this one! 

                       

On Sunday we went to a car show that our friend entered his car into and we had a blast.  They had a wine tasting and beer tasting tent set up where you paid 15$ to taste it all!  You cold get into trouble fast if you weren't careful.  I did get to try something new - a coffee flavored wine!  I bought two bottles it was so so so good!  

Matt ended up winning 1st place in his class and got a trophy.  We were so happy for him!   We then asked that he and his wife Nikki come join us for dinner and a game night- we played all sorts of games and stayed up while we drank wine, listened to music and I even read Matt's Tarot Cards!  

I have a couple of days off of work and have been keeping busy with yard work and little projects around the house.  Brian went back to work today and I have off until Thursday so instead of tackling my 1,000 projects  - I decided to ENJOY the time I have off and not get caught up in the house.  My parents got me a bike two Christmases ago and with planning our wedding last year I wasn't able to find anytime to ride it.  I made up my mind to take it out to North Park today as I was getting sick of seeing it just sitting the garage even though I was going to have to go by myself.  I think a lot of the times I didn't take it was because I had no one to ride with...well today I said "screw it, I want to go and I'm going to!"

I tried to make it fit in my hatchback today.  It may have worked out better if I had a smaller bike but I really fell in love with the vintage ones that are HUGE.  I had to remove the bike seat and wiggle it into the back but I made it!  I made sure to lather my pale self with sunscreen and I was on my way!

 I was halfway to North Park (it's only about a 20 min drive from my house) and it started to get VERY grey outside.  It looked to just be a very small but VERY angry set of clouds but I continued my journey to the park.  It down poured and I was afraid that after all my work to get the bike in the car, I wasn't going to be able to ride it.  The rain only got worse and so did the thunder but just as I thought, it was just a quick summer storm and it moved through in no time.  That made me so happy.

It was hard for me to mentally tell myself to pack up my bike and get to the park without a proper bike rack and having not ridden a bike in... well, years. I struggled to get the bike out of the trunk but I succeeded and attached my seat.  I then started my fit bit on the bike setting and took off!  There was still a slight drizzle and I have to say that it felt so good since it was getting to be about 80 degrees and it was really humid.  

The lake at North Park is 5 miles so I mentally prepared myself to finish it.  I use to run it during high school when I was in Cross Country.  I loved running that lake but I'm 34 now and not in the best of shape, even for a bike ride. 

 Angry Clouds Pictured Below:

 I look so tried - lol- it's the no makeup look!

 Saw a deer:

 See him in the center? 

 North Park is SO BEAUTIFUL!

 Yep- this is after my ride- 5.5 miles!  I was so tired and dreaded putting my bike back in my trunk.  I took the seat off and started wiggling it into place and a guy that was running even yelled over to me, "BARLEY FITS!" At that moment, I decided to go to Dicks on my way home and buy a bike rack.  

 Bike Racks are not cheap and I had to get one that would fit my hatchback.  I also picked up a helmet.  Now I'm broke for this pay but hey- i got the Bike Rack and now I don't have to struggle getting it on my car...right? WRONG- this thing was a BITCH to put on and the instructions are totally so ...vague.   I am so glad I decided to visit my parents on the way home from Dicks so that I could ask my Mom to help out holding tools and extra straps for the bike rack.  My Dad came out and helped me get it on the rack itself - I love them so much for always helping me out!  I'm assuming now that I have it set up that it will be easier get on and off and that since I know how to get it on there and fit SNUGLY it will be much smoother next time... We will see. 

Tho- you know what? Pat on my back for getting shit done! :) 

 I was a little bummed I didn't think to take my go-pro and shoot a video of the lake- I got it out and I'm ready to mount it for next time though (maybe later this week)! Here is a short cell phone clip I shot just to show how peaceful the ride was! :) 

Lastly I just wanted to say I picked up these lovelies at Ulta this week!  I am in LOVE with this brand guys! Pacifica is 100% vegan and cruelty free and that makes it a winner in my book!  I don't paint my finger nails very often but I do paint my toe nails and I have to say - I love that the nail polish (on top of vegan and cruelty free) is 7 Free!  You can read about it on the site here.  No - I am not paid for this- I don't even know if I have readers of my blog...but I am all about good in this world and being vegan and cruelty free is so important to me when it comes to my makeup- I'm still trying to work on the diet thing...but that's another story.  P.s the perfume hair and body spray, Tahitian Gardenia, was my favorite but there was also another one I loved that smelled like vanilla!  

Okay, I'm exhausted! Goodnight all and I hope to have at least one or two more posts together while I am on my little vacation from work!

  I have a very exciting coffee date tomorrow with the woman that read my Tarot Cards at my Bachlorette Party and I can not wait to sit down and talk with her about the cards and magic and eeeepppp! So happy! 

Thanks for reading<3