oh, the beautiful the red rock canyon...

as much as i am a sconnie girl at heart and love the 4 seasons here in wisconsin, after a trip out west... i think i could be a desert girl too! mother nature has yet ceased to amaze me. same feeling of wholeness, different landscape... but nonetheless, still definitely my kind of wanderful! :) divide, conquer, exhale. repeat. i continue to look forward to the rest of my life!

"sometimes
you find yourself in the
middle of nowhere.
sometimes
it's in the middle of nowhere
you find yourself."

FALL... in love.

my kinda eye candy :) this kaleidescope of autumn colors against the bright blue sky was too beautiful not to share! after a scenic trip via the old loggin' roads in north country to visit a friend, i got to spend an afternoon digging culverts... who knew dora the explora was also bob the builder!? hah. yes, any excuse to spend outside is fine by me; heavy machinery is a plus!

a typical date with the bestie.

in the midst of our busy lives and relationships, my best friend and i try to get together at least once a week... whether it's to cook up our favorite foods to appease the day's cravings, run errands together, or just to do absolutely nothing but lounge around - it's always good for the soul and an even healthier outlet for our kindred spirits!

today, our day off was synced and since the boyfriend let me sleep in, i woke up refreshed and motivated. ambitious as i was, i decided to bring out the infamous picnic basket that's been hibernating since last fall and surprise her with a lunch date before our planned museum trip to check out the origami exhibit on this beautiful spring day!

mission; accomplished! we enjoyed it at my favorite spot that boasts one of the most incredible views in our quaint city... and it was definitely the perfect beginning to what would be a very good and productive day and evening! friends truly are the shelter from life's rainy days.

fishing the pipe..!

after a productive day, instead of hauling the boat out this evening we grabbed a late lunch and did some lowkey panfishing at the pipe. i love that he loves bank fires, too, once the sun begins to set. <3 life is good... it may not be perfect, but live the best version of yourself and it'll inspire others to do the same. i promise.

icefishing in central wisconsin.

these lakeside sunsets and amazing central wisconsin views are half the reason i brave the cold to icefish and spend time on the hard water. and living up to its reputation, it's been an insanely brutal winter with recent windchills reaching the depths of neptune here... so it's only natural that a heated shanty is sensibly the only other reason icefishing hasn't been too much of a drag! haha. well, that, and the fact that i enjoy taking the sled out exploring the river when fishing gets a little slow.

imagine... pants parties with M & N, eazy e in the tape deck, and jim beam to keep warm with :) oh, and i can't forget about the random games of scrabble to pass by the time too! nothing sums up this winter more accurately. <3

allineed in this life of sin, ismeand my girlfriends.

...on a soul-searching road trip from wisconsin out to south dakota with my 2 kindred spirits. how we got there and what stops we made were determined during the journey - and pee breaks, haha -  happy 29th golden birthday, lada! love you.

and thank you, sue, for being a trooper even though you were 6 months pregnant. it just wouldn't have been the same without you! that said, i'm so happy the trio went out with a bang to celebrate and mark the occasion... before the rest of our lives change with the arrival of baby boy and what ever the next chapters presents to us from here on out!

"as we grow older, we realize it's
not as important to have a ton of friends but
more important
to have real ones."

happy birthday, to me!

several years ago, i came to the realization that i would rather be my own best friend - than accept the obligatory cliche of my own worst enemy - and it was then that i made the personal commitment to consciously try and work on all my relationships with the same mindset. focusing on improving the quality of my friendships, i made a conscious effort to continue living by the basic concept of becoming the change i wish to see in the world!

and every year i grow older, i find that with time, the quality of these relationships we've forged would begin to surface as we are forced to go through certain life experiences - whether happy, sad, tragic or petty. it's the intangibles that reveal the true nature and character of each bond... and i'm, indeed, fortunate to have such great people around me.

this year, on my birthday, a few of my closest friends surprised me with a simple picnic against the city as our backdrop. absolutely quaint and perfect! yes, little things make me happy.

♪ ♩ ♫ sat here thinking about my heart. all of the places it fell apart. there's just one thing that i need to know... why am i always chasing the rainbow? ♩ ♫ ♪

i wanna touch the earth...

we might not have palm trees, deserts, canyons, redwoods, sandy beaches and all that jazz... but i do whole-heartedly love the northwoods here in wisconsin! the seasons. smell of petrichor in the fall while soaking in the dynamic colors. the rivers, lakes and trees. the history. the character. the appreciation for simplicity... nothing short of absolutely oh'mazing!

what a nice weekend it was up north for my best friend's 28th birthday! i can't believe it's been 14 years since the day we forged our friendship... and to think about everything we've gone through together since then, i couldn't have asked for a better partner in crime and kindred spirit to share in those experiences with! cheers to growing older together and many more memories!

the five of us roadtripped up to the beautiful little town of bayfield and took the island princess ferry  out to tour the apostle islands. i definitely want to make it back here sometime to specifically explore the sea caves!

we stayed at our usual cabin in cornucopia - wisconsin's renowned northern most point - where the largest of the great lakes was our front yard. so even though all you need sometimes is a quaint getaway with a few close friends, being able to enjoy a cozy bonfire on a wisconsin beach while watching the superior sunset is just an added bonus!

we even squeezed in an adventure hiking to "lost" creek falls before heading back home, so birthday girl could cross that off her list... and what a morning that was, haha. after missing the turn, the 1 hour hike turned into a 4 hour adventure! lols. but it's true what they say; getting lost is just an opportunity to explore!


bayfield, the apostle islands, cornucopia and lake superior. definitely sights for sore eyes..!