Happy Birthday, Catie

My little sister Catherine turns 18 years old today! Getting together has been a more difficult task theses days, but yesterday my brother Chris and I decided to take Catie out. We started at The Jolly Pumpkin in downtown Ann Arbor for some amazing food and drinks including a cheese sampler platter, a truffle pizza Catherine and I split, and the JP burger with a side of their famous truffle fries for Chris. We absolutely loved the atmosphere there. It was as if we were transported to NYC's West Village, one of my favorite boroughs in the city.

After dinner, drinks and nice conversation, we stepped out to some live music and stuck around for a bit to take it all in. We walked over to the State Theater a few blocks away to see 50/50. I'd highly recommend it if you haven't seen that movie! The soundtrack was great, and I really liked Anna Kendrick's character too.

Once the movie was out we walked a few blocks until my sister and I spotted this dimly lit bar called The Raven's Club. It was the perfect spot for grabbing a drink after the show. She and I ordered a couple coffees, mine with a shot of Bailey's and hers with cream. We split the seasonal apple and rhubarb crisp over a candle lit table, which complimented our coffee quite well. The night turned out to be a lovely one. Happy Birthday Catie, xoxo!

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a few extras:

- the pop of bright blue in this fall ensemble.

- this chocolate chip cookies recipe

- these festive treats

- design your own cards/memory books with pinhole press.

- warm up with these fall dishes

A Dateless Date Night

happy birthday, ozzy!

Summer with no baeu can be frustrating. Couples seem to be out and about everywhere you go, but I don't think that should prevent you from doing the same sorts of couple things. I haven't noticed much of that this summer because I've been keeping myself busy with summer classes, but last night I thought of how nice it would be to have someone to share it with, probably because I was with my best friend Athena and her boyfriend Carl, and Ozzy and her boyfriend, Kosta.

To celebrate Ozzy's birthday, who is Athena's older sister, we found a little park to hold the celebration in the Ypsilanti area. The weather was perfect, and she even brought along her and her boyfriends adorable pup. I had made Ozzy a nice handwritten card and typed it up on my typewriter, and bought her a bottle of Moscato, my favorite summer wine! After enjoying lot's of food and a cake, we decided to head to downtown Ann Arbor for a free outdoor movie showing of Megamind. I'm typically hesitant when it comes to watching cartoon movies, but they usually turn out to be better than I originally expected.

Prior to the movie starting, Athena, Carl and I walked around the downtown area, shared lots of random stories and picked up Bubble Tea from Bubble Island, (one of my favorite spots to grab a non-alcoholic drink in Ann Arbor). There were a countless number of couples scattered about the lawn sharing large blankets and each others company once we got back. Even though I didn't have that, I still had such a great time with everyone.

Happy Birthday Sujfan

(source)

As you may know, one of my favorite, favorite musicians is Sufjan Stevens. I just wanted to take a quick minute out of my day to wish him a happy birthday.

A few pictures from the Age of Adz concert my sister & I went to last fall...

my sister, catie^

me ^

and a video from the concert..

A couple of my favorite quotes of his.

"The story of my life is the story of half-finished projects and half-read books."

"Perhaps we don’t like what we see: our hips, our loss of hair, our shoe size, our dimples, our knuckles too big, our eating habits, our disposition. We have disclosed these things in secret, likes and dislikes, behind doors with locks, our lonely rooms, our messy desks, our empty hearts, our sudden bursts of energy, our sudden bouts of depression. Don't worry. Put away your mirrors and your beauty magazines and your books on tape. There is someone right here who knows you more than you do, who is making room on the couch, who is fixing a meal, who is putting on your favorite record, who is listening intently to what you have to say, who is standing there with you, face to face, hand to hand, eye to eye, mouth to mouth. There is no space left uncovered. This is where you belong."

-Sufjan Stevens

Read Sufjan's conversation with author Thomas Pietzinger, here!