a theater in the woods, wine tasting, and waves

posted by Bethany on 08.31.10 in b*travels

bspoke_8-31-10_1

bspoke_8-31-10_2

No trip to Door County is complete without a visit to the American Folklore Theater. Nestled in the pine forest of Peninsula State Park, the Theater puts on a variety of original musical comedies. The shows are hilarious, professional, and filled with Midwestern flavor. The setting is stunning, under a canopy of towering pines, with stars twinkling overhead. This year, we saw Bone Dance, a musical collection of ghost stories gathered from around the world. The play was a little bit eerie, but full of good humor and fantastic costuming.

bspoke_8-31-10_3

bspoke_8-31-10_4

Another favorite pastime in Door County is wine tasting. The county is known for its wineries, and the locally-grown fruits make for a nice variety of flavors to blend. In previous years, I’ve visited the county in July, when cherry picking is in full swing. This year, we made our way there in August, and the cherries were long gone. Since I missed my opportunity to pick, I chose instead to do the next best thing–sample a glass of Door County cherry wine. Mmmmm, and it was delish–sweet, and bursting with that famous Wisconsin Montmorency cherry flavor.

bspoke_8-31-10_5

bspoke_8-31-10_6

bspoke_8-31-10_7

bspoke_8-31-10_8

The peninsula that is home to Door County juts into the northwest corner of Lake Michigan. One side of this peninsula is bordered by the famous Green Bay, and the other is open to the endless expanse of water shared by Milwaukee and Chicago. Being near the big lake almost feels like being near the ocean, except the water isn’t salty and pines instead of palms dot the shoreline. On this trip, we made plenty of time for the lake, as we hiked along the shore, lazed on the beach, and played in the waves. As I bobbed in the clear, clean water, letting waves crash over me, with an endless blue sky above, I thought to myself that this simple, lovely, summer moment would be one I carried with me through the cold months ahead.

Tomorrow, it’s on to talking about the food of Door County, but first, one more thing checked off the bucket list. I changed this one around a bit, since I wasn’t able to pick cherries on this trip.

pick cherries in door county and dip my toes in lake michigan, or, better yet…
sip cherry wine in door county and play in the waves of lake michigan

Comment (1)

as sweet as wild berries

posted by Bethany on 08.30.10 in b*travels

bspoke_8-30-10_1

bspoke_8-30-10_2

bspoke_8-30-10_3

bspoke_8-30-10_4

bspoke_8-30-10_5

bspoke_8-30-10_6

bspoke_8-30-10_7

bspoke_8-30-10_8

bspoke_8-30-10_9

bspoke_8-30-10_10

bspoke_8-30-10_11

Door County, Wisconsin in the summer; simple, unhurried, and as sweet as wild berries. We arrived last Wednesday to a breezy day on the peninsula, cool enough for jackets, but ripe with possibility. Hours spent wandering winding country roads, hiking worn trails through the cedar forest and along the rocky shore, taking in snippets of beauty, and pausing for a bite of something delicious. My mom, my best friend and I, all ready to explore, hike, shop, linger, taste, swim, and soak in three days of togetherness in this timeless summer destination. The hours passed all too quickly each day, and we collapsed into bed each night tired, content and sun-soaked. Quiet, restful nights spent in a tiny log cabin in the woods had us rested and ready for the next day of adventure.

Hiking along the shore of Lake Michigan, and watching the sun set over her glistening waters were two highlights of the trip, and two more things checked off the bucket list of summer.

go for a long hike in a beautiful place
watch the sunset

I have too many photos and stories for just one post, so I’ll be using the next few days to share the rest. Stay tuned, my dears!

Comments (3)

glimmers of summer: flip-flops, swimming and tomato soup

posted by Bethany on 08.24.10 in b*list

You may think I’ve forgotten about the good old bucket list of summer, seeing as I’ve neglected to mention it recently. However, it’s still on my mind, as I watch the days grow shorter and the leaves begin to tinge red. Knowing that fall is around the bend, I have been busy soaking up the last rays of summer, and checking more items off the list. Despite the fact that the first few weeks of September in Minnesota feel decidedly autumn-like, this year I will be living summer until the last official second. After all, I have enough left on the list to truly relish summer past-times for a few more weeks!

Today I’m checking off three more things.

bspoke_8-24-10_1

First up, let’s talk flip-flops. I love my Teva sandals. I buy a pair a year, and always wear through them. This year was no exception. Worn daily, from the yard, to the farmers market, to the mall, to walks on the north shore, these sandals have certainly gotten a workout. They have a couple weeks of life left in them, but just barely.

wear out another pair of teva flip flops


bspoke_8-24-10_2

Swimming in the cool, clean waters of a Minnesota lake is pure summer to me. I grew up on a resort in northern Minnesota, where I would roll out of bed and put on a swimsuit immediately, heading out to the beach after a quick breafast of blueberry pancakes in the lodge. A couple of my childhood nicknames were “the mermaid”, and “fish”. Yes, I love the water, and especially lake-swimming. This year, I really made an effort to spent hot days floating on a raft in the middle of the lake, or doing cannon-balls off my parents boat. When I wasn’t up north, I headed down a gravel road near the cottage, to a local swimming hole where the cool water glistened in the sun, welcoming me to dive in. This summer, more than any of the summers in the past few years, I became a fish again.

swim in lakes, as often as possible


bspoke_8-24-10_3

I mentioned a few weeks ago that my garden has been thriving this year. The bounty of the harvest is filling my kitchen, and just a few days back, I was inspired to make an entire meal using only my homegrown produce. I whipped up a salad using fresh cucumber, grape tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, baby onions, and banana peppers. Veggies sliced thin, with a bit of Good Seasons dressing drizzled over the top, this salad was the epitome of fresh, delicious summer cuisine. However, a salad isn’t a meal, so I got busy making the main course. I gathered up 5 or 6 of the largest, ripest red tomatoes my garden had to offer, determined to make a fresh tomato soup. Using onions, basil, oregano, and chives, also from the garden, I blended the ingredients, and then simmered my soup on the stove top. The result was divine. I made enough for a couple servings, and a day later, I am happy to report the soup is even more amazing, as the flavors have blended together. Today I ate it with a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. Yum!

Here is the recipe for anyone who has an abundance of garden-fresh tomatoes; home-grown or from the farmers market!

:: ingredients ::
5 – 6 large tomatoes
3 – 4 small (tiny) onions
1 tsp chopped basil
1 tsp chopped oregano
1 tsp chopped chives
1 – 2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar

:: directions ::
Peel and coarsely chop enough tomatoes to yield 4 cups pureed.
Mix in blender all ingredients, then simmer over stove until warm. Enjoy!

make a meal entirely from my vegetable garden

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

There you have it, three more things off the list! Tomorrow I’m getting in the car with my mom and my best friend and heading to one of my five fave summer spots. Door County, Wisconsin, is one of those places where you instantly feel like you’ve traveled back in time about 50 years, to a simpler pace where days are filled with the lovely things of life. We will be hiking, wine tasting, watching the sunset, swimming in Lake Michigan, and exploring the many sleepy harbor villages that dot the peninsula. I won’t be posting again ’till next week, so here’s to one more perfect summer weekend! Enjoy it, my dears, because all too soon it will be gone.

Comments (2)

the bedroom diaries :: fresh paint

posted by Bethany on 08.23.10 in b*home

bspoke_8-23-10_1

bspoke_8-23-10_2

bspoke_8-23-10_3

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that I wanted to spruce up our master bedroom (click link to see before photo). I love the space, but need to put all the pieces together, so this blank-slate-of-a-room can feel cozier and more complete. While this project isn’t very huge, I will be spacing it out, as I only have limited time and budget to invest. I’m hoping to have it all wrapped up by mid-November so it’s done before the rush of the holidays.

Here’s the to-do list:
- paint walls
- paint all trim and doors white
- find and hang new window treatments
- add reading corner with cozy chair and lamp
- find new lighting solutions
- build headboard
- buy/make new bedding
- find/make/hang wall art

The first step in the process was a fresh coat of paint on the walls, and on the windows and doors. The bedroom previously had two wall colors, as well as two trim colors. There were wood doors and window frames, with white baseboards and trim. We painted the walls when we bought the house, and at the time, I thought it would look nice to have two hues accenting one another. Half the room was blue, half taupe. I’m not exactly sure what I was thinking when I made that design decision. Combined with the two-tone trim, there was just too much going on in here.

While planning the room refresh, I found myself craving a clean, simplified pallet. To me, crisp, white trim makes a room feel cohesive, spacious and calm. It was with that thought in mind that I headed to Home Depot and picked up a gallon of Polar Bear White by Behr. The windows took a bit of time, but I’m very pleased with the end result. Windows, doors and trim are now all beautifully white.

I painted over the blue walls using one of my favorite paints–Graphite by Restoration Hardware. This gray/brown tone was already present on two of the four walls, and I liked it enough to simply carry it throughout the room. It was a bonus that we had some of this paint left over from the original paint job, so this part of the project was completely free.

In the end, the room feels much more peaceful, spacious and seamless to me. The next step of the process is getting new window treatments in place. You can see the sheers and rods are up. The drapes I chose are being washed and ironed and hemmed. Or rather, sitting on my dining room table, waiting for me to tackle them.

Now that I have a clean pallet to work with, I’ll be jumping into some of the other (more exciting) details. Stay tuned, and I’ll post updates as I go along…

Comments (4)

on freelancing, freedom and working from home

posted by Bethany on 08.19.10 in b*ponders

Before I made the jump to fulltime freelancer, I used to picture what my life would be like if or when I was working from home, making my own schedule and chasing down my own goals. I had a beautiful, ideal picture of the way my days would go, that included a spotless house, energetic, early morning exercise, productive workdays, and relaxed afternoons spent in the garden or working on a house project. Not that my expectations were totally out of line–they were simply a bit sugar-coated. Of course it’s unrealistic to assume that a new job will make your entire life perfect. Case in point, my house is probably messier now than it ever has been. (I still haven’t figured out why this is, but I’m working on it.)

It hasn’t been quite a month, so I’m a complete newbie when it comes to this whole fulltime freelancing/working from home thing. However, I’ve learned a few things along the way, partly from my own limited experience, and partly from the advice of others who have been doing this for awhile. Here are my thoughts in a nutshell (or maybe a bucket).

First off, let there be no doubt, I absolutely love my “new reality”. It’s hard to describe the profound thrill I get every time I realize that this is my new life, that I no longer answer to a boss, have to request days off, or need to squeeze business tasks into weekday evenings. I love the freedom I have each day. I love deciding how my hours will be spent, and working hard on something I am truly passionate about. I love knocking off early, and spending Friday afternoons with my husband, doing whatever we please. I love knowing that all my efforts are leading to something bigger, and that the decisions I make and tasks I accomplish today will impact me tomorrow, and in years to come. It’s exciting, freeing, fulfilling, and… terrifying.

The flip side of the coin is that all this freedom requires a tremendous amount of discipline and drive. I remember telling my husband, months ago, that if I were ever to quit my job and work fulltime from home, I would struggle more with workaholism than I would with laziness. I was homeschooled, and I think I learned allot about discipline during those years. I’m self-motivated, and it’s easy for me to stay focused on the tasks at hand. What I struggle with is telling myself it’s okay to enjoy lunch with a friend, quit early for the day, or take a long weekend. My father instilled in me a very strong work ethic, and I am so grateful. However, I also have his tendency to never stop moving and going. I put pressure on myself to make this business a success, bring in a supplemental income for our household, and use my time wisely.

With all that being said, I am still utterly content in this place, as I learn to balance work, home, and my own personality. I learned a long time ago that life is not on the horizon, in the “someday”, or around the bend. It is right now; here today, in this very moment. So, I take the profound and thrilling sense of freedom I get from this experience, and put in next to my own fears of working too much or not enough, of failing or falling, and I charge forward into today. Because, after all, today is all I have. Tomorrow is no guarantee. I want the things I do today to matter, right now, and in ten years. So I set out to accomplish tasks that will take me somewhere, and at the same time, try to make time for the small, seemingly insignificant moments that really matter. Because isn’t life really about this balance of big and small, important and simple, future and present? Therein lies the crux.

Before I go on much longer, or get any more deeply introspective, I think I’ll wrap this up. However, I’ll be back again soon, because I want to keep this conversation open. I have more to share about setting goals, as well as a handful of practical pieces of advice on daily work habits, routines, and the like. If you have specific questions for me, feel free to ask, and I’ll do my best to answer. Stay tuned, my dears!

Comments (15)
older posts