a summer of festivals

Milwaukee might be best known for its abundance in cheese, brats, and beer, but the one of the other (many!) great parts about this city is most certainly its' abundance of festivals all summer long! Summerfest, Bastille Days, Festival of the Arts, Festa Italiana, German Fest, Mexican Fiesta, Indian Summer Fest, to name a few PLUS a whole handful of neighborhood street fairs and festivals all summer long...whew!

So far I have managed to make it out for a few things! First was Summerfest aka the world's largest music festival-we went and saw a few sets put on by Minneapolis-based hip-hop collective, Rhymesayers, which featured P.O.S., Brother Ali, and Atmosphere. I also got to experience my very first country music concert (Craig Morgan) a few nights later...there is a first time for everything!

^^my brother filming k'naan

Just last night I also got to experience Milwaukee's Bastille Days celebration...we meandered through the crowds, watched the "Storm the Bastille" 5K in action, and even tried frog legs! Ry and I decided that we would definitely have to participate in the run next year-it looks like a great time, more of a "fun run" than a race! 

^^ mmmm frog legs.

Do you have a favorite summer festival in Milwaukee or your own hometown? Summer always seems to go by so quickly, so make sure you get out there and have some fun (but maybe skip the frog legs!)

fresh tomatoes on my mind

The past week I have just been craving fresh tomatoes with everything! We have a great local farm in Superior, Wi, Bay Produce, that has some of the best tomatoes I have ever had, seriously.

Ry and I made BLT's on Monday night, but added a really great goat cheese spread on our freshly baked whole wheat bread. And I have been snacking on tomatoes with just a bit of salt and pepper and a splash of balsamic vinegar. Of course, one of my all time favorite tomato dishes is a caprese salad, BUT you add avocado on it too...SO DELICIOUS! 

What are some of your favorite ways to enjoy this fine veggie of the vine? Feel free to share! 

an all-american kind of day

despite the CRAZY heat wave here, it was another wonderful 4th of July celebration with an entertaining parade, tasty BBQ, refreshing brews, some crafting (had to escape the heat!) and the biggest fireworks I have ever seen!

Hope you all had a great day too! 

first day of summer aka the great flood

Holy flood batman!  Seriously...you should see what has been going on here in Duluth (though apparently we have made national news). It has just been raining off and on pretty much since this past Friday, so as the rain kept coming all day yesterday and last night, it was clear we were in store for some flooding. 

Woke up this morning to news of seals escaping from the zoo, cars falling into sink holes, homes being evacuated-total craziness! Luckily, our house isn't too close to the creek that runs through town and we have a solid foundation for the basement, but there were certainly some not so lucky homes around Duluth and the few towns over who are close to the St. Louis River. 

Our poor Whole Foods Co-op lost it's retaining wall to one of the creeks...

One of the worst sink holes...apparently the passengers were in the car when it sunk down! 

Ry and I decided to go explore a bit with Reef and check out some of the damage nearby...

Like I said, we were SO lucky that there was little to no damage done to our house or any of friends and family's homes, but man oh man Duluth is looking rough today! 

Vermillion Rd.

Congdon Creek

Making the best of the floods...

grillin' and good times

With warmer weather finally upon us here in Duluth, grillin' on Park Point beach was a given...can't wait for more days at the lake and fun times with my wonderful Duluth family :)

What are your favorite things to do at the start of summer??

What suits you?

Even though I feel like it could be quite awhile til I need to bust out all my summer attire, summer time is on my mind...laying out in the sun, bbqs, hanging out at the lakefront (Duluth has such a great one!). With summertime on my mind, swimsuits are naturally apart of the equation. 

I typically lean to the more modest suits, though bikinis have found their way into the line up as well, but what I really wanted to add to the collection was a great one piece! There are so many really chic and fashionable one pieces now and I'd say you can definitely find one that won't make you feel frumpy or un-sexy at all. While on my visit to Chicago, I was in H&M and stumbled upon this great suit, a gorgeous emerald color that has kind of a vintage vibe to it and with a price tag of $25 I couldn't resist!

How do you feel about the one-piece movement? Own any already? I can't wait to try this puppy out...fingers crossed summer doesn't take too long to arrive! Here are few others that aren't too hard on the budget and look like they will accentuate you in all the right places!

 American Apparel, $45                                                                                          Old Navy, $45

Gap, $60