When it Rains it Pours

Literally. 

Last weekend, August 20th to be exact, I planned to show off to the blog world our very cute Woodward Dream Cruise BBQ.  For those that do not know.  Woodward Dream Cruise is a 16 mile cruise event where old/new classic cars cruise Woodward Ave in Michigan.  Basically it turns into a traffic jam for 12 hours.  Since I live so close to the event, we have a BBQ every year with a few friends and watch the cars drive by.  Ok, I people watched more.  This year, the theme should have been, "I survived Dream Cruise 2011."

The day started off normal.  I made cute cupcakes with cookies that looked like wheels, and made super cute car themed decorations.  I had planned to photograph the whole thing to show everyone.  Well, things didn't go as planned.

As I set up the BBQ and Clint grilled, we noticed the clouds rolling in.  While our guests played ladder ball, the thunder started and they quickly moved to come inside our home.  Out of no where, a sheet of rain flew in!  We all ran in laughing and soaked.  As I grabbed towels, instantly, the power went out and the wind picked up.  I then heard someone say, "Oh my god!  Did you see your car??"  I ran to the window to see our car covered under a tree.  The tree then blew over to our neighbors car, where it landed.

Luckily, it is drivable and this was all that was damaged.

I then heard someone yell, "Look at your back yard!"  I ran to the back bedroom window to see this...

and this...

and this...

This explained why the power went out.  We could not even begin to express the shock.  All of this happened in a matter of seconds and was over before you knew.  They called this a straight line storm.  65 mph winds caused all of this.

It is now day three without power.  We had to throw away almost everything in our fridge and freezer, and still can't fully access our backyard due to downed power lines.  Try explaining this to two doggies that love roaming their yard.  We also have to shell out a big deductible for our home owners insurance.  Not only did trees fall in the backyard, but they fell on the fence, and branches dented our siding and gutters that flew against our home...

Our neighborhood looked like a war zone, filled with tree branches in the roads and power lines on the sidewalks.  Most of the storm damage has been cleared, by now.

One thing I want to point out about power outages.  They surely do bring people together.  We are so blessed to have wonderfully helpful neighbors and each other.  We are so lucky no one was hurt in all of this and thank our lucky stars the trees missed our homes!  Things could have been a lot worse...I don't even want to think how!

What's the Big Deal?

My best friend Lisa and I decided to change things up a bit in our workout routine.  We usually go to the gym twice a week to catch up and pump iron.  This week, we decided we were sick of the gym and wanted a change in scenery.  So we went to our local mall and did some good ole fashion mall walkin'.  We have this incredible mall by us, called Somerset Collection, that made the walking even better!

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Who wouldn't love hurting ours necks as we walk past the windows of Kate Spade, Crate and Barrel, and Restoration Hardware?  It was like dangling a carrot in front of a rabbit!  Do rabbits really like carrots?

Once our friends got a hold of our latest workout routine, it was all over.  Now, we have adopted the nicknames, Grandma.

Tell me, how do I murder my friends, the different ways you exercise to beat the winter blahs? 

Holiday Nights

First off, thank you to everyone that wished us a Happy One Year!  We had a great weekend!  Our favorite part of the weekend was Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village.

It was the perfect night for it!  Clint and I layered up and headed out to meet my brother and his girlfriend.

Thats us, ice skating on an outdoor rink.

Did I mention it was snowing!  What more could you ask for!

My brother and Clint standing next to an awesome Military Jeep.

My brother got to ride shotgun in a Ford Model T vehicle.  I love how you can see all of us breathing in this picture.  Makes my brother look mysterious...

It is a little hard to see, but a real Santa stands on the balcony of this home and shouts out names of Children and wishes them a Merry Christmas.  As we were walking away, Santa said my name!  Thats because I have been good.

It was a great night!

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So, I thought I would show you what I have been up to lately.  One thing I hate doing is giving people a gift for the sake of giving a gift.  I am referring to my coworkers.  I work with 3 men who are crazy about cars.  What do you get them?  So each year, I make them presents instead of buying them silly things they don't need.  Ususally it is cookies.  This year, they are getting a REAL treat!

Peppermint Bark!!

So easy to make.  Here is what you will need.

Candy Canes

2 lbs White Chocolate

Thats it!  You can add other things, like peppermint extract or a layer of milk chocolate, but I kept it simple.

Step 1: Melt the chocolate.  I used the microwave instead of a double boiler.  I know everyone says to use a double boiler, but A) I don't have one and B) this was a lot less messier and faster.  Just make sure you use a bowl that is easy to pour with.  Also, make sure not to burn the chocolate.  I put mine on for 2 minutes and that was plenty of time.

Step 2: Line a cooksheet with parchment paper.  Make sure your baking sheet has edges so the chocolate doesn't run off. 

Step 3: Break up candy canes

Do not do this on your beautiful granite counter tops!  I did this on the floor with the candy canes in a grocery bag.

Step 4: Pour the white chocolate onto the baking sheet.  Sprinkle the candy cane pieces on top.

Step 5: Chill in the fridge for at least 45 minutes. 

Once firm, break into pieces.  I decided to wrap mine in small plastic bags with ribbon. 

And you're done! 

This was the easiest dessert I have ever made.  The longest part was waiting for it to chill.

Keep checking back.  Tomorrow I am going to show off our breeze way for Christmas! 

One Year Ago Tomorrow...

I married the man of my dreams.

How are we going to celebrate?  Well, we were going to go on a small vacation to Florida, but that got canceled when we discovered that we needed a new washer and dryer.

Don't worry.  We thought of some other fun things to do instead.  Tonight, Friday, December 18th, we are going to see Cedric the Entertainer at the Detroit Opera House in downtown Detroit.  My parents, brother, and his girlfriend are going to join us. 

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We are very excited to have dinner and a good laugh tonight.

Tomorrow night, December 19th (our actual anniversary), we are going to Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village.  It is a very fun event that is all outdoors.  It includes bonfires, hay rides, outdoor ice skating, and the great history at Greenfield Village.  Of course, Clint's favorite part is the warm cinnamon rolls.  

If you ask me, I wouldn't want to spend these two days any other way!

I have a small project I am working on to remember our honeymoon, which we took to Chicago.  It was the best part of the whole wedding process.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Date Night

Last Friday night, Clint and I decided to take time out for ourselves, something we rarely do.  So, we went to dinner and go to the Detroit Institute of Arts.  On Friday nights, the DIA is open till 10 with events for kids and families.  When I was in college, I use to go to the DIA very often and draw in the galleries.  I really missed that. 

We saw famous artists' works such as Andy Warhol

As well as Picasso, Degas, Monet, and Van gogh.  We spent most of our time in the contemporary gallery, my fave. 

At one point, we got a little silly...

Can you tell which one is Clint?

All in all, it was a great way to spend a Friday night!  Date night will start happening more often now!

I will end this post with two of my favorite pieces at the DIA...

Give me more ideas for our next date night!  We would love suggestions.

Halloween/Fall Decorating

Over the weekend, Clint and myself finished putting up our holiday decorations inside and outside our home.  Thought you would like to take a peak!

Let me start off by telling you our family tradition of apple picking.  We go to the same apple orchard every year, Apple Charlies.  Below are a few pictures from the trip.  Of course afterwards, my mom made an awesome apple pie!

First picture is of Clint reaching with all his short might :-).  The middle picture is of my brother, his girlfriend, and my parents.

Of course, no trip would be complete without a trip to the Barn of Blood! 

So the reason I am telling you about our apple picking trip first is because we picked pumpkins there as well.  My family all decided to get with normal looking pumpkins.  Not me!  I found this little guy sitting all by himself and had to have him! My family thought I was nuts!  Why would I want a green pumpkin?!?!  Duh!  Because!  Look how incredibly cute it is next to Clint's on our front porch!

On to our house:

We put up a few gravestones, cornstalks, hail, spider web, and spider lights.

Go Blue!  Anways, back to decorating...

Inside, I love using our fireplace as a focal point in the room.

 

Next is our book shelves.  I do not over do it on the shelves because I hate clutter.  So just some fake leaves spread out is enough for me.

On our dining room table, I decided to use the corn from the corn stalks as a decoration, as well as some of our apples from apple picking.

So that is our house all falled out!  O I almost forgot!  Many years ago, I bought this very funny pillow that Clint thinks is evil.  You tell me what you think....

Cruisin on Woodward

The Woodward Dream Cruise....An annual event that was started up in the 90's along Woodward Avenue in the Metro Detroit area. The event draws quite a crowd. The funny thing is, the event is only suppose to be one day. One day! Well, people are pretty hard core around here about their cars. From the minute that the weather turns nice, car lovers are out there cruisin away, usually on the weekends. The week before is what really starts it off. This Saturday is the big day.

I don't mind the event at all. I acutally find it a little exciting and fun. We have started a tradition where we sit on our front lawn and watch the action. Well, mainly people watch...sometimes that can be more interesting than the cars. :-)

The car culture is very fasinating. It just amazes me the amount of work that goes into each vehicle. It's not just about how loud the car is or how shiny the paint is. It's almost like someone gave birth to their vehicle.

Check out the beauties I found yesterday while walking around:

Beep Beep!

By the way, if you ever decide to visit Michigan or just want to try something new in Michigan, I highly recommend the Red Coat Tavern. Best burgers around!



For miles, all you can see is cars.

This picture is taken from my porch.


At night, all you see is headlights and tail lights. It really is a work of art all in its own. This picture is from my bedroom window tonight.

I have really gained an appreiation for this culture, since moving to this area.

O Well

So I didn't get my to-do list done last weekend. I did get my garden planted and my flower pots are finished. I had an important event to go to one of the days:



My grandfather was in WWII. He recently passed away March of last year. His marker was finally finished. So what better way to celebrate the weekend, than visit him at the VA Cemetary in Holly, MI.

So there is my excuse, but it was for a good reason. I did get quite a bit of the yard work done, which I am proud of though.

Hope everyone elses weekends were filled with honoring our vets and military, as well as productive!