Weekend Recap

Do you ever notice that when you make plans on a Friday night that your weekends just feel longer?
While the home body in me begs to stay on the couch and avoid having to deal with another cold Chicago night there is nothing like live music at a small local venue to get me bundled up and out the door.

Joe and I headed out to the Empty Bottle in Chicago's Ukrainian Village neighborhood for some tasty brews and to stand front and center to listen to one of our recent favorite bands perform- Crow Moses. I love their laid back vibe along with mix of acoustic and electric guitars. Check them out on Spotify if you're looking to add to your playlist.

I've been reserving Sundays for whatever moves my soul. Sometimes this means staying in my robe all day and crafting in bed, catching up on Netflicks, or catching up on magazine reading. I did all of these this past weekend and it was much needed! How was your weekend? Do you ever take a day to yourself to do whatever moves you?!

It's the Weekend!!

Happy Friday!

  Hooray we made it to the end of the week!  I don't know about you but this week was a bit of a struggle for me.  Feeling out of balance of sorts mentally and feeling some stress at my 9-5 job.  Most of those unplasant feelings have diminished a bit as I was able to sort out feelings last night in my hot yoga class. It's only been my second week going, but when I say it's transforming, I mean that I feel like a calmer, saner, and healthier being when I leave the class.  It's the best way (I've found so far) to decompress after a long week of work and it leaves me feeling totally refreshed to finish my last day of work on Friday.  Not to mention I sleep like a baby at night!  Transforming, I kid you not! And it's a fun way for Joe and I to schedule a gym date every week too! 

  I wish I could tell you that my weekend will be relaxing, but Joe and I have lots of exciting plans in the works for our new business adventure called Coach House Pictures.  So we will be designing business cards and website pages to get that side of the business more organized. Until next week!  Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for joining me this week :)

Weekend Works

Hello Friday!  You're here and I'm so happy that you are :)  Joe and I have a jam packed weekend, starting with a trip to the pumpkin patch and corn maze with friends tomorrow.  As for the rest of the weekend I will more than likely be spending it behind the sewing machine creating a paper project for an upcoming event for Coach House Pictures (we are shooting are first wedding together in a few weeks, eep!) I'm so excited to be taking on this new photo adventure with my best friend by my side, none the less :) For now we still have lots to plan and will be working like bees up until the day!  I can't wait to share with you highlights of what we capture!  Until then, have an inspirational weekend!

Photography: evphotogal
Photo frame: Pugly Pixel
Font: Fling

Happy Start

Butterfly Moss

I have so much to be happy for to start off the week. I spent the weekend with little down time (for which I was grateful when I did have time to devour the Sunday Trib) and spent it with family at a bar-b-que, at dinner and a movie, drinks at a friends, and at the Botanic gardens for an afternoon photo shoot. I'm still going through my files today, but would love to share with you some of the portraits we ended up creating. How was your weekend?

{ 3 out of 6 }

Not bad for a weekend of projects that I wanted to check off my list. It's amazing how something as little as a can of stain can transform the vibe of a piece of furniture. I really liked how my bed frame turned out. Find out where I got the goods for this project for under a buck here! The chocolate covered frozen bananas were also a big hit and very tasty indeed ;) The recipe was a breeze and it was fun to add my own flavors too. For these I used cashews, peanuts, and vanilla cookies and added the whipped topping to up the yum factor. I also was able to enjoy some of my weekend outdoors on my long run (I am up to mile 7 in my half marathon training). It felt equally delicious to feel the warm sun on my face ;)

{before}

{after}

{chocolate covered frozen banana bites}

{ One of a Kind Show }

How great is it to make weekend plans in the middle of the work week? If you are in the Chicago area, the One of a Kind Show would be a great show to check out this weekend. I am meeting up with some friends to check out all the goodies by indie artists. This might hopefully be the motivation I need to begin my holiday shopping ;)

{ Bucktown Arts Festival }

I'm excited to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon this weekend looking for handmade goodies at the Bucktown Arts Fest. They are celebrating 23 years, so I'm bound to find lovely stationary, greeting cards, and magnets and other great paper goods. I'm meeting up with a girlfriend for lunch then we are planning on swinging by the art fest together. I'll let you know what finds there are to be had next week! Until next week, happy summer weekend to you all!

{ Cottage Weekend }

Ahhh....I'm having a great time editing and reliving these photos from this past weekend. Our family weekend consisted of lots of water time via kayak, paddle boat or fishing boat. Puppy love, we had our two family dachshunds in tow, my first game of bags, dance party night, my sister cooking in the kitchen (a rare sight to behold), and building a sand village with the help of my niece and nephew. We agreed to make it a yearly family event. And this is one event that I was blessed to be a part of! Enjoy.

{Kottmeyer & Hansen cottage sign}

{cottage entrance}

{sat morning coffee}

{yummy way to start the weekend}

{cottage lush brush}

{pup at play}

{sand village}

{fishing net at rest}

{kayak in cove}

{dock wine}

{roasted corn on the cob}

{happy dinner plates}

{loungers take the night off}

{puppy love}

{Kottmeyer/Bartolone/Villacorta Crew}
{that's me in the green!}

{ Long Weekend }

Long weekends seem to be an occuring theme for me this summer and I couldn't be more thrilled to skip out of the photo studio a day or two early to enjoy the long summer days and nights. Tonight I pack up to head out to the family cottage (thank's Bri) in Nekoosa Wisconsin. Where there will be plenty of stories to share, fish to catch, and memories to be captured! I'm so excited to spend these next few days with my family. I can't think of a better way to spend a summer weekend than wrapped up in all there company and craziness! I am happy to share these photos that I took this morning using natural light. These shells have been collected from trips taken in Florida and Cancun (I heart beach vacations). Have a great weekend!
{EV Photography}

{Things to Pack:}

• Swimsuits
• Book/Magazines
  
• Camera and lens
• Journal
• Running shoes
  

{ Urban Garden Party }

{Photos by EV Photography}

Today is my friday! I have family coming in from out of town this weekend and want to catch up on some unfinished chores at home in time for the their arrival. That being said, I plan on doing a whole lot of fun and relaxing over my long weekend. These photos totally reflect the kind of laid back weekend summer vibe I'm referring to. My weekend starts off tomorrow with a family picnic in the park over at the Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. They have free concerts every Friday in the summer as part of their music festival series. Saturday night I plan on heading over to the Sheffield Garden Walk for more live outdoor entertainment and ice cold beverages! Cheers & have a great weekend.