sleeping beauty

we're not the only ones who were worn out by last week's schedule.  i walked in the bedroom and found leko completely passed out asleep.  i took a picture and texted it to ryan saying that we wore the poor little guy out!  it's really rare for him to sleep that soundly.  luckily our little fur baby will be able to get caught back up on his beauty sleep this week.

happy monday!

love, laurie

fun links

wow, it's friday . . . and i feel like i can barely keep my eyes open.  this week was an exhausting one with some late nights and early mornings.  i'm very much hoping to be able to catch a little bit of sleep tomorrow morning!  (leko, did you hear that?  mama wants to sleep in!)

since it's friday, here are a few fun links that i found around the internet recently . . .

1. i love the creativity of this nyc street artist

2. on a similar note, artistic vandalism

3. cleaning tricks for lazy folks

4. i have been saying this about office layouts for years

5. what popular websites used to look like

6. air conditioning and your health

7. why starbucks has their own drink size names

8. a look back at the 170 year history of food photography

9. and, rip microsoft paint

have a wonderful weekend!

love, laurie

continuing summer concert season

i mentioned that the month of july was a busy one with concerts at our concert pavilion (here and here) and i wasn't kidding.  we were back up at the pavilion this week for back-to-back shows again.  tuesday was the the boston hyperspace tour with joan jett and the blackhearts, then wednesday was the one republic honda civic tour with fitz and the tantrums.

tuesday's show was a super small one.  ryan worked it and snapped the photos above from his perch up in one of the spot towers.  yesterday's show was a huge one.  we both worked it but didn't get a chance to snap any pictures because it was so chaotic.  everyone seemed to agree that yesterday's show was the most unorganized tour that has come through in quite awhile.  wheph, i'm glad it's over and can't wait to get some sleep to make up for the long late hours!

love, laurie

our vacation packing list

we're very organized people (that's no secret) so we carry our love of organization over to our vacation packing.  over the last decade or so, we have developed what we think is the ultimate vacation packing list.  it's our master list that we whip out whenever we are leaving the house with a suitcase and it works great for us.  of course, we don't pack every single item on this list for every trip.  instead we use it as a guide and add/subtract depending on each destination.  we find that when we pack using our list, we don't end up worrying about having forgotten something at home.  since it's summer and it's prime travel season, we wanted to share our list . . .

clothing:
- bras
- underwear
- socks
- stockings/tights
- pajamas
- undershirts
- shirts (t-shirts, polo shirts, dress shirts)
- pants (jeans, dress pants)
- shorts
- gym clothes
- sweaters
- jackets
- suits
- dresses
- bathing suits
- bathing suit cover ups
- ponchos

accessories:
- hats
- scarves
- gloves
- belts
- ties
- jewelry
- bags (purse, beach bag)

shoes:
- sneakers
- sandals
- dress shoes
- flip flops
- aqua socks

toiletries:
- electronic toothbrushes
- electronic toothbrush chargers
- toothpaste
- mouth wash
- face soap
- body wash
- shaving gel
- shampoo
- conditioner
- hairspray
- deodorant
- cologne
- lotion

electronics:
- alarm clock
- laptop / charger
- cell phones / chargers
- dslr camera / lenses / memory cards / batteries / charger
- point-and-shoot camera / memory cards / batteries / charger
- video camera / memory cards / batteries / charger
- ipad / charger
- ipods / chargers
- watches / chargers
- headphones / headphone splitter

other:
- make up
- tweezers
- scissors
- brush / comb
- hair ties / bobby pins
- flat iron / curling iron
- nail polish / nail polish remover
- cotton balls
- tampons / pads
- tissues
- toilet paper
- shower poofa
- washcloths
- towels / beach towels
- beach towel clips
- sun screen / aloe
- shower razor / electric razor
- q-tips
- sunglasses
- glasses / cases
- contacts / cases
- contact solution
- advil
- band aids / neosporin
- umbrellas
- dirty laundry bag
- ziploc bags (various sizes)
- grocery bags
- dish soap
- lint roller
- hangers
- clothes pins
- bungee cords
- extension cords
- flash light
- duct tape
- scotch tape
- waterproof phone cases
- water bottles / travel coffee mug
- snacks
- notepad
- pen / pencil / highlighter
- money
- id / drivers licenses / passports
- travel documents / tickets

some other helpful things that we do before we leave for a vacation:
- call credit card companies to let them know the dates we will be gone
- confirm hotel / flight / shuttle reservations before we leave
- check in online and print tickets / boarding passes
- leave out leko care instructions / extra food / extra litter / medical records
- give our house key to the person in charge of leko care
- take out the garbage
- check the furnace and dehumidifier
- unplug any unused appliances

love, laurie

summer sun

couldn't resist sharing these photos that my mom snapped from her back deck of the morning sun peeking through the trees.  i wouldn't mind seeing the sun today since it's been overcast and storming for quite awhile now!

love, laurie

pillow tent

leko loves sitting on the chair in our room.  he thinks it's his throne.  the other day, i placed a pillow across the arms of the chair while i was making the bed.  he thought that looked like good fun and liked the little "tent" it made over the chair for him.  while trying to take a picture of him under his pillow tent, i captured him mid yell . . . you know, everyday life here at our house.

happy monday

love, laurie

fun links

this week seemed to fly by relatively fast.  i'm grateful that the weekend is here, although i'm sad that i won't be able to spend any of it with ryan since our schedules don't sync at all for the next several days.  :-(  i'm looking forward to hopefully getting caught up on my to-do list this weekend.

since it's friday, here are a few fun links that i found around the internet recently . . .

1. holy cow, this ballerina is incredible!  (i love the other people's reactions in the background at the end)

2. epic panoramic photo fails that are just too funny

3. yum!  i want one of these please

4. what a clever (and cheap) bathing suit cover up

5. not just for kids . . . this works for cats!

6. i would consider camping in something like this off the ground

7. i want this shirt

8. a good reminder

9. i did this to several stagehand shirts this week because for some reason they insist on only getting men's XL and i wear a woman's XS . . . big difference (and i don't want to look like i'm wearing a night gown to work)!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

i spy . . .

. . . little cherry tomatoes growing on our tomato plant!!!  ryan snapped this picture of one of the tomato plants in our raised veggie garden yesterday and sent it to me.  we were both so happy to see cherry tomatoes growing.  when i came home from work, we picked that really red one on the left and split it.  (nothing like cutting a cherry tomato in half to share!)  it tasted great, and we can't wait for the others to be ready soon!

love, laurie

little letters

dear ryan,
your carpentry vision and skills never fail to amaze me.  so glad that you are a "jack of all trades" and can figure out any project in front of you with a smile on your face!

dear leko,
for the past several weeks you have been waking me up 1-2 hours before my alarm clock.  this morning you actually let me sleep until my alarm clock went off.  i'm not sure what divine intervention happened, but i sure am grateful to have had one solid night's sleep for the first time in months.  (ps: now that i know you are capable of it, mama is expecting you to do that every morning!)

dear tomato plants,
when we planted you in our raised veggie garden just a few short weeks ago you were so tiny.  now you are humongous and outgrew our netting.  i can't believe how fast you grew!  i'm not-so-patiently waiting to eat my first tomato too.

dear ryan,
your idea to go out for an ice cream date last night was the perfect solution to beat the extreme heat.  i like your thinking!

love, laurie

sittin' pretty

the windows on our second floor are very high off the ground.  in order for leko to see out we have to pick him up.  ryan set up a pile of pillows in front of the one window so that leko could sit and watch the birdies land on the roof right outside the window.  i caught him in the act the other night and couldn't resist snapping a picture on my phone.  he takes his birdie watching very seriously!  ;-)

love, laurie

i survived camp bisco '17

in addition to the two concerts that ryan and i worked on sunday and monday, i also worked all of camp bisco every day this week.  i had show call for the entire run which meant i was there for many, many hours each day.  the whole festival is a huge operation with over 70 acts performing on 3 different stages during the week.  i loaded in one of the auxiliary stages on wednesday, but then moved to the main stage for show call thursday through saturday.  despite the long hours, i actually really enjoyed myself because i was part of a good crew of stagehands.  the whole thing was quite the experience and i'm so glad i did it, but now that it's over i am looking forward to getting some much-needed sleep and having my schedule return to somewhat normal timing.

love, laurie

weekend biking

one of the other activities that we fit into our long fourth of july holiday weekend was a little bike ride before we went strawberry picking on a new trail that we hadn't biked before.  it had been awhile since the last time we were able to go out and explore a new-to-us trail, so we were excited to get the chance.  we really liked it and look forward to going back!

have a great weekend!

love, laurie

back-to-back concerts

the month of july is a busy one for shows at our local concert pavilion.  we had back-to-back concerts on sunday and monday with lady antebellum followed by the vans warped tour.  both days were early mornings and late nights which made for two very long exhausting days.  ryan worked the load in, the run of the show, and the load out for both days, and i was up there with him for each of the load ins and the load outs.

yesterday found me back up at the pavilion working the load in of camp bisco by myself while ryan was working another job.  it runs for several days so that's where i'll be for many, many hours this week running show call.  i'll be sure to share pictures of that craziness soon.

every single muscle in my body is sore.  sitting in a hot tub sounds glorious right about now!  does anyone out there have a hot tub i could borrow?!

ps: i'm extremely proud to be a woman doing the stagehand work that i do, so i found it interesting when i stumbled across this short documentary about female stagehands in the local 16 stagehands union in san francisco and i wanted to share it.

love, laurie

strawberry picking

over fourth of july weekend, we spent some time early monday afternoon picking strawberries at a local strawberry farm.  we absolutely love strawberry picking but we haven't been able to go the past few years.  the weather was beautiful, and it was so nice to be outside in a field full of the most wonderful aroma of warm strawberries in the summer sun.

we took a tractor ride out to the field, filled up our bucket (and our tummies), and then walked back to the car.  we left the farm with several pounds of fresh strawberries which we dug into when we got home!

love, laurie

knoebels amusement park

ryan and i really tried to take advantage of our long holiday weekend for the fourth of july and crammed in as many fun activities as we possibly could.  on sunday, we spent the day at knoebels amusement park.  both of us have been to knoebels in the past, but neither of us had been there since we were kids.  (i'm really not sure why it took us so long to get back there since it's only about 1 hour 20 minutes away from our house!)

knoebels is so unique because it is america's largest free admission amusement park (with free parking, free admission, free entertainment, and free picnic pavilions).  the whole park has such a great classic old-fashioned feel to it, and when you're there you really feel like you're stepping back in time a bit.

we found a great deal on ride tickets by purchasing them in advance the night before at a local grocery store.  we spent the entire day at the park and had a blast!  we both felt like little kids running around from ride to ride.  i didn't lug my big dslr camera around the park with me, but i did snap a bunch of photos on my phone of our day at knoebels . . .

^when we drove up and saw the "welcome to knoebels" sign over the road we both squealed like little kids because we were so excited!^

^the first ride we went on was "flying turns" which was a trackless roller coaster.  we absolutely loved it and neither of us have ever seen anything like it at any other amusement park!^

^we rode the scenic chairlift after lunch in order to take some time to digest.  the ride is 14 minutes long and the view of the park from the chairlift was great.^

^ryan and i were both excited for the motor boats.  i wanted him to drive, but he insisted that i do it.  oh my goodness, we were both laughing so hard that we were crying because i was so incredibly bad at it.  normally i'm a really good driver, but that boat had a mind of its own!  it was all over the place.  i felt like i was driving a car that had lost its power steering.  good thing that wasn't a test because i would have failed at getting my motor boat ride license for sure!^

^when we decided to go to knoebels the ride i was most excited for was this rocket ship slide because it was my favorite from when i was a kid.  i kept telling ryan about it and when we got to it he wasn't sure if he wanted to go on it!  he amazes me that he will go on crazy roller coasters but wasn't too sure about this little slide . . . as it turned out, he liked it after all and it was exactly the same as i remembered it from when i was a kid!^

^the old-fashioned train ride was super cute.  we both tried to squeeze into a seat together but ultimately decided to each take our own seats because we didn't fit!^

^the italian trapeze swings are always one of my favorites too!^

^another awesome thing about knoebels is that they have several museums in the park which are free, like the carousel museum which had so many animals from the late 1800s and early 1900s.  it was so neat to see them up close and how they were in such great condition even for being so old!^

^other than the rocket ship slide, my favorite ride is the grand carousel at knoebels.  it is over 100 years old and as the carousel goes around you can try to catch the brass rings if you get a horse on the outside of the carousel.  we both sat on the outside and had so much fun reaching for the brass rings.  (it is much easier as an adult than i remember it as a kid!)  i got 9 and ryan got 8 out of 10.

^we packed sandwiches from home for a picnic lunch and bought dinner at the park.  instead of grabbing something at one of the walk-up restaurants, we took a few minutes to rest our feet and enjoy the air conditioning at the alamo which is a sit-down restaurant in the middle of the park from 1926 (the year the park opened).  knoebels is known for its award-winning food so we tried several of their signature items off the menu.  the food was great and we even had leftovers to take home with us.^

^we digested our dinner before going on any other rides while sitting outside and watching some of the free entertainment.^

^the giant ferris wheel was great and had such a great view of the park^

^another free attraction at knoebels is the bald eagle habitat which is home to two bald eagles who we visited at the end of the night before we headed home.^

we had a great time and definitely can't wait to go back!

love, laurie