hello there! 

we made it safe and sound to california...and flying was everything i hoped and wished it would be...minus a scary tiny first plane ride to chicago that made me a bit uneasy. (the terror in the flight attendants voice during take off didn't help one bit..haha). but the girls gave me the window seat both flights. i got to see the landscape change...the ground mapped and gridded...and the grand canyon 33,000 feet up! i don't know i have the words...

i know flying is so commonplace, and i was a little disappointed in myself that i started feeling so normal after the first 5 minutes, but it really was pretty fantastic...sitting up in the clouds, drinking ginger ale and thinking joni mitchell was sitting in coach 3 rows up (she was not). 

i'm feeling pretty lucky this morning. enough so that it's 6 o'clock in the morning here in l.a and i'm wide awake. oh dear. 

happy monday, friends! and thank you all so much for the wonderful list of things to try and see! i'm beyond excited to be here. but ache for my boys the most. if you're in ohio, go check in on them for me...i blow a kiss their direction. 

xoxo

a few things...

1. i've been the worst blogger this week. maybe for the past few, even! every deadline i have, professionally and personally, fell right on this week. ack! i'm a little bit overwhelmed...and my brain is nothing but swimmy. but really that's nothing a little tea and 5 "to-do" lists can't handle! hopefully i'll be able to catch back up here soon! until then...hello! i hope everyone is having a wonderful last week of september!

2. the paint by number mural i started in buddy's art studio is very very not so much finished. hmph! but thank you all so so much for the sweet comments on it. i will say max came home and was over the moon when he saw it. he wants to help me finish it now! i will have pictures very soon...but not too soon because...

3. i'm out of here for a whole week starting sunday! i'm jetting off with my amy and friend beth to los angelas for a girl's week away. we're staying with lovely friends and have absolutely no idea what we're going to get ourselves into. but i'm making us all autograph books just in case!

i haven't been on an airplane in almost 20 years. needless to say, i am beside myself excited and also a tad terrified...if only for having to take off my shoes at security. 

if anyone has any wonderful suggestions for things to do while we're in southern california or tried and true airplane tips, please chime in! this gal hasn't been further west than missouri. true story!

i was planning on having some guest posters lined up while i'm gone but i decided i'm going to bring you along with me instead! i'll be popping in here and there with, hopefully, funny "katie had a panic attack on the airplane" stories and lots of pictures of palm trees and sun.

xoxo

the fishing hole

it's been a tradition for matt's mama's family to travel north to hillman, michigan to fish at fletcher's pond once a year. they've been doing it for decades now...starting when his mama was a little girl. this was me and max's first year going...and our very first fishing trip ever.

i was a little bit nervous, not knowing what kind of fisherman i would be. but the week turned out to be so much more than fishing...it was seeing sunrises and sunsets, family dinners around the table, evening hammock naps by the water, getting dirty without a care, watching my little guy gain a whole new confidence and sense of self. but more than anything it was about being together. totally present with one another.
i could go for another week of that soon soon soon.
matt and his twin brother todd were the best fishing teachers...me and max were real pros by the end of the week. or anyways, we had a wonderful time. even if we did catch more weeds than fish.

this is my northern pike! my very first catch.
i was going to name it and give it a back story until i finished reeling it in...and realized that pike don't like names. or back stories. they only like having scary teeth and squealing the worst sounding squeals and violently flopping about.
(and yes, that is a complete over-exaggeration...but this is my one and only big fish story...so...)
the incredible mr. limpet (i named him anyways) was too small to be a keeper so we kindly threw him back...back to live at coney island and help win WWII.
don knotts would surely not approve.

it was a beautiful trip...northern michigan is really something!
the stars are bigger than any i've ever seen before.
and the world gained a couple of new fisherman...

p.s. max wanted to tell you all a little bit about his trip!

from mr. max...dictated but not read.
matt teached me how to cast his pole. and i did learn how to cast his pole. when i went on the boat on my last day i caught a bass. and me and matt and todd and me and my mom we were so excited that i caught my first bass! and my mom caught a northern pike. and matt caught two bass. and i missed the place that i spent the day with. i can't wait to go there again next year. and i hope everybody that's already living there has a great time.

xoxo

gold coast

we're back safe and sound from our michigan getaway.

thank you all so so much for the well-wishing!

it was a beautiful, peaceful, fill your lungs with good air, lay back and rest kind of week away...everything a vacation should be! lots of driving, eating new foods...taking in new sights, sleeping in bunk beds, and sunburnt shoulders.

monday, max and i kicked off our vacation with a day trip to new buffalo with my amy and austin. the beaches there are as lovely as brown sugar...and the water and waves of lake michigan had us all fooled. it's as close to the ocean as a midwestern gal can get...

happy happy monday, loves!

and hello to you, august! you always seem to show up a little bit too early...but we're going to keep carrying on anyway.

i'll be back tomorrow with pictures from our fishing trip. 

here's the good news...i caught my first fish! 

the bad news? it screamed at me. hissed really. either way i turned into a real girl about it.

xoxo

waves and sand

dear lake michigan, 

they tell us you're not the ocean, but we're convinced otherwise.

happy friday, loves!

i'll be back monday with lots of big fish stories and pictures to match.

i can't wait to sit and catch up on what you all have been up to this week!

xoxo

a boat beneath a sunny sky

we're packing up and headed north for a week of fishing in michigan. 

i've never really been fishing before...so an entire week of it has me a bit nervous. 

but i'm anxious to see what kind of fisherman gal i turn out to be! who knows...maybe i'll be a decent one. and at the very least, max and i can sit on the boat and give names and back stories to the grubs. 

i was going to take the week off of blogging, but i decided to stock pile a few odds and ends to share with you while i'm away...some camera and photo editing information, a closer look at my tattoos, and some of my summer favorite people and places and eats.

happy weekend, friends...and happy last week of july! 

wish me luck. i'm off to go make some cut off jean shorts. ack!

xoxo