Slow Progress

I've been working on a lot of unexciting house stuff these last few days.  Painting, pulling up carpet, cleaning, etc, but hopefully soon I'll get to the more fun parts - like buying furniture!  But, I'm working my way through the painting and major basement overhaul first, so I can have the windows open while I work.  It is getting so cold outside -- I keep wondering where summer went!


I'm working on the porch today, I can no longer stand the bright country yellow paint.  So, it is getting painted a light grey.  We'll also be replacing the carpeting on the porch, but that may wait until the spring. right now it is forest green. Ack.  At least it will be a little better with the walls painted.

Despite the awful color scheme out on the porch, I've been loving spending time out there.  It is really nice to be able to enjoy it now that the temps have gone down a bit and it isn't like a sauna in there.
After all of our hard work the last few days, I decided to make us a wonderful dinner last night.  It is my specialty chicken zuchinni curry with flat noodles.

I was thrilled to find there were a few oriental grocery stores in Sioux Falls.  There will be many more curries to come this fall!  :)

So Happy!!

Congrats to my beautiful sister Amy, and her new husband Zach!!  I am so happy for you guys.  Isn't my sister beautiful!!

Her and my other sister Molly:

Her and I (and my June Carter hairdo!)

Amy and our Cousin Adrianna - her flower girl.

Adrianna's older sister Alexandra was Nate and I's flower girl! :) See? That was almost three years ago!

The wedding was really great, and it is was wonderful to see my sister so happy. :)

The Last Few Weeks, In Short

Recap of the last few weeks:

Pack. Pack. Pack.  Our apartment was a bit like a maze for a while.  I had to move out of my studio at the university - bring all of my stuff to our apartment, and then pack up the rest of our apartment.  I was exhausted.

When the movers came to pack the truck, we put the cats in one of the back closets.  They were seriously weirded out when they came out and our entire apartment was empty.  They ran from each room into the next meowing in confusion!  poor them!

It was a little bit nuts when we made the first trek to South Dakota - it was a 9 1/2 hour drive from Illinois, and we stopped in Wisconsin to visit the parents and Nate's brother.  

The trek across Minnesota is the most boring part of the journey though...  it is disheartening to hear the garmin say "Continue 290 miles" -- Ouch...  But, on the plus side, there is very little traffic!  

When we arrived, we stayed in Sioux Falls for the night, and got up the next morning to buy our new (to us) house!  It is a little 3 bedroom 1960's ranch with a finished basement.  We are so excited to start making it ours.  :)

The living room:

My studio:

(I've already painted it and ripped down those hotel-style curtains! )

The former owners really liked blinds...

So, it is a giant work in progress, but I can't wait to get her looking beautiful!

But don't worry, it hasn't been all unpacking/cleaning/driving/painting...  Nate and I took a break last week to celebrate our 3rd wedding anniversary!  We've been together for over 10 years total, and he's still on my good side -- Major accomplishment!!

To celebrate we went into Sioux Falls, had a wonderful lunch at "K" Restaurant, and did some shopping.  It was lovely!

Supercell

So as you may have noticed, I have been a bit absent.  In the last few weeks we've packed up my studio and our apartment, moved almost 600 miles (from Illinois to South Dakota), closed on a house, unpacked, drove to Wisconsin and photographed the wedding of some great friends, and occasionally slept.
Things have been a bit chaotic- but the good kind of chaotic.


Last night, we saw this supercell thunderstorm go just north of our town, and then we drove out to a hilltop and took some photos of it as it moved away from us.

I couldn't believe how much lightning there was.  We just sat outside and watched it for about a half hour before the mosquitoes drained us dry.

It was awesome.

In other news, I'm back to my regularly scheduled blogging.

Thrifted Recently:

A dress from the 80's, brand new, t-shirt material.  Fits wonderfully. :)

A couple of belts to wear over long cardigans.  The leather one used to have a whole bunch of weird charms and coins hanging off of it, but I pried them all off, and now have a cute leather belt.



An awesome blanket - it is 100% wool and looks brand new.  And, it is yellow ochre, the color that makes me weak in the knees.



And last but not least, a couple of handmade ceramic pieces.  They are both really nice!

The Last Few Days

It has been a bit hectic around here these last few days.  We are in the midst of packing and all I want to do is work in the studio.  Our friend Johnny came down to visit, and we went to the Drive By Truckers concert here in town, and then the next day we went in to Chicago to visit my BFF Tony and his wonderful boyfriend.  It was a great day of gallery hopping, eating, and a little shopping.  I hope I can make it in to the city one more time before we move out to South Dakota.  *fingers crossed*

Unfortunately I forgot my camera on both occasions, so here are some images from the last few days:

Sunset

Simple dinner at home with Nate

Progress on some paintings.

Other than that, the last few days have been a bit chaotic -- some ups and downs.  Hopefully things will come to a nice even keel once we are moved and settled in.  

--Cassie

Fundraiser!

Hi all,

My good friend Ann is putting on a fundraiser for Sarah, a friend of hers who is really in need of some help.  You can read about Sarah's brave fight here:  Sarah's Story

If you can spare some change, and are looking for some nice artwork, check out the fundraiser here:  http://fundraiserwithart.blogspot.com/

Here is my piece for the fundraiser - it is watercolor:  8" x 11" on 11" x 15" paper.



Thanks guys!
--Cassie

The Weekend

Hi all,
I had a lovely weekend starting with a lunch with a good friend, a visit from Nate's parents, and a little bit of relaxing.  While thrifting I found this lovely over-sized cameo locket:

It is about 2 inches tall, and is the perfect length and makes whatever I wear that day significantly fancier.
That night Nate and I had a nice relaxing dinner at home.  I made us some d-lish Shrimp Scampi which is super easy to make (especially when you use pre-cooked shrimp.)

The recipe is so simple, you just put 3 tbsp of butter, 1/2 tsp salt, 3 cloves garlic minced (I just used a garlic press), 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, and 2  tbsp of lime(or lemon) juice in a frying pan and heat it up on medium until the butter is melted, and the garlic starts to cook.  Then add 1 lb of pre-cooked shrimp, and cook it until everything is heated through.  Lastly, add cooked and drained linguine and lightly toss everything together.  Taste it then, and add more butter/oil/salt as needed.  It is super easy to make and WELL worth the effort.
For the Fourth, Nate's parents came to visit, and they told us about their trip to France that they just got back from, and while the men went golfing, Nate's mom and I did a little shopping.  We grilled out for dinner and had a nice relaxing night in.  Also, Nate's dad picked this out for me from an antique sale he was at:

Cuute!
I'm also working on a few other side projects, but I'll post those when I get a little further along.