summer manifesto | kimberly ah

Jul 09 2013

Boston: Part 2

Day two was by far my favorite in our Boston getaway.

We spent the early afternoon at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. This was on our must-see list from the moment we started planning for Boston. I love JFK and the history of that time in America. We spent a few hours looking through the museum, but we could have spent days inside. I loved seeing the personal effects from Kennedy’s Oval Office desk, letters he wrote, hearing Jackie’s explanations of her White House years, and seeing pictures of the Kennedy clan sailing and summering along the Massachusetts beaches. I know that Presidential libraries give a rosy-colored view of a President’s place in history, but I still love the stories the JFK museum told.

After the museum, we headed over to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game. (The Green Monster is pictured above.) Fenway is the oldest ballpark in the Major Leagues, and catching a game there has been on my wish list since I was a kid. The Red Sox were playing the Toronto Blue Jays and I think the entire country of Canada came to see the game because the Jays fans were all over the stadium, which made it fun–lots of arguing among fans. (Boston takes their sports verrrrry seriously, which is why Naoto and I didn’t wear any Blackhawks gear on our trip!)

Naoto was very excited to see a Japanese pitcher come in for the Red Sox. Sadly for the Sox, Tazawa lost the game.

At Fenway, they do the 7th inning stretch like all of the other ballparks, but in the eighth inning, the whole park sings Sweet Caroline. This was my favorite part (with a close second being the two loud-mouthed “ladies” sitting near us getting admonished by security for their behavior.)

After the game, we walked to Basho, a modern sushi restaurant in the neighborhood. We enjoyed a lot of sushi and (as pictured above) a lot of Sapporo and sparkling wine. After dinner, we walked back to Fenway and had a drink at the bar in the outfield and then made the long walk back to Lauren and Mark’s (stopping at a bar along the way). It was a very full day!

Tagged adventures, summer

Jul 08 2013

3 Comments

adventures, summer manifesto

Boston: Part 1

Boston seems like a lifetime ago. I guess that happens with vacations…you wait so long for them and then they’re gone and you’re left with good memories and the desire for another vacation (one that doesn’t end with the flu, hopefully!)

Naoto and I had a super-early flight on Friday (5:30AM!) so our first day in Boston was LOOOONG! We stayed with Naoto’s college friends, Mark and Lauren. They were gracious hosts and wonderful tour guides! They took us to all of the touristy things we wanted to see and to some amazingly delicious restaurants and bars…We felt lucky to have such adventurous local hosts!

After a hearty breakfast, we did a ton of walking on our first day. We saw every part of the city on our weekend visit, and I would say most of that happened on Friday. We spent most of the day downtown Boston (pictured above: looking way up at the John Hancock Tower, and the reflection of Trinity Church in the Hancock Tower) and then exploring the sights along the Freedom Trail, a route you can walk along to see many of the historic places in Boston.

We went to the Boston Public Gardens and looked at the gorgeous flowers and the ducks and swans in the pond. (pictured above: George Washington was sporting a Bruins jersey in the Boston Public Garden, in spite of the fact that they lost the Stanley Cup to Chicago, and Naoto having a ride on the ducklings)

Next, we went to the Paul Revere house (pictured above). I love, love, love seeing homes of historic people. These “museums” are usually small and have a handmade quality to the exhibits. I love seeing old kitchens and thinking about how much work it was to make a simple meal each day. I love looking at the simple furnishings and dishes. I love walking up old stairs thinking that Paul Revere walked up those same stairs back in the 1700s. I love reading the little mundane details typed on card stock and listening to the docent’s simple speeches about the house. I wish I had lingered longer.

We walked along the path to the Old North Church and the Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, checking out little bits of history along the way until we were all walked out and decided to head home and get ready for dinner.

We had dinner at Stella, which is right in Mark and Lauren’s neighborhood. The food was amazing (I had the Braised Short Ribs & I’m dreaming of them now!) and the cocktails were fun. (That’s my Mango Vesper up above.) It was the perfect ending to day one.

I’ll be back tomorrow with Day Two!

Tagged adventures, cocktails, food, garden

Jul 01 2013

2 Comments

crafty adventures, summer manifesto

#30DOC Week 4

Thirty Days of Creativity is all wrapped up and I’m happy to say I finished, thanks to a little bit of help from July 1st. Even though I was behind pretty often throughout the month, I am convinced that I would have finished on time if we hadn’t been traveling (And if I hadn’t been so unorganized about getting ready to travel. My original intention was to bring some embroidery supplies to work on during the flight and during down time. I didn’t get my supplies together in time, and as it turns out, there was no down time and flying makes me feel too gross to craft on the plane.) I didn’t achieve my original goals of finishing more art projects for our home and stretching myself artistically. I mainly stuck in my comfort zone (mail art, cocktails…) But, I had fun creating…creating for no reason other than the mere enjoyment of it. Here’s a look at my last projects (including a bonus one!)

6/23 Vesper martinis, 6/24 letter set made with resist embossing & a tie-dye technique, 6/25 galaxy (for a future project), 6/26 artwork celebrating the end of DOMA (a joint project with Naoto who did the calligraphy), 6/27 patriotic mail art (completed on 7/1), 6/28 a perfectly packed bag (my packing skills deserve their own blog post) & a mini summer celebration in an envelope (completed on 7/1), 6/29 another patriotic mail art (completed on 7/1) and 6/30 a stack of Boston postcards!!

That’s everything, and one big thing crossed off of my Summer Manifesto. I’ll be back tomorrow to share more of a manifesto update before I talk about Boston. It’s such a beautiful day out today and I’m anxious to see how our garden is growing!!

Tagged cocktails, crafts, diy, mail art, rubber stamp, snail mail, summer, washi tape

Jun 27 2013

4 Comments

adventures, summer manifesto

Boston Bound

Naoto and I are Boston bound!! Presley is less than happy about it, too. (Thankfully our friend Karen is on call from across the hall to take care of our little furry girl!)

Our flight is ridiculously early, but we are super excited for our first vacation since Iowa last year. Neither of us has ever been to Boston and there’s a long list of things we want to do and see. (Mine includes stocking up on Necco candy!) And, we’re staying with friends so we’ll have two locals to guide us around and show us the best Dunkin Donuts in the city. (I’m only half kidding…heading to Massachusetts is like heading to our coffee home land!)

So, I still have to pack our clothes and things, and–most importantly–my address book and postcard stamps. Our flight leaves in a few hours…before the crack of dawn.

I’ll be back next week to share some pictures and details. Have a good weekend!

Tagged adventures, coffee, summer

Jun 25 2013

3 Comments

crafty adventures, snail mail, summer manifesto

#30DOC Week 3

This week was another “catch-up” week. It’s like I lost all steam. But the end is near, and it would be silly to quit now! I was tempted to count my new tomato as a “creation” but let’s be honest…it did that without much help from me. Besides, it’s bad enough that I’m counting cocktails!

From the top: 6/16 Letherbee gin & tonics (recommended by Kathy & Chicago-made), 6/17 popsicle themed mail (I stayed up super-late writing letters & had so much fun making these!), 6/18 more mail art, 6/19 birthday card (made at work), 6/20 pun card (made at work…I love a good pun), 6/21 another pun card (I’m not proud of these), 6/22 notecard

If I create something tonight (which I will), I will be all caught up. And, even though we are traveling over the weekend, I’m hoping to remain on track and finish strong.

Tagged cocktails, crafts, diy, mail art, snail mail, summer, washi tape

Jun 19 2013

2 Comments

Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, summer manifesto

Garden Update: We Have a Tiny Tomato

The garden is booming with excitement this week. We went last night to water and check on the progress and I found a teeny, tiny Juliet tomato!! (Pictured above in the center of the picture…isn’t she a beaut?) I couldn’t contain my giddiness! All of our other tomato plants (the two Big Boys, the Brandywine and the three Early Girls) have blooms but so far the Juliet is in the lead.

Everything else is doing well, except the loofah that never grew and the slug-devoured limas are still up in the air. We’ve harvested a few daikon and they are pretty small…tasty, but small. We want to buy another pack of seeds and try them again.

This weekend, when we aren’t eating and working, we will be gardening. We can’t wait very much longer to get a handle on our vining plants. So far they are behaving, but it’s only a matter of time…

Tagged food, forest park, garden, gardening, summer

Jun 17 2013

1 Comment

crafty adventures, summer manifesto

#30DOC Week 2

This week was a lot harder to manage because life got in the way…in a good way! We had some unexpected get-togethers with our neighbors last week, which is always a good thing in my book. I used my Sunday afternoon to catch up on a few days, but now I’m back and ready to stay on track this week. I have a few projects planned, so that should help with the “what should I make today?” dilemma. This is what I created during week 2:

From the top: 6/8 etagmai practice, 6/9 somen, 6/10 handmade business cards, 6/11 sun tea, 6/12 Father’s Day mail art, 6/13 rope plant hanger (using this simple tutorial by Elise) 6/14 glittered bomb pop stationery, 6/15 glittered neon stationery (I’m clearly in a glitter mood! Both glittered stationery projects used the Sakura Quickie Glue Pen from my Little Red Toolbox.)

Tagged crafts, mail art, snail mail, tea, washi tape

Jun 08 2013

3 Comments

crafty adventures, summer manifesto

#30DOC Week 1

I’ve been working through my 30 Days of Creativity Challenge all week. Like a champ. Of course, it’s only the first week–the real challenge will be keeping up the momentum all month. Here’s what I’ve been working on:

From the top: 6/1 plant markers, 6/2 handcrafted cocktails, 6/3 two handmade thank yous, 6/4 one handmade envelope and three more pieces of mail art, 6/5 this (free) pattern from Wild Olive (I loved making this! Thanks, Mollie!), 6/6 water colored stationery & envelope (I’m really enjoying playing around with water coloring things lately!) and 6/7 a kitty donut in honor of National Donut Day (from this Wild Olive Donut Shop pattern) I’m a little disappointed in my execution of the kitty pattern…I think I might need to re-do some of the stitches…I don’t feel like my interpretation is fulfilling kitty’s cuteness potential!

I’ve just been winging it each day, but the next two weeks are looking much busier, so I might have to plan out my creative projects to ensure I’m carving out the right amount of time for them. Also, I’m finding myself sticking in my comfort zone and not stretching myself…the whole purpose of this project (for me) is to get a jump start on a few artsy things on my Summer Manifesto…I must try harder!

Tagged crafts, diy, garden, gardening, rubber stamp, summer

May 29 2013

11 Comments

adventures, Forest Park, Oak Park, gardening, homemaking, summer manifesto

SUMMER MANIFESTO 2013

Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer.

Last year, I created a summer manifesto–a list of activities, projects to accomplish and things to learn during the summer months. I was really happy with my progress! While I didn’t accomplish everything on the list, it was still fun to keep the manifesto in mind as I made summer plans. It made me prioritize the important things of summer, like sitting outside and eating fresh fruits and cool popsicles. I had a great time documenting everything in a little photo book (which I completed but never shared the final product here…would it be weird to share it a year later?) I plan to do the same thing this year. I’ve already purchased this book in neon pink so I’m ready to get started!

This summer I will:

* embrace the mornings (as in, get up and get something done before noon!)

* tend to the gardens (balcony & community garden plot)

* take advantage of our Farmers Market in Forest Park (It’s in an inconvenient location & happens on Friday nights, but I want to support it so it sticks around!)

* travel to Boston

* take my camera out more often and practice

* make an anniversary gift (due on Sunday!!)

* master three more cocktails (Summer-y ones with in-season ingredients would be awesome!)

* host a Hawaii-themed party (We thought we were all partied out, but by mid-summer we’ll be itching for something new to plan!)

* paint the bedroom (It’s the last big, nagging thing on my home improvement list!)

* create three pieces of art for our home (I have ideas…it’s the execution I’m lacking…)

* participate fully in 30 Days of Creativity (I love a good month-long challenge.)

* start working on my zine idea (I’ve had the idea floating around for two years now…it’s time to get started. I have no dreams of selling it, I just want to create it.)

And three more from last year…

* find the ice cream truck

* wear sunscreen & sun hats

* document summer & finish my summer minibook

Of course, Naoto will be along for the ride, and a real participant in some of the things like traveling to Boston, tending the garden, chasing the ice cream man, drinking the cocktails and painting the bedroom (ahem…)

I can’t wait to get started!

How about you? Any summer have-tos on your list?

Tagged adventures, crafts, summer

May 08 2013

12 Comments

adventures, gardening, summer manifesto

Getting Started…

I headed over to the garden plot this afternoon to tackle the weed situation in our plot. As you can tell from above, things were pretty weedy…but our plot wasn’t the worst one, so that made me feel a little bit better as I kneeled down and started pulling. Most of the weeds came out relatively easily, but several of them were really rooted. I have callouses on my hands from all the tugging. I kept thinking, as I was bending over, the drivers sitting at the light on Harlem must see me like one of those “old lady butts” that used to be popular garden decorations. (Do you remember those? No? Maybe it was a regional thing? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s an example of one.)

I found this tiny, soft carrot during the weed pulling.

After weeding, I started hauling mulch to our plot. The community garden had a huge mulch delivery that we are all welcome to use. I hauled five buckets to our plot, which was dirty work, thanks to a mulch avalanche onto my feet and the fact that I was doing everything with my tiny garden spade instead of a proper shovel.

After two hours of weeding and hauling, I had this to enjoy:

There is a plant in the corner (garlic maybe?) that I didn’t weed out. I’m not sure what it is and I know I don’t want to keep it, but it’s so big that I think I’ll need a shovel to get it out (instead of my tiny gardening spade). Naoto and I will be back at the garden this weekend to take care of the mystery plant. We’ll plant our seeds and tomato and pepper plants then, too. I am really excited! I’m looking forward to more afternoons of dirty feet and dirty hands this summer!