4th of July and Trip to Michigan

Set your sights on PURE MICHIGAN.

The ads are pretty catchy, but it took me a while to figure out how pretty Michigan actually is.  I went home to visit the parents while Bry went to Lake of the Ozarks with some buddies. (His story turns out to be not suitable for posting on the blog - but he promises me that he did behave.  Just think what you're find in a place called "Party Cove.")  Anywho - I waited until late Friday night to leave for MI.  There was still 3 lanes of traffic the ENTIRE way back to Michigan which was totally unusual for 11 PM.  

I did get safely there and even got to sleep in without the pressure of having to wake up for work.  It was quite liberating.  My parents made me breakfast and coffee - heaven.  Then mom took me shopping at Kohl's for some summer clothes.  We followed this with a trip to Ivelise's Yarn Shop.

The yarn store had a good selection of Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Cascade and other big names, as well as some nice Michigan local yarn.  I did purchase some nice cushy wool to make a shawl.  We also found some samples of Rozetti Marina.  This is a funky new yarn that creates wonderful ruffles.  It is a pretty quick knit - but not mindless like regular yarn.  The other I don't like about it is that you can basically only make a scarf.  However, I am making 2 of these and they will likely be Christmas gifts. 

I quite enjoyed the yarn shop.  The owners were super friendly and helpful.  I am not that difficult a person to whom to sell yarn - this is well established.  But I walked away with yarn for 2 more shawls, the 2 Marina scarves and a couple of free patterns.

Lastly we went to downtown St. Joseph, Michigan.  Many people are surprised that St. Joe is a big tourist destination, especially for the Chicago crowd.  This weekend there were way more IL cars than MI ones in downtown.  We went to a bunch of cute shops downtown and ate lunch at a great restaurant, Beachside Deli.  This is a nice little Mediterranean restaurant on the main drag of St. Joe.  We had a nice time there and enjoyed some time just for us.

Later that night my Cousin, Morgan, joined us.  She was en route back to Washington, D.C. and decided to stop in.  We convinced her to stay an extra day and made a great Girls Only weekend of it - with Dad acting as our Chef and Banker.  We went out for dinner (horrible, really) and drinks with friends Abby, Mike and Brian.  The next day we went to Church, the beach, and a wonderful grill out luncheon before heading to the Round Barn Winery for dinner and wine/beer tasting, again with Abby, Mike and Brian.  We are excited to have Abby and Mike coming to visit us later this summer - and were happy to see Brian who is visiting home from China for a few weeks.

 I LOVE grilling out

 While this picture is horrible - the grilled Eggplant was TERRIFIC.

 Desserts from Bit of Swiss bakery.

 MORGAN

 Lincoln Township Beach

 Brian - wine tasting with his Schnoz.

 Each year downtown St. Joe has sculptures on the corner supported by local businesses and individuals.  This was one of our favorites - a collage of all kinds of materials.  This year the theme was "Farm Animals".