Chicago — Bill Peet

My favorite author EVER is Bill Peet. Seriously. I *heart* Bill Peet.

He's probably one of the first authors I remember, so I was THRILLED to see an exhibit in Chicago when I was there.


Getting to see the sketches and book pages with the editing marks totally ROCKED!


And the exhibit was so informative ... I never knew he was a Disney artist!

Chicago — for Mike

When Mike learned I'd be in Chicago shortly after Obama was elected President (thus making him president-elect), he said "bring me back something Obama!" ... but with limited suitcase space, this picture will have to do, Shep. Sorry. :-(

It was interesting to just prowl the streets of Chicago. I don't know the "mood' of it normally, but I did see a LOT of Obama pins on lapels ... of people old, young, black, white ... it didn't matter. Seems people are proud.


And THIS was truly a treat! I stayed with Erik's buddy (and best man), Matt, who is a producer at one of the TV stations in Chicago. I watched a few shows from the control room (which is a loud, crazy place, even if only 3 people are in there!).

Chicago — the bean

Check this out. Isn't it fun??!??!?!??!?! I've seen it on several photo friends' blogs, and when I knew I had a day to kill in Chicago, the bean was on my LIST! (The day before Lori and Derek's KILLER engagement session!)


And here I am in it! (the blob in the light blue).


And closer yet .... yeah, it was COLD. My nose was bright red and my toosh was icy cold.


I totally dug this image. I wonder how it would look w/ no people ... just buildings. Sort of surreal. The buildings look all funky and out of whack on the left, but ... oh, they're normal on the right. Phew! ;-)


The above photo is probably my favorite, favorite, favorite photo from the bean. It's 100% reflections. Just cool, moody and imaginative.

Cook Top & Floor Cleaning

I *never* thought I'd be one of those girls who would try a variety of cleaning products to find magic ... but I have become that.

My research was done while watching HGTV. Nothing formal, just watching commercials that looked promising.

I started with the Scotch Brite Cook Top Cleaner.


There was LOTS of promise, but for all of the scrubbing, I went through 2-3 scrubbing pads, but the stains held fast. :-(

Yet another commercial made promises, and after a failed Scotch Brite, I was not convinced.

But boy, did Mr. Clean EVER deliver!!!!!!!!!

I inherited Erik's kitchen ... fairly new appliances, but with about 4 years worth of boiled over chili on the cook top .... and now it's (mostly) gone! THANK YOU MR. CLEAN!!!!!!!

AND last week, Erik attacked the dirty grout on the kitchen floor ... and it looks UH-MAAAAZING! No matter how much scrubbing I'd done on the floor before, it just never looked clean. But now .... it's fantastic!

Christmas Cookie Time!

My most favorite part of making Christmas cookies is .... eating the dough the night before. :-)

This ritual was done annually while growing up ... and I'm excited to show Erik the art of sneaking cookie dough in the middle of the night. Robin and Chris will be around to do the baking. And good for them. We'll leave the baking to them and the cookie dough eating to US!

(notice the Christmas tree cookie cutter? Mom always said cookies shaped as Christmas trees taste the best).

A nutty mess.....

On NPR the other evening, I was listening to this story about how squirrels might be in trouble b/c there is a shortage of acorns. It certainly seems silly. Ok, I totally laughed out loud when I heard it. But .... if you need a good laugh, CLICK HERE


Our family has a silly obsession with squirrels, so the photo below absolutely cracked me up.

Crossover — Hindu/Christian Wedding

Ooooooooooook. I've been waiting a LONG time to post this. But I wouldn't dream of doing it w/o the heads up from the primary shooter of the day.

Aren't these eyes hot, hot, hot?!!?!?!???!


In early September, I went back to California to help my buddy, Jessica, shoot a 3-day Hindu/Christian wedding. Wow. It was so incredibly awesome! I LOVE experiencing other cultures and learning about their religious customs/traditions. I seriously EAT IT UP.

Speaking of eating, I couldn't get enough of the freakin' awesome Indian food!


And I'll close with a few dancing images.

Being at an Indian dance was incredible! IT was so cool! EVERYONE danced, no matter how young, old, male or female they were. Even the older guys were out on the floor busting a move! It was freakin' awesome!


My favorite photo of the day:


To view the entire post, please CLICK HERE.

WINNER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Back to some more ERB love.

One of the first things Karen told me about when we were dating was her family's "Snow Breakfast." When she first mentioned this Mikols family phenomenon, I was scratching my head. Did their whole family sit around and eat snow and snow-related products? Did they eat things out of the freezer and call it snow? I was confused.

Luckily, Karen straightened me out. The "Snow Breakfast" was a family contest dating back more than a decade. The Mikols' family members (or those married into the Mikols family ... meaning Chris Laws, Robin's husband, and myself) get together in the fall and attempt to guess the first day it will snow in Wichita.

Long story short — The Notorious ERB (me) was the first individual not named Mikols to win the "Snow Breakfast" trophy when two independent sources confirmed snow on the east side of Wichita on Friday, Nov. 28. Now, the trophy will be prominently displayed at our abode in Salina. YES!!!!!!!!!!!

It feels good to be a part of the family. :-)

NOW you can start with the Christmas stuff

It's IRRITATING as heck that the radio stations have been playing Christmas music before Thanksgiving. Seriously.

Even Lowe's had Christmas trees IN the store BEFORE Halloween.

Out of control.

Anyhow, I'm learning how to use my new camera, so here's the first video I took with it. :-)

This gave me a giggle ...

... and since I'm violently opposed to forwarding e-mails, I'll just post it here, because it's freakin' hysterical, as well as being in the spirit of the season.


The Parrot

A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad
attitude and an even worse vocabulary. Every word out of the bird's mouth
was rude, obnoxious, and laced with profanity.

John tried and tried to change the bird's attitude by consistently saying
only polite words, playing soft music, and anything else he could think of
to "clean up" the bird's vocabulary.

Finally, John was fed up, and he yelled at the parrot. The parrot yelled
back. John shook the parrot, and the parrot got angrier and even more rude.
John, in desperation, threw up his hand; grabbed the bird; and put him in
the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed.

Suddenly, there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute.
Fearing he'd hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto John's outstretched arms.... and said,
"I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions. I'm
sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend
to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior."

John was stunned at the change in the bird's attitude. As he was about to
ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the
bird continued, "May I ask what the turkey did?"

HAPPY EARLY THANKSGIVING