Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 38

These photos provide a quick peek into my life from the past seven days. I am continuing to work on living my imagined life and appreciating all of the small things. If you would like to follow my photos, my username on Instagram is mrsmoon, I will happily follow you back!

The best smoothie…spinach, strawberries, and fresh pineapple.

Asparagus for dinner, picked out of my parents garden.

Aunt Lorraine and I spent some quality time together over the weekend baking German chocolate cupcakes. 

 Aunt Lorraine’s lily of the valley.

Mom made the trip to Lafayette on Monday to pick out some new light fixtures. We also checked out Bennett’s greenhouses. 

 Potting house plants on the kitchen floor.

On Tuesday I received a phone call asking if they could show our house in an hour. I turned into a vacuuming-dusting machine. While I was kicked out of the house, I visited the neighborhood Goodwill and found this treasure, a four quart vintage Pyrex bowl. The bowl is more pink than this photo suggests.

I was at Trader Joe’s yesterday and thought this would be an adventurous snack. It was peculiarly spicy and fishy at the same time. It is not likely that I will go on this adventure again…

I finally visited the Container Store in Indianapolis. All of the storage and organizations solutions were fun to check out…plus I have a fondness for boxes.

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 37

These photos provide a quick peek into my life from the past seven days. I am continuing to work on living my imagined life and appreciating all of the small things. If you would like to follow my photos, my username on Instagram is mrsmoon, I will happily follow you back!

 I was sad to say goodbye to Picnik this week. Hopefully I will soon find a comparable program that can make collages. Any suggestions?

Last Friday Josh and I dined on ahi tuna and steaks while strangers perused our home. Hopefully we can sell it soon. We went house hunting last night and I am excited to start working on our next house in Indianapolis!

On Saturday we drove to Northwest Indiana to take some senior photos. (I plan on sharing a few with you soon) We went out to dinner with my parents at the Lighthouse. The food was outstanding as usual and I loved dinning lakeside.

On Sunday I spent some quality time baking with my sister. We made lemon  crinkle cookies.

I found this 1944 edition of The Wizard of Oz at Goodwill. The book has several quirky illustrations and it makes a nice addition to our at home library. 

Lilacs picked form our yard. 

 An evening stroll.

They may not be palm trees, but the view from our front porch is still pretty. 

 Homemade sweet and sour chicken.

Attempting to be creative at work. 

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, lifeonleroy

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 36

These photos provide a quick peek into my life from the past seven days. I am continuing to work on living my imagined life and appreciating all of the small things. If you would like to follow my photos, my username on Instagram is mrsmoon. 

1. Easter lily from Josh’s mom. She, like many family members, supports my flower habit.  

2. Easter egg dying round two. I found out that you can use lemon juice as a vinegar substitute in the dyeing process. (disclaimer: the colors will not be as vibrant)

3. My first attempt at deviled eggs, garnished with chives picked from our garden.  My mom and dad hosted a fantastic Easter lunch with an exorbitant amount of food. 

4. Alyssa and I perused three Goodwill locations on half off Saturday. I bought this citrus juicer. Now when recipes call for lemon juice, I no longer have to squeeze lemons with my fingers.

5. This week I learned how to make tiny flower arrangements in tea cups, yet another use for that stockpile of teacups I have.

6. Turquoise vintage Pyrex has been on my thrift hunt list for awhile now. I finally found a reasonable-ish priced dish and it matches our kitchen perfectly.

7. We have been kicked out of our house several times around dinner over the last couple weeks for showings. On Wednesday we walked over to Igloo Frozen Custard to have some burgers and fries while strangers roamed our home. Tonight we have two showings, so Outback is calling our name.

8. Coincidentally, both book clubs that I participate in picked nonfiction stories relating to WWII. Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, is the best book I have read in a long time. Louis Zamperini’s story is incredibly inspiring and I am motivated to learn more about WWII and the greatest generation.

9. Last weekend Josh and I went to see the Hunger Games. I liked the movie, but still recommend reading the book before seeing it. 

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, lifeonleroy

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 35

Working on asymmetrical arrangements at the flower shop. 

These photos provide a quick peek into my life from the past seven days. I am continuing to work on living my imagined life and appreciating all of the small things. If you would like to follow my photos, my username on Instagram is mrsmoon. 

1. New shoes from Goodwill. (They still had the tags on, in case you think this is gross)

2. Finished reading In the Garden of Beasts this week. This non-fiction book was not a fun, easy read, but I appreciated learning about Hitler’s Berlin prior to WWII.

3. Frozen custard with homemade chocolate chip cookies.

4. Thursday night dinner: three cheese stuffed shells with fresh herbs.

5. I dyed Easter eggs and drank margaritas with Mom and Alyssa on Sunday… a family tradition that all over the age of 21 should adopt.

6. Perused my favorite antique shop this week. I showed some restraint since we will hopefully be moving soon. If anyone wants me to go back and buy this large bust let me know.

7. My sister had a birthday yesterday. She is not a fan of cake, so I made her a tower of brownies, sprinkles and skittles.

8. The birthday girl recently mentioned how she appreciates dandelions, so she received a dandelion bouquet.

9. The Pioneer Woman’s baked  lemon pasta received good reviews at the Moon house.  

 Daffodils along the fence, a birthday present from Aunt Lorraine.

Pretty pansies in another one of Maribeth’s creations. 

                               linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, lifeonleroy

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 34

Josh and I spent the last week enjoying sunshine (with lots of sunscreen) and theme parks in Orlando with family.

1. We spent one day in the Magic Kingdom. The park was open until 1:00 AM and we enjoyed every minute of it. It was amusing riding Space Mountain at midnight.

2. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This section of Universal’s Island of Adventure captured the tiniest details of the Harry Potter series. If it wasn’t for the herd of tourists, I would have been convinced that I was walking through Diagon Alley.

3. The weather was fantastic the entire time we were in Florida. Sunny, no rain, warm, but not too hot. We enjoyed one day poolside. Just a book, a cocktail and some palm trees made me a happy girl.

4. The Toy Story Midway Mania at Disney’s Hollywood Studios is a very entertaining ride. The family could count on me to have the lowest score on the shooting rides, luckily if aliens attack, I am married to Josh the sharp shooter.

5. Hollywood Studios.

6. Benihana for dinner.

7. My first trip to Universal Studios! The lines were so short we walked right up to the rides on several occasions. 

8. Last night we returned home. More and more of my flowers are popping up. It makes me sad to think about leaving them all behind. We had six showings while we were gone. Hopefully we get an offer on our house soon.

9. I was the official hair Houdini on the trip. I was responsible for creating fun hairdos. 

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, letbirdzfly, lifeonleroy

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 32 & 33

These photos provide a quick peek into my life from the past fourteen days. This week I took a ton of photos of the flowers growing in our yard. I love this time of year in Indiana. I am continuing to work on living my imagined life and appreciating all of the small things. If you would like to follow my photos, my username on Instagram is mrsmoon.  

1. Josh and I mulched the whole yard last weekend.

2. Maribeth’s fantastic baby shower décor for Baby D. 

3. Perks of being a flower shop worker, I get to take home “old flowers.” I like the     roses better when they are really open.

4. Our magnolia tree bloomed early this year.

6. I made thin mint truffles. The recipe is from Six Sisters Stuff. 

7. My Aunt Lorraine found me some colorful vintage shot glasses.

8. Daffodils are my favorite. These minis are always the first to bloom in our yard.

9. More baby shower swag. Maribeth is so talented and I can’t wait to meet Baby D!

10. Variegated sedum. Another present from Aunt Lorraine from a couple of years ago.

1. Rachael and Baby Huck came over so Grandma Kregel could meet her first great grandbaby!

2. Sunrise yesterday morning.

3. The Floridian welcoming committee just sent us this photo of our room. All my bags are packed I’m ready to go.

4. I have never been good at washing windows until I read Chaotically Creative's blog post. Last night I sprinted through washing every window in our house and they look fantastic.

5. Hyacinths smell so good!

6. I went to Goodwill and splurged on a new summer wardrobe.

7. I planted pansies on the first day of spring.

8. I can never resist taking a photo of the windmills when traveling on I65.

9. And just one more photo of Huck, because he’s a dandy : )

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, letbirdzfly 

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 31

These photos provide a quick peek into my life from the past seven days. This week I seemed to have focused on food and flowers. I am continuing to work on living my imagined life and appreciating all of the small things. If you would like to follow my photos, my username on Instagram is mrsmoon. 

1. Pioneer Woman’s beef stew with beer and paprika received high praise in our house.

2. Despite the hungry rabbits, my crocuses started blooming.

3. Community Yoga collects canned good for FoodFinders. Jeannett at Life Rearranged provided me with a friendly reminder to donate.

4. Last night Josh and I went for a walk to enjoy the warm weather and extended sunshine from daylight savings. It was light out until 8pm! I noticed that our magnolia tree is budding.

5. Mom and I visited Ikea. Although I didn’t buy much, this Swedish wonderland still made me curiously happy. I had the small breakfast, which cost a whopping dollar, and still could not finish all of my food.

6. I read Tina Fey’s Bossy Pants for book club. The book is funny and I now have a deeper appreciation for SNL.

7. I have been trying to get more creative with my flower arrangements at work.

8. Cheap, cheap, cheap strawberries at Meijer this week resulted in several smoothies that tasted like summer.

9. My boss bought me an Irish Shamrock for St. Patty’s day! 

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, letbirdzfly

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 30

{Biltmore Estate}

I apologize for the blogging hiatus. My mom and I were on our third annual mother daughter trip. These iPhone photos provide a quick preview of our vacation. I intend to write a more lengthy post about our adventures later this week. 

I will be going on another trip soon. If you are a blogger and feel interested in guest posting while I am off gallivanting, send an email to lynette_03@yahoo.com

1. Crocuses blooming in Kentucky. (My crocuses just started blooming in Indiana too!)

2. Berea College. The concept of this liberal arts school is quite impressive. Students with limited resources from Appalachia attend Berea free of charge in exchange for work on campus.

3. Biltmore Estate. Asheville, North Carolina.

4. Charleston, South Carolina.

5. Mom and I attended a cooking class taught by Chef Lisa Dupar at Charleston Cooks.

6. We dined on ginger pink grapefruit margaritas, fennel vichy topped with crab, fried artichokes and calamari with citrus aioli, bourbon braised beef short ribs with gechee boy grits, and finally a saltine cracker-caramel peanut butter pie. Mom and I helped cook the short ribs.

7. Drayton Hall.

8. Battery Row. Charleston, SC.

9. Charleston Waterfront Park. (I want a pineapple fountain in my yard!)

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, letbirdzfly

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 29

This is being posted later than I intended due to some technical difficulties with updating my iPhone. With the new update I was able to get the Simply HDR app and it is fantastic! These photos provide a quick peek into my life from the past seven days. I am continuing to work on living my imagined life and appreciating all of the small things. If you would like to follow my photos, my username on Instagram is mrsmoon. 

1. Josh and I tried a different Mexican restaurant on date night. Good food and great service at El Meson.

2. On Monday I made a trip to Lowell to pick up the beef we purchased from my mom and dad. I am looking forward to this summer when I rarely have to buy anything from the grocery store. Between our CSA and homegrown beef, we will have just about everything we need.

3. Pretty tulips.

4. Fancy overhead display at Target. This week I enjoyed plenty of bonding time with my sister. We made a trip to Target, I introduced her to the Hostess Thrift Store, and she was a good sport and even attended partner yoga with me yesterday.

5. Josh celebrated a birthday. His family made the trip from Chicago to celebrate with us at Mountain Jacks.

6. Josh and I started the process of making homemade strawberry ice cream. I liked the packaging on the strawberry extract.

7. We discovered Mary Lou Donuts, a local bakery, and indulged in some sugary pastries yesterday morning.

8. Last weekend our good friends Matt and Stef came to visit. Stef and I checked out a few antique stores. I have been eyeing these Clay City (made in Indiana!) turquoise bowls for awhile now and they look great in our kitchen. 

9. My Lenten promise this year is to give up chips, pretzels and crackers. My first temptation was at the Mexican restaurant. That was probably the first time in my life that I have dined at a Mexican restaurant and left without eating a single tortilla chip. I was proud of myself.  

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, letbirdzfly

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 28

These photos provide a quick peek into my life from the past seven days. I am continuing to work on living my imagined life and appreciating all of the small things. If you would like to follow my photos, my username on Instagram is mrsmoon. 

1. I experienced my first Valentine’s Day working in a flower shop. It was crazy and fun at the same time. I could not believe the number of men that called on Valentine’s day wanting flowers delivered the same day.

2. Josh and I dined at Fogo de Chao in Indianapolis last night. I am pretty sure I consumed more meat in one sitting than I usually do in an entire month.

3. I watched bits and pieces of the Grammy’s on Sunday. Bruno Mars was my favorite. 

4. I really, really want a big giant card catalog. I found this little guy at my favorite antique shop, but I couldn’t bring myself to buy him since he is so small.

5. Yesterday I scoped out Doc’s Architectural Salvage. The place is jam packed with awesome pieces. Although it was overwhelming, I did not have to worry about what to buy since just about everything was out of my price range.

6. Giant lovely yellow roses.

7. My sister made me outstanding cream cheese cranberry muffins. I probably ate six of them. Thank you Alyssa!

8. I made a few Valentines.

9. A sweet treat from my boss for dealing with the madness on Tuesday. 

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, letbirdzfly

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 27

These photos provide a quick peek into my life from the past week. If you would like to follow all of my photos, my username on Instagram is mrsmoon. 

After the beautiful weather last week, we were reminded that it is still winter in Indiana with a few light dustings of snow. I am also reminded of the cold temps because our furnace quit working last night. As I write this post, I am bundled up, drinking coffee and waiting for the repair man. 

1. Last weekend we went drove to Chicago to celebrate Josh’s mom’s birthday. I made her a cake.

2.We had a celebratory birthday dinner at a delicious sushi restaurant.

3. This smart, baby bird is Rio. He lives with my in-laws.

4. I like these towers. I am better at taking photos from the car when I’m not driving : ) On Sunday we went to a Super Bowl party at Matt and Stef’s house. Unfortunately, I did not take any quality photos, but we did have a good time. (I am sure that the lack of photos was due to my involvement in watching the game…)

5. My Christmas clearance amaryllis bloomed. The big red flowers make me so happy.

6. I recently saw a print that said, “If you have a garden and a library you have everything you need.” Agreed!

7. I finished reading The Art of Racing in the Rain. If you are ever wondering what your dog is thinking, you should read this book.

8. I made tasty Lemon Garlic Chicken I found on Pinterest. It received two thumbs up in the Moon household. It has a very bold lemon flavor, so you may want to dial down the lemon if you are not a big fan.

9. Commute to Indy. Yesterday a medical student at Riley asked if I was a high school volunteer. When I laughed and informed her of my age she was embarrassed. It made my day. 

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, letbirdzfly

Live the Life You've Imagined, Part 26

This collage represents my week in iPhone photos. The weather has been unusually warm in Indiana and I have tried to take advantage of the sunny days.

From the top left:

1.    One of our Danish family friends pronounces my first name “Lunetta.” When I saw this Lunetta Moon champagne on clearance at Target I felt like it was made just for me.

2.    Last Saturday was date night. We drove to a small town a half an hour away to try Stookey’s well known catfish and onion rings. I have fun finding different locally owned restaurants and Stookey's food was tasty.

3.    I enjoyed a long bike ride on Tuesday with my new Christmas bicycle.

4.    Avocado in my homemade grilled cheese was delicious.

5.    The drive to Indianapolis yesterday was super foggy.

6.    Monument Circle. After volunteering at Riley, I decided to walk downtown to checkout all of the Super bowl festivities. I walked three miles round trip instead of paying $60 for parking. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed the sunshine.

7.    J.W. Marriott building

8.    Downtown Indy

9.    Zip line through the city.

linked: liferearranged, agoodlifeblog, letbirdzfly