.Around the City: Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

Hello!!! Happy Monday! How was your weekend? I hope it was great and you got to be in the sunshine a little bit. This weekend I got my sun on, drink on, and grub on...it was fantastic!

Remember ALLLL the way back in April when the Around The....series started? Probably not because I haven't been that great about writing within the series. The series shows you things around the neighborhood, apartment, and Minneapolis!

Today I want to show you probably one of the most popular places in Minneapolis, the Sculpture Garden.  If you see any advertising for Minneapolis or MN you probably have see our famous Spoonbridge and the Cherry Sculpture. It looks like this....

Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is one of the largest urban sculpture gardens in the country with 11 acres. Along with the Spoonbridge and the Cherry the garden has 40 other permanent sculptures, a conservatory, and a pretty cool pedestrian bridge. After walking around the sculpture garden and feeling inspired you can walk right into the Walker Art Museum and get your art on! 

To get to the Sculpture Garden just head towards Hennipen Ave!

pedestrian bridge

Not a piece in the garden..but I was feeling inspired!

Hope this gave you a little peek into our famous Minneapolis Sculpture Garden!

Make sure you come visit and spend some time relaxing with friends around great art. 

Wanna see more pictures?

Check out more here!

.WIW: Raaawwwwrrrr.

Late in spring I bought this animal print top. It is the first animal print I have EVER owned! It hung in my closet because I didn't know how to wear it. Plus it's sleeveless and I really don't love my arms...I have the Oprah flap (at least that's what I call it). Finally I got it out of the closet and decided I was going to wear it to run errands. I dressed it up a bit because I wasn't comfortable enough with rocking out a bit! But I love how it looked very casual chic, if you ask me! 

Yep...everything is still there!!!

.the details.
shirt: Old Navy // cardigan: Old Navy
Jeans: Forever 21 // purse: Target

* the next week: I wore the shirt (no cardi!) with black pants to a concert *
Yep..I turned the casual chic into a little rock outfit!

We hope you have a great Wednesday!!!

.Around the Apartment: Suitcases.

Around the Apartment is a series in which I share with you different things of the Shoave apartment! You can my collection of camera's here!

I LOOOOVVEEEE old floral suitcases! I remember the first time I saw one at an estate sale when I was in high school. I pleaded with my mom for 25 cents so I could purchase it, she couldn't phantom why I would want the old thing. But for me it was love at first sight and my love for all floral suitcases began. Now when ever I see a floral suitcase or a great vintage suitcase I scoop it up!

My first floral suitcase!!

Currently we have the suitcases chillin' in different areas of our living room. They all hold a special purpose other than looking cool and pretty. As you can see from the pictures above we use a stack of three suitcases to hold our blankets near the couch. It's perfect because the blankets are out of sight but still really easily accessible to grab when needed. 

I use this cutie to hold all of our chargers near our desk. It keeps them all in one area, close to our power strip and looks wonderful doing so! My sister got me this one for our house warming gift!

Ahhh...look this one matches the cute little one above! I purchased this floral suitcase right before we left for Australia. It was in my friends parent's antique store in Fairmont, MN and I gushed about it. That 's how my sister knew to purchase me the little one when when I was gone! The floral suitcase holds our surge protector, cable wires, and what not from the tv. It is definitely prettier to have it in here than out for the whole world to see.  The red bag is an older travel bag from Australia that we got in Newcastle at the best thrift store ever! We now use it to hold the dvds that I borrow from friends..which is a lot! hee heee. Plus it's a great reminder of our travels! 

I just got my grandma's old luggage collection last month. Three separate pieces of a mustardy color, I'm sure you all have seen them a time or to in your own thrifting adventures! I still haven't decided on what I will use them for that will be practical and still be able to show them off. So if you have any ideas let me know!

.Snapshot Sunday.

This was outside of a church in Brisbane, Australia...Dave made me take a picture of it!! 

Happy Diamond Jubilee!!! 

May you think of the Queen on this fine day!

Cheers!

.celebrate.

Since I was sick on my birthday weekend, we are celebrating with my in-laws this weekend. 

Let the P-A-R-T-Y begin!

That's right I totally rocked short hair with my Beauty & Beast on Ice t-shirts!

.may books.

It's the first of the month..which means we get to review the books that I read the month before! Can I be honest with you....I love this time of month. It may be one of the things I look forward to! Sooooooo here we gooooooooo.............

The Girl's Guide to Homelessness: Brianna Karp  The book looks into Brianna's life during a time when she became homelessness, living out of a trailer in a Walmart parking lot. She had a full time job, lived in a house, life was great...and WHAM, she gets laid off, can't afford her rent and ends up in a parking lot. The book was okay, in the middle it began to be more about her love life more, which wasn't what I expected. It really wasn't really a guide, but she does talk a lot about how we shouldn't judge the homeless because we don't know the person's situation. I agree with that and I wish she would have touched more about it in the book.

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Room: Emma Donoghue  This book was recommended to me by a friend who really liked it. Good thing I listened because it was great! The book is from the point of view of Jack, a 5 year old boy. He introduces you to Room, Wardrobe, Snake, etc. and share's his life from his point of view. I really want to tell you more, but NOPE, I'm not going to..it would ruin it for you!  All I can say, is pick it up from the library, borrow it from a friend, find it in the store..basically all in all READ THIS BOOK!

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Skinny ( A Novel): Diana Spechler This book was okay, I didn't hate it and I didn't love it. It follows, Gray, as she deals with the grief of losing her father to a heart attack. As she deals with the lose she turns to over eating to fill the emptiness. When she discovers that her supposed half sister that she has never met is attending fat camp, Gray jumps at the chance to be a counselor at the same camp to get closer to her. The book follows Gray during her journey of finding herself, dealing with food issues, love, lost, and becoming her own woman.

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Currently Reading: 

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ohhhh...Zac Efron..hee heee heeee

What books are you reading or want to read?

I've read 17/50 books this year: lets be friends on goodreads!

.going home.

When I was little, I grew up on a farm. It was actually the same farm that my grandpa grew up on and my mom grew up on, I was pretty lucky. I loved growing up there; running around outside all day long, swimming in the ditch, checking in on the animals, and letting my imagination run wild. I LOVED that place. It was a sad day in fifth grade when my parents divorced and my dad got the farm, the rest of us were city bound (wellll..10,000 people was a city to me!).   

My old farm place is now in foreclosure. The people who my dad sold it to years ago trashed the place that I loved. They never painted the inside or outside, they didn't use our garden or our pastures, they didn't love it.  My sisters and I had the opportunity to look at our "home" one last time before it may be gone forever. Even though it was tough to see it in the condition it is in now, it was still great to say goodbye.  I got to share memories with Dave while showing him where things took place and tell stories to my niece about her mom ( like the one time she made me slide down the hallway and I cracked my head). 

While we were are the farm I took some pictures that I may submit to Dear Photograph. I still haven't figured out which photo I will submit....maybe I will submit each one at different times!

* don't mind the nudity, I was a free spirit*

This one is my favorite! 

We used to stand on the register in the morning to warm up. 

Back then it felt sooo huge....now it seems sooo small!!

I may not be able to go "home" again, but I will always have the memories!