the suzette

Every month or so I make my way to Target to see what’s shakin’ in the big box world.  Tonight I came home with a super cute pair of wedges for only $17.99!

Believe it or not, they are actually quite comfortable to wear and they make my tootsies look oh so pretty.

I also picked up a hilarious bee costume for our bulldog Samson which you’ll be seeing soon enough in a future blog entry.

love that mr. john mayer

What can I say; I’m a sucker for Mr. John Mayer.  I’ve been a big fan ever since his first album Room For Squares. I even joined the fan club (along with the rest of the crazed teenage girls and soccer moms)

And his latest album, Continuum doesn’t disappoint… in fact you can listen to the entire thing on-line before its even available to purchase…how cool is that?

Some of my new favorites are Stop This Train, Belief, In Repair and I’ve included a performance of Vultures for your listening pleasure.

Here’s what they say about my man, "Continuum is about as apt a title as it gets for John Mayer’s third studio disc. Every element, from the peerless guitar playing to the plainspoken poetry of the lyrics to the breathy-sincere singing, makes a return from previous efforts. But to weakly pronounce this another worthwhile effort from an artist the world has come to expect a whole lot from and then call it a day would be no minor misdeed, because it’s also the best, boldest disc he’s ever made. Taking maturity as a theme throughout, Mayer tackles a batch of adulthood’s bogeymen: indifference on the uptempo chart-climber "Waiting for the World to Change," aging on the melancholy-sweet "Stop This Train," and emotional trainwreckage on the big-rocking "In Repair." That’s not to suggest he’s turned overly introspective–check the Jimi Hendrix cover "Bold As Love," where he hits one home for guitarists who’ve been living in the shadow of legend everywhere, and the hard-charging "Belief," which benefits from a mesmerizing, liquid groove. Continuum may be the third in a series, but a creative cop-out this is not; Mayer is his generation’s musical superman–powerful, unassailable, and magnetic. Hand that man a cape." –Tammy La Gorce

dream cruisin’ on twelve mile

Every year on the third Friday in August, thousands of car fans migrate to downtown Berkley to enjoy a parade of classic cars followed by a first rate street party.  catching fireflies joins the festivities by passing out balloons to kids of all ages and staying open late for the crowds of customers this fun event brings. 

Here are some of our favorites rides…

Her sign reads, "Still crazy after all these years"

How cute are those headlights?

I think this would be a good company car for catching firelfies.

watermelon cookies

Summer is almost over but who says you can’t reminisce with a watermelon cookie or two?  This recipe is taken from Class Treats, Bake Sales & Birthday Parties.

2 C. flour

11/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/3 C. butter

1/2 C. shortening

3/4 C. sugar

1 egg

1 T. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

3 drops red food coloring

1/3 C. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

11/2 C. powdered sugar

2 T. water

3 drops of green food coloring

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl.  Beat butter and shortening with an electric mixer at medium speed until fluffy; gradually add sugar, beating well.  Stir in egg, milk & vanilla.  Gradually add flour mixture and mix well.  Add red food coloring and beat until blended.  Shape dough into a ball, cover and chill at least 3 hours.

Preheat oven to 375′  F.  Divide dough in half; put one portion back in the refrigerator.  Roll remaining portion to 1/4" thickness on a lightly floured surface.  Cut dough with a 3" round cookie cutter; cut circle in half.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Press several chocolate chips in each cookie to resemble seeds.  Repeat with remaining dough.

Bake 8-10 minutes (do not brown).  Cook on wire racks. 

To make frosting, combine powdered sugar & water, mixing until smooth.  Add a green food coloring, mixing until blended.  Dip round edge of each cookie in frosting and place on wax paper until frosting is firm.

Makes 36 cookies.  Enjoy!

martin short mania

Okay, I’ll be the first to tell you that the only thing I remember seeing Martin Short in is The Father of the Bride movies (and who could forget the Three Amigos?)  With that being said I wasn’t overly excited to see his new Broadway show… but hey -he’s famous and the ticket was half off so a few fellow artists from the trade show and I thought it’d be interesting to check out.

Well sure enough… it was quite funny and I really enjoyed the show.  So afterwards a few of us (much to Steve’s chagrin) lingered around with the rest of the Martin Short groupies hoping to get a photo or autograph.

(I know… it’s Martin Short.  There’s no excuse for our giddiness – we just got caught up in the moment)

After about 45 minutes his highness exited out the front of the theater and I got a photo and my friend Jenny acutually got an autograph!

We followed our brush of fame by eating Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream down the street.  It was the perfect ending to a quirky night of fun in New York City.

sign shoppin’ in new york

One big positive about doing trades shows is that I’m guaranteed to visit New York at least twice a year.  We always try to schedule in a ‘fun day’ which usually consists of me walking the streets in search of interesting shoe & clothing boutiques. (Steve is such a trooper)

Another one of my pastimes is noticing fun signs for restaurants & shops.  Here are a few of the ones I stumbled upon this summer.

another trade show season ends

Every summer Steve & I travel to three ‘week long’ trade shows to sell a.i. paper design wares to stores across the US.  That means we pack all our displays & merchandise samples in this big old wooden crate and ship them from show to show.  This year’s itinerary included Atlanta, Los Angeles and New York.

After about 3-4 hours of set up our booth turns into the colorful wonderland of a.i. paper design.

This is our new work place for the next 5 days.  We meet and greet stores of all kinds and write orders that we’ll ship out once we return to Michigan.

I really enjoy doing these trade shows but they definitely tire me out.  That’s why I’m happy to be back in Metro Detroit for a while… or at least until January.

pirates invade downtown rochester

When Halfway Down the Stairs children’s book shop asked us if we wanted to be part of a pirate  scavenger hunt we promptly replied "YES!"  Because as you can see… the manager Dena and her girls like to have a good time entertaining customers of all ages.

Lucky for the little scavengers, Daunting Dena took her vengeance out on poor Surrendering Susan prior to their arrival.

Before long, young pirates came knocking at our door looking for goodies to add to their bounty.  We were happy to oblige and handed out metallic compasses to help them guide their way at sea.

Some of the more sophisticated pirates even shopped around a bit!

Thanks to Halfway Down the Stairs everyone had a grand time and enjoyed finding special treasures of all kinds.

mix some spoon with your summer

I’ve been jamming to Spoon’s tunes for the past couple of months and can say I’ve become addicted. Some of my favs are Delicate Place and Beast & Dragon, Adored and I’ve included the I Turn My Camera On video.   

Here’s what the pros say about them, "Spoon make some of the catchiest, most confident rock ‘n’ roll of any group around. Their fifth full-length is nothing short of a dizzying, soulful masterpiece, easily the most expansive work in their career. "Gimme Fiction" is a sprawling, exhilarating, filler-free album of keenly focused artistic vision and ambition."

Give Spoon a try.  You won’t be disappointed.

Daily Tribune Best of Detroit 2006

I am happy to announce that the Daily Tribune Readers voted us Second Best Place To Buy Gifts in metro Detroit.

We were second only to Somerset Mall and considering that is the premier mall in the whole state of Michigan, that ain’t too bad!