Jonathan Saunders

Okay, I admit this blog has always been a bit random. Mostly it has been a venue for me to keep friends and family from afar up to date on what James and I have been up to, where we've been, etc. Every once and awhile I've posted an opinion piece. And every once and awhile I've posted a design-related piece. I've long had aspirations of getting a more stream-lined, topical blog put together. But that takes a lot of time and energy. So for now, dear readers (the few yet loyal that you are!), I suppose this blog will continue to be a bit random and sporadic.

In the vein of random and sporadic, this post is about London Fashion Week. In particular, it is about the Jonathan Saunders show and the FABULOUS pieces that he put together this year. I often see fashion bloggers putting up their favorite runway shows, and they are usually pretty hit-and-miss with me. Runway shows are interesting and creative, but rarely do I see pieces that I would wear right off the runway. What usually happens is companies create designs for the public masses that reflect the ingenuity of designers, but at a far less dramatic and costly level.

This Jonathan Saunders show, however, is different. I would wear every single piece as is, straight off the runway. (Although, I would probably want these dresses and skirts to be a little longer - if you're not a six foot tall model, perhaps they're just the right length?). In any case, these pieces are fun, feminine, flirty, colorful, and classy all in one stroke. Do I dare look up how much they cost? No, better not. Just going to cross my fingers that Jonathan Saunders is the next designer to do a line for Target.

*All of the images are via The Sartorialist.

Lately

Things have been very good lately for James and myself as we continue into this new mid-western Wheaton adventure. I have to admit, the honeymoon of our new house and my new job and our new little town is over. And that has created moments of me wondering how in the world I’ve landed myself in Illinois, in exile from friends and family on either coast.

But the weather is fabulous – mid 70’s, mild-to-no-humidity, and the early signs of fall crispness in the air. And these fabulous days are to be treasured in the mid-west (and the east coast). After a summer of heat waves, I’m loving the cooler weather. And I’m also aware that I’m soon in for a freezing winter. All that to be said, I treasure these early fall days. They have made me want to get out and about as much as possible, to explore and enjoy this area before we get stuck inside with shorter days and lower temps.

Two weekends ago James and I stumbled upon a great nearby town called Geneva. I think it will be our new “Lambertville,” in that it similarly has a large river and all sorts of cute little shops and restaurants. And we happened to hit upon it during its annual “Festival of the Vine.” We got there on a Saturday night, and enjoyed the food and street bands and wine samples so much that we went straight back Sunday after church. We sampled briquette and Cuban sandwiches and banana pie and brats and sweet potoato fries. (And I wonder why I haven’t dropped any weight this summer?) In any case, it was all great food! And there are plenty of undiscovered shops and restaurants coffee hang-outs yet to be explored there….i’m gonna save up on those coffee shops for the winter.

This last week was the inaguration of Wheaton’s 7^th president, and thus James and I attended all sorts of events. By far the favorite was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who performed an inaguration performance in Edman Chapel. We dressed up and went out to dinner with my co-workers beforehand, and the concert itself was phenomenal. It was a Mexican conductor who danced his way through the performance (literally), and they performed all Mexican songs in honor of Mexico’s bicentennial this past week. James and I promptly downloaded our two favorite songs after the concert: Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Marquez, and Huapango by Jose Pablo Moncayo. Download them! You won’t regret the 99 cents on iTunes – very fun and festive songs.

Also, James was just hired last week by Wheaton College to start a full-time position in the library, so he’ll be starting up this Thursday. We are so excited for this job - God has definitely blessed us here so far! Soon enough James and I will be having lunches together again.

That’s about the short and the long of it. Notre Dame continues to wrench our hearts. I continue to drag James along for random craigslist finds. We’re finally getting back into a decent running routine. I’m saving up for a sewing machine, to fill my winter with novice sewing projects. Life is good.

Honey Rock!

Wheaton owns a huge property up in Northern Wisconsin called Honey Rock, and James and I both got to head up there for my job the second week of August. James had been up to Honey Rock as a student leader one summer, and I got to go up with a bunch of Wheaton student leaders this year.

Honey Rock is an awesome place! There are tons of cabins (I think Honey Rock can house over 500 people), and lots to do. They having sailing, water-skiing, archery, horse-back riding, a shooting range, biking, canoeing, kayaking, hiking - it's an outdoor lovers paradise! James and I were thrilled at the chance to go sailing a couple of times - we made it through most of our second session before completely capsizing in the lake.

It was also a great chance for me to get to know my colleagues in student development, and a bunch of Wheaton students. I am already looking forward to our trip up there for next year!

Birthday Fun!

Oh, Chicago! Oh, Chicago!

You know that song sung by Frank Sinatra, right? Yes, well, I had the song in my head all day long on my birthday because I spent the day enthralled by the wonders of Chicago. My lovely husband planned an absolute gem of a day in this city--our new "backyard" city - couldn't have been better! We hopped on a train from our local suburb train station and spent the morning roaming Grant Park, Michigan Ave, and the pathway along the harbor. Then, out of the blue, James puts together a fantastic picnic spread for us in the Art Institute Gardens--he'd smuggled all the goods with him in his bag, and I had no idea! After our lazy and leisurely picnic, James shepherded me along to the favorite part of my day - an Architectural tour of Chicago given from a boat along the Chicago River. It was a divine compilation of two of my favorite things: architecture, and boating! I love how well James knows me.

Here we are on the bridge above the Chicago River.

The famed Chicago Tribune Building - a unique blend of Gothic and Art Deco styles.

The Chicago River.

One of the other Architectural Gems of the city.

A view from the Art Institute Gardens where we picnicked.

The orchestrator of this fabulous birthday.

The steps up to the Art Institute - with a multitude of gorgeous flowers.

I've also been completely spoiled this birthday with several cards and gifts from family, including this monster birthday package from my momma. More than the gifts themselves (which were so much fun), it meant so much to me to know my Mom put so much time and effort into this package. She wrapped up a whole assortment of goodies, and I felt giddy like a five-year-old on Christmas Eve. (I know adults aren't supposed to care about opening presents, but we can be giddy like five-year-olds every once in awhile, right?)

Perhaps my favorite part of the birthday package were all the little notes attached to each present, a tradition my family has that was started by my Nana (I don't know where she got it from, maybe her Mom?). My family always attaches little "notes" to each gift to give a hint or idea of why we thought the gift would be meaningful or fun to the recipient. It may seem silly to some folks, but to me it's always been just an extra touch of personalization to make someone feel loved.

Thanks everyone for all the Birthday Goodies and calls and emails - even though I only spent time with my hubby on my birthday, I felt loved and appreciated by people from all over.

World Cup Time!

It's World Cup Time, and James has me on the edge of my seat with all of the excitement! I am not going to lie - I didn't really care much about soccer growing up. The last World Cup James and I were living in Seattle, and James was pretty into the World Cup at that point. He and his room-mates went to soccer bars in Seattle at 6:00am to watch games with hashbrowns and Guinness.

This time around, James has snagged me into the fan-hood as well. We kicked off the fun last weekend with the US-English game on Saturday. I made some patriotic white chocolate covered pretzels, grabbed some patriotic Sam Adams beer, and we had a bunch of friends over. Then on Monday, James invited some guys over to watch the Dutch game at 7:30am. He prepared apple pannekoeken (Dutch Pancakes) in honor of the Orange. And now, here we are at 7:30 am on Saturday, watching the Dutch play Japan.

So cheers to team USA!!! (and to the Dutch!)

Here are some of the guys chowing down during the Dutch game on Monday.

Easter Sunday! (a little late...)

Easter came and went so quickly this year, but we had a great time celebrating Christ's resurrection with some friends from our small group. It was a perfect afternoon- low 70's, sunshine, and great food and mimosas!

While we were waiting for a few folks to show up, we decided to take some "prom style" easter photos by this gorgeous blossoming tree. Who doesn't take prom photos on Easter, I ask you? Here we have the lovely Abby and Scott on the left, and Ben and Karen in the center.

Abby, Karen, and myself.

Scott, Ben, Marc, and Jamser.

And a couple of pasty white love birds, who clearly haven't seen much sunshine yet!

Ben spent the afternoon trying to entertain Wendell, but I think he entertained all of us even more with his special faces and noises that he made for Wendell.

And yes, here are the boys polishing off what was left of the sticky buns. I think all of the sugary carbs is what eventually led to the group break-up to go home for naps. Great Easter Brunch, all in all!

Sunny San Diego

San Diego! Emily has been house-sitting/dog-sitting for a family she knows in a little beach town just outside of San Diego here and there, and for this time she invited me to join along with her. We haven't seen each other in a year and a half, which is crazy - how did that happen? (we live across the country from each other, i guess). Anyhow, it's been such a great time to spend with her - time on the beach, shopping, biking around Coronado Island, and chilling out at the house with the two lovable golden retrievers - Kobe and Owen. The weather has been great - low 70's the first few days, and mid-60's the last two days.

Here is the beautiful hotel Del Coronado - I've been here before, and love visiting this place every time. (all these pictures are Emily's, from her awesome Canon camera)

Biking was a great way to spend the afternoon here.

This chandelier was in the lobby of the hotel - love it!

This is Owen - so rambunctious and lovable!

And this here is Kobe - much more relaxed than Owen, and a super sweet dog. I've decided I'd love to get one of these dogs, as soon as I have a yard, a mud-room, and a kid old enough to take it for walks. Might be a few years!

Kobe

Owen