Easter Basket

This year, I was lucky to find a basket in the shape of a duck. Not everyone looks out for a duck-shaped basket, but I'm no ordinary bird. Back in January, John and I stopped into an antique store in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where I spotted such a ducky basket tucked away on a dealer's shelf. I wanted to transform the green ducky into a sleek black swan, as inspired by a project I had seen before with the exact same basket. I loved Kevin Sharkey's usage of an unconventional (darker) Easter palette using black and rich purples. For my basket, I added my gilded eggs I made a couple years ago. I'm happy with how my swan turned out and I think it'll look great on our Easter table this year.

 

Milwaukee

Towards the end of August, John and I spent a night and a day in Milwaukee to track down some of John's old haunts. John used to live in Wisconsin prior to moving to New York where I met him. We had been trying to visit Milwaukee together since we moved to Chicago and we were glad to finally have gotten the opportunity in the summer. Some of the places we visited included the Public Market, Colectivo Coffee, the location we went to is housed in an old water pump station, the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, City Hall, and a wonderful old-world German restaurant called Mader's Restaurant. We had a really good time and ate some good food on our short but fun-filled trip. We're look forward to returning again sometime soon. 

Wisconsin Automotive Museum

I'm not much a car enthusiast, but after visiting the Wisconsin Automotive Museum it's hard for me not to appreciate the design and fun ways people use to get around. In the early part of this past summer I was lucky enough to visit the automotive museum that had a large variety of cars and other modes of transportation. From cars to carriages, buggies, a small plane, and even a train--the museum was two stories and was full of interesting modes of transportation that were nicely displayed for people to enjoy. I loved the black top green car with a special side holder for a bag of golf clubs as well as the small teardrop camper that would be fun to use today. The fact that the museum had a steam engine was also very impressive. Next time you encounter a car or transportation museum, make sure not to pass it by.