Another Saturday Market
I’ve been meaning to get this post up for a couple weeks now, but just haven’t had the chance. I recently bought VSCO film presets for LR, and I’ve enjoyed playing around with them, especially with colorful photos like these. Eric and I always try to get to market really early to beat the crowd, but on mornings that neither of us work, it’s hard to get out of bed before 8 am. So, this day was like many other market Saturdays, a quick stop on the way to the cafe we both work at to get our coffee fix, and after to drop off the tulips to put by the register. I love our farmer’s market.
Meet the Makoutz family.
Those of you that follow this blog or my flickr will probably recognize this family. Eric and I hang out with these fine folks pretty much all the time. Josh and Jill were first our bosses, then quickly became our friends, and soon “landlords” will be added to that list. The house we’re moving into at the end of the month just happens to be the one they’re currently living in. (they’re the ones moving to this beautiful place. Anyhow, I’ve said it before, I am lucky to have friends & family who tolerate me taking photos of them, whether they want me to or not, so it was nice to spend the morning with them doing an actual session and not feeling at all sheepish about having my camera out the whole time. (not that I still do feel sheepish around them- I’m way past that point with any friends). I could go on and on about how much I love this family, how cute/sweet/fun Ruby & Dylan are, how great of cooks both Josh and Jill, what wonderful friends they are, but I know they both blush easily so I’ll just get to the pictures. . .
Arroz Con Leche + friends
Eric & I decided we wanted to throw one last get together with some of our out-of-town friends in our beloved little apartment before moving. I originally figured we’d grill out and enjoy the patio, but the weather didn’t cooperate with that idea. So, when we woke up to rain on Saturday morning we had to change our food plan. After debating for a while, we decided on doing two kinds of empanadas, rice, lime curd with cookies, mojitos, and arroz con leche, or rice pudding. We spent the morning being lazy, and the entire afternoon in the kitchen. The rain made it the kind of perfectly cozy sort of day to spend in the kitchen, so I wasn’t even a little bummed we didn’t get to fire up the grill. The rice pudding recipe I used came out of this book I got for Eric to read from the library. Eric is Cuban, and his mother spent part of her childhood growing up there. Thanks to this, we have all kinds of wonderful Cuban dishes in our family cookbook, and I’d even dare to say it’s one of my most favorite types of food, so full of flavor, and it always makes our home smell delicious. The rice pudding recipe was a little time consuming, as you need to stir it periodically for an hour and a half, but easily the best I’ve ever eaten. 
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Another trip to the cottage.
It’s not really what most people think of as a cottage. Most people would imagine a little house, on the sea or lake somewhere. Perhaps brightly colored, or pastel with dainty white shutters. Our cottage doesn’t really fit that description. It’s in the woods, too far from the water to be seen. It was built in the early 70′s, so the decor is dark and full of greens & browns, not white and airy like the word cottage might conjure. Most of the time friends want to call it a cabin then, since it’s in the woods. But when I think of a cabin, I think of a log cabin out in the middle of nowhereville. Anyhow, our family has always called it the cottage, so that’s what it is. I’ve talked about this place before, in a previous post. We were there again recently, this time Eric & I took a trip up with my parents. It was a couple days mainly spent in front of the fireplace, since the temperature didn’t get much above 45, and it actually snowed one day. The cottage was cozy and we only went out to try fishing and get to get food a handful of times.
This place holds so many memories for me, but this is the first one I now have including snow. 
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April, so far.
It’s already half way through April and I haven’t sat down and gone through photos from this month until now. The warmer weather has been luring me away from the computer and outdoors, which is no complaint. Also, for those of you who haven’t heard, Eric and I are also moving into a bigger place in just over a month, so our time lately has been spent revolving around things to do with that as well. The home we’re moving into is currently owned by our friends, who are moving out to the country. So besides thinking about our own move, we’ve been over at their place helping out with painting, and figuring out what to get started in the garden.
A peek.
At our friends’ new place. The home is from the 1880′s, and the land surrounding it is gorgeous as well. I’m looking forward to many more picnics, foraging escapades, and photos being taken at this place. For now here’s a few from our last visit out there.
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Spring in March.
I love taking walks through the neighborhood by our home, there are some really beautiful spaces. On this walk I was stopping every few steps noticing new life springing up and flowers of all sorts blooming. Spring is such an exciting time. 
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Jill’s birthday picnic
Monday was our friend Jill’s birthday, so one of the ways we celebrated was a picnic by a lake, with a handful of friends. On the way out there J+J’s car had a bit of trouble, but luckily our friends have minivans and were able to come to the rescue. Tacos were eaten, bubbles were blown, and we all watched a beautiful sunset before the mosquitos convinced us it was time to leave. 
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Springtime is here,
and it seems as though we’ve skipped right from winter to summer. The weather in Wisconsin has been downright hot lately, and that’s not a complaint. Eric and I have been trying our hardest to spend as much time as possible outside, since this heat can’t possibly last. Looking at my 365 from last year I see we still had snow into April- crazy! Since the weather has warmed we’ve enjoyed picnics, the zoo, walking around downtown, finding beautiful flowers outside & at the farmer’s market, and other outdoor-sy things. (like lounging in our hammock, ha) In general we’re trying to keep in mind this weather most likely won’t last so we need to take advantage of it now. Here’s a glimpse of what our last couple weeks have looked like-
Meet the Leesons.
There are two adults, four children, a dog, a cat, and two (pet) rats living in this house. As you can imagine, it’s a pretty busy place. This house belongs to the Leesons. They are some of the sweetest people, and it was a joy to spend the afternoon with them, taking photos of their daily doings. Here’s a little glimpse of what a Sunday afternoon with such a sweet family looks like-
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