Today is a big day for the Colley family. All of Shawn’s hard work is finally coming to fruition  with the opening of the BROTHERS stores. For those who aren’t familiar, Shawn works for Tween Brands, the company that owns the tween girls clothing brand Justice, and was brought in to create and launch a tween boys clothing line: BROTHERS. They’ve been selling clothes online for over a year now, but they are opening stores today. They will be annexed in the Justice stores. I’m a bit biased, but I think that they have some great clothing for tween boys. My nephew is 10 and he loves the cool graphic tees and my sister says that everything fits great and is very durable.

Anyways, I just wanted to say how proud I am of Shawn. He’s worked so hard to make this happen and I think that it is going to be great success. Congratulations, honey!

I’ve been battling a cold for the past week and it finally hit me full force on Friday while in Minneapolis. I powered through it for the weekend, but now I am home and need to going on lockdown until this thing has run its course. Went to the doctor to get some meds to help in the fight. Will have to post about the trip later in the week.

The flag is flying, I’m wearing scarlet and gray, and my buckeye necklace is polished to a high shine. Yes folks, tonight marks the kick off of the 2010 Ohio State Football season. Something that I have been looking forward to since January. My favorite time of year, as the hubby says, “When Football is King!” There is truly nothing better than some smash mouth football. I’m in heaven!

I have a big announcement to share with everyone. I’ve been debating on whether or not to do this for some time now and I’ve finally decided to take the plunge and open up a shop on Etsy. Drum roll, please. . . . . Widdershins Handmade Knits.

My mom, Roz, and Shawn were the ones who really talked me into doing it. I really love knitting and have been making things as gifts for people for a while now. Actually, I’ve been trying to think of people to give items to just so I can knit them! I’ve been told many times that I should open a shop or try selling my work, I’ve thought about it often, but never really got up the nerve to do so. The thing that pushed me over the edge was my mom “commissioning” me to make a couple of baby sweaters for her to give as gifts to some of her staff. It gave me the “Okay, I can do this!” mentality I needed to push myself forward.

I just opened the shop on Etsy yesterday and have posted two items for sale. It will be a work in progress to figure out how this will work, but at least I’m out there now. I excited and looking forward to seeing where this new adventure will take me!



This weekend the hubby and I are taking a little road trip to Milwaukee. We’ll be exploring the city a little during the day (I’m hoping to check out the art museum or maybe tour one of the breweries) and then meeting some friends of ours that recently relocated there from NYC for dinner. Sunday we’ll be going to check out the Wisconsin State Fair before coming back home. Every year we would go to the Ohio State Fair in Columbus, so it will be fun to see how WI measures up. I’m doubting they have anything that will match up to the butter cow, however the list of food on a stick is most impressive. I can’t wait to see the cheesy demonstrations for the ShamWOW!, cute baby pigs and lambs, in addition to trying to talk Shawn into going on the ferris wheel. (He’s terrified of heights.)

Hope your weekend is filled with fun, adventure, and food on a stick!

We’ve been having some great summer weather lately. Hot and sunny with the occasional thunderstorm to clear the air, but mostly it’s been blue skies. I hope it continues!

Getting excited that my good friend is making the trek out here from CMH to visit this weekend! She hasn’t been out here yet, so I can’t wait to show her around and pamper her. She has two kids, ages 3 and 10 months, that will be staying at home with her husband, so I think she deserves some rest and relaxation.

I had one of those weekends that were the perfect mixture of play and productivity. Shawn has a “summer schedule” at work, meaning he has every other Friday as a half day. This landed on Friday, so he was home early to help me put in some flowers in the planter boxes up front and do a little yard maintenance. We then headed over to Capital Brewery to enjoy the Beer Garten for the evening with some people he knows from work. It was a lot of fun to meet some new people and enjoy some local brews and entertainment.

Saturday we went to The Cooper’s Tavern in Madison to watch some FIFA Cup action with some friends. USA vs. England! We came out with a tie, luckily I might add, those Three Lions were tough! Very fun cheering on the team with some rowdy soccer fans while enjoying poutine and more yummy beers. After the game we came home and lazed about for the rest of the evening.

Today we got up early and read the papers and had some coffee before heading out to brunch and the always stellar Hubbard Ave. Diner. Afterwards, we drove around and ran some errands at a couple of garden stores. I needed some new gardening gloves and wanted to get a few more plants for the back deck. (Aren’t those yellow pots cute?) We then came home and planted the stuff I picked up. I still need to get some herbs and a few more plantings, but I couldn’t fine anything else I liked. Maybe next weekend.

Now were going to have some Chipoltle for dinner and watch a movie. A perfect end to a perfect weekend! Hope that yours was just as enjoyable.

Congratulations, Blackhawks!