MINIzinne: Springfield Missouri

Wow! I took so many photos during this summer it took days and days to upload the photos, organize them into folders and then go through those photos and only put some up here...you know, to spare you from my absolutely obsessive overwhelming snap happy personality.

Take a look at this mess!

One good thing for me, is that I never edit photos. Really...never. I do not use photoshop to fix any colors/balance or exposure....I do not crop or adjust anything. This is a personal preference, and I can get into the reasons for it in another post, but during this process of looking through my summer photos, I was SO happy with the fact that I did not have to spend even one more second to edit the photos I uploaded.
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Here is a more in depth look at my trip to Missouri this summer. The trip started out with a drive to Pennsylvania, that I took with my puppy. My mother took care of Malomar while I was away.

{Pennsylvania}

Tomatoes ripening on the windowsill at my Father's house.

Mom and a neighborhood kitty.

A neighborhood church that we used to skateboard at. We called it Metal Church Berkerser.

Airplane reading.

I don't know about you, but I have been flying for a long time, yet every time the plane climbs through the air and I look out over the clouds, I am completely amazed...as if it has never happened before...as if I am experiencing some miracle, something special.

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{Missouri}

Dad.

Something that I really can't get enough of in any museum, especially history museums is dioramas. I remember as a kid thinking that each thing in the diorama was real, like a play was happening on repeat right in front of me. My love has not subsided, I think they are so cool!

Okay, a quick disclaimer before we get into these. Yes these are dead animals, yes they are stuffed...Yes I somehow think taxidermy is awesome even though I don't eat meat.

When I was a student at RISD, I worked at the Nature Lab; which, if you are unfamiliar click on the link, it is pretty much the coolest thing ever to have at an Art + Design School. There are such fabulous resources there, and I spent hours and hours on end cataloging and organizing the picture files. I also spent hours and years on end around taxidermy animals, (even some rogue taxidermy pieces, which despite the controversy I think are so great), specimens in jars, and human and animal bones. This has left a lasting impression on me and so I pet (yes I know) every single one of the animals at Bass Pro Shop that I could reach...and photographed them because I think they are so so awesome.

Sorry that this photo is blurry, I didn't take it, but I like it anyway so I included it! This bear was so great!

These raccoons are so adorable that I ran to each and every one super giddy and pet their soft little heads. I like to imagine that they died from natural causes. Sometimes it helps to tell yourself fairy tales while in a hunting shop.

There were also live animals there. Which I also pet (despite the signs advising me not to). You can't take me anywhere.

Saddest ever. My Dad and I went swimming and tried to rescue this little guy from the chlorine pool. Unfortunately, we were not successful. This is a photo of him in his last minute of life. We put him in the grass in the shade as his final resting place.

My Grandpa's garlic.

Explaining the fig tree.

My grandmother.

Family.

I also had a chance, while in Missouri to check out Elsie Larson's beautiful shop, Red Velvet. Not only did I pick up some of my favorite new dresses, but I got to meet Elsie and her sister Emma and they were just as sweet as you imagine they would be. A real treat!

Next up, I will share some summer travels to New England in Summer Travels: Part Three. Have a great Wednesday!

xoh!

I spent a lot of time during my summer debriefing and detoxing from work. I only had about six weeks off in total, and here is a little slice of what I was up to.
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{Rhode Island}
My best friend Melissa is getting married this August, and so there have been and will continue to be many festivities surrounding the occasion. These are some photos from her bridal shower, which was a total surprise to her. Let me just say, I almost killed her when I thought she was going to diss out on me that day. She had fallen asleep mid day and was not picking up her phone or texting me back and I was deep in panic mode and not sure what to do. I acted completely out of character and texted her WAY too many times and almost blew it!

Missy

Ali

Ashley

Yummy

{Pennsylvania}

Before heading out to the smoldering Midwest I drove down to Pennsylvania, which is where I grew up. I used to dread going there, but now something about the vast spaces of nothing feels really familiar and calm to me. These photos are from my Dad and Stepmom's backyard, where they cut out a hole in the fence for Katie to make googly eyes at her boyfriend, a doggie next door. My parents said that with me out of the house, they try to give themselves little art projects to do.

Dugan

Katie

Fishies

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{Missouri}
My father and I hopped on a plane and headed out to Missouri to visit with my Grandmother and Grandfather. They live in the Ozarks, so we flew into St. Louis and rented a car and headed up to their neck of the woods. We stopped at the Arc on the way of course. If you have never gone up inside the Arc, I do have to warn you: sketchiest ride ever.