Grades are in. Sun is out.

And so are the flowers! And some of them have got me thinking of home.

There are a lot of tulips here, and they are reminding me that I'm missing Tulip Time in Holland--dutch dancers in colorful dresses and wooden shoes, lines of food trucks, oh, and, that terrible traffic.

And I was happily surprised to discover that one of the plants in our back yard isn't just a boring ol' bush.

Lilacs! But this makes sense: we are in the Lilac City. 

These too, are a big reminder of home. I've been suffering a huge bout of homesickness lately, looking up ticket prices every morning and hoping some massive sale is happening (free tickets anyone?). But the smell of these bushes is getting me through, reminding me of the big one in our yard growing up, and of those in Marquette, towering over the sidewalk on Lakeshore Drive. Anyway, it's nice to see a familiar face (or bud). And soon we will have visitors!

Until then, I've got a lot of crafting and writing to do. And I've already started with this necklace I made for my mom (shh, it's still in the mail).

I saw this bird's nest necklace on Sarah Ortega's blog and thought it was the perfect mother's day gift. It's easy, but I took a few tries to get it how I wanted. Click here, for her directions and adorable examples.

She used silver, but I had this copper wire lying around and thought it would compliment my mom's beautiful red hair. She's probably not as pale as I am!

Enjoy your weekend everyone!