A MORNING AT EASTERN MARKET

On Saturday morning my parents and I made our way to one of the US's largest farmers markets and local favorite, Eastern Market. If you've never been: GO. Nice and early. It's such a great experience. The market opens at 5am, but we got there around 8. Local produce, food trucks, and fantastic people watching at the tip of your fingers. I will admit, not all of the produce is local, unfortunately (just look behind the stands to see if the sellers are pulling all their veggies out of cardboard boxes or something commercial looking, it should be pretty obvious). We got coffee from Urban Grounds (they sell Great Lakes Coffee), an assortment of cheeses from the Zingerman's stall for an appetizer for a dinner with relatives that evening, beignets (pronounced BEN-YEY) from the beignets2go truck, and an asparagus lángos (hungarian fried pizza) from The Grindhouse. All in all, it was just a lovely morning to soak in the Detroit urban vibes.

STARS AND STRIPES AND HOMEMADE DOCUMENTARIES

I hope you all had a fabulous fourth! For the holiday my family (minus Haley :() went to our cottage up north with a few of our relatives. For the first time in my life, I was the only cousin up there. Typically I at least have my sister, but times change and people move away, and it's just not as easy to get together as it was before. Even though my cottage experience was a different flavor than normal, I still had a blast (what can I say, my aunt and uncles are a hoot ;)! We went out for a day and hung out at some of our favorite spots, took our time soaking up some sun at the pond, and played "name that tune" around the campfire (that last one was hard for me. How am I supposed to know that one song from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation!?). It's funny how I brought a huge stack of books  planning on being bored with time to kill all day, and I didn't even get a hundred pages into my first book! The internet was a little rougher, though. My addiction is stronger than ever and Sprint does not do up north very well (Verizon, however, doesn't have so much of a problem. My Uncle Matt and Aunt Nancy were checkin their phones without an issue :P) Needless to say, I love my family and it was great seeing their faces for a whole weekend in beautiful northern Michigan!

Fourth of July 2013 from Shelby Mistor on Vimeo.

MY PARTY WAS THE BOMB

Of course just showing you some pictures and giving you some details isn't going to do the event justice, but I figured I'd try. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and just imaaagine... wait, no. I take that back; open your eyes, you have to see the pictures! I'll give you a walkthrough. Party recap time!

1PM - My good friend Abbi helped me put up pictures, hang ruffle garland (harder than you'd expect), and plate food (among other things). Check out the shortest video of all time >>

2PM - All the little details are finished!

3PM - 4PM - Stretching and meditation, because I party hard.

JK. It was mostly food prep and talking to relatives and helpers.

4PM - 7:30PM - Welcome! Grab a plate! Salad, mashed potatoes, and chicken? Step outside and say hello to the graduate! Clearwater Christian College, business major (was communication arts major until I found out two days prior that that was only offered as a minor now, but I'm totally content with business). Peruse my pictures, please! Have a seat under the tent, nibble on some sixlets and admire the carnations. What's that you hear? Why yes, that is the Creepy Clyde on keyboard (he's actually really great, don't be thrown by the "creepy" title. I don't know who came up with that). The drinks for the evening are water with cucumber and mint, water with lemon, iced tea, and Liz Elwart's famous lemonade (alas, I didn't get to the famous lemonade *sad face*)! I don't have to tempt you with dessert, one of Shelly Keenan's fabulous vanilla bean cupcakes is already in your hand and Haley's peanut butter dream bars are eyeing you. A second trip is already planned to pick up a key lime cupcake before you head out. 

8:30PM - 10PM - The party don't stop until someone's had a bonfire. In this case it was Alex. Thanks for hosting us, bud.

And just like that, my big day had come and gone. The result of months of planning passed with the sunset. (<< too dramatic?)

THANK YOU. Whether you came, wished you could have and were not able to come, helped, or whatever, thank you. I had an absolute blast at my party and it wouldn't have been fun at all without the help and support of others. I wish I could've talked to each of you longer!

All photos by Haley and Co. J.Crew dress.