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If there is one thing that was reiterated on this road trip yet again, it was that South Dakota is actually a pretty amazing state. Never thought I'd say that, huh? Not something you hear on a regular basis, but I'm sticking with it because our time there was phenomenal. Andrew couldn't stop commenting on the diversity of the land within just one state, and he is spot on about that one. Don't understand the pun in this post's title, just keep reading.

After our stay in Indiana, our first stop was an overnight in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. We had made great time in driving so we had a few extra hours to spare after we checked into our hotel. What was meant to be just an overnight place to sleep before we moved on turned into a fantastic side adventure. We found the main park in Sioux Falls which was indeed the falls of the Big Sioux River and also home of the ruins of the Queen Bee Mill. It was the perfect place to take a walk and enjoy being outside after being stuck in the car all day.

 We then set out to find a place to eat. We were surprised by the downtown revival that was happening in Sioux Falls and there were plenty of fabulous looking restaurants to choose from-- not at all what we were expecting! We found a place called JL Beers which seems to be a very small local South Dakota franchise. We had great burgers and got the chance to try a flight of beer that included all beer from Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota and the like-- nothing that we'd had before.

The next morning, we moved onward. We stopped briefly at a Missouri River overlook near Chamberlain, South Dakota before moving on to our first National Park stop.


As we drove toward Badlands National Park, we were greeted by flatter grasslands. Seeing the arrival of the Badlands is incredible. The Badlands have been formed over years of erosion where a lake bed once nested. As you arrive, you're amidst grasslands and suddenly see a huge drop in the land where the Badlands are carved out.
We spent about two hours hiking on two separate trails, but spent the rest of the day on a scenic drive through the park, stopping at points of interest. Having been here three times now, I have to admit that this is the only way to do the park and survive. They aren't called the Badlands for any old reason-- they're truly bad. And on the day we visited, it was a whopping 107 degrees. I am still in awe of how harsh this land is and how immense its formations are. Just take this photo for example-- can you spot Andrew on our hike?

The change of colors and shapes within the formations are incredible as well.
We also had our first wildlife sightings in the Badlands. Last time I had visited I was lucky to spot two big horn sheep climbing in the craggy rock in the distance, but this time we were even luckier to see a group of them munching on the grass by the side of the road. And there were lots of little baby big horns too!
Andrew spotted a bison in the distance-- the first he'd ever seen in the wild (I'll save the bison photos for Yellowstone as we have a pretty fantastic story to go along with the bison we saw there). And of course, the prairie dogs were everywhere.
True story-- there is a reason for the Bruce Hornsby song Prairie Dog Town. Only someone who has visited the Badlands would fully understand.



Needless to say, after our Badlands adventure we headed on to the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. More on that next!

Driving to Wyoming and back is no small feat when you live in Maryland or anywhere on the East Coast for that matter. Our final stops on our vacation were Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, but we decided to take our time getting there so that we wouldn't burn out before we got there. Our trip started with a short drive to Cleveland to stay overnight at Andrew's parents' house, drop Lilah off for the next two weeks, and to pop in for his cousin's wedding ceremony. After the ceremony (which ended up being a full Greek Orthodox mass-- that was a new one for both of us!), we took off to Indiana to visit my parents.

A visit with my parents in the summer now seems synonymous with relaxing time with good food. As you may know, my mom is a baker and uses a wood-fired oven that my dad built at her bakery for a large portion of the breads that she bakes. She also offers other delicious food items from time to time that are produced in her wood-fired oven. My parents loved the oven at the bakery so much, that my dad decided to build a second one in their back yard a couple years ago. This means that if the weather is nice, there is surely to be a wood-fired oven feast to be had while visiting.

This time, we enjoyed wood-fired pizza and a fresh salad full of veggies from my mom's garden. My grandmother came to join us in our feast as well. To be honest, there is little that compares to food that comes out of a wood-fired oven-- the flavors are just amazing! It was nice to split up our drive west relaxing on the patio, meeting my parents' new dog Stella, seeing my grandmother, and eating amazing food.

Food has always played an important role in my family, and this visit was no different. These sorts of visits are always something to look forward to.

After our quick, two night stay in Indiana, we hit the road again and made our way to South Dakota. Stay tuned for photos from the next part of our trip!

Hello Monday and week two of our grand adventure out west! We've made it to the Tetons in Wyoming and they are ever so gorgeous! I wouldn't want to leave you all hanging so I have something extra special for you today. Stela from Stelabird is sharing one of her fabulous Make It posts that she has created just for you fabulous readers (and I'm pretty sure I need to make these. I actually have the supplies written down on a list at the moment!). Stela is one of my favorite bloggers and is pretty much all around fabulous, and most of the time I drool over her little shop in Oklahoma. Please do go visit her blog! So without further ado...
Hi Row House 14 readers!  I'm Stela from the blog Stelabird and I'm so happy to be visiting here and sharing a DIY project with you!  Today I'm sharing with you how to make these two-toned wooden stud earrings! These were inspired by Kate Spade's Rosewood Dot earrings. They are simple and fun to make. Plus, they are super cool.
Let's get started! You will need: acrylic paint  paint brush glue  masking tape wood dowel caps earring posts    Put your masking tape on the dowel cap where one half is completely covered and the other half is exposed. Paint the exposed piece of wood.  Let it dry and paint a second or third coat if needed.  Peel off the tape carefully once the paint has dried.  Now it's time to add the earring posts! Add a dab of glue to your post and attach to the bottom of your dowel cap. If you're using E-6000 glue let it dry for 24 hours for maximum hold.  Ta daaa!! You're done and now you have some sweet earrings to sport!  I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial! To see more of my Make It post, click HERE. Thank you so much for having me Heidi!  ♥

If you've wondered why I've been gone a bit more than I usually tend to be these last few days, it's because I've been getting things together for our massive road trip. Today is officially my last day of blogging until we return in several weeks. We were up late last night running errands to pick up a few extra camping supplies that we had run out of, get some of the non-perishable food that we wanted for our trip, and go through our camping gear to make sure everything was there.

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This is not my first big road trip. In my lifetime, I've gone on many two, and even three, week trips with my parents. Out to the Grand Canyon and up through the Rocky Mountains, to Glacier National Park and on to Seattle and down Highway 1 to California, up through Canada and around the Gaspe Peninsula to name just a few. I've been lucky to take the trip we're taking these next two weeks twice already-- out through the Badlands in South Dakota, on to Yellowstone in Wyoming and down to The Grand Tetons.

However, this trip is a first for Andrew. While he has been to Colorado and to the Southwest once or twice, we has never actually gone on a road trip like this. Being one of five kids growing up, road trips were not such an easy option. Imagine traveling across the country in a mini van with five kids crammed in the back and then trying to set up a campsite while trying to wrangle those same five kids. I don't blame his parents for not wanting to do that. This is the kind of trip Andrew has wanted to do for a long time, and when he asked me which parks he should see, there was no hesitation in stating that this was the route we should take.

So we head off tomorrow afternoon. Our plan is to stop tomorrow night in Cleveland at Andrew's parents' house where we will drop off Lilah for free pet sitting (They are amazing for doing this! And Lilah loves staying with them-- think big yard to run in, another dog to play with, and all sorts of adventures) and maybe go to a wedding ceremony on Saturday. Then on to Indiana to my parents' house for two days before we head off to the parks.

I will not be blogging while I'm on the trip. I love being able to disconnect completely when I'm on vacation (I may have an Instagram here or there if I remember! So be sure to follow @heidishenk), but I have some amazing ladies filling in for me while I'm gone. Be sure to give them some love and to check out each of their blogs as well-- they are all fabulous!

But for now, it's road trip mix making time. Time to get some of those playlists together on the iPod. Have you been on a road trip like this before? What are your all time favorite road trip songs?

It's nice to be back today after taking a much needed break on Monday to rest. We spent the weekend in New Jersey to attend a college roommate's wedding. It was an amazing weekend, but it left me exhausted as we drove back immediately following the reception on Sunday night and arrived home around 2:30 on Monday morning. We arrived in New Jersey on Saturday afternoon just in time to quickly change and head to the rehearsal dinner. Afterward, we checked into our hotel and enjoyed a walk along the Hudson. I finally had the perfect opportunity to try out my wide angle lens for the first time.

We caught up with my other college roommate, Sally, in Hoboken at a fantastic outdoor beer garden. It was perfect weather-- no humidity and in the 70s so it was great to spend time outside. After heading back to our hotel, we decided to take another walk along the water for some night time skyline photos.
 After successfully boring Andrew with my nerdy photography talk until 1:30 in the morning (yes, I really was out that late taking photos) it was time to crash, so we headed back to the hotel. In the morning we woke up to a fantastic view of the New York City skyline from our hotel window.
And we also were greeted by a fantastic view of Aerosmith's tour buses in our hotel parking lot. Whaaaat? Time to Instagram that shit.
After enjoying a huge breakfast (when I'm on vacation, I ALWAYS go for the scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon, and toast combo) we needed to check out of the hotel. And of course spy on Joey Kramer in his coffee tour bus.
Wait, what? You don't know who Joey Kramer is? He's only the drummer for Aerosmith. Yes, I might have been obsessed with them when I was in high school and know all of the band members names. I might have even gone to a couple of their concerts and bought some Aerosmith t-shirts. No shame in that!
Total, there were seven of these bad boys, but this one was the only one that was super fancy schmancy since apparently Joey Kramer recently launched his new coffee company. (See, I told you, I still know too much about this band.) Either way, I was kind of excited.
But then I forgot to capture my sad face from when I didn't really get to see any of the band members. I sort of may have wanted to ask the lady at the front desk which room Joe Perry was staying in while I was checking out of the hotel, but I was good and didn't ask. I'm sure Andrew was glad I saved him from that embarrassment. Anyway, this was supposed to be about a wedding, right?

Next we had some work to do. My friend Steph, who also happened to be the bride, was having a Warhol themed wedding. She had created some amazing Warhol-esque photos of her family and the wedding party and had asked us to hang them for her in the reception hall. We spent the afternoon hanging each photo with fishing line and leveling them so they would be perfect for the reception.

The wedding took place at Maritime Parc in Liberty State Park. To be honest, if you live in New Jersey near the city, I can't imagine a better place to have a wedding. The ceremony was held in a  beautiful space filled with natural light with a skyline of Lower Manhattan as the backdrop. As you walk back downstairs to the reception hall, you have a beautiful view of the Statue of Liberty.
The ceremony was followed by a cocktail hour that was held both inside and on a beautiful wrap around outdoor terrace. The cocktail hour included drinks, a sushi bar (my favorite touch!), barbeque sliders, and a spread of bread, cheese, and spreads. It was the perfect opportunity for photos as well. And clearly, I must post this classic photo of a near dress malfunction thanks to the wind as we prepare for photos. In case you wondered why I never post photos of myself, you now have another glorious example.
Thank you heels for making me tower over Andrew. Thank you late night before for the bags under my eyes. Thank you wind for my crazy hair that had to be thrown up last minute. And thank you Nordstrom Rack and Tory Burch for the fabulous last minute dress after my dress freak-out on Friday night.
It was so, so good to catch up with my dear friend Sally as well. We don't get to see her often, but when we do it's as if we picked up where we left off last.

And on to the reception. The flowers were beautiful.
The food, fabulous.
The cake, perfectly simple.
The reception hall, so incredibly classy.
And an ever so amazing view from our dinner table.
 And of course the bride and groom-- stunning!
And of course we needed a roommate shot for old times sake. Sorry that you will have to live through my photo mishaps again. This is the classic eyes half way closed shot. I warned you people, these sorts of things happen 9 out of 10 times when I am in a photo. I should have just spared you, but I needed this photo for posterity's sake.
Now, I'm definitely not super into weddings. Trust me, I haven't even started planning mine nor will it be traditional in any way. However, that being said, I have to admit that this was perhaps one of the most fabulous weddings I have attended. Everything was simply perfect and made for a really amazing weekend. Congrats again to Steph and Mike! We were so glad to have been able to celebrate with you guys and know that you will enjoy a lifetime of happiness together!