Heron Pond - 50th Anniversary

Thrilled to be a part of this upcoming event in southern Illinois. I created the poster graphic, below, learn more about this amazing event!

Register on Eventbrite or Donate Here.

Learn more on the Friends of IL Nature Preserves Website Here.

Come celebrate the dedication of Heron Pond - Wildcat Bluff as an Illinois Nature Preserve!

The Cache River wetlands in southern Illinois represent the northernmost extent of North America’s vast Coastal Plain physiographic province. However, only ten percent of the original extent of the Cache River’s swamps and bottomland forests remain, and an even smaller fraction still resembles its historical condition.

For the diverse native species that call it home and the many people who have witnessed its splendor, Heron Pond hearkens back to the wilderness of the original Cache River swamps. Thanks to the efforts of local citizens, conservationists, and government agencies, this remarkable ecological legacy has been protected as an Illinois Nature Preserve since 1971.

We welcome you to celebrate 50 years of permanent protection for Heron Pond and its upland counterpart, Wildcat Bluff, on Saturday, April 9, 2022. This one-day event is hosted by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources in collaboration with the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission, Friends of the Cache River Watershed, and Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves. Event highlights include informational talks by pivotal figures in the acquisition, protection, and early management of this unique site; a juried art exhibit; and field tours of Heron Pond and Wildcat Bluff. Please join us for this celebration of our irreplaceable natural heritage!

Main Ceremony

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Join us for an outdoor ceremony at the Barkhausen Wetlands Center. Ecologists Max Hutchison, John Schwegman, and Andy West will speak about the early days of the Cache River, the acquisition of Heron Pond, and the original efforts to restore and manage the site’s swamps and bottomlands.

Presentation: Natural Areas Day at Heron Pond

(2:00 PM- 2:45 PM)

Watch a pre-recorded presentation by John Schwegman on the 1972 Natural Areas Day event that celebrated the then newly dedicated Heron Pond – Wildcat Bluff Nature Preserve. John will be available after the talk to answer questions from the audience. The recording will be made available online for later viewing.

Cache River Wetlands Documentary

(1:00-1:15 PM, 1:30-1:45 PM, 3:00-3:15 PM, 3:30-3:45 PM, 4:00-4:15 PM)

Site Interpreter Molie Oliver will introduce this 12-minute video on the history of the Cache River Wetlands.

Follow our Facebook page for updates and more information about each of the event partners.

COVID Protocol

Attendance to this indoor event and other indoor displays may be capped in consideration of IDNR COVID protocols at the time of the event.

Partners

Friends of Illinois Nature Preserves, a newly founded 501(c)(3) in support of nature preserves in the state of Illinois and non-profit Friends of the Cache Watershed collaborated on coordinating this event in support of the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission (INPC) and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR).

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Hike Descriptions:

Hike 1, Heron Pond

Free

1:00-2:30 PM at the Todd Fink Trail

Join Natural Heritage Biologist Mark Guetersloh (IDNR), John Beardsley (Illinois State Water Survey), and Dr. Jeff Hoover (Illinois Natural History Survey) for a tour of the Todd Fink trail out to the Heron Pond boardwalk. Learn about the ecology of this unique wetland and the work done to restore its hydrology. Registration required to attend and capped at 25 participants.

Hike 2, Heron Pond

Free

3:00-4:30 PM at the Todd Fink Trail

Join Natural Heritage Biologist Mark Guetersloh (IDNR), John Beardsley (Illinois State Water Survey), and Dr. Jeff Hoover (Illinois Natural History Survey) for a tour of the Todd Fink trail out to the Heron Pond boardwalk. Learn about the ecology of this unique wetland and the work done to restore its hydrology. Registration required to attend and capped at 25 participants

Hike 3, Wildcat Bluff

Free

1:00-2:30 PM at Wildcat Bluff

Join Natural Heritage Biologist Christina Feng (IDNR) and Natural Areas Preservation Specialist Kevin Sierzega (Illinois Nature Preserves Commission) on a tour of Wildcat Bluff. Learn about the natural communities that exist at this interface between bottomlands and uplands and the management being conducted to restore this incredible landscape. Registration required and capped at 20 participants per hike.

Hike 4, Wildcat Bluff

Free

3:00 -4:30 PM at Wildcat Bluff

Join Natural Heritage Biologist Christina Feng (IDNR) and Natural Areas Preservation Specialist Kevin Sierzega (Illinois Nature Preserves Commission) on a tour of Wildcat Bluff. Learn about the natural communities that exist at this interface between bottomlands and uplands and the management being conducted to restore this incredible landscape. Registration required and capped at 20 participants per hike.

Reserve your Heron Pond 50th Anniversary Fundraising T-shirt by adding it at Registration.

Makanda Mushroom Festival - April 17-19, 2020

Join us for the first annual Makanda Mushroom Festival held in the gorgeous Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. During the weekend of April 17-19, 2020, Camp Manitowa at Cedar Point in Makanda, IL boasts a gorgeous backdrop for mushroom foraging hikes, food and fermentation workshops, a mushroom dinner with chef Anne Millard, live music from incredible local talent, art, vendors, camping, cabins, and much more. Stay tuned for more details. Perfect for families and people of all ages! Enjoy spring with us here in the Shawnee, we cannot wait to see you in April!

Find us on Facebook here!

I recently took on a fun, new project. I am helping to coordinate a new, local festival here in southern Illinois. Myself and the two owners of Flyway Family Farm have embarked on a journey towards something they have dreamt of for years and years. I’m thrilled with the community that has some out of everywhere to support the Mush Love movement, so I can only imagine how incredible this will be.

Below, you can check out a few photos of the camp. It’s going to be so amazing!

Early Bird Tickets NOW AVAILABLE!!

Gates open at 3pm on Friday, April 17, 2020.

Festivities run Friday - Sunday.

Checkout Monday, April 20, 2020 12:00pm.

Purchase Tickets Here!
http://bit.ly/Makanda-Mushroom-Fest-Tix

Adult tent camping:
$80.00

Child 12 and under tent camping:
$40.00

4 person hogan cabin - includes festival ticket
(only 20 available):
$150.00

I’m excited that we will be offering guided hikes, and with the foraged edible mushrooms and other wild edibles we find, we will then be hosting a Forage and Fermentation Mushroom Dinner. This will be so wonderful, and I am going to be very excited to get to use my love of food photography to likely capture the event!

Festival Decor will also be so fun!!! I cannot wait to create a whimsical and elegant look for the camp.

The Camp also offers free kayaks and canoes to camp attendees for the festival, which is one of the best ways to enjoy this area, boating around on Little Grassy Lake!

See you in April!!!

Passion Defined - Rémy Refined (Event Recap)

Last week, I was invited to a concert in St. Louis by Rémy Martin! The event was held at Hollywood Casino Amphitheater (formerly called Riverport Amphitheatre). There was a HUGE crowd, and everyone was having a great time. I was put on a list to do a Meet & Greet with Jhene Aiko, who opened for Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa on The High Road Tour, as well as helped Rémy Martin promote their mentorship sweepstakes. 

I waited in line to meet the woman of the hour, and she was super sweet and very personable. She's so beautiful!!! I even scored an awesome photo with her! What a unique experience this was. A special thanks to SoFabRocks for connecting me with this awesome brand, talented artist, and fun experience. 

Also, if you didn't get a chance to check out my Rémy Martin Watermelon Cocktail Cooler Recipe, you can find that blog post, here. Until next time, cheers, friends!

Create + Cultivate Dallas!

Wow! Just got back a few days ago from Dallas, and I have all sorts of things to share with you. The main theme that the presenters, speakers, and mentors kept saying was to STAY AUTHENTIC. I love this because I have been completely under the impression that it is best to stick to one topic when blogging if you want to be successful. And, while this business model does work well for some, it is not the only way that you have to do things. 

The other super important take-away for me, was that I have GOT to develop a BUSINESS PLAN if I want my blog to be my full time business! (Which I do). So I already have a journal dedicated to this very purpose, and I cannot wait to share a bit of that with my readers along the way, throughout 2016. 

THE CONFERENCE...

Let me begin by saying that this was the most inspiring event I have aver attended. There were loads of fashion bloggers, creative women, adorable food and drinks, and great people watching! I didn't really realize the event was going to be mostly fashion influencers/bloggers, but it was great to see who is out there, and basically "who I am blogging beside".

They really did a lovely job decorating the Lofty Spaces, and every single inch of the place was like a perfect Instagram moment! 

It was amazing seeing so many talented and motivated millennials who all want to run an online business or blog. There were people with quite a wide range of talents, as well as people who were at just about every stage of the game, from people who were just still conceptualizing their brand, blog, and business, to those who had been blogging for ten years, and were basically "social celebrities". 

Moxie McCoy was one of my mentors. 

SOME KEY NOTES...

Some of the important notes I took include:

- To be inspiring, you need to also be inspired! 

- Create a business that fulfills a need that people have. 

- Take intelligent risks.

- your business pan needs to allot for revenue gain and need to be sustainable.

- Stay authentic

- You need to have a MISSION DRIVEN BUSINESS.

- Keep your original mission in mind the whole time you run your business.

- To be an entrepreneur, you need two things - WORK ETHIS & PASSION. 

- Trust your voice

- You need a specific vision and voice.

- Curate, Collaborate, and Create

- Stay ahead of the trends

- Offline Interactions are even more important than those you are having online! 

- Speaking engagements can bring in more money than blogging alone. 

- Engage in platforms that facilitate communities.

NYLO DALLAS + PECAN LODGE BBQ

Wow, the NYLO Dallas was incredible! Really lovely rooms with tall ceilings and large bathrooms. 

Pecan Lodge BBQ. YUM!!!!

The Country Living Fair - near Nashville, TN (Review)

I had a lovely time at The Country Living Fair last weekend with my mom and sister. It's rare for us to all get together, so this was really a treat. As usual, we packed events into every millisecond of the two days we had in Tennessee. Below, you can browse about 300 photos I took throughout the event. This was the first year the fair was held in Tennessee, and it was a welcomed site! There were thousands of (mostly) ladies that were all eager to shop! This was one of the best-attended craft-related events I have attended in the midwest, and I was so happy to be amongst so many creative people. Use the left and right arrows below to page through the images.

I thought the event was mostly going to be a flea market style event with possibly a bit of reclaimed furniture and such. But, I was ecstatic to find that the majority of the vendors were showcasing mostly handmade items, or reclaimed items that were thought up in completely new and unusual ways! It was like Pinterest had come to life, but not the ideas you see everywhere, completely NEW ideas! It was amazingly inspiring. 

This booth, by Tadpole Creations, was one of our faves! This booth was beyond adorable, very cleverly designed, and contained items that I used to try to create years ago when I vended at shows, but never quite accomplished. Their appliqué onesies, stuffed rattle elephants, baby quilts, and other baby-oriented items were incredible! Such talent! 

We fell in love with these hand cut barn wood USA cutouts, and they had every letter of the alphabet cut out of colorful wood as well! 

I was surprised to see a large amount of "booths" that looked like someone had picked up a whole boutique and moved it into the venue as well. I mean, people literally taking 99% of their store fixtures, and rebuilding them onto the grounds, register and all. This was rather incredible. I was surprised to see how much wholesale clothing and home goods there were, though, that were clearly bought at design markets, not handmade, but extremely cute and in the same spirit of the fair near Nashville. I personally liked the mix of both handmade and pre bought items for sale, but I am sure for crafty vendors, they were a bit upset to see how much work they had done to fill their booths, whereas some vendors just went to market and bought things to sell. But, it was fun to see the latest trends, and I now realize how much of a "hotbed of fashion" and home decor trends that Nashville is! And, I live only 3 hours from the place!

This booth, by Spellbound Collections (from Palmer, tX) was HUGE! I loved the teepee entrance, and the Americana vibe they provided. Inside the tent was a vast array of t-shirts, frilly clothing, home goods, cowgirl boots, and jewelry. Check them out here. 

This booth's register/counter was created from old doors! The Century Farmhouse Artisan Soap Company featured lavender from farms in Washington, which I had actually visited last year! 

This booth was also one of my faves, Stash, although I did't see where they were from. The booth looked like an Urban Outfitters! They also utilized an amazing teepee design

It seemed like the trends I saw most were reclaimed wood, "vintage" but new metal signage (which I originally thought was all handmade, then a trip to the Nashville Flea Market proved otherwise), repurposing of old doors, as well as shabby chic pastels, sun washed mint furniture from the 50s (maybe) made from REAL wood, denim adorned with white lace and crochet and stretchy jersey clothes, like pantaloons, that were loose fitting and ultra comfy. Some of the vendors were dressed like urban cowgirls, and more than once I saw women who I wondered if they had their own shows on HGTV!  

One of the cutest booths ever!!! I loved their vignettes so much :)

I do wish the food had been a bit more accessible. Even on Friday at 2pm, we would have had to wait at least an hour in line, a precious hour we wanted to be shopping instead. There were about ten food vendors/booths/trucks, but wow, the lines made it impossible to eat anything but some unhealthy fried apples and an overly sweetened lemon shakeup. I recommend that they provide about double the amount of food vendors next time. Definitely bring a small cooler with food and drinks if you can for next year! Other than that, not complaints, it was amazing and I would definitely visit again with my mom and sis! 

We had a great time!