I tried to distract myself from the heat by taking photos, but that only lasted so long.

The best float: I ♥ Northeast.

I had no idea there was a Mandarin Chinese immersion school nearby – so cool!

Hey, it’s the mayor, R.T. Rybak. I think he must’ve run down the whole of Central Avenue which is just incredible to me. Because it was so hot. You know.

Clever marketing.

Sometimes it is very nice when people pose for me. Candids are not always that easy, especially when there are a million other people around. So, thank you, lady on stilts, for pausing for my camera.

i added more plants and cedar mulch to my little flower garden.

carnations!

yesterday i discovered some animal has come along and completely stolen my anemone plant. it was dead anyway, but seriously? that area of the garden is totally ugly now.

bertine had a girls-only clothing swap.

this is bertine’s girl cat, harriet, so don’t worry. no boys infiltrated! (her two boy cats hid in another room.)

i saw some fun puppets from the in the heart of the beast during the annual may day parade.

this banana was not from the heart of the beast, but he was clever. and handing out bananas. like.

these two are married now! that’s another post though. back to puppets!

“year of the tiger” was the parade theme.

can you believe it? seriously. these puppets are so wonderful.

then life was quiet for a little while. i know because i’m going through my flickr photo stream and the only things i posted for a week or two are my photos of the day.

however, during this quiet time, i finally left tcf bank for spire credit union. i’ve been wanting to switch to a credit union for a while since i’m just about ready to think about buying a new car or my very own house or something big like that. i think being part of a credit union will help me with this sort of thing.

i’ve also been spending a lot of time having a big crush on my boyfriend. he’s pretty darn awesome. (he was celebrating cinco de mustache in this photo.)

and, of course, i’ve been petting my kitties. they recently received a FURminator (from me) and it’s all they can talk about (if they aren’t talking about food).

my real reason for this photo purge? i am participating in flashbelt this week and will be heading out to las vegas in about a week and a half and i just really need to clear my blog’s to do list before i can properly share these other experiences with you. there are other events coming up over the next month or two that i will be taking a lot of photos during, so purge purge purge i go! what will i post about next?!