Went to Chicago, Sorry I couldn't take you ♫ ♪

What a week!?!? My mother-in-law flew out to watch the kids while I jetsetted to Chicago. I stayed with good friends, scored free tickets to The Joy Formidable's concert (my new favorite band that is UhMazing live), went swing dancing with friends I hadn't seen in 10 years, made new friends and oh yeah, went to Chicago International!!!

I had high hopes of blogging while everything was fresh in my memory, but then work, kids, Easter and my daughter's birthday threw a wrench in my mini plans. I'll try to post the rest of the trip and the fun minis I bought over the next few days. On Monday after the show, I had the pleasure of meeting Brae (Otterine). I always geek out a bit when I meet someone whose work I admire so much, but Brae really knocked my socks off. First, she drove 45 minutes across town to pick me up and then brought me back to her place where I got to drool over all of the amazing projects she's built over the last few years. Second, O.M.G. Brae's work is even better in person.

Brae truly is a Renaissance woman, jack of all trades, if I can dream it I can build it kind of gal. From a very young age she was encouraged to follow her artistic talents, learning to sew, paint and draw. Her miniature obsession started in 2009 when she renovated her childhood Lundby style dollhouse as a birthday gift for her cousin. Since then she has been bashing dollhouse kits and winning contests left and right. All of her builds feature amazing realistic details and clever structural tricks for hiding electrical components and removable walls to access smaller rooms. I was truly blown away by Brae's incredible eye for details.

I'm always curious where other people's houses live. Here is Brae's collection throughout her house. Please visit her website to see the amazing details on these houses, these pics from my cell phone don't do justice: Walnut Bay Light, Baxter Pointe VillaThe Artist's Studio, The Haunted Heritage, Baslow Ranch and The Aero Squadron Lounge.

Besides being uber talented, Brae is super nice to boot. If I lived in Chicago the miniature world would hate me as I would be pulling her away from building and blogging to go hang out. I hope to meet up with her again next year, but until then, I'll be following along and continuing to drool over her latest builds, otterine.com/blog/blog1.php/.