Thursday, December 22, 2011

Santa's Nice List.

Earlier this month Luke and I were in Chicago for a fun holiday weekend. We walked by the Macy's display windows and look what we found! It's Santa's nice list and it includes Luke, Eli and Me (although Santa spelled my name wrong).

guess who's coming to town?

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

before and after.



I finally completed my tv stand project. I think it only took me a year and a half. Ha!
I'm happy with the end result.
The darker stained wood matches the other end tables in the living room.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

I made this.

Congrats to Emma on completing nursing school. All celebrations of such accomplishment should involve big pieces of cake!
You can find the recipe here.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

I can't stop staring.


Here is our Christmas Tree, it's just as lovely as can be!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

coffee

Last week I had a notion that I should stop drinking coffee.
Guess how long that lasted?
One day.
I went one day without coffee.
It's just so good.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

how it's made.

Thanks to a link from Jenloveskev I found a great DIY art project.

Then I teamed up with my friend Jackie and we began our crafty adventure. Our goal was to end up with a work of art worthy of serving as our wedding present to our friends Jake and Emily.




We chose the lyrics from the Hall and Oats song because that was the song Jake and Emily had in their wedding ceremony.
Art project = Success!

Monday, October 10, 2011

fall.


Houston Nature Center
Houston, MN

Sunday, September 25, 2011

nursing pays off.

Early this summer Luke injured himself playing soccer. Poor guy. Following surgery for a torn ACL and torn meniscus he became a permanent resident on my couch. As a result I honed in on my nursing skills and quickly got into a routine of care for the man with one good leg. I now have special skills in adjusting cushions and pillows. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to stack cushions for the right amount of leg elevation.

When you only have one good leg and rely on crutches it's hard to do much more than relax on the couch. You can't do laundry or cook very easily. So I took over these tasks for Luke and he was a very appreciative patient. Somewhere during Luke's recovery we discovered that I'm a pretty good nurse and as a result, I deserve some sort of pay back. ah-ha! I knew just the thing. My plan was that once Luke was back to his regular self we'd go out for a fancy dinner and he would pick up the tab. Seems like a great plan, right? I thought so, and I was right.

Last night we went to Tilia. This is a small restaurant in Linden Hills and it's wonderful. Fabulous. Amazing. SO good!! I had only read great reviews about this place so I had added it to my "restaurants to try" list. I continue to thank myself for this list because it really helps me find new places to eat. When we arrived at Tilia it was just after 6 pm and the place was already packed with a dinner crowd. We put our names on the list and were told it would be an hour wait. My some magic our table was ready in less than a half hour. Lovely.

Here's what we had: meatballs (plus wine for me and beer for Luke). Then we tried the scallops and chicken thighs. We ended the meal with the squash pasta dish (and more wine and beer). It was all incredible. Plus, the dishes came to our table slowly so we could enjoy each item and take time to chat. I really like that format of dining out because then you don't feel rushed.

Can you tell that I highly recommend this place? Go there now. Thank me later.

art project.


Here's a hint of an art project that I am dying to share!!

Monday, September 05, 2011

nature walk.


Up North Wisconsin

Monday, August 22, 2011

Monday, August 15, 2011

Tuesday, August 09, 2011

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

up north.


I want to be back up north.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

this and that.

I am continually drawn to these prints.
tip: the vertical LOVE prints are currently on sale!

Last week I made this dessert.

You can check out my back side here. Photo 157.

I would wear this dream outfit.

It rained last Saturday so I'm not so bummed that I missed this.
I went to this instead and it was awesome.

Right now I'm reading Cutting for Stone.
and I've been watching North and South.

And somehow I managed to turn this:



Into this!


Tuesday, June 14, 2011

craving.


For months I have been craving the yummy bagel breakfast sandwiches from the St. Paul Farmer's Market. I ate mine so fast that I'm lucky I remembered to take a photo first!

Sunday, June 05, 2011

witch tower.



There's only one night a year when you have the opportunity to climb the spiral stairs to the top of the Witch's Tower. Once you reach the top you can enjoy a 360 degree view of the Twin Cities. I honestly just wanted to yell, "I love you Minneapolis!" when I saw the skyline. It was a great event with live music, a cake walk and hula hooping!

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

aroma.

If only you could smell these flowers through the internet,
then you would know that spring is here.

Monday, May 09, 2011

under the bridge.


A trio of skateboarders taking a break under the Hennepin Avenue bridge.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

smell.

Ahh... I love the smell of fresh cut pineapple!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

coffee + cream

Do you drink coffee? Do you add cream? If yes to both questions, then I have another question. Why is it so hard to get the right coffee to cream ratio in my mug? You see, here’s the thing. A couple of years ago I started to drink coffee. Initially I was just fine drinking it black. No cream or sugar required. But now I really like to add cream. It just tastes so good. That is, it tastes so good when I can get it right. I don’t drink coffee everyday and when I do drink coffee it’s from different places. This is critical information because the mug or cup I’m using isn’t always the same size. Yesterday I had coffee at work and today I had a medium light roast from Caribou. Both days I added cream. Sometimes I add cream and it’s not enough and sometimes I add cream and it’s too much. Maybe I just need to practice adding cream to my coffee to obtain the perfect ratio. In the end, I like my coffee to be a dark caramel color. Not only is that the best tasting but it’s also a very pretty color. If you drink coffee and have any tips on how to consistently add the right amount of cream, please let me know. Am I the only one who faces this struggle?

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

crush.


I keep spotting ginkgo leaves and I have a huge crush on them!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

bits of my weekend.

I read a lot of blogs. Well, at least I subscribe to a lot of blogs on my google reader. I don't always read everything. One the blogs I subscribe to is For Me, For You. After each weekend, Kate posts "Bits of My Weekend" and it includes photos from her weekend adventures. I feel like I might have shared this once already on my blog. Oh well. Instead of sharing pics I decided I should do some writing on this blog. Here's a recap of my weekend:

I left work early on Friday and took a little detour to the Emergency Room to meet up with Luke. Friend him on facebook and you can get the whole story. Bottom line, he is fine now and learned the hard way that you should take your vitamins one at a time.

Given the flurry of activity with the trip to the ER, Luke and I had a low key night hanging out with his parents and his sister Ali. I don't think I will ever tire of real fireplaces. Especially those that are in dining rooms. It's lovely.

Saturday morning was full of cleaning and laundry. Plus some time dividing up the contents of the kitchen with my roomie. It's sad to know that her moving day is getting closer and closer.

Luke and I spent some time at Caribou on Saturday afternoon and then made a trip to REI. I finally broke down and bought a very beautiful messenger bag. I can't wait to organize all of my stuff into the pockets! Don't worry, I didn't pay full price.

Alright, so if you live in the metro you know that the weather this weekend was incredible. Everyone was spending time outside and leaving their coats and jackets behind. We all survived the winter! What better way to spend a Saturday night than at a backyard campfire? Ahh... I didn't even care that my hair reeked of smoke when I went to bed that night. Bring on spring (and summer!)

Sunday morning I was up early and called Luke to get his butt outta bed. We took Bella for a run along the railroad tracks. Then it was flip flops and coffee outside of Bun of the Isles with the Sunday paper. See all that frosting above? That is pure heaven. Plus I had an incredible orange and strawberry scone.

After a trip to Trader Joe's Luke indulged me by helping me as I got my bike ready for the season. And by helping I mean, he watched as I directed him on ways he could help me. But really, I wouldn't let him do anything because I'm so anal about my bike. Man, my bike is really pretty!

Luke and I made a fabulous dinner together and then camped out on the couch to catch up on some episodes of Big Bang Theory. All in all, it was a good weekend. So very very good.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

never ending winter.


We had a day or two of 50 degree weather... but now we are back to the frozen tundra. My positive vibes for winter are SO over! Bring on SPRING.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Thursday, March 10, 2011

list!

Who doesn't love a good list? Here's mine for today.

I have always loved this print.

Maybe this weekend I will make this or this.
Although these look good too!

Now this is dedication. For Lent, I'm giving up going out to eat.

Have you checked out the guys and outfits here? Very cool.

My hair isn't long enough to be this cool.

Monday, March 07, 2011

this is genius.

Not sure what this is? It took me a minute to figure it out too.
It's a fabulous kitchen gadget. I want one!

From Finnish Design Shop, Found via the Kitchn.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

art?

Yes, this is art. But it seems creepy to me.



Wednesday, February 09, 2011

succulents.


I really like succulents.


That is all.


Monday, February 07, 2011

cupcakes!

Root Beer Chocolate Cupcakes with Root Beer Chocolate Frosting!
Want the recipe?

Saturday, January 29, 2011

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

running late.

This will come as a shock to those of you who know me.
Last night I was late.
For those of you who don't know me... allow me to explain.
I am never late. I loathe being late. I am always early. Even if I think I'm going to be late for something I get all tense and paranoid. I panic as if the world is going to end because I might possibly be late for something. But the truth is - I am never late.
Until last night.

Last night I was late.
I left work and headed to Minneapolis to Luke's place. Traffic was moving at the usual pace and I arrived at Luke's without a care in the world. Plenty of time, I thought. I went inside and Luke was just about ready to leave. He changed a load of laundry and I gave Bella a treat. No hurrying at all. Back in the car Luke was in the driver's seat and we were off to the French Meadow Cafe. I had a groupon to use for dinner.
Getting to French Meadow proved to be more of an expedition than I had planned. Oh, the traffic! I didn't feel any panic though. We would still have time for dinner and make it to Spanish class at 6:30 p.m.

(What was I thinking? Why wasn't I panicking? I should have known better!)

We sat down at our table at French Meadow and ordered tea. Then we ordered an appetizer and our entrees. This is where the pressure finally started to sink in. How were we going to have enough time to eat and get to class by 6:30 p.m.? What time was it when we sat down? French Meadow Cafe isn't the kind of place where you want to rush through dinner. Why hadn't we just gone to grab some soup at Common Roots Cafe?

The thing is... not only am I never late, I am always early. SO early. In college I remember showing up to empty classrooms all. the. time. I was usually the first one to arrive for class. If I'm driving somewhere new I allow extra driving time. I'm so early that even if I get lost along the way I can still arrive early to my final destination. (That has actually happened to me.)

You know what happens when you are early for everything? You spend a lot of time waiting. Waiting for others to show up. Waiting checking your clock. Waiting for things to start. Waiting.

But last night I was late.
Luke flagged down our waitress and asked her, "Can you bring our bill with our entrees? We have somewhere we need to be at 6:30." The entrees were served and we ate fast. If anyone was watching us they probably thought we were in the middle of a fight. It was all action and no talking. Eat your dinner. Hurry up. Even at this point I wasn't completely freaking out about being late. Classes never really start on time anyway, right? I know this after all of my 'showing up early and waiting around' experience.

My debit card was out and ready to go. But wait, oh no. What's this? The bill is wrong. I should only have to pay about $8 after the groupon discount yet the waitress charged almost $20 to my card. Crap. This isn't helping. Luke scooped up the bill and my card and got the error fixed while I continued to hurry up and eat. (He somehow managed to finish his gnocchi with lightening speed).

Bill fixed. Receipt signed. Coats are on. Luke took the car keys and planned to pick me up on the corner. No sense in both of us trying to cross Lyndale Avenue on foot with all the traffic going by. Once I was in the car we were headed only a few blocks away to Jefferson School for our very first Spanish class. Yep, that's right: LATE ON THE FIRST NIGHT OF CLASS.

We hurried into the building and quickly asked the Community Education office staff person where we needed to go. Third floor. We rode the elevator with another guy going to the same class. We finally reached the room and walked in through the open door. The lights were off and the instructor was already going through powerpoint slides. Seriously. And do you know what time it was right then? 6:33 p.m. SERIOUSLY. And you know what else? Three other students showed up AFTER US.

So yes, ladies and gentleman, last night I was late. And even though I was late, the world didn't end. I survived. Everything's just fine. Other people were even later than me. Plus, I don't think I really missed much during those first three minutes of class. Maybe now I can use this experience and just be on time for things rather than always early. Maybe.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Gold Medal Flour


My favorite sign still rocks in black and white.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Aster Cafe.

My favorite thing to order is the manchego cheese plate with raisins and marcona almonds.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

learn something.

My goals for 2011 are still spinning around in my head. Eventually I will get them on paper. And yes I mean on real paper, that I write on with one of my favorite pens, not some electronic document. Meanwhile, I want to learn some things.

I'm signed up for a Spanish community education class in Minneapolis that starts later this month. And I'm also working on this. Tonight I focused on step three.

Here's a sunny picture to warm you up.

Sunday, January 02, 2011

name the location!

200 bonus points to anyone who knows where this photo was taken!