Impromptu Date Night

I thought it would be fun to go out to eat with our children tonight.  One by one they made other plans….my daughter wanted to have a sleepover with a friend, my middle son decided to go snowboarding, and my oldest son decided that tonight was the night he was going to make a big production out of asking his girlfriend to prom.  So, it my husband and I ended up going out for dinner alone.  It turned out to be a perfect evening….just the two of us.

I've written before about the restaurant went to tonight - The Anchor Fish & Chips in NE Minneapolis. My husband took me there for my birthday last October and since then, I've been anxious to go back.  Well, tonight was the night and we were not disappointed.

It's a very small restaurant and they don't take reservations.  They open at 4pm.  We were there a few minutes before 5pm and there was already a wait.  We decided to sit at the bar though so got to sit right away.  The servers are so friendly and the atmosphere is very casual.  It's a neighborhood bar/restaurant.  Prices are great and the food portions are huge.  They also have a take out option but I love watching the chefs on the grill/stove behind the bar and visiting with the other patrons.  I asked the man sitting next to me what he was having….it looked delicious.  He actually offered me a taste!!

My husband ordered their signature fish and chips but I thought I'd try something new.  I had tonight's special - Smoked Haddock Cake on a bed of spinach, walnuts, dried cherries and a shallot vinaigrette with apple slices on the side.  It was sooooooo good.  The haddock cake was light and savory and absolutely delicious!

The Summit Pale Ale wasn't too bad either.

Next time, it will be a family dinner eating affair……I'll insist on it!

"Don't eat anything your great-grandmother wouldn't recognize as food."  -Michael Pollan

Olympic Inspiration??

The Olympics inspire children all over the world to take figure skating lessons, join a cross country ski club, be a part of a hockey team, try downhill skiing, race around an ice rink on speed skates and a host of other outdoor winter activities.  Here is how the Olympics have inspired one of my children.

Slope-Style Snowboarding may be in my child's future!

"Snowboarding is an activity that is very popular with people who do not feel that regular skiing is lethal enough."  -Dave Barry

Cupcakes....Again

I'm still having to deal with dental procedures how many weeks after my original root canal??  I'm finally nearing the end after my appointment tonight.  One more to go and I'm done.....for now.  Because I had so much anxiety over my procedure tonight, I left home really, really early and ended up almost an hour early for my appointment.  Rather than sit in the waiting room, I decided to stop in at one of my favorite cupcake stores which happens to be across the street from my dentist.

Gigi's Cupcakes is in Golden Valley, MN, right off of Highway 55, between Highways 100 and 169.  I've blogged about them before - about their regular cupcakes.  Since then, I have become a fan of their mini cupcakes.  For $15, you can get a dozen mini cupcakes.

These are the perfect size.  Even teenage boys think that one of these is just the right amount of sweetness after a meal or after they've had a particularly difficult day.  Here is a link to their website so you can plan your visit!  www.gigiscupcakesusa.com/goldenvalley-minnesota

"You can't buy happiness.  But you can buy cupcakes, and that's the same kind of thing."  -Unknown

2014 Yarn Hop

I wanted to alert my fellow Minnesota knitters to the 2014 Yarn Hop.  This year, it will be from April 10 - 13.  Here is a link to the website with a list of the participating shops, rules for the drawing and dates and times the shops are open.  minnesotayarnshophop.com

Be sure to check out the blog on the Yarn Shop Hop website.  The stores are giving sneak peeks to their yarns and patterns featured in the hop.  I visited over half of the yarn shops in the hop last year and it was really fun to collect all of the free patterns and see the yarn designed especially for each shop.  Each shop has to come up with a pattern and a specialty yarn that uses the pattern.  I can't wait to see what they come up with this year!

"A half finished shawl left on the coffee table isn't a mess; it's an object of art."  -Stephanie Pearl McPhee

Glittery Jar

My daughter found a craft on line that we'd thought we'd give a try this afternoon.  We needed glitter, contact paper, spray glue and a glass jar.

First, we traced a design on the contact paper.  My daughter wanted it to be the first initial of her first name so I made an "H".

Then I cut it out.

My daughter peeled off the backing and stuck it to the inside of the jar.

Next, my daughter sprayed the glue on the inside of the jar, being careful to cover all areas of the inside of the jar.

Then, she poured in a generous amount of glitter (fine glitter works best) into the jar.

She put the cover on and gave it a good shake, coating the entire inside of the jar with glitter.

I used an x-acto knife to peel off her "H".

Then we added some crystal stones and a battery operated candle.

It makes a very pretty little night light in her bedroom.

"When in doubt, just add glitter."  -Unknown

Barefoot Sandals

So I finally got around to making a pair of barefoot sandals.  I was holding out until I was able to make a trip to my favorite bead store in Minneapolis, but the weather and the roads have not been cooperating.  I saw that Michael's was having a sale of 50% off all of their beads so I decided to make a trip there.......it's very close to my house so no snow covered road worries.

I bought cotton cording and a variety of beads (next time I will double check that all beads that I'm getting have holes big enough for the cording).

I cut four strips of the cording - each about a yard long.  I decided that I'd rather have the cording be too long rather than worry that it was too short - I knew I could trim it in the end.

I made a loop in the center of the cording and tied a knot about an inch from my toe.

Then I started adding beads and tying knots.

This was all trial and error.  I attached beads; tried on the sandal; then attached more beads.

This is how the finished sandals look.

I can't wait to wear them to yoga and on the beach in Fort Myers, Florida!

"To go out with the setting sun on an empty beach is to truly embrace your solitude."  -Jeanne Moreau

Snow, Snow, Snow

Today was spent shoveling and shoveling and shoveling.  At least it was pretty!

"Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, but just look what they can do when they stick together."  -Vista M. Kelly

My Book List on a Snowy Night

On a night like tonight when my squirrel feeder is gathering more snow than squirrels,

and my daughter is out building a monster snowman with the kiddos in the neighborhood,

and everyone else is tucked safely inside.....oh, that's right, a huge snowfall does not hinder a 17 year old boy who wants to see his girlfriend.....I am putting my pile of "must read" books in order.

I am well on my way of completing my New Year's Resolution of reading 47 books this year and these ones occupying all the room on my bed side table, will help me continue on my "journey".

I am currently reading "Beautiful Ruins" by Jess Walter.  It is a NPR-Fresh Air best novel for 2012.  It makes me want to visit a remote Italian seaside village and maybe, just maybe live there forever.

On my mother-daughter vacation to a beach in Florida, I am taking "The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak and "The Island" by Elin Hilderbrand.  A good friend of mine LOVED "The Book Thief" and the book jacket for "The Island" reminded me of our summer vacations on Madeline Island.

Every morning I read a "session" of "The Pocket Therapist" by Therese J.Borchard.  My sister gave me this book to help me maneuver through life as someone who thinks too much, loves too much, worries too much, has OCD and has mother-guilt about everything! It is a book that really has helped me put things in perspective.

I have an obsession with Scandinavian authors who write crime novels.  My favorite is Camilla Lackberg.  I have a very good friend who is also a fan of these types of novels so here is the list I will be delving into:  "Borkman's Point" by Hakan Nesser, "Unwanted" by Kristina Ohlsson,  "Dark Secrets" by Michael Hjorth & Hans Rosenfeldt, "Faceless Killers" by Henning Mankell and "The Land of Dreams" by Vidar Sundstol.

Lastly, is a book by Amy Tan, "The Valley of Amazement".  When it was described to me as a bit like "Memoirs of a Geisha", I couldn't wait to read it.

I hope all of you are safe and sound this snowy evening.  I will be tucked into bed soon (after my 17 year old is safe at home) reading.  I'd like to know what is on your reading list!

"A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies, said Jojen.  The man who never reads lives only one."  -George R. R. Martin

Unique Antique Web Site

I love old things, especially when I am given them with the story that made them come to be.  My husband loves old things because he thinks things were made so much better "back then".  One of my favorite websites that shares unique antiques and the stories behind them is Dusty Old Thing  www.dustyoldthing.com 

They feature some really wonderful antiques and share some very personal stories.  Sometimes they post a question when they find something that they can't identify.  Others share the restoration they have done to their family treasures.  Page after page are some really fabulous treasures.

"Every time something new is invented, something old becomes antique."  -Unknown

Book Club Selection

My book club met tonight and we chose a special book for a future month's discussion.  It is a young adult book written by a young Minnesota author.  The book is Unearthed by Karen Seymour.

It can only be found on Amazon and the reviews of it are great.  It's about a supernatural war, good and evil, love and greatness.  What makes this book extra special is a friend of mine knows the mother of the author.  My friend is arranging a book club meeting with the author.  It will be interesting to discuss the book with the person who can definitively answer our questions!  I think it would be great if more authors did the same!

"This is how you do it:  you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it's done.  It's that easy and that hard."  -Neil Gaiman

Craft Project Update

Here is the update on yesterday's craft project.......

Looks perfect on my office wall!

"And I believe that the best learning process of any kind of craft is just to look at the work of others."  -Wole Soyinka

Pretty Photo/Drawing Clips

I have a new desk at work.  My third in four months.  This finally seems like my permanent location so I feel like I can really give it a little of my personality.  I have pictures in frames, the rolodex I decorated and I bought a bright colored lamp that was on clearance at Target.

I have one "wall" though that I wanted to add something to so I've been keeping my eye open for something fun, but inexpensive to use.  Today at Target, I found these tissue flowers on clearance for under $5.

I thought if I added these flowers to clothes pins,

I could use them as fun photo or drawing clips.  The flowers already have sticky tabs so I just pressed it onto the clothes pin.

I thought the flowers needed to be "jazzed up" so I dug into my vintage earring stash and chose six fun earrings.

I removed the backs off of the earrings with a wire cutter.

I did this to all six earrings.

I used hot glue to attach the earrings to the center of each of the flowers.

With a little bit of double sided tape to the back of the clothespin, my daughter stuck her's to her bulletin board.

With double sided tape, I attached my flowers to a strip of ribbon - 3 flowers per ribbon strip.

Tomorrow, I will pin the ribbon to my office/cube wall and will attach pictures to each clip.

I will update my blog with a picture of the finished product in the morning!

"Art is not a thing, it is a way."  -Elbert Hubbard