Good Day Quote to Live By!

North Loop Shopping

Tonight, my husband asked me what our plans were for the weekend. I knew he hoped to go to our property up north. I just didn't know that he had plans to make it a strenuous working weekend without me. I assured him that I really don't mind being left at home with our 12 year old daughter. There is an event in the North Loop of Minneapolis that I now can enjoy. It is called the North Loop Fall Crawl.

This event starts on Friday, September 12th at 10am and ends on Saturday, September 13th at 9pm. There are 11 stores participating:  Roe Wolfe, C'est Chic Boutique, Statement Minneapolis, Martinpatrick3, D. NOLO, Steven Vincent Design, Local D'Lish, Ribnick Fur & Leather, Jeromeo, Lole Twin Cities, and Shoesters. These are all local stores with fun and unique items. Each establishment will have different specials and maps to all other participating places. I plan on starting my Christmas shopping a little early!

Here are links to most of the participating stores' websites:

www.roewolfe.com

www.cestchicboutique.com

www.statementboutique.wix.com/statement

http://martinpatrick3.com/

www.dnolo.com

http://www.svstudio.com/

http://www.localdlish.com/

http://www.ribnickfurs.com/

http://jeromeo.com/

Even if I don't buy  a thing, it will be fun to spend the day with my daughter in the very up and coming North Loop.

"The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her."  -Marcelene Cox

A Laugh at the End of the Day

Well……so much for that!  I woke up this morning looking forward to meeting Minnesota author, Lorna Landvik at the Hennepin County Central Library. She is one of my most favorite authors. Her books and stories make me laugh and she is even funnier in person.

I had arranged everyone's schedules and dinner so that I could get to the library and get a good seat. I have lived in the Minneapolis area for about 25 years.  I worked in the heart of downtown Minneapolis for many years. I visit the Minneapolis Farmer's Market almost every weekend. I drive my dad and I to the Target Center every Thanksgiving Day for a 5K. I have been to the University of Minnesota campus multiple times. Part of my commute home every day takes me through a corner of downtown Minneapolis. I thought I would have no issues finding the library and a place to park.  Never mind that it was rush hour and certain roads were only accessible to buses and people were everywhere, crossing against the traffic signals and the light rail train was now where I used to be able to drive……. Oh, my goodness!  I was frazzled!

It was almost time for the event to start and I finally saw a traffic sign I recognized - for the highway home.  Sorry to say, I took that exit and drove home. I felt doubly disappointed because I had books from my friend Wendy that I was going to have signed.

This blog is about things that go well in my day and even though I didn't make it to see Lorna Landvik, my friend Wendy made me laugh at loud when I explained what happened. It also made me think that this whole fiasco would have been something that Lorna must have written about in one of her books - and that made me smile.

"Next time I will be there to help. And if we still can't find the destination - we'll get a glass of wine and lie about it!!"  -Wendy

A Finished Fall Cowl

I seem to have knitting projects scattered all over my house! To my husband's dismay, this is what the floor on my side of the bed looks like.

There are probably six unfinished projects in this pile and each pattern book or magazine has a something new I'd like to knit. I also have a little knitting bag that I carry around in and out of the house with a portable, no counting project.

This is going to be a gift for a co-worker. It's a simple cowl, knit and purled in the round.

I do manage to finish some of my projects as past blogs can attest!  My most recent finished piece is another cowl - I like to knit these because they are usually a quick knit.  It's another project knit in the round.

It's called The Technicolor Cowl, knit with eight skeins of Dream in Color worsted weight Classy.

To see other colors of this yarn, check out the All About Yarn newsletter for August 6, 2014.  Here is a link to the All About Yarn website.  www.allaboutyarn.biz

Here is a picture of my finished cowl.

The weather over the next couple of days will be perfect cowl wearing weather - especially one made with these fun fall colors.

"The only difference between an experienced knitter and a new knitter is that the experienced knitter makes bigger mistakes faster.  Be bold; there are no terrible consequences in knitting."  -Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Hello Again!!

Hi There! Long time no hear from right?! Now that school has started and we're on a family schedule that works for all of us, I decided that I needed to get back into the blogging business. I've missed writing every day. There are usually many times a day I think, "this would make a great blog", but by the time I sit down in the evenings, I watch 5 minutes of TV and then am asleep.

That has changed now that school has started. My house now stays clean; I don't have 6 outfits a day of my daughters that end up in the laundry; my fridge stays stocked for more than two days; and the crock pot has become my best friend. In fact, it's only 6:15pm and I've run 5 miles, fed my family, done the dishes, made lunches for tomorrow, put in a couple of loads of laundry, taken a shower and am now sitting on the couch with my feet up blogging away!

So, today I was thinking I should update everyone on where I am with my 47 books and 47 movies in a year. For those of you who don't know or don't remember, my New Year's Resolution for this year was to read 47 books and watch 47 movies this year. Why 47? Because that's how old I am!

Well, as you can see from my following lists, I have a long way to go before I reach my goal.

47 Books

Dairy of a Wimpy Kid:  Hard Luck by Jeff Kinney

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

The Cove by Ron Rash

Torch by Cheryl Strayed

Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple

Unwanted by Kristina Ohlsson

The Land of Dreams by Vidar Sundstol

Borkmann's Point by Hakan Nesser

The Island by Elin Hilderbrand

Silenced by Kristina Ohlsson

Hollow City by Ransom Riggs

Unseen by Mari Jungstedt

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Yarn Over Murder by Maggie Sefton

Dark Secrets by Michael Hjorth & Hans Rosenfeldt

Detective Inspector Huss by Helene Tursten

The Hidden Child by Camilla Lackberg

Only the Dead by Vidar Sundstol

47 Movies

The Heat

Bridesmaids

Despicable Me 2

Julie & Julia

The Croods

Under the Tuscan Sun

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters

Turbo

Frozen

The Way, Way Back

The Big Wedding

Back to the Future - Part 1

Gravity

The Importance of Being Earnest

Free Birds

World War Z

Major League

Girl Most Likely

Benchwarmers

28 Days

The Lego Movie

The Shooter

The Birdcaage

Mrs. Doubtfire

Jumanji

Divergent

I do have quite a few books that I'm reading or am about to read. Here is what is currently on my nightstand.

I'm about a third of the way through The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I also have a book in my work bag.

This one almost caused me to almost get hit by the Light Rail train.  I had been reading outside while at work on my lunch break. I walked to the little park right outside my building which is just over the light rail tracks. I was due back inside but wasn't completely done with a chapter so I continued reading while walking back inside. I was oblivious to the warning bells and it took a honk from the Light Rail driver to get me out of my literary trance! The security guards in my building weren't thrilled with me either as they saw it all on the monitors.  

As for the movies, I think I have an even lesser chance of making my goal. I find it really hard to sit and watch a movie. My husband thinks I have ADHD or ADD because I can't sit for more than a few minutes before I have to get up and do something. I'm a master at multi-tasking. In fact, I'm watching School of Rock while blogging. I have a sick child and she has insisted I sit and watch a movie with her. We may actual have time to watch another one.....while I work on a knitting project!

Anyone have any favorite books or movies that will grab my attention? I'm looking for a little help in meeting my goal!

"What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals."  -Henry David Thoreau

Easy Birthday Gift

My daughter is going to a birthday sleepover tonight and even though gifts aren't required, she really wanted to get her friend a little something special.  We have been trying to come up with something fun and unique all week.  It took a quick trip to the Mall of America by me during my lunch hour one day, to come up with the perfect idea.

My daughter's friend likes head bands and she is a really "sporty" girl so I got her a bright colored sport headband at Athletta.

Then, I bought multi-colored M&Ms and a fun lollipop at a candy store at the MOA.

With a small canning jar,

we created a bright and fun birthday gift......perfect for a little girl turning 13!

"Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store or under a tree, but in the hearts of true friends."  -Unknown

Chalkboard Notebook :)

This is another blog written by my daughter.  She has been creating all kinds of fun things and wants to share her projects.  We hope you like it!

So what you will need for this project is :

Step 1: Take your chalkboard paint and paint the first coat on. It should be a little light.

 Step 2: Wait for it to dry. Then you can put the second coat on, then the third coat. And wait for that to dry.

 Step 4: Now that it's dry you can go ahead and use your chalk and make designs on your notebook.

To take the chalk off you can use a wet paper towel or anything that works.

"Money can't buy happiness but it can buy craft supplies, and thats pretty close."

-Unknown