Carol's Visit!!!

Our buddy Carol came up from Fairfield for a visit this week.  It was a SHORT one, but it was a BUSY one!

She got here on Monday afternoon, and had barely set her stuff down, and we were on our way to my school.  She hadn't seen it before, so I wanted to give her a tour. 

She's teaching a "library skills" class to 7th graders this coming school year, so we looked through some of my 6th grade lesson plans to see if any of it would work.  She found a few things that will, and I e-mailed a BUNCH of other files for her to look at as well.

After the school tour, we went on the GREAT CURTAIN HUNT OF 2010!  We looked at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  We looked at Kohls (not realizing Kohls doesn't HAVE curtains!).  We looked at IKEA.  IKEA had a couple of possibilities, but we didn't purchase anything at this point...in case we found other places to look.

After IKEA we came back to my place and Duane joined us.  We headed to Pardon My French for dinner.  It was Monday, so they had hachis paramentier (a French shepherd's pie).  It was fabulous, and we had an AWESOME time chatting.

After dinner we cruised Target, had gelato at Ring Mountatin, then came back to my place, and hung out until bedtime (being exhausted after our shopping adventure earlier in the day!).

Yesterday, we got up, got ready, headed to Brueggers for breakfast, then drove to Taylor's Falls for the day.  Taylor's Falls is one of Duane's favorite "get aways" from the cities.  It's about an hours drive north of St. Paul, and is a really beautiful, woodsy park.

We toured the "potholes" in the park, went on a paddlewheel boat ride (in the rain, but it was still fun!), and ate lunch at "The Drive In".  Here are some shots of our adventures!

They've got tickets to ride...!

The paddlewheels on the boat

Can you see the "old man of the falls"???

The Drive In!

My corn dog and deep fried green beans...YUM!

The homemade root beer is AMAZING!!!!

Duane's corn dog and "crinkle cut" fries

Don't MESS with Carol's corn dog!!!

After lunch, we headed back to the cities, but made a quick stop in Stillwater to check out a couple of shops, and for a photo op on the "bucking bronco"!!!!

We also stopped at Trader Joe's on the way home.  Carol had never been, and, since Duane and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Trader Joes (and I was on my last jar of peanut butter!), HAD to show Carol how COMPLETELY FABULOUS it is!

When we got back to my place, we chilled for a little while, then went back to IKEA so Carol could buy her curtains (...and a couple of sets of towels...and napkins to go with her Fiestaware...and a bathroom rug...and...)! 

The rest of the evening was spent at my place, recovering from the day, eating Greek pizza, and watching a couple of episodes of Six Feet Under; Season 1.

Today, Carol got up, got ready, and was on the road by 8:00.  It was a QUICK trip, but it was GREAT to see her, and she was able to check a few things off her "redecorating" list.  I can't WAIT to see the updates on my next trip to Iowa!

Here's hoping YOU were able to spend time with dear friends recently, and that YOU were able to take time off from "real life" to have a fun adventure too!!!

Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin

Every now and then, you have to do something crazy, so...when Pat and Joel invited Duane and me up to Joel's cabin, I decided...what the heck!  Duane "opted out", so I went by myself...FOUR AND A HALF HOURS to Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin, for an "overnighter" (totalling about 26 hours), then FOUR AND A HALF HOURS back to the cities...UGH!  Actually...the UGH is only a minor one (ugh), because the drive up and back were BEAUTIFUL, and we had a BLAST!

I got there around 12:30 (even though Joel said it was only a FOUR hour drive...), and we started the "adventure" with Joel's homemade fajitas...REALLY, REALLY good!  After lunch, we headed out in the boat.

Joel's sister Katy, and her friend Carrie were spending the weekend as well, so Pat, Katy, and Carrie were dubbed "Charlie's Angels".  Joel was Charlie, and SOMEHOW I ended up being Bosley (??!!)...

Here's a shot of the angels on the pontoon before we headed out...

Katy, Pat, and Carrie

We had a GREAT time out on the water!  I haven't really done the "lake thing" since my aunt and uncle sold their lake house a few years ago, so it was AWESOME being on the water again!  Here are some shots from the afternoon:

Pat and me

Joel with his "bottle opener flip flop"!

the angels in the tube

Katy with her "Horny Blonde" beer

Carrie and Pat

a wild rice...paddy...(field?  bog?  patch?)...

close up of wild rice

an eagle along the edge of the lake

After zipping around the lake for awhile, we headed to the "Lower Unit Tiki Bar" for beverages.  TOTALLY cool "lake people" kind of place, where boats pull up to the docks, park, and socialize.  People have grills on the backs of their boats, and share (sometimes!), and just "hang out" for awhile.

While we were socializing, a cloud moved in, and, without warning, we got caught in a torrential downpour.  It was a HOOT!

After an hour or so, we headed back out for another spin around parts of the lake (I think there are about FOUR really big lakes connected togther....couldn't tell you the names of ANY of them, but it was REALLY beautiful)!

contemplating tossing Bosley over the side of the boat

getting along nicely

After more boating, we headed back to the cabin to make dinner.  Joel put a chicken and some red potatoes in the crock pot, and it was DELICIOUS!!!!

We spent the rest of the evening chatting, and even ended up making s'mores in the fireplace.  We also did a little swing dancing, and more than one of us woke up with sore backs on Sunday!

Sunday morning Joel made his famous "pancake roll ups" (yum!), and we had coffee (MUCH NEEDED!).  I took the following "establishing shots" of the cabin, dock, boat, etc.  It was a VERY lovely place!

We EVENTUALLY got ready, and headed to Little Bohemia Lodge, and looked at the John Dillinger exhibit, as well as the bullet holes on the outside of the building from one of the shootouts he was involved in:

We had lunch at the bar, then headed to the bridge to "lep"...which is, apparently, something that EVERYONE who comes to the area HAS to do.

I'm a BIG SCAREDY CHICKEN when it comes to water (long story involving the ocean, someone lifting me up above the waves as they were coming in when I was two, and MISSING one wave....as a result, I didn't learn to swim until I was 14, and still DON'T like putting my head under water....).

Anyhoo...I decided to be a RISK-TAKER, and "go lepping".  Here are a coupld of photos to document my accomplishment (and, except for taking a REALLY LONG TIME to jump, and almost psyching myself out...DID IT...even though I DID wear a life jacket (I know...how lame)...).

After lepping, I got back into my "land clothes", and headed back to the cities.  On the way home, I saw the billboard below in Cadott, Wisconsin...(COOL!)...and got caught in a windy monsoon near Hudson (NOT COOL!). 

It was a CRAZY long drive, and I was CRAZY tired when I got home, but it WAS really fun, and it was nice to meet Carrie and Katy, and to see Joel again (and OF COURSE it's always FABULOUS to spend time with Pat!!!!!!!!!!!!!).

Since all of us, except for Joel, are teachers, we decided that this SHOULD become an annual event, to blow off some steam before the start of each school year. I think that's a GREAT idea!

Here's hoping YOU did something CRAZY FUN recently, and were able to spend time with FUN people too!!!

Grocery Store FANATICS!!

One of the things that Duane enjoys as much as I do, and something which endeared me to him from the start, was that we BOTH enjoy going to grocery stores!  Not just in our own town, but EVERYWHERE we go...whether it be California, Canada, New York, Amsterdam, or Paris. 

We LOVE browsing the aisles, looking at the local brands, seeing what U.S. labels look like in other countries, and just experiencing the food of the particular place we are visiting. We love it so much, in fact, that it's a REGULAR part or our trip itinerary...check into hotel, get maps of local attractions, find grocery store....

So...LAME as this post is...I was THRILLED to find the Wolverine tin toy grocery store at an antique store in Cannon Falls this past weekend.  My sister actually saw it first, and let me know that it was there.  Unfortunately, this is only PART of the original set (see photo below), but, at $90.00, was WAY more affordable than the complete set, which is currently listed on ebay for $500.00.

Because of our interest in grocery stores, and my TOTAL love of tin toys from the 30's and 40's, and the COMPLETELY cool graphics, I have COVETED this toy for YEARS.  I found one in an antique store a few years ago, but it was $300.00, and I was going through debt management, so COULD NOT buy it.

Since I have a one bedroom townhouse, space is limited, and I did NOT have room for my new purchase, but, I decided that it would actually be PERFECT as a functional REAL spice rack (after trying to find toy "food items" to fill the side shelves, and purchasing various vintage spice containers, and not being happy with how it looked).

So...I found little spice jars, transferred spices from my plastic containers to these, and now have the following on my counter:

Now I just need to find the "meat counter" (see first photo) to place in front of it, to give it a little depth.  If you ever see one in an antique store...LET ME KNOW WHERE YOU SAW IT, and I'll BE there!!!!

Here's hoping YOU have a passion for collecting, or grocery stores, and YOU are finding things that make you smile too!