Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Shameless Self-Promotion

Hi all! I'm going to promote myself a bit because what else is a blog but promoting yourself right?
Right? (please say yes) :)

I am doing a giveaway over at the HandmadeMN blog today so go over and enter to win my necklace! http://etsymn.blogspot.com/2011/06/handmademn-giveaway-penguin-palace.html


Also, for you locals, there are some fun events coming up!

July 7-9th - Junk Love Sale
My friend Malia collects tons of cool and unique vintage housewares/decorative items. Everything is really reasonable (and by that I mean cheap!) so come stop by. I will be there all day on the 8th hawking my wares.

July 16th - HandmadeMN summer market: I will be there selling jewelry and prints so stop by and say hi!

July 23-24 - Mighty Swell vintage pop-up sale: I went last time and got a super cute skirt (which I have worn 3 times and never photographed). it was so busy last time but I will for sure be there again!

Oh and the 23rd is the MN blogger meetup! If you didn't get included on the email, shoot me one and I'll forward you the info. I'm so excited!!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Pleats Please

I found this puppy at the thrift store a while ago. I finally got around to ironing it so here it is! I also attempted to wear a scarf on my head. It got really annoying halfway through the night so that's why some of the pictures don't have it. I liked how it looked though!

6.24.11b

6.24.11a

6.24.11d

6.24.11c

6.24.11e

Outfit Details:
Shirt, jeans - Thrifted
Scarf - Gift from my friend from India
Shoes - Target
Necklace - Forever 21

Monday, June 20, 2011

I'm a slacker

Sorry dear readers for being so sporadic in my posting. Today you actually get an outfit post! Well, two pictures. This is what I wore yesterday to lunch with my parents. We went to the new location of Wilde Roast. The food was ok, they only had a couple of items on the menu because of the festival. So, then we walked around the Stone Arch Bridge Art Festival. It was fun in the beginning but then it got packed and it was way too crowded. I did get another hand blown glass globe to add to my collection though!

6.19.11falls

6.19.11millruinspark

6.19.11b

6.19.11a

Outfit Details:
Shirt - Topshop from when I lived in Scotland
Skirt - Thrifted
Shoes - Target
Belt - Tatters vinatge

Monday, June 13, 2011

Austin Part 3

Just a couple more pictures from the actual wedding and reception. I have to tell you the story of my dress through. So, I searched EVERYWHERE for a dress to wear to this wedding. Either stuff was ugly or it just didn't fit. I was happy when I found this dress at JC Penny. However, when I got to the wedding, the zipper broke and I couldn't get it back up. While I was trying to get it back up, the little zipper handle broke off. We ended up having to sew and safety pin the back of it up. Terrible. I still have to take the stupid thing back. I hope they will take it.

However, I met some really great people and had a fun time the whole weekend. I'm happy I made the trip!

jens weddingjenme
This is what happens when you let other people use your nice camera :)

jens wedding jen
The bride

jens wedding lake travis
The wedding site right on the lake

jens wedding lake with umbrellas

jens wedding girls
Me and some of the bridesmaids

Outfit Details:
Dress - JC Penny (being returned, sadly)
Earrings - Target
Shoes - Rewind Vintage

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Yes, sometimes I cook

I have to admit that these pictures are from are a while ago. Shows how many outfit pictures I've been taking lately...

A little background on this. My book club read The Forgotten Garden (which you can read a bit about here). I was hosting at my place and decided to make it a theme. This gal loves a good theme. The book took place in Australia and Cornwall so that was my jumping off point. I went to my local cheese shop and got an Australian blue cheese and a delicious English cheddar. Not Cornish but let's not split hairs here. Also, my great-grandfather was from Cornwall. Cool right? Side note: this makes me one generation too far removed to get a British visa. Oh, you know I looked into it. Back to the other story. My grandma used to make pasties for us. They are these delicious meat pies that are from Cornwall. The miners used to bring them for lunch because their whole meal could be contained in this little package. Much more filling than a sandwich. Anywho. I've always LOVED pasties but never made them for myself. What better excuse than to make them for a book club meeting, right? I already told you I'm a sucker for a theme.

I used a combination of this recipe and this one. I used their recipes mostly for the dough. I sort of made up the proportions I used for the filling to be honest. It worked out perfectly though. I wanted to make 1 and a half of the recipe because I thought I had about 7 people coming. So since the recipe made 6, 1.5 would be 9. Perfect. Plus, I didn't want to go through all that trouble and not have any for leftovers Turns out only 5 people were there including me and each person only ate 1/2. Leaving me with a whopping 6 and a half left. Could be worse :)
Here are a couple of the steps in picture form. It was a pretty tedious process but they turned out pretty damn delicious. I made the dough the night before and this really helped when I was rolling it out. I also peeled and cut the carrots the night before as well as the onion. Not for any particular reason except I wanted less to do the next day.

6.10.11pastie
You want to cut up everything into (what you consider) bite sized pieces.

6.10.11pastiedough
I separated the dough into 9 balls the night before

6.10.11pastiedoughrolled
You have to roll it out pretty thin but don't worry if it doesn't look pretty (it will still be tasty)

6.10.11pastiewithfilling
Just laying the filling on one side of the dough and then fold over

6.10.11pastiescomplete
Done!

I punctured little holes with my fork just because I felt like it. I also had to bake them a bit longer than it said. Other than that, go forth and make Cornish pasties!

Friday, June 10, 2011

Last weekend

Man, I stink at blogging lately. Last weekend was really fun and was pretty packed. So, get ready for lots of pictures! Friday was Shawn's birthday so we went out to dinner at Jax. Thankfully it had cooled down because it was so hot and humid that day. We sat outside on their gorgeous patio and had our picture taken in 5 different places by these 2 ladies. It was so funny. They kept saying, "Now stand over here. Now how about a picture right here?" So cute.

6.10.11matches
They personalize matches for you. How cool is that?

6.10.11shawnmeclose
Shirt, skirt - thrifted; shoes - target

6.10.11shawnme


Saturday I went to brunch with some friends, then to a craft show/art sale and then out for drinks and cheese curds with Annie. I've always loved her blog and was happy to meet up with her here in Minneapolis. It was really nice chatting with her! It's great to meet someone who is intelligent but also likes blogging too :) I have met about 5 or 6 bloggers so far and I haven't gotten a picture with any of them. Terrible!

6.10.11bookstore
Apparently this is the only picture I took, the cute bookstore in St. Anthony Park

Sunday we went up to a party for Shawn at his parent's house. Extra nice because his aunt and uncle were visiting from CO and his sister and her husband came too. He has the nicest family and I feel so lucky that he has such a great family. Makes get-togethers something to look forward to and not dread like some people do. When we got home we took the monster on a hike around Minnehaha Falls. It is right over in south Minneapolis but you would think you were in the country. The river was so high that the falls were just out of control. Ace got to wear his new backpack and finally carried his own stuff. Plus, he loved going in the river!

6.10.11riverandfalls
Crazy rapids

6.10.11riverandbridge
Almost up to the bridge!

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The baby.

6.10.11blueflowers

minnehaha falls
Love this one

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Swimming

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buggies

6.10.11aceme
After hiking for over an hour... top and shorts: Target

All in all, a great weekend!


Friday, June 3, 2011

For the Locals - Tis the Season

For art festivals! I love wandering around craft shows/art festivals/any kind of festival in the summer. Here are a couple cool local events that are on my radar!

This weekend:

Next weekend:
Two Birds/Salvaged Strawberry Garage Sale (go support these lovely ladies!)

Weekend of the 17th-19th:
Stone Arch Bridge Arts Festival (this is blocks from my house so I will for sure be there!)

Weekend of 6/24-6/26:

Shameless plug:
HandmadeMN Summer Market - July 16th. I will be selling my photography and jewelry so stop by!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Blogger Book Club

Totally forgot to recap the book for the month!

So, we (or I since no one else said anything) read The Forgotten Garden. We had a really great time in our discussion for book club so let me pose a couple questions if anyone else read it!

1.On the night of Nell’s twenty-first birthday, her father Hugh tells her a secret that shatters her sense of self. How important is a strong sense of identity to a person’s life? Was Hugh right to tell her about her past? How might Nell’s life have turned out differently had she not discovered the truth?

2. Did Hugh and Lil make the right decision when they kept Nell?

3. How might Nell’s choice of occupation have been related to her fractured identity?

4. Is The Forgotten Garden a love story? If so, in what way/s?

5. In what ways do Eliza’s fairy tales underline and develop other themes within the novel?

*UPDATE! The next book will be "The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen.