Throwback Thursday, Longing for Adventure

A couple of things are happening in my brain right now and I suspect it's mostly because I've had a long week and a half that included a cold, a hurt neck, unusable arm, an allergic reaction and a sick kitty. I have been getting very antsy and even feeling a little frustrated. Winter is getting to that point where it feels too long instead of grand and beautiful. Although, a bit of this was alleviated yesterday as I put on my snow boots, took my stuffed up head and hiked around the snowy lake. This year is off to a mixed bag sort of start. I'm having trouble accepting this because 2013 was a pretty great year for me all and all. Now, I should not be all doom and gloom because there have already been some super fun things, like our New Year's Event, our beautiful new bedroom(though long overdue) and of course, sledding for the first time-(yes, I loved it). I'm a bit off track with my blog posts this week but I've had other things to handle. One of my big projects the last few months has been organizing my photo library. A big task to be sure. I have 40,000 photos (and that's after deleting the bad ones) in my library. But, it's fun to go through, I've had some really great times to remember. 

One of the things I loved doing last year was in September I went to San Antonio, Texas to visit family. My boyfriend and I went on a day trip to Natural Bridge Caverns. It turned out to be quite amazing. Some 18 stories underground is a world that only fairy tales can describe. It was discovered just by chance as all the best things are and we took two different tours of the caves and we did not see anywhere near all of it. It's filled with crystals, rock formations, glass like water and "rooms" beyond anything you could imagine. When you see places like this you begin to understand where inspiration for Dwarves cities, white forests and fairy lands come from. My photos are dark(of course) and do this place no justice but you might catch a glimpse of the magic.

I suppose the only way to pull yourself out of the blues is to get busy making plans and doing things. Hopefully, today will be the last snowstorm of the season! Hopefully.

Your Weekly Meow

My First How To Post: Ferris Wheel Jewelry holder

So this is my first post about doing a little craft. It’s not very complicated and I thought it would make a cute project. This all came about as I’ve been remodeling my bedroom over the last 3 months. I wanted a new way to store and display jewelry. I have a lot of jewelry. I have been collecting handmade pieces for a very long time now. Additionally I make a lot of things for myself and I am lucky enough to have friends to make things for me as well. I searched and searched for display pieces but nothing was really striking my fancy. There’s plenty of pretty things out there they just were not what I was looking for. I came across some circus themed boxes on ETSY and loved the idea of a carnival. I adore the book The Night Circus and well, pretty much anything to do with magic, magicians and carnivals. Which got me started looking for carnival themed display pieces for my jewelry and there are pretty well none. What I did keep coming across was carnival themed party items and more importantly cupcake holders. They are tremendously cute for cupcakes but I don’t have cupcakes on display every day in my house although that would be quite spectacular. I started to consider if I could somehow make these work for my display pieces. I decided to order a couple from AMAZON. A carousel and ferris wheel, respectively. When they arrived I altered them a bit and I am in love with the results. Here is the alterations I did for the Ferris Wheel cupcake holder to turn it into a jewelry holder. I will post the carousel next week.

Things you will need:

-pliers

-Ferris Wheel

-paper flowers -these can be found at most craft stores often in the wedding decor section 

Optional: you can paint these no doubt, I wanted mine black and white to stick with a Dark Carnival/Night Circus theme and to go with a painting a friend made for me but you can do yours whatever colors match your room/display

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This is how it comes and what it's supposed to look like.

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Out of the box with all it's baskets attached. Also, see all the things I make in the background mess? This is why I need organization. 

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The paper roses I used to decorate the ferris wheel. The "stems" are made with very malleable wire so it is very easy to wrap these any way and anywhere you want. I got mine at Micheal's Arts & Crafts store.

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I used my pliers to remove most of the baskets. I left two on for counter balance and to put bracelets in. You could remove as many or as few as you want I would think.

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Add flowers where you like and earrings. Easy peasy. 

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And thus I began to build my own carnival.

Exercise via...Pinterest?

I get so bored in the cold at home exercising. When it's even 20 degrees outside I'll bundle up and hike. I love to walk, hike and ride my bike and thus I am in pretty great shape when it's warm. But this year especially has been hard for outside activity because the weather has been doomsday cold.  Like negative degrees cold. I've been searching for things to do to get me off my butt. But really I get super bored exercising. I looked on PINTEREST For some ideas and found a couple things I've been slowly working through. And no I am not joining a gym because I don't see that being any less boring for me.  :o) Have a look, maybe they'll help you too.

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Minnesota Monday, Remodel Reality.

I love decorating blogs. I love looking on Pinterest for decorating ideas. What's more is that I really like doing a lot of things myself and so does my boyfriend. That said decorating blogs and pinterest can sometimes drive me more than a little nuts because no one ever seems to ever have any problems with anything. Everything seems to go smoothly and on schedule. Maybe it's just me and I carry some sort of remodeling curse but things almost never go right and they are NEVER on schedule. No one tells you that truth. What takes forever first in our world is that we won't go into debt to do house projects. With that rule we have not remodeled much of our house nor have we done a big project in about 5 years. We've remodeled our office, media room, master closet and laundry room. Well now we've gotten back to it and have been working on our bedroom and we are now nearly three months past schedule. There is an end in sight finally but let me tell you, if it could go wrong it has gone wrong. I'm going to share a few snapshots from my phone of the work and will hopefully be able to show you more soon. Like in a week, fingers crossed. Oh and the reason this is Minnesota Monday and not some fun winery or musem visit is because this project has been taking up most of our time....

In Summation Part 2, My Mother's Birthday

OR Why to Chase a Farfetched Dream......

To say my mother and I had a tumultuous relationship is being generous. It was difficult, downright horrible at times. My mother was mentally ill. She suffered from a long time misdiagnosed illness that got progressively worse as she got older. There were days that I wished she wasn’t my mother. There were days that I avoided going home as long as possible. There were stretches of time when I would not tell her a single thing about my life because I got so fed up with continuous miscomprehension and her inability not to live in the past. 

But there were also days that I marveled at my mother’s creativity. Days I felt great pride in the compassion she showed so many. And the days when my mother was the only one who encouraged me to chase my dreams no matter what anyone else thought or told me to do. She also always told me I was beautiful. Sometimes not in the greatest ways. She would say things about not wanting me to gain weight or the way I dressed but it always came back to, “It’s because you are already beautiful.” Something that I took for granted growing up but now realize how much it has shaped how I think of myself as I get older. 

If I am going to be completely honest I have to admit that my mother let some pretty terrible things happen to me growing up. Things that it took me a long time recover from and to forgive her for. The strange thing about that is though she let them happen when I had the chance to escape some of them she did help me escape them. I feel now that it is very likely my mother did not know how to stop these things from happening but only how to try help me survive them. Because I’ve realized more and more when I sort out her life in my head, my mother was a survivor. Sometimes she was the maker of the mess but often she was the victim of it. And I’m not entirely sure she knew that. The worst part of any of this, when bad things happened to her, I’m sure she believed she deserved them. I hate that. I really do because no one deserves bad things to happen to them especially not at the hands of other people. I wish I could change that and I wish I could say my mother had a happy life in her short 49 years but she didn’t. The relationship was hard, complex and sometimes filled with tears. But honestly, it’s the best we could do.   

I don’t find a lot of comfort in generalized platitudes that many people use to simplify what they feel and to comfort themselves. I’m just not that kind of person. Sometimes I hate hearing the truth. Sometimes it hurts and makes me angry, but eventually I always appreciate it more. The truth is our relationship generally sucked. But I miss it. And I wish I still had all the stupid fights and discussions as well as the lucid days that she seemed with me and understanding. It’s nice to think she might be somewhere else living another life, a happier one but I’m not sure that I am that esoteric. What I do know, is even though the ways I went about my life made no sense to her and often downright worried her or pissed her off, (and truth be told it hasn’t always made sense to me either)-she always told me to be happy. Sometimes begrudgingly. But she said it nonetheless. It’s the one thing I knew she really meant. And I try to say it to as many people as possible, don’t be stupid, be happy.

Chaos

I am in the middle of a mess. My bedroom is being remodeled. This is very exciting sans the fact it was supposed to be done almost two months ago. Because of the way my house is laid out this has disrupted quite a lot of my space. Including my office which is normally my place of calm and organization. That is not the case right now and truth be told it's making me a little nuts. I know my room is going to be amazing when it's done but it can be difficult to live with such disorganization. Especially when you're attempting to work at home. But what are you going to do but keep working on it? Anyway, my What to Eat post will be up tomorrow as I am polishing it up, so to speak. I just started Photoshop lessons so I am looking forward to what I can do with my pictures. In the meantime, here are a few of my office from a few months ago when it was at it's nicest and most organized. Have a great and chaos free day!

Time Time Time

My week is slipping away from me again. I am at least feeling better. I'm having my very first open house for the jewelry I make this weekend and I am crazy nervous! I've been cleaning my house like nuts when I don't feel too terrible.

CatDay

For some reason, I couldn't get my potato recipe to post. I shall have to try again. However, here are my cats being not helpful during my remodel. Happy CatDay!

What to Eat Wednesday, Vegan Thanksgiving Pajama Potluck

After I moved out of my parents' house, I stopped celebrating Thanksgiving. I never really liked it all that much. I didn't celebrate it for some years until I started seeing my current boyfriend and transitioned to an almost completely vegan diet. We started off having a dinner with one or two other couples over the next few years until I started to realize that not only did a lot of my friends not eat meat or diary but a lot of them also had family that were too far away to visit every year. Most of my vegetarian and vegan friends who did go see family during the day were basically stuck eating whatever side dishes might happen to be ok for them. And for some of my lactose intolerant friends this was a nightmare as we all know most everything traditional and American is laden with butter or milk. So we came up with a new tradition a few years ago and one that has been working tremendously well. I hope we stick with it for many years. Especially since I have worked to make what I think is the best tofurky. Now, you can just follow the directions on the box. Which I have done. I have tried both the ways they list on the website but what I like better and have been complimented on time and time again is my own amended version of the instructions. 

The other point of this evening dinner is to be as comfortable as possible. I encourage everyone to wear pajamas and to bring a vegan dish to share. We always have more food then we know what to do with. So today I'll leave you with my tofurky recipe and tomorrow I'll give you my mashed potato recipe and the link to the gravy we make to go with them and it is amazing.

Using the cooking time on the box of the tofurky is fine. I usually have mine completely thawed. My changes are all in the seasonings. 

1. I mix up the 3 tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon of wheat free soy sauce mixture. I usually make three tofurkys so I do one mixture per roast. 

2. Instead of ground sage, I mix in a seasoning mix from a favorite spice shop Penzey's. It's called Bavarian Seasoning.  I don't generally measure this out. Since it's salt-free you don't have to worry about it drying anything out. 

3. Now, for each tofurky I buy enough FRESH sage to make a bed of it for each roast to cook on. I'll line a glass baking dish with foil and make three beds of fresh sage. This gives the roast an amazing aroma and makes your house smell nice. 

4. Use a brush to coat each tofurky with the oil and soy sauce mixture. This is really important: Brush the WHOLE thing with oil otherwise it'll dry out. Do the bottom and sides well. Don't use all the mixture as you'll want more to brush it again when you remove the foil from the top and bake it for the last 10-15 minutes. 

5. After each one is brushed with oil and set on the sage, sprinkle seasoning on top of each one and then cover the whole thing with foil. I usually make a pouch with the foil. It keeps the moisture in really well. I do NOT add any of the suggested vegetables. This never worked out very well in the past and with all the other food that arrives there was no point in wasting it.

Following the directions on the box for time and temperature, I put them in to cook. After the alloted time has past I'll take the dish out and remove the cover. I'll usually slice the tops open a little so I can brush the remaining oil into the tofurky for the last ten minutes or so of cooking. This also will keep it from drying out if you have to leave it in the oven on WARM while people arrive or get settled. 

It should be easy to slice and serve. We usually serve it with gravy which I'll give you the recipe for tomorrow.

Minnesota Monday, United Noodle Delights

When I first moved here I used to explore grocery stores. For some reason, I stopped. I don't really know why but recently I went back to one I used to really like and was very happy by what I found. I will no doubt be going again. United Noodle is a wonderland of treats(and real food too) and gift items. I very quickly found a bunch of snacks and tea to take home with me as well as tea tins. I will most certainly put this place back on my list of shopping stops, especially since so much Asian and Indian food is vegetarian friendly. Here are some pictures of the snacks I bought, the tins I loved and the veggies that became part of a fabulous Pho made for me. Have a delightful week!

What to Eat Wednesday

The place I'm going to write about is a favorite of mine if for no other reason than the atmosphere is great. The Bad Waitress in south Minneapolis has been a regular haunt of mine for sometime. If I were to be totally honest I'd have to say that the available vegan food menu is not very big nor are the breakfast dishes the best of those available in the Twin Cities. However, they do have some of the best coffee I've ever had and I very much enjoy the simple tofu scramble known as the Heavy Pedal. It's really a great dish to have when you've had a little too much to drink the night before. Judge me all you want, I have no problem admitting to enjoying a night out with cocktails and as such I've figured how to recover from them with what foods and activities (or lack thereof). The Bad Waitress also has a vegan sloppy joe that many of my friends really love. Not to mention a vegan chocolate cake to die for. Oh and the name? None of the service staff is anywhere near bad...in fact, I'd say they are the opposite.

Minnesota Monday, The Mayan Edition

Another new regular feature I’d like to start on my blog is Minnesota Monday. I will write about something to do or see here. I love my adopted state and it’s full of unexpected, strange and interesting places. I’ve written about some of these places a little bit before but Minnesota Monday will have more information going forward as well as more pictures and more Minnesota sass.

Today we’ll start with the current exhibit at the The Science Museum of Minnesota which is located in St. Paul, Minnesota.

The exhibit features treasures and displays about the Ancient Mayan culture. We all know the tales of the end of the world, human sacrifices and giant pyramids. Well, the world hasn’t ended but the human sacrifices and giant pyramids, that’s a thing. A real thing. In fact, sacrifices were a ritual they believed were essential to the city’s survival. Although, one of the more unnerving things you learn was that if you lost this particular game in the Ancient Mayan culture, your life was forfeit. Other fascinating facts included finding out that dwarves and hunchbacked people were sacred advisors to the kings and that there is a system of nearly underwater caves for worshipping the afterlife in the Underworld. There’s also a lot of information about the alignment of the stars and what that meant to planning for building and planting crops. This is a really interactive exhibit. There’s a lot to put together including a digital Mayan calendar that I could’ve played with for days. I hope they make it into software so I can buy one for myself. I even got to print my own birthday out in Mayan glyphs. One other thing that I learned that was a surprise to me was how much Mayan culture there is in Belize. I always think of Mexico as being the one place alone to be home to Mayan culture and that is incorrect. So go forth my friends and learn. I certainly did.

Here are pictures from the exhibit and some of the museum in general. Have a great day!

Random Happy Pictures

Some random shots from my phone of happy things the last week or so!

A Misty Visit to the Falls

Something I am trying to make a tradition is going to Minnehaha Falls here in Minneapolis each spring. It is such a beautiful place and the walk/hike to the river is enchanting. Last year the bridge where the creek and river meet was under water. You can see those pictures here: Minnehaha Falls. The next thing I need to do is go for a visit in winter. I've seen some amazing pictures of the falls being frozen.

Take in the beauty of the waterfall. Walk the path, see a tiny fairy forest, make tiny friends and even see a gnome mushroom house on your way to the mighty Mississippi River. Go Visit!

Passage to India Flower Show

The last four years or so, I've gone to the Macy's flower show that happens in the Spring time. It usually means spring has begun. Well, even though it was beautiful and temperate in the show it was snowing outside! It was a nice, little escape.