The best laid plans of mice and men...

...are no match for your pets.

Yesterday, most of my team ended up in the same all-day culture training that I went through on the 12th.  As a result, I had only three meetings, all in the morning, and after lunch I was wide open. I thought I would take advantage of not having to actually be present in the office, and work from home.  "It will be perfect," I thought to myself.  "I can cuddle the pets, work on some presentations in my sweatpants...brilliant."

Well.  I got home, set up my computer and was all set to get down to business when I smelled a foul odor.  The odor seemed to be coming specifically from the cat.  It didn't take me long to figure out that Mini had somehow manged to poop herself and then step in it.  Lovely

Natrually, I immediately tried to clean it up with numerous paper towels and soap.  After about five minutes of epic cat-bathing faliure I gave up and decided to lock Mini in the back hallway until Ben got home, because honestly, you try to wash dried poop off of your cat's leg while simultaneously holding them still and also trying to avoid multiple puncture wounds.

Once Mini was safely in solitary confinement away from all furniture, rugs and humans, I took Sid for a nice long walk around the neighborhood.  About five minutes into our stroll, I heard his tummy make a distinct gurgling sound.  This is never a good sign.  Usually it happens after he decides to have a little snack from Mini's litter box, which can happen if I'm not paying attention...which I definitely was not while wrestling with Mini and her soiled foot/leg.

Sometimes he has a horrible reaction afterwards...and sometimes nothing happens at all.  I decided to just wait it out, get some work done, and try to keep him off the furniture.  Of course, while I was answering emails he managed to scoot past me and puke all over the living room carpet. 

Instead of getting more work done at home, I ended up getting less done...and spending most of my time cleaning.  If those two weren't so damn adorable...we would have problems.



"We will poop everywhere and you will still love us"

And on that appetizing note...happy Friday!

Sometimes, you can go home again

The first house I ever lived in was the second floor of a lovely duplex in St. Paul.  My parents bought the house before I was born and rented out the first floor while we lived upstairs.  I have so many fond memories of growing up there - playing in the backyard, running up and down Grand Avenue with my neighborhood friends, filming "movies" in the attic (and yes, we thought our filmmaking was genius).  We also had a full front porch, where my sister and I spent a most of our time being ridiculous.


Ridiculousness in full force.
Julianna, you're welcome in advance for posting this on my public blog.

 Eventually, trying to convince my sister that the tiny office with no fourth wall was her "room" got a little old, as did moving her bed out of the way every time we needed to get into the closet.  It was time to upgrade.  Luckily, 20 years of scrimping and saving allowed my parents to build a gorgeous prairie-school house on a lake in North Oaks, and we moved there when I was 11.

North Oaks house in winter

My college years were spent living in the dorms, but when I graduated I moved to Berkeley with my friend Lindsey and our classmate Carrie, and into my first 'real' apartment!  It was nothing fancy, but it was in an amazing location and made for a great first apartment experience.  

After I moved back to MN, my friend Tessa and I moved into a 2BR condo in the Grand Avenue neighborhood of St. Paul.  We lived there for three years and had a lot of fun and many glorious parties.  This was where Ben and I started dating, so there are a lot of special memories from those days.



2009 - One of many fun nights at the condo


When I started grad school, I moved to Minneapolis in order to be closer to school and the bus line.  I was lucky enough to find an adorable apartment in Uptown, just two blocks from the express bus to the U.  It was the first place I lived that was really "mine," and I took full advantage.  I only lived there for two years, but my place on Emerson will always have a special piece of my heart.



Living room on Emerson



Bedroom on Emerson


Last spring when Ben moved back from BG, we knew we wanted a slightly bigger space than what I currently had - plus, as much as I loved that apartment, the building didn't allow dogs.  So, we moved to a lovely two-BR condo on Garfield, which is where we live now (see pretty much any recent post for photos).  To be honest, even though I love the neighborhood, for a variety of reasons into which I will not get...into...(?? is that even a sentence.  I have no idea) I've never felt that this living situation was completely ideal.

So...long story short...we are moving!  Next week. Yes I realize I just moved, but this was really a case of stars aligning.  Also, we've known we were moving since Christmas, I just haven't blogged about it...mostly due to recurring instances of cupcakes, travels, and other things that are more fun to write about than the infinite packing of glassware.

SO.  The point of all this is...remember that duplex I grew up in?  Well, my parents never sold it.  In fact, they've continued to rent it for the last 17 years, mostly to young professionals and couples just starting out.  Literally two days after we decided we would move at the end of our lease, my mom called to say that her upstairs tenants were moving out at the end of Feburary, and that the unit was ours if we wanted it. BUT, we'd have to wait until after March because she needed a few weeks to do some necessary touch-ups. Our lease is up April 1. 

The duplex has about 250 more square feet than our current place, plus an entire attic for storage, a full front porch, and a backyard.  And, it's a 2BR+, so we'll actually have an office to work in, instead of letting all of our papers pile up on the coffee table.  AND...it's about 1/3 less expensive than our current place.  And the neigborhood is just as good if not better.

This really is a win-win all around.  At first I thought it would be weird moving back into my childhood home, but honestly it's been so long that it doesn't feel strange at all.  Looking at it from an apartment-hunting perspective gives me an even greater appreciation for what a neat space it is...and also for how much my mom is undercharging (AND how overpriced our current place is....which I kind of knew...)

Anyways...here are some photos of our NEW HOME (as of 3/23):


Looking from the living room into the dining room...love the built-ins with leaded glass!




...and back through the dining room into the living room



The Office aka my sister's old room.
That huge open space used to house a giant fish tank containing no water or fish.
I won't attempt to explain this.  Because I can't.



Front porch!  Perfect for PORCH PARTY!



Kitchen



Kitchen again
 
Bathroom...which is being repainted.  Not a huge fan of the brown.




Hallway between the two bedrooms...with a LINEN CLOSET.
I am so excited to have tons of storage.

So there you have it!  It's going to add probably 10-15 minutes onto each of our commutes but honestly...totally worth it.  We're excited!  I hope the pets are excited too...although something tells me Sidney will need to do his business a few times to declare the duplex "his." Mini probably won't even notice.  As long as she gets cuddles, she's good to go.

Happy Tuesday!  And if you're in MN, enjoy the ridiculously awesome weather this week.  You never know, we might get bombed by a random April blizzard...so make hay while the sun shines, as they say :)

(no, I have no idea who "they" are.  Hay farmers, I would assume)

Christmas Eve (aka, comedy of errors)

Christmas Eve-Eve was a smashing success! The following few photos pretty much sum up the evening:

Dinner with the in-laws downtown

Yarrr

On Christmas Eve Morning, Ben and I kept our tradition of exchanging our gifts for each other before heading out to various family events. Ben pulled out a winner this year - productivity is officially on hold!

Self-timer family photo took a few tries - looks like this one could have been good...

...but instead we ended up with this one of Mini looking possessed...

Packing everything in the car was pretty intense, but we managed to get all of the presents, Sid and Mini's crates, Mini's litter box, all pet supplies (food, litter, toys, etc) and our overnight bags into the Camry in short order, and were on the road in no time. We'd planned on bringing Sidney because we were spending the night of the 24th up at my parents, and unforseen circumstances (I'll explain later) required that we bring Mini, too. We realized that if we actually had children, we wouldn't be able to fit them in the car. I finally understood why people buy SUVs.

Once we were up at my parents, we set to work baking cookies!

...or at least Julianna and I did. Dad, Ben and Sidney were downstairs watching the Vikings game.

And theeeeen it was time for choir mania! Ben and I sing in our church choir (it's a pretty awesome choir actually - our director also directs a professional choir in the area, and our organist is easily one of the best in the country). We sing a 5:30 and a 10:30 service, and our tradition for the last several years has been to eat dinner at a local restaurant in between the two. It's also become tradition that some unforseen event nearly prevents us from making it to one or both services - last year it was a flat tire, which was pretty intense, but this year was not without its shenanigans.

The younger generation, drinking wine while we wait for our table...and yes, that is a Gryffindor scarf. Obviously.

Gorder family!

The restaurant we always eat at on Christmas Eve recently came under new ownership, and I think they were unprepared for the insanity because, long story short, we got our food at 8:50 for a 7:15 reservation. Ben and I had to be back at the church, in our robes at 9:30 and neither of us had driven (we rode with my dad, my mom and sister drove separately). So, after inhaling my pasta, I grabbed my mom's car keys and booked it out to the parking lot, calling back a quick "uh-huh, of course" when she tried to make sure I had driven her car before.

Well as it turns out, I forgot that I had not in fact driven her new car. I managed to vanquish the keyless starter, but could not for the life of me figure out how to turn the headlights on. Ben tried to help me out by reaching in front of me and pressing various random buttons on the dashboard, but only succeeded in thoroughly cleaning my windshield and informing everyone that I was turning right, then left, while every car on the road flashed its brights at me to inform me that I was driving with no lights on.

Second service went off without a hitch, and by 12:30 we were back at my parents, totally wiped out and ready for bed, but excited for more festivities the next day.

Apple Cinnamon Hot Cereal

Our shower is broken.

Well, not broken exactly, but broken for the purposes of me using it. It just started draining reeeeeeeeeally slowly one day, in the mysterious way that shower drains do. I tried cleaning it out with a wire hanger and pulled a TON of crap out of there (you don't even want to know... just what happens when two people with hair use the same shower for an extended period of time), but there seemed to be little improvement so Ben got out the Liquid Plumber. That made it worse. Not Ben's fault, obviously, but now we can't really use our shower.

As a result, I've been going to my local CorePower Yoga a LOT lately - partly because I love me some daily yoga, and partly because...they have showers that drain properly. This morning I went to a 6am class, showered (glorious), dried my hair, dressed, grabbed a coffee and still made it to work in time for my 8am meeting.

On mornings like this (and I anticipate there being more...) I obviously don't have time to make breakfast before I leave, so it's nice to have something pre-made and portable to throw in your purse. May I humbly suggest this Apple-Cinnamon hot cereal? Warm and comforting, topped with honey and coconut milk, it can make even wading through gajillions of e-mails in the morning seem rather pleasant.

Or not. E-mail is ridiculous.

I'm providing two versions of this "recipe" - one that makes two servings, and one that makes a ginormous batch of six servings that you can use throughout the week, along with super-complicated instructions for storing and re-heating (read: not complicated at all). They should theoretically turn out the same, since I use the same ingredient ratio for both, but textures of the large and small batches are quite different. In two serving version, the grains stay much more separate and intact, and the large-batch version is a lot mushier- more like oatmeal. I can only assume it's because the large version takes longer too cook, allowing more time for the grains to break down. Either way it's delicious. Enjoy!

Two Serving Version

Large Batch Version


Lovely Apples

RECIPE: APPLE CINNAMON HOT CEREAL

I really hesitate to even call this a recipe, since much of the credit goes to the brilliance of Bob's Red Mill...but I think it's worth sharing :)

2 Serving Version
- Butter (very small amount)
- 2/3 cup Bob's Red Mill 5-Grain Hot Cereal
- 4/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup milk
- 1 small apple, chopped/diced into small pieces (roughly 1/4 inch - no need to peel them)
- Cinnamon - enough to coat the apples as they cook (roughly 1/2 tsp maybe? see photo above
for a rough cinnamon to apple ratio. Sometimes I don't measure things)
- Coconut Milk
- Honey

Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add a small amount of butter (maybe 1/4 teaspoon) to the pan with the apples and sautee for a minute or so. Add the cinnamon and continue to sautee, stirring occasionally until the apples begin to soften.

Add the cereal to the pan and stir to mix apples and cereal together. Then add water and milk, stir to combine, and lower heat to medium-low. Cook until finished. Serve drizzled with coconut milk and honey to your taste. I know, it sounds weird but I highly recommend that you don't skip the coconut milk and honey - they really take it to the next level.

Large Batch Version
- 1 tsp butter
- 2 cups Bob's Red Mill 5-Grain Hot Cereal
- 2 cups water
- 1/2ish cup milk
- 3 small apples, diced into 1/4-ish inch pieces (again, no need to peel the apples)
- Cinnamon - enough to coat the apples (see photo above)

Follow the same instructions as for the small batch version - just be aware that 1) this version will take longer, and 2) you'll probably have to stir the cereal more often as it cooks, as it will be more prone to sticking to the bottom (unless you have a non-stick pan)

To make it portable, I put one serving into a screw-top jar the night before, added a little extra water as well as the coconut milk and honey. This morning - grab jar, throw jar in purse, warm up in the breakroom microwave at work. Done.

You could also easily make this vegan by using coconut oil instead of butter, and subbing almond or soy milk for regular.

Happy Wednesday, all!

Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend

This weekend has been a little more subdued than normal - first quarter ended this week at Ben's school and he's been pretty overwhelmed with work. Mini generously offered to help him grade English essays so that we would have time to do other things this weekend, such as drink scotch and go to Ikea.

I think that sentence needs a comma, don't you?

I am smart and helpful

Unfortunately her walnut-sized brain is easly distracted - it is also difficult to take her opinions on grammar seriously when 98% of the time she appears to have been posessed by demons.


Exhibit A


Exhibit B


Sid is not impressed by Demon Cat

On Saturday we went to Ben's dad's scottish-themed birthday party. This basically involved lots of stilton cheese and single malt scotch. Clearly, the bash of the year. AND Ben's dad bought my favorite scotch - the Laphroig ten year. I love this family.

I can totally get behind this party theme

We brought Sidney along for the ride and were a little nervous about how he would handle being around so many strange new people, but he was very well-behaved. He really seemed to enjoy hanging out with the family and can totally hold his own in any conversation regarding the state of education and the economy.


Yes, I quite agree with you

We also made a big trip to IKEA for new bookshelves. This is the excitement that is my life - although if you love books as much as we do, you'd be excited about new shelves, too. Our collection is literally overflowing onto random surfaces that are not meant to hold books - shelves, end tables, the floor, etc - and the bookshelves we have now are literally from my childhood bedroom. So, we came home with a lovely Hemnes shelf set that holds a lot of books and looks like, you know, it belongs in an adult's home...

What is this thing and why is it lying in my frolicking path

I will destroy it

So vicious...

Sid remains unimpressed

Well... my parents are here as we speak, helping Ben and I assemble our shelves. Ben has a power drill in his hand...I'm not sure how I feel about that. Sid is passed out on the couch with my dad watching football. Everything is as it should be.

Does anyone else still use furniture they've had since they were seven? Or is it just me...?

Happy Halloween!

I can't believe it's been 20 years since the infamous Halloween Blizzard of 1991. I was 8 years old and dressed up as a vending machine (yep - weirdo), which actually turned out to be perfect because if I tucked my arms inside the black-painted cardboard box of my costume, I was completely protected from the elements.

I've never been one to go all-out with the Halloween decorations (Christmas is another story though...) but that doesn't mean we haven't been preparing for this spookiest of days.

Dining Room table, spookified


Reading some scary stories...

Even Sid and Mini are getting into the Halloween spirit. They've been practicing their sneak attacks, although I think both of them could work on subtlety. I think Mini truly believes that letting you know exactly where she's hiding is a great scare tactic, and Sid just doesn't get it at all. But hey, at least they're trying.

Hee hee


Vampire kitteh will eat your face


Boo?

We've also been enjoying lots of Halloween parties and fun times with family - to be recapped later, but for now it's time to get to work so I can get home in time to prep for trick or treaters! Stop by our place - we'll be the ones handing out freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies :) Or, if you have some crazy fear of your children accepting homemade goods from total strangers, we also have Snickers.

OoooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooooooooooooooooooooo....
(That was my best attempt at ghost noises. Deal.)

Friday Five - Wedding Edition! (Part I)

We received so many AMAZING gifts at our wedding - the most amazing of which, obviously, was being able to celebrate with our friends and family. In addition, we've been having a LOT of fun with our new wedding gifts and I'd love to share a few of my favorites with you guys every week. I already mentioned the yogurt maker from Ben's mom, which we use all the time, but here are a few others that we've been enjoying lately:

1.
Awesome Adam Turman print of Target Field
Our friends know us too well... this gorgeous framed print by local artist Adam Turman is now hanging in the living room next to Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb, so that particular corner has quickily become the Baseball Shrine.

2.
"From the Deep" Stoneware
These were actually on our registry... we skipped china and silver and went for regular old dishes instead...but these are quirky dishes and I love them. They remind me all at once of Treasure Island, Pirates of the Carribbean and maybe Moby Dick.

Please not that the teacup handle is a tentacle. Love. It.


Back of the dinner plate


One version of the salad plate - Puffer Fish (we also have some with a striped fish)


Back of the salad plate (the back of the Striped Fish plate has the fish's tail continuing around the side and onto the back of the plate - also awesome).

3.
French Tablecloth
Ooh la la! Hehe. This tablecloth from my friend Tessa and her parents is a bit long for our dining room table, but that isn't stopping us from using it! The matching napkins (which I don't have in the picture unfortunately) are really beautiful, too. And check out those flower centerpieces... a little dried out but still hanging in there!

4.
First Year of Marriage Memories Book
This has to be the most creative gift we received. Ben's lifelong friend Krista, who was a groomswoman in the wedding, and her boyfriend Paul gave us what at first appears to be just an ordinary antique book - which is great, because we love books...

...but when we opened it, we realized it was much, much more than just a book.

She even scattered pictures of the two of us (copied and printed off of Facebook I'm guessing) throughout the pages - this first one is when Ben proposed to me in India. He was very sneaky in having our tour guide take this photo, but I'm so glad we have it because I know we will cherish it forever.

We filled the first pocket already - with my plane ticket from my business trip and momentos from the Harry Potter Party on Saturday.

5.
Sara Teasdale Poems
...and it's a first edition advanced copy. NO idea where my friend Rachel found this, but apparently she saw it just a few weeks after finding out Ben and I were engaged, and it practically fell of the shelf and into her hand (metaphorically speaking). The poems are beautiful - I only wish we'd had it earlier so we could have used one for a reading!

The Tree of Song
I sang my songs for the rest,
For you I am still;
The tree of my song is bare
On its shining hill.

For you came like a lordly wind,
And the leaves were whirled
Far as forgotten things
Past the rim of the world.

The tree of my song stands bare
Against the blue --
I gave my songs to the rest,
Myself to you.

In other news, the temperature has finally calmed down to a much more reasonable 85 degrees (as opposed to 105 for the last week or so). The dew point is still a little out of control, but at least now it doesn't feel like a tropical jungle. Thankfully there are still hilarious signs like this one at the Uptown Theater to make me laugh: