Happy 2009!

We miss you, Rhoda...

Getting snowed in.

Last Wednesday, we hosted book club. Nils prepared glögg for three and half hours and we set out pepparkakor. Last year, I had a bad incident with glögg: getting so sick that I spent most of Christmas Day in bed. What a sad sight of affairs. So needless to say, I had a hard time drinking my cup of glögg during book club without remembering my 24 hour throw-up fest and the lethargy that swallowed my body last Christmas. When book club was over, I still had more than half of glögg in my cup. So sad. It's actually so tasty it's a waste to waste.

On Saturday, we went to Holiday Party '09 and drank cider and Bells Christmas Ale. It was an awesome party with Christmas portraits, yummy goodies...and naked men! I almost forgot we were at Community Gardens - it started to look like a frat party.

Apparently we are expecting quite the storm over the next three days. Wonderful. But what can we do? Our plans to leave for Duluth on Thursday look postponed till the weekend. Ultimately, bumping other plans. We have made sure to stock up on food and beer though. So I guess we're set.

Side note: I haven't taken too many photos as of late.

Happy Holidays!

Saw Whet on the Moss

Saw Whet on the Moss
Originally uploaded by BigBrotherBear

I can't help but post this. It's just too darn cute and the rest of Jason Idzerda's photos are awesome! I know my friend Megan would just love these!

The 13 Days of Christmas

I love my job. I work with great people and provide services to some pretty neat people in the Northwest area of Hennepin County. Yesterday, we had our annual holiday party at our drop-in and it was so nice to see so many people come together, enjoy food, and have fun. I can't imagine what it would look like if the Northwest Community Support Program didn't exist. It would be site of sad affairs.

I am spending my weekend at home, relaxing, and working on Xmas gifts. I am almost finished with my gifts for my favorite people of the West Coast. Once I am done with their gifts, I will move on to finish projects for my mother.

Nils and I will spending most of our holiday in Duluth with his mom Alice. Last weekend we found out that we'll get to help babysit a puppy while we are visiting. There is nothing that will give us more joy than being able to walk a dog on Christmas Day. We can't wait!

I am excited for love.

So, I have good news. It's been quite the eventful week. Nils and I woke up on Tuesday morning an engaged couple! We had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend and continued to kick off our holidays with pepparkakor, ABBA, a faux tree, and engagement ring hunting! We are hoping to have a Turf Club engagement party in January. I don't want to go on too much about being engaged, but I do have to mention that finding an engagement ring is more difficult than I thought. Since I turned the tables on the traditional proposal story: I being the one who asked, I had been figuring that Nils would get the ring. This not the case, and now I am surfing Ebay and Etsy for the perfect eco-friendly, simple, and possibly vintage engagement ring. I've already had a few people take a gander at my ring finger looking for that certain sparkle of commitment, and well, I just want to say we are getting there! I am just so picky!

Now that we are fully into the the holiday season, I've been thinking about gift giving and such, and this year, I am definitely into making most of my gifts for friends and family with my bare hands and creative mind. I couldn't help but get excited walking around No Coast CRAFT-O-RAMA yesterday. It was a plethora of talented artists and creative awesomeness. I adore seeing what people are making. I scored a free No Coast tote bag and a cute pin cushion from Run Amok.

If you are still wondering what to get a friend, I've been selfishly inspired to gift this to myself: a book on why it's important not to eat meat and understand why. I noticed this book last month when it was released, and an opinion piece written back in October, by the author Jonthan Safran Foer, reminds me that I want to read Eating Animals. I think it would be a lovely Xmas gift for your vegetarian/vegan friend or someone who is contemplating a change in their diet. Or well, for someone who gives you a hard time on your decision to stop consuming animals.

Arise there, holidays!

I am proud to report that our Thanksgiving was a success. We had no kitchen disasters and the pumpkin pies that we were skeptical over turned out amazing! My mother ate lunch with us and then in the evening we invited a small group of friends over for a Friendsgiving. My favorite part of our Thanksgiving were the cute bearscuits we baked.

My mother had surgery the day after Thanksgiving. She had a pacemaker put in her stomach that helps digest food. We are hoping within a few weeks she will be back to eating normally and enjoying food again. She is supposed to be discharged on Tuesday - a day earlier than expected, 'cause she's, well, recovering so fabulously!

Nils and I have one more day off of work. We hung up some lights last night and are planning on setting up our tree tomorrow. We are also planning to see The Fantastic Mr. Fox tomorrow too. We tried to see it on Friday, but it was sold out! We went over to Borders since we couldn't get into the movie and I picked up Wes Anderson's Darjeeling Limited for 5 bucks. I guess that makes up for missing his new movie that night. I felt slightly horrible buying something on Black Friday...

Tonight: St. Paul Book Club - Thanksgiving style! Leftovers galore - or at least I hope!

prepping for the feast

Nils and I will be cooking and baking up a storm in the kitchen starting tomorrow night.

So far this is our menu:

Tofurky and its fixings
Homemade vegetarian stuffing
Dill and basil mashed potatoes
Mushroom gravy
Yams
Cranberry sauce
Vegetarian meatballs
Brussel Sprouts
Cornbread
Biscuits

Vegan sugar free pumpkin pie with pecan topping
soy vanilla ice cream

Oh man, we are already experiencing a stomach ache just thinking about it. I can't wait!

We'll have my mom over in the morning and then friends in the evening.
Oh, how I am thankful for the life I have.

Moving fastly along.

This week is moving so fast and before we know it, Xmas will be upon us in all its festivities. I can't wait to deck the halls and put up our plastic tree...

Nils and I will be hosting a small Friendsgiving at our house next week. So, if you don't have any plans or your plans end early, please contact me. It will be a turkey-friendly day of vegetarian/vegan preparation!

Nils and I missed the Turf's decoration party, but thankfully, they've decided to extend the party till next week! I am excited to see friends! Apparently, this past Tuesday was a glitter fest.

Tonight, I will be oriented into the U of M's Graduate School. Luckily, it's on the St. Paul campus. I shouldn't *crossing fingers* have to worry too much about parking...

All I want for xmas:
>a camera of awesomeness!

>and then I want to win this! You should enter too!

>and I think I will make this next week, but vegan! Mmmm, mmhmm!

This weekend will be prepping for my mom's surgery the day after Thanksgiving...What the what? And catching up on my handmade xmas gifts.

new shoes for my hurting feet

a fall day

One day we will adopt a puppy.

Friday, I went to my friend Steph's birthday party at Mancini's and ordered a delicious Grasshopper. Mine was made with ice cream, mmm. It was nice to see so many friends and reconnect. I feel like I have fallen off the radar. I hadn't seen so many people in such a long time.

Our friend, Jug, has borrowed us a copy of his book of short stories. He spent it writing it in a cabin...How Minnesotan...I can't wait to get into it. First, I have to finish Under the Banner of Heaven though.

Yesterday, Nils and I did so much walking around Uptown. We went to Mager's and Quinn, and although I had picked up Ann Patchett's Bel Canto and a mass market paperback of Stieg Larsson's A Girl with a Dragon Tatoo, I found willpower before the cash register. Early in the day, I spent a little too much on craft supplies...Nils though, he caved, and bought some Flann O'Brien, the works under Brian O' Nolan's pseudonym, well, one of many. Apparently, it is not known how much writing is out there of O' Nolan, because of his consistent use of fictitious names. I really want to start reading Larsson's trilogy though, at least before the movie comes out.

Nils and I saw An Education at the Uptown Theater. I enjoyed the film, but at times, I felt emptiness. Maybe it was too flighty? The end just came together too well in such a short amount of time. I would have liked to have seen more story in the end rather than the tying up.

Before Uptown, Nils and I made a quick stroll around the Humane Society in Golden Valley. One day, we will be able to adopt a puppy. One day...So many people were adopting animals. It was nice to see so many animals going to new homes.

We ended the night at home, ordering a pizza, and watching an episode of Mad Men.

A Rat Recovered

Signing up for classes is becoming all too familiar. I used to add classes and then drop them every semester. After talking with my advisor via email, her best suggestion was to wait on the class with 12 required books. The last thing I want is to get burn out in my first semester. So, I will be taking an Intro class in Interdisciplinary Studies and that class only. I have an orientation next week and as much as it saddens me, I will be missing Jenny Hart appearing at Crafty Planet. Poopola. Ah school - always getting in the way of socializing...

Cavity fillings are never fun. I was calmer than I thought I would be when I met with my dentist today. I was in and out in a matter of 25 minutes. Is that a record for a filling? I dunno, I was impressed. I should have given her a tip.

After dinner, I chatted up with our rat Stella. About a month ago she was in surgery getting a tumor removed. We're so happy she's back to her old self. It was definitely a trying time while she was recovering.

Required Reading

I've figured out my class schedule for Spring semester. I am relieved that I will only be on campus once a week - on Tuesdays. Apparently though, one of the classes I am signing up for has 12 required books. Yikes! I guess that will be about 200 pages a week on top of my other research class. What am I getting myself into?

I am missing Stacy and Aleshia. My two buddies. I hope I will get to see them soon. LA is so far away...

I am currently required to read Under the Banner of Heaven for this month's for book club. Not only have I been so uppity about the Stupak amendment, I am now raging about mormons...I considered looking into Buddhism to combat my anxiety.

Hanging out with Squirrels

I made a book! It was fun!

Tomorrow is another day

Over this past weekend Oak Street had been playing You, the Living along with A Swedish Love Story. What a sweet double feature. Nils and I had seen You, the Living two MPLS/St. Paul International Film Festivals ago and just adored it. So, we couldn't miss the chance to see it again. It's not available on DVD. A Swedish Love Story captured love in all its ages and complexities. Apparently, it was quite the film in 1970.

Roy Andersson has to be one of the best comedic and meaningful storytellers in international film. He also makes hilarious Swedish commercials...

buckeyes

This is Halloween.

Happy Halloween. I was going to be Little Edie Beale for Halloween, but I was so lazy getting my costume together. It's actually an easy outfit to get set up, but hmm, maybe in reality I wasn't so into getting dressed up this year. Does that make me a grump? I don't think so. I feel pretty happy. Nils and I carved a pumpkin and made cookies to celebrate. There is so much going on around the Twin Cities, I am unsure if we are even going to do anything. Really though, I don't mind staying in...I need to finish Patron Saint of Liars by Ann Patchett. It's so good. I think I have 50 pages left.

Also, today I finally picked up Yo La Tengo's Popular Songs while at Eclipse. It's quite good. Poppy and moody. I am going to leave the CD in my car. I will probably listen to it over and over again like I did with Au Revoir Simone's record.

a craft/work room in development

a craft/work room in development
Originally uploaded by jess(ica)

I am working hard on this room. So, far it's been delightful to just sit in there, talk to our hedgie and ratty, and make things with my hands.

Things so far made:
cat toys
two pillows
curtains for the bedroom
curtain for the hallway
button brooches
a hedgehog softie
an owl softie
...and a few embroidered projects!

Oh the fun!

Note: Right above the Sonic Youth poster will be a shelf. I haven't made it to Ikea yet to pick it up...I think I am avoiding Ikea in order to save money ;-)

getting ready

Hi again,

It's been awhile. I've been busy. I thought I would check in and maybe hang out.

Guess what? Last week I found out that I was accepted into Grad School at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. If all goes well, I will be getting a Master of Liberal Studies. I am so nervous, but so excited. I haven't been in school for five years. Jeepers!

I need to get ready!

See ya later,
Jess