winter hike

Red Feather Lakes

om

It
feels
good
to
paint

photo fieldtrip

I took a photography class for people who want more out of their point-and-shoot camera (that's me!) this weekend. The best part was walking around downtown looking for lines, light, and inspiration. My favorite is the phone because you can see a tree in the handle.

sweets

No trip of mine would be complete without a factory tour or two. Salt Lake City is home to Mrs. Fields's distribution center (where they bake 10 million chocolate chip cookies a year) and the Sweet Candy Company. Sweet's Candy was started over 100 years ago and now they make over 250 different kinds of candy including taffy, gummies, and their famous cinnamon bears. So many fantastic facts to learn (like that it takes 7 days to make a jellybean) and treats to try (like chocolate covered EVERYTHING). We walked through the taffy room, jellybean room, and yes, the chocolate enrobing room. There were actual silos of sugar and pipes of chocolate and corn syrup running throughout the building. Finally, the tour guide made sure we sampled every candy we wanted to try. Craving some sugar and more info? Grab some gummy worms and take the online tour now!

utah facts!

*drinking is allowed without having to find a sponsor (changed a whole year ago)
*polygamy was outlawed in 1890 (yet UT has the largest household size in the nation...)
*the giant salt lake is over a million acres and saltier than the oceans
*has the most natural arches in the world

salt lake city

Took a mini excursion to SLC. The first big snowfall of the season and me arrived in the city at the same time. Brisk walks and hot chocolates from various bakeries were some of my main activities during the stay. Here is the view from the University of Utah.

cupcakes make people happy

"When you look at a cupcake, you've got to smile."
-Anne Byrn, cookbook writer

boo.

Pirate and I were invited to a great Halloween party: The night was filled with old "scary" movie watching, witch cupcake making, high ball eye ball drinking, and pumpkin soup eating. Pirate and his good friend Panda dressed up as a frog and a princess and were the real treats.

muse

I got my new camera just in time to capture the changing leaves. I don't know how this happened, but I ended the day with 150 pictures of Pirate instead. I guess there are a few trees in the background...

killer

Pirate's new favorite activity: munching on squeaky squirrels he got from grandma

labyrinth walking

I spent an afternoon with a certified labyrinth expert and learned some fascinating facts about this ancient configuration. For 5,000 years, labyrinths have been used as a space for walking meditation and the new millennium has sparked more interest and building. We went to three sites in town and all were made of different materials and were different designs. This was my favorite one.

peppermint patty party

Sister, mom and I made the peppermint patty recipe from "A Field Guide to Candy." It is amazing what a little--okay-- A LOT of powdered sugar and chocolate can turn into. I don't know what was more fun: tempering the chocolate in my sister's striking copper bowl or eating them.

these are a few of my favorite things

My dog and "Law and Order."

summer recap: moving

Goodbye old town, old house. Pirate and I packed a 16' truck in 102 degree heat and drove 1,000 miles to our new destination.

summer recap: new craft

I wanted to learn to whittle this summer





but it got even better when grandpa taught me relief carving. Who knew goudging, slicing and cutting could be so much fun.

summer recap: fiesta

Mom wanted me to make tortillas and I jokingly said I would not do it without a tortilla press. We had to buy one. The next day it appeared, only we never ended up ordering one. No, dad had gone down to his shop and made one out of marvelous maple, perfectly polished. We made corn and flour tortilla over and over again with one slight Midwestern-Scandinavian adaptation: we cooked them on a lefse griddle.

summer recap: fruit and flowers

The best place to hang out this summer was the backyard at my parent's house. There were strawberries, raspberries, a vegetable garden, and tons of new flowers blooming every week.

summer recap: fargo

Even though there were lots of mini trips to different towns/states/waterways this summer, Fargo was home base. The weeks I spent there were filled with nothing but good times: Making dinners, visiting with family, shopping downtown, and taking walks in mom and dad's neighborhood.

summer recap: at the lake

Pirate learned how to swim and sail this summer. He loved being in the water, sleeping in the warm sand, and chasing all the chipmunks away from the cabins.

summer recap: bismarck

The nostalgic day tour of my early childhood hometown included: the Capitol, the apartment where my sister was born, the townhouse, the bottling company, and the places we hung out the most-- the YMCA and Montessori. Great memories.

summer recap: performing presence

One of the most remarkable experiences of the summer was to see Marina Ambramovic in "The Artist is Present" instillation and retrospective at the MoMA. Watching her was incredibly moving. So much so that we were compelled to do some impromptu presence performancing.

summer recap: museum chic

I'm almost positive that NY knew I was coming this summer, because each museum had an exhibit that was tailored to me. At the Brooklyn Museum, I was delighted to see that Judy Chicago's "Dinner Party" filled a room. There was also an extensive instillation of fashion from the early 1800s to 1900s, including a dress worn by Queen Victoria. The MET, in conjunction with Vogue and Gap, developed "American Woman," a look at female archetypes through fashion, in the Costume Institute. And the Cooper-Hewitt museum had eco/recycled/repurposed fabrics and fashions on display, like a coat made out of plastic price tag fasteners and dresses made out of bamboo. So much glamour!

summer recap: brooklyn

This was one fantastic summer. So much to see and do that sitting in front of the computer was not a priority. Onto a brief recap beginning with my trip to New York. My wonderous friend N. was gracious enough to let me and S. come visit her and crash at her place in Brooklyn. It was great to have a tour guide that has tried every pastry, ice cream, and chocolate shop in the neighborhood so we could stop at the best ones again and again.