Advice and A Winner!

First things first, ElleBee, you are the winner of the fabulous JLM cookbook! If you would kindly email me with your address, I will get this off to you tomorrow!

We are back from the lake and had a great time, but this week has also been crazy. Nuts actually.

The lake was nice and relaxing, but we were pretty much constantly on the go. I did get some reading done which is what I love to do at the lake, and we did get a couple of nice walks in, which I also love. Both the boat parade
and the regular parade
around the lake were a ton of fun and we didn't have a ton of drama due to the fact that the boys brother and SIL did not come up until Monday afternoon, and we had left Monday morning to head over to where my sister and her family had rented a cabin for the week and spent some time with them, so we didn't even see them. The boys nephew and the SIL's son did come up on Thursday, but they are 13 and 15 and very easy to be around, and then his niece came up on Saturday and they all left on Sunday.

We cooked up some fabulous food. Beer can chicken that was delicious, (recipe next week)
pulled BBQ beef and polska kielbasa kebobs which were a huge hit. We also did hot hoagies on the grill which was a wonderful treat. Sunday evening, after the kids left, we decided to go out for a couple of cocktails, the four of us. We had heard about Carlsonna's ice cream drinks and thought we would try one out for dessert. When I asked about them, the bartender rattled off about 8 different varieties, but she said that one was enough for 4 people. We just could not imagine, but it was a good thing that we only ordered one, they were HUGE, next time I will get a picture, I am so mad I didn't. We went with the Brandy Alexander and it was wonderful!

We had a great time with my sister and her family, the kids are always a ton of fun and it is just fun to spoile them.
My aunt, cousin and his daughter also came up for the day, I had not seen them in over 4 years so it was good to catch up with them. We didn't get back until after 11 Tuesday night, barely got unpacked.

Wednesday evening we helped T move some furniture around in order to get ready for hardwood floors to be installed. She was nice enough to provide pizza and some beers. We didn't get home until about 9 and then I was able to finally get us unpacked, but no laundry.

Last night, we saw the Cirque de Soleil performance of Kooza

in St. Paul after dinner at Pazzaluna.
Dinner was wonderful and the show was amazing. That was my 9th Cirque show, and I think it is now tied for 1st with Love as far as performances go. Cirque de Soleil tent performances are such an experience and this was the first time and the boy had been to a tent show, we had an absolute blast and amazing seats.

Tonight we are having 15 friends for a BBQ and then we are off to see Foxxy Tann and the Wham Bam Thank You M'ams

burlesque show Red, White and B**b. Our small BBQ of 6 grew to 15 and I am not even sure how. I was going to do some fancy burgers and a couple of salads, but now, it is going to be brats and pre made burgers. With 15 people I am just hoping to be able to get home and get a nice table put together at home and get the food pulled together! I am sure it will be fun though.

So. Here is where the advice comes in. I love to entertain, in fact these just came in the mail yesterday and I just love them,
and I love going up to the lake, and having plans and such. I also need at least 7 hours of sleep a night, which I have not been getting lately because I am usually in the office by at least 7:15 and then leave around 5. I know I like to stay busy, but something is lacking and I am feeling a little out of sorts. I just simply don't have enough "me" time. I love to go for a walk around the lake by my house, or just even stroll down the streets in my neighborhood, there are some amazing gardens, I love to have a pedicure, especially in the summer, and while I have been able to give myself one at least once a week,
I don't think I have had a real pedicure in almost a year. I also love to play tennis, but have not played on a team or with a league in a year. My Wii fit has fallen by the wayside and I have not even opened the Active package.
While I have been wearing a pedometer, and syncing it with the Walking program for my DSi, I have really realized how little of activity I get in a day. I think I am actually more sedentary now that I am in an office on more of a regular basis than I was when I worked from home. At least at home I would get out of the house and take my walk, now I have to squeeze it in either before I leave my house at about 6:30 am or after work when I get home around 5ish, but that is on top of somehow making dinner as well as plans at least three nights a week. I don't take lunch very often at work, I usually get to somehow eat the lunch that I packed at my desk in betweeen meetings or conference calls, so a lunch walk would be out, at least at the moment. I know I could cut back on evening activities, but I do enjoy everything that we do as well. We actually have not even seen a movie in quite a few weeks. I know it sounds like I am complaining, and I don't mean to, I just cannot figure out how to successfully balance it all, and I don't even have kids or pets, at this point, I cannot even imagine.

Right before we left on vacation for the 4th, I was given a really nice promotion, bonus and raise. I know that this actually means more work and responsibility, so, I don't see an end in sight really when it comes to work. And I do really like what I am doing (although working from home more often may be the key actually, I just know that it is not going to happen for a couple of months), but I also know that my job can be demanding. I guess I am just starting to feel like I am not doing myself any favors but can't figure out how to make time for some things that are key that would make me happier. How do you do it?

Meal Plan Monday!

We are still up at the lake, but I thought I would try scheduling my posts while we are away!

Monday - BBQ of some sort, I will share some recipes soon!
Tuesday - BBQ again
Wednesday - Pizza and beers, we are helping T move furniture in preparation of new hardwood floors being put in.
Thursday - Cirque de Soleil Kooza and dinner at Pazzaluna (SO excited for this, LOVE Cirque performances)
Friday - Friends over for BBQ at my house and the out to see Foxy Tann and the Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am's for her Red, White and Boob burlesque show at the Ritz Theater in NE Mpls. Should be a lot of fun!
Saturday - Trip to Wausau, WI to catch the hot air balloon festival. Picnic of fried chicken and fixings.
Sunday - House work, errands and rest. Dinner will be something easy depending on the weather.

This is Today!

Hopefully I am doing a lot of this right now

and this

reading this

this

and this

I picked the Lauren Lipton books up and added them to my queue. They looked really good and I saw a couple other bloggers had read them and enjoyed. Did you know our very own MCM contributed to "Mating Rituals of the North American WASP"?

Keeping the reads pretty light at the moment, I will have plenty of time coming up for more complex reading. I have a couple of trips to Boston for work that I have to do, one for a week in July, the other late August for another week. The boy will be accompanying me on the later trip and we will make a mini vacation out of it spending the first weekend in Newport and the second at the Cape. These are rough plans at the moment as the dates for the second trip have not been set.

Of course I have a huge stack of these to flip through as well!

Happy Independence Day!

Vacation Mode!

I am looking forward to a week at the lake. The boy and I still don't know if we are going to go over and see my sister and her family, but at least we have it as an option. Wednesday evening we found out that the boys brother and his wife and kids are not going to be up until Monday. This was a huge relief as things are always stressful for me when they are around and they are not very nice to me, so it does not make for a very relaxing break with them. They don't like to coordinate meals or eat with us and that makes the boys mom feel bad and it also has caused disruptions in the past. I say that they are not very nice to me, I think what it is more than anything else is that we are just very very different and they treat me that way. I worked very hard for over a year going above and beyond to be nice to them, include them in things and to treat them with respect, only to be hurt very badly by them last summer. They really truly own me an apology for some of the things that they did and said to me. I can look past a lot of things, but I just don't need to be walked on either, so I just just feel it is better to do my own thing and be myself and not concern myself with them. It isn't always easy, but I do my best. So, I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend of reading and hanging out playing games. The boys nephew is coming up and also one of the "step" nephews. They are about 12 and 14 so they should have a good time.

I picked up this, have not played it yet, but it looks like fun!

And this, the boys love the "Would You Rather. . ." book so I thought they might enjoy this as well.

I also made up one of these for everyone:

I hope you all have a very happy and safe 4th of July! We are off to the boat parade and the "big" parade is bright and early tomorrow morning, can't wait!

Dresses!

Last night the boy, friend T and I headed into St. Paul to the History Theater for Sample Night Live. This was something new for me and something I had never heard of, but just stumbled upon. They have two acts with 6 performances in each act. The first act is family friendly with the second act being a little more R rated. It was fabulous and we had a really good time. There were some excellent performances and only one that we all agreed was a little eh. . . they have giveaways throughout the show and at the end you get to vote for your favorite performer. T and I both voted for the same one, but it was close between a few of them. This is a show that they put on the first Wednesday of every month, and the tickets are only $20, you can bet that we will be back again.
After the show, we headed over to the patio at the Happy Gnome for a nightcap and a small bite.

We all shared a bowl of mussels, one of my favorites, that was just delicious. I love sitting out on the patios during the summer. In Minnie, this is what we suffer through the long winters for and you have to enjoy it while you can!
I have been on a total dress kick lately. I love wearing dresses in the summer anyway, but I have just been finding the cutest dresses, and whenever I see a LBD that I just know will be perfect for something I pick it up because it is always great to have one on hand. To me dresses are so simple, it is just one piece, so you throw on a pair of shoes, some accessories and you can walk out the door. I LOVE some of the maxi dresses, but being vertically challenged I do have a tough time finding the right ones, but I did find a simple black one that I will be packing for the holiday weekend and last weekend I wore a cute BCBG floral one. Here are a few recent finds.

LOVE Downeast Basics. I also picked up a couple of skirts from them that I just love.

Maggy London is also a favorite. She has so many styles to choose from.

Kayce Hughes. This is a new one for me, but I thought the blue with the red piping would be perfect for the JLM Presidents Summer Social with the patriotic theme, what do you think? The dresses I bought were REALLY on sale, but I thought it would be a good way to try them out.

Last but not least is my Lilly, which I do love the most.

Here is my 4th of July outfit. I always try to tie the red white and blue in, so I may throw a sweater over my shoulders as well, depends on the weather for the parade.

I am still on the hunt for a yellow dress. Being blond, it is kind of hard to pull off "yellow" but I love it with a tan, which I am hoping to come back from the lake with and I also think that it will go well with my new Little Barrel headband.

I know that last week I was supposed to have drawn for the JLM cookbook, but I will tonight and post the winner tomorrow. I hope you all have a wonderful July 4th weekend! I have some posts ready to go, so I will be posting!

Little Barrel

Yesterday I was over at TCP catching up on happenings and all of her good finds as usual. But one find in particular I was very interested in and clicked on over through her link to Little Barrel. I could hardly contain myself. Of course I am a fan of Vineyard Vines, but you have no idea how excited I was to see VV like prints but with wine bottles and glasses! Combining two of my favorite things!

I went through the site pretty quickly getting more excited as I clicked along, scooping things into my shopping cart as I went, I just could not resist!

My wine club is celebrating our three year anniversary at the end of July, and I have been planning a big event, I think I found the perfect giveaways!

Here is what I wound up with (but I am sure there will be more to come in the future). Photos borrowed from the Little Barrel website.

The Bottleneck Pruned Headband in Yellow

The Cheers Scarf Belt in Brown

The Bottleneck Picnic Tote in Blue

Bottleneck Tie in Yellow (to match my headband)

I cannot wait for my items to arrive, I am SO excited. I just love the picnic tote and how it has space for two bottles, perfect bag to bring along on my next trip to Napa. I am thinking that the headband and tie will be perfect for our 3 year celebration for the club, now I just need to find the perfect dress to go with it! I will give you all an update once the items arrive, but I was so excited I just couldn't wait to share. I also sent a note off with my order letting them know how delighted I was to come across such wonderful products and received a very nice note back from Andrew & Taylor, great customer service, you have to love that too!