Livvy and the Trees

My husband had an idea of taking Livvy someplace new to wear her out before bedtime. Normally we go on walks around the neighborhood and we'll let her walk. For 2.5 years old, i think she walks pretty far. At least a mile without wanting to get back into the stroller.

Anywho, in Maple Grove there is a tiny little arboretum smooshed between a county road and residential area. It's basically a park path with various trees labeled with what type they are. My husband grew up learning the different types of trees and he could tell what one was by the leaf and the bark. He thought maybe Livvy would get a kick out of looking at all of the trees.

As you can see in the picture above, Miss O. dug the trees. She insisted on wearing her "dress", which is a Barbie Princess nightgown. I wasn't going to argue with her. If she were a teenager i would strongly advise against wearing it, but she's 2.5 and she'll only live that age once. So why not? I could care less.



Livvy loved trekking from tree to tree. She didn't really understand what we were looking at but she ooed and awed at all of the right moments. She was very patient and not bored at all. Often she would say, "what's that? what's that daddy? Daddy? Daddy! What's that?" She's such a turkey.



It always amazes me at what liv will find. She spots the minutest things, picks them up and just wonders them to death. Here she spotted an acorn cap. Something i don't think she's seen before. She's used to seeing the whirly birds from the trees in our area. According to daycare, liv has to have a whirly bird in her hand at all times.



Olivia has a strong curiosity for dandelions too. Particularly when they've gone to seed. She tries to blow the seeds off the stem. Doesn't really work and most of the time i'm afraid she's going to inhale the seeds instead of blowing them off the stem. In this picture she was contemplating everything in the grass. Not only were there dandelions, but there were clovers too! weeeeee! what fun. :o)

As we made our way back to the car there was the typical park sign that usually has a message basically stating, "don't trash the place okay?" I thought this message was worthy of taking a picture. This message resonated the most with me. We all know what manners we should have in a park, but often times we forget the purpose of a park.

Russian Tea House II

That my friends is a deconstructed cabbage roll. Looks gross but tastes oh so good! This is one of the many authentic dishes you'll find at the Russian Tea House. You've already seen pictures of what the place looks like inside, now you get to see what they serve! Trust me, i'm not very adventurous when it comes to food, but this stuff is good!

This is a picture of goodness. This is a Piroshki. Alton Brown learned to make while visiting for his tv show. He wanted to share the recipe (of course with permission) but found out that it required a lot of steps. This isn't mass produced stuff people. This is handmade stuff, made everyday. Which explains why the Tea House is open from 11-3 during the week (except Mondays and the weekends).

When Jason and i walked into the Tea House, we saw a tray of these lovely chocolate chip, poppy seed rolls. Sounds odd, but is SOOOOO good. The size of the roll was just about the size of jason's head. No lie!

After eating all of the goodness we deposit our tray and garbage.

We head down the stairs, back into the complicated world.

To find out where the heck this place is (and for other reviews), click here. Skip "school" and go. To find out who the heck Alton Brown is and this "Feasting on Asphalt" business, click here. Unfortunately they don't show the episode involving MN.

Russian Tea House I

Howdy strangers. Sorry. It's been awhile! My mornings have become increasingly busy and i have completely fallen behind on a few things. This little blog for one! Good gravy right? Well i'm back kids. I have quite a bit to tell you about too! For starters, i finally got my hubby to drag me to the Russian Tea House! What's that you say? In Minnesota? Why of course! See my above terrible picture of the sign for the place.



The Russian Tea House is an actual house. No lie. I walk into the front door and this is what i see. A counter and a HUGE floor mixer in the back. We order our food at this counter. Everything is served in to-go containers but you can choose to sit and eat here...



...you just have to walk up these stairs! :) See? Told'ya. Real house.



Just as we get to the top of the stairs, i look to my right, and i see the first signs of seating. Just your regular, typical old banister that you would find in any house.



Voila! We sit and here is the view of the seating area. A bunch of miscellaneous furniture. To the left, in the back, is the door to the bathroom. What kind of bathroom would you find in a house? Well, one with a toilet, porceleain sink and tub of course! My only regret, that i didn't take a picture of the bathroom. I didn't want to look like a weenie in front of the people eating there. I can hear it now..."hey, what's that crazy girl doing? has she never seen a bathroom before?"

While i'm very fascinated by this place, the food is even more amazing! No lie! Alton Brown even visited this place for one of his feasting on asphalt shows.

Skyway Wanderings

So sad that this turned out blurry. I'll have to go back and get another picture. A co-worker and i took a break from the action and did some wandering in the skyways. The first of many adventures i suspect. She wanted to see the Lumber Exchange building and so off we set. It allowed me some time to take more pictures of finer details of the building.

I think it great fun to go 'sploring with someone, particularly when they are just as interested in details as i am. We were completely fascinated by the wood doors in the building. The first picture above is a detail of the doorknob. Pretty cool and something you don't see as often. I'm surprised the knob wasn't worn smooth but it looks like the ridges have held up well over time.



The next thing that fascinated me about the door is the letter slot in it. I'll pause here for a minute and explain why the picture above looks the way it does. I have a toy camera app on my phone. I have been completely taken by it and i love how it transforms simple pictures into something even more interesting. The app has a few filters to choose from, or i can set it to random and it will select from the filters i have chosen for the random setting. As you can see, the above picture looks a bit greener than what the letter slot really is. Actually, now that i think about it, i used the app on the first pic. too.



The awesome thing about having someone with is that i have more courage to take pictures. For some reason i think i look less suspicious when i am with someone. I was very curious to see what lay beyond the letter slot in the door. So my co-worker held the letter slot open and i took a picture. Here's to peeking in!

p.s. i'll try to post more. i've lost my one hour in the a.m. to exercising again. The only hour i have in the day and i had to choose what to do, sit on the computer and get crap done, or take care of myself and get some much needed exercise. I chose the later for now. ;0)

Nice Day!

I actually took these pics. awhile ago. It was one of the first really nice days where it was sunny and no jacket was needed. It wasn't windy, it was just right. I'm sitting in front of the Mpls. library, right on the corner. Kitty-corner from where i'm sitting is my bus stop, just on the other side of Nicollet.



See? There i am. :)



This is an "up" shot of the library. It is just beautiful. I used to trek down here with a co-worker over lunch time. It was very relaxing to sit in there. I would sit on the third floor, by the windows facing 3rd st. I brought my diary and wrote in it. Not to mention the walk with a sane and reasonable person was a very much needed dose of "therapy". Basically, it was nice to have someone to talk to, and to forget about work for a bit (not that work is terrible, but you know what i mean).

I know, seems like a weird thing to write in a diary over lunch break, but it worked for me. The only problem was, it took 10 minutes to walk there and about 10 to walk back. Time was limited at the library.

If you haven't been to the library, i suggest you go. They have rooms with pianos in them. They have a room of moving bookshelves. They have great areas for sitting and reading or just relaxing (quietly). Their children's section is fun and inspiring. You should go! :) They have a gift shop and dunn brothers too.



Here is a shot of what i am sitting on. As i was sitting here, a guy came running behind me on the benches. You can barely see him at the top of the picture. He's in the white shirt. He's running on the cement "benches".



I'm looking to the left of me and here is the 3rd st. side of the library. Pretty nifty huh? Well, enjoy the weather my fellow Minnesotans. The outdoor stadium is beautiful, the smells are wonderful, the ballpark trash not-so-much wonderful, but the weather is something unarguable.

Macy's Flower Show Final

I liked this version of the mushroom better than the previous. I love seeing the little feet poking out from underneath. :) Who's under there??



I absolutely love this one. I wanted to somehow sneak this out of the show. A.) It's a little big B.) i think someone might notice me trouncing over beautiful flowers and trying unsuccessfully to pull this thing out of the ground. It's the minor details that prevent me from doing things.



At first when i saw this, i though, huh, that's cool. But then at second glance, i didn't realize this, but these planters are BALANCED on those tiny poles. I believe the planters themselves aren't probably heavy, but the plants and dirt must be. How in the world did they get those planters to balance? The bottoms aren't curved, so it's not like they are wrapped around the pole. The bottoms are flat! There are no bolts showing underneath indicating that they were bolted on. The poles are smooth. Was it liquid nails? If so, they did an excellent job of gluing as there are no signs of glue anywhere. So weird!

Today is the last day of the show. It's Sunday hours. Plain wisely if you were planning on seeing this. It not only looks pretty, it smells really good. It's not overwhelming at all.

Macy's Flower Show II

As promised, more pictures from the flower show. Hurry! It ends this Sunday the 11th! It smells wonderful up there. If you have allergies, take a pill, if you are allergic to smells, plug the nose. :)



I was talking with someone about this particular display. She said, it's things like this that make me want to actually climb up and try it out. It is very inviting isn't it?



These are little mushrooms with feet. Roses are poking out of them. I'm not so sure i'm crazy about this particular arrangement. These look more like noses....



This is my favorite! This little door. i wonder who lives in there? In talking with the same person mentioned above, she said, "see, this is something else i would want to explore. I want to climb right through that door to see what's on the other side." Very interesting perspective. I'm so busy looking at the details of the outside, i don't give a second thought about what's behind the door. Very interesting...

Here is the full shot of the scene with the little door. As you can see, the door is very tiny and would only allow a little elf through. Well, an elf that is about a foot high. Stay tuned for a few more pictures. After that.... i have gone absolutely nutso with a new app. the TOY camera... oh my. it IS as fun as it sounds.