Thursday, June 28, 2012

Weekend Fun: At Urban Assualt

A few weekends ago, Emily and I teamed up as Foster the Kittehs and participated in Urban Assault, a self guided tour through the city involving checkpoints and obstacle courses.  After a morning of biking we wound up back at Peace Coffee HQ to enjoy the after party, drink, some cold brews by New Belgium and eat some fried fish deliciousness from the Anchor fish and chips food truck.  Notice our awesome team shirts?  They feature my cats Boxy and Muffin and Emily's cat Tiny.  







Monday, June 25, 2012

Butterfly Update

This week I have...
29 Monarchs,
3 Black Swallowtails,
 12 Red Admirals,
 and 3 Painted Ladies.  It is starting to feel like an empty nest around here, but despite my looking I haven't found many more caterpillars.  

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Warped

I am eagerly plotting out a new project that involves at least 16 shafts of my new loom.  

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Strawberrying

It's strawberry season here in Minnesota and my strawberry preserving friends and I found ourselves back at Bauer Berry Farm.  Once again we may have overcommitted to the sheer volume and only managed to buy 4 pounds less than last year.  By the end of the day we canned 4 different types of jam, perfecting our strawberry thyme and balsamic blend from last year.  And doesn't Emily look like the perfect southern bell in her vintage dress and sunhat?  
I've been eating strawberries like crazy.  Yesterday I whipped up a parfait with the last of them and it was so delicious that I wish I had more.  Almost. 



Sunday, June 17, 2012

Weekend Fun: Bike Art

As a part of Northern Spark in collaboration with Art Crank, I headed to the Midtown Greenway Coalition to create my very own custom bike tread print.  The event was a blast and was just one of many going on all over the city.




Thursday, June 14, 2012

Butterfly Update

Right now I have...

27 Monarchs waiting to emerge.
3 Eastern Black Swallowtails perched on some dill.
13 Red Admirals lazily curled up in their nests. 
And 3 Painted Ladies munching on thistles. 

I have been filling out my Butterfly Diary religiously and keeping my eyes peeled for more caterpillars. 

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Memorial Day Weekend: In Chicago

Despite essentially growing up in the Chicagoland area, I've never spent a weekend there as a tourist.  Sharon and I swiftly remedied that problem.  Although it was boiling hot, we managed to have a blast.  In Chicago we....
Started each morning right with Intelligentsia.
Enjoyed fine dining at The Purple Pig, Cho Son Ok, and Orange, but were just as happy sampling a Chicago style dog.
 Rode the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier
 Fascinated over the jellies at the Shedd Aquarium.
 Cooled off at Millennium Park
Sampled the pizza and the microbrews at Piece Pizza.
Ended the day at Haymarket Pub with more tasty independent brews. 

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Butterfly Diaries

Last year Beth made me an amazing Metamorphosis Log.  This year she graciously made me another.  Katy, at work helped me format the pages for the Butterfly Release Log.  Last year I primarily raised Monarchs and some Eastern Black Swallowtails.  This year I tasked myself to find at least one more butterfly type.  Happily I found two!!  Like a new mom, I am anxiously fussing over my Red Admirals and Painted Ladies. Every day I observe and inevitably learn more about these humble creatures. 

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Weekend Fun: Camping

 A few weekends ago I participated in my third Root River Triathlon in beautiful Houston, MN.  Last year was overcast and chilly.  This year almost unbearably hot.  Emily and I hunted for caterpillars on stinging nettles and were rewarded with 5 Red Admirals.  For race day dinner we split up into teams for a camping food challenge.  It was a blast.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Back

I'm back from my weeklong pottery retreat at John C. Campbell Folk School with my cousin Kiyoung. We met at the Atlanta airport and after a quick bite at Fat Matts we nervously wound our ways up into the rolling hills of southern North Carolina to tiny Brasstown. 
The program exceeded all of my expectations.  After a family style meal on Sunday evening we met with our phenomenal instructors Brant and Karen Barnes from Riverwood Pottery for some wheel practice.  The next 5 days truly flew by.  Every free moment was spent in the studio; I didn't even touch my book or cross stitch as I was too exhausted by the end of the day.
Each morning began with a walk and then a song.  We ended the week with an exhibition of all the classes.  And although we were at the lower end of the average age demographic, we still managed to find common ground.