October 2010 Photo Hunt

It's that time again... you all know the drill:

Click the badge to see all the entries

1. In Disguise - FAIL

2. Crisp - crisp leaves

3. Fall Colors 

4. A Jack O’lantern 

5. a Shot from the Ground 

6. a Landscape

 

7. a Fall Tradition - carving pumpkins! 

8. Books 

9. Dining 

10. Child/Children - nap time

11. Faces formed in Nature - FAIL

12. Tilt-Shift Photography 

13. B & W with selective coloring - my kitty

14. Bokeh 

15. Best Photo taken October 23rd - lots of wine :)

16. Something from the Kitchen - fruit!

17. Something Vintage 

18. Something Creepy - FAIL

19. Something Golden - FAIL

20. A Self-Portrait - early morning shot

Carving Pumpkins + Randoms

So, as it turns out - carving pumpkins is fun!  Shit, I just got ahead of myself.

Let me quickly back track to last weekend.  People asked about the surprise for boyfriend - I bought one of those half price deals (I talked about the deals a bit yesterday) for a winery tour many months ago with the intent of going in the Fall (the place is located right outside of Taylors Falls, MN and Taylors Falls is on the river and tends to be pretty amazing for fall colors.
Once Steve had a date set to have his wisdom teeth out, I went ahead and booked our tour for a couple weeks after, the 23rd.  I also thought.. well, as long as we're up there, maybe we should stay the night and make a big deal of it.  So I started looking up Bed & Breakfasts in the area.  I happened across a few different places but really liked The Old Jail B&B.  They have private rooms; each with a private entrance, private bath, AND (huge bonus) kitchenettes!!  I decided this was the place I wanted - it's much easier for me to justify spending xx dollars on this room if we won't have to spend xx dollars to eat our meals out.  I went back and forth with the rooms but decided The Cave Suite was what I wanted.
Anyhow - this place was great!  I was able to make a nice skillet meal for Steve and myself and we enjoyed the bottle of wine we got from our winery tour.  We also watched Friday the 13th part 8: Jason takes Manhattan - I'd rather not talk about that because it was lame!
The best part of the room:

It has a bomb tub (with jets)!!  It's in 'the cave' part of the room (super echo-y) and behind that little wall, is an open area shower!  Seriously - the faucet is attached to the back of the wall and there is a drain in the floor... so you're just standing behind a wall, in a cave!  It's pretty darn neat!


Now - on to last night - Steve and I went over to a girlfriends house to carve our pumpkins.  Last year we carved them together, just the 2 of us, and this year we had a date set to do it and it just so happened that some girlfriends had the same date set - so we all got together.  It was a blast!
I feel inferior to Steve when it comes to carving pumpkins... last year I had one of those patterns to use, but it was too big for my little pumpkin, so Steve freehanded it on for me, then I carved it.
Here are last years pumpkins:

mine is left, Steve's is right

This year, I asked him to draw me a face to carve again, and because he is head over heels in love with me, he obliged.  This years pumpkins (not lit up, hopefully I'll light them tonight and snap a shot or two):

again, mine is left, Steve's is right

Aren't they great?!!?

How do you read?

To those of you who have a blogroll a mile long - how do you keep track of new posts?

For example: I use Google Reader.  I am a fan of all things google and my blog is hosted through Google, so it's only right that I use the Reader.  I actually have a box on my personalized Google homepage for the Google Reader, so for the blogs I want to keep up on, I just add the URL to my Google Reader and it pops up on my homepage when there is a new post.

I know that I can also read new posts on my blogger dashboard (which is where I go to edit my layout, post new blogs, etc., like a blogger 'homepage')

I also know that you can get the RSS feeds in Outlook and probably other programs.  So the feed of a certain blog will just show up in Outlook.

I imagine that some people just link over through a bookmark or someone else's blog... but that has to be time consuming to check a blog manually when there are so many options to notify you.

So how do you get your daily dose of blogs?

Gallery Wrap

Have yous guys heard about these daily deal websites?  You sign up and they email you a daily deal (usually about 50% off) for a restaurant, service, event, or something in your area.  You can then go to the website and buy the deal at whatever cost or just ignore it completely.  I've found these deals to be quite awesome - I've used them to try new restaurants, just this past weekend Steve and I toured a Winery which I purchased off one of these deals, and the other week I submitted a photo to have made into a gallery wrap to hang on my wall (again, it was a half price deal).  In situations where I wouldn't spend the large amount of money for these things, I can test them out for a much more reasonable price.

Today I want to tell you about these gallery wraps - basically you take a picture and the shop puts it on canvas and stretches it around a wood frame, so that your image is not only front and center, but it's on the sides as well.  I've seen them a million times and always wanted one - I have a photo of downtown Minneapolis that I wanted to put on there.  So when I got the email for this deal, it was like $30, so I jumped on it.  Only I didn't end up doing the Minneapolis picture - I used one of my white wine images - because I just loved the way they turned out and I had a perfect place to hang it.

Would you like to see the finished product?

I'm simply in love with this thing!  I went to pick it up and I was so happy with how it looked I gave them a $10 tip (which was probably not necessary).

Now, I'm not getting anything for talking this place up - but I do want to tell you where I got it done because I feel like they did an excellent job and I was able to upload my image online and they have a shipping option - which means if you want one and you're not local, you can still take advantage of this.  I feel like their prices are reasonable and I was given a code to pass along to save you 10% on your first order!  How cool is that?!

The place is located in New Brighton, MN (for the locals) and it's called Keepsake Canvas.  Again, they offer shipping as well, so everyone can take advantage of their prices and the 10% off.  So, now you need the code: ANB002.  This code is for your first order only, but persons A,B, C, and D can use it - so no worries about if someone else finds it first; it can be used by as many people that find it.

You can set the depth of the wrap, the size of the image, you can even order a small little 4x6 print for a desk - all for less than what it costs to have something professionally framed.  For reference, mine is a 12"x18" image with a .75" depth.

Anyhow - if you don't take advantage of the deal that's fine - I really just wanted to brag that I finally have myself a pretty gallery wrap image and it's perfect for my little wine/liquor nook.

To sum it up: Keepsake Canvas, use code ANB002 to save 10%

Stalkers/Lurkers/Readers

I know I've done this before - but with each day comes new stalkers, so I'm opening the door again to you non-commenter's.  I'm really not doing this for the comments, sure I like to get comments on what I write, but I'm very happy with the loyal commenter's I do have - so it's not about wanting more.  It's about wanting to know you!

The people that come here, read and then go their merry way without giving feedback - those are the people I'm talking to.  Actually - I'd love for current readers to play along too.

What's your story?  Where are you from?  How'd you find my blog?  What keeps you coming back?  Are you married, single, divorced, widowed?  Children; how many?  Tell me something/anything about you.  If you have a blog, please link me to it - to me, there is nothing better than reading the blogs of the people who read mine, I love making new friendships via the blogosphere! Just say HELLO :)

I'll get you started -
My story: My name is Angela and I'm from Andover, MN, USA.  I found my blog... ummm... by creating it (this question shouldn't apply to me).  I look at my own blog url quite often - mostly because I'm in love with my banners, but I also like to preview my posts after publishing to make sure blogger didn't screw me over and make something look bad.  I really hate when things I produce look bad.  I'm currently in a relationship of officially 1.5 years, unofficially we've been 'more than friends' for about 3 years (holy crap!).  I have no children and plan to keep it that way.  Something about me is that I'm the author of this blog.

I also have a Guestbook (which is basically just a central location for everyone to say hello and tell me where they are from - makes it easy for me when I want to go back and love you guys), if you'd like to sign that you can do that here.

A quick shout out to my loyal little darlings - I love you guys!  You're seriously the best and I'm so happy to know all of you (some in real life, some of facebook, and some just through blogging).

Just Thursday... 10.21.10

I bet you thought I died, huh?  Don't celebrate just yet... I'm still around, just had little desire to blog and little to blog about, kind of.  In honor of this day being my Friday, I've decided to play along with Just Thursday again... If you want to play along (let's face it we could all use a reason to blog once a week)... go here; copy, paste, and link up, yo!

Outside my window.. it's dark, welcome to winter
The time is.. 6:55am
Today I feel.. like a million bucks!
I am thinking.. about how to spend the bonus I received yesterday!
At the moment, I am thankful.. for my niece - she adores me and there is no better feeling in the world!
I am going.. to have lunch with a high school friend tomorrow
I am wearing.. tennis shoes, jeans, gray long sleeved t-shirt
I wish.. I had done my nails last night.. or at least taken off the chipping polish
I am reading.. well, I'm like 10 or so pages into that book a bought the other week... (I suck at reading)
I am working on.. making sure I have everything ready for this weekend
I am hoping.. that Saturday is a success
I am hearing.. people bitching at work
I bet you didn't know.. that I probably won't complete the October photo hunt
One of my favorite.. flavors of ice cream is cookies and cream


Weekend Plans..
[Thursday] work, stop at a place to look for a part of my Halloween costume, gym, hopefully un-freeze my tanning account
[Friday] Lunch with Lovi, getting stuff ready for the weekend
[Saturday] Drive up to Taylors Falls, hit up a winery, then... I can't say anything more because it's a surprise for boyfriend
[Sunday] Wake up, putz around Taylors Falls.. then who knows!

Banner 10.14.10

Alright, I'll be honest - this took me less than a day to complete once I found the photos I wanted, and this is a far cry from what I normally do ..however.. There are a few things in the world that strike me as extremely sexy, this banner is showcasing two of them - Audi's R8 and a sexy pair of legs.  The more I look at it, the more I like it.. it's different for me to post as a banner yet it's still totally me.

Head over to the actual url to see it better :)

Flowers

I have to brag, because ... well, it's my blog dammit!

Yesterday Steve came over to my house, unexpectedly, with these:

It was pretty awesome, not gonna lie.

Just Thursday... 10.7.10

Link up over here, please and thank you.

Outside my window.. it's dark, can't see a thing

The time is.. 7am, on the nuts.

Today I feel.. exhausted

I am thinking.. that the Twins can do this.

At the moment, I am thankful.. that the Twins are even in the playoffs

I am going.. to fall asleep at my desk.

I am wearing.. jeans and a St. Paul Saints t-shirt

I wish.. that I didn't get quite so emotional about sports

I am reading.. just bought The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo - will begin reading it tomorrow morning

I am working on.. staying awake (it was a late night last night)

I am hoping.. that the Twins can pull it off tonight (is this getting too repetitive?)

I am hearing.. copy machine

I bet you didn't know.. 56,000,000 people go to Major League baseball each year

One of my favorite..times of the year is autumn, even though it means winter is right around the corner.

Weekend Plans.. 

[Thursday] watch Twins beat the Yankees

[Friday] Take Steve to oral surgeon (wisdom teeth are coming out), then take care of him and feed him.

[Saturday] Relax and hopefully be able to kiss my boyfriend without hurting him

[Sunday] Watch NFL (not Vikings), relax, read

[Monday] work, watch the new Minnesota Vikings with Randy MOSS!!!  

Camaraderie

I have two things to talk about here, but one more important than the other.

ca·ma·ra·de·rie  -  noun 

\ˌkäm-ˈrä-d(ə-)rē, ˌkam-, ˌkä-mə-, ˌka-, -ˈra-\

: a spirit of friendly good-fellowship

Since I'm not one of the lucky ones to be going to the Twins game tonight, I have opted to spend my night at the local sports bar.  To most this may seems like a lame thing to do, but I was talking to a co-worker this morning and spelled it out for them as to why watching the first playoff game at a bar is so exciting to me.  For you, I shall do the same:
In my opinion, there is nothing more magical than being at a sports arena with howling fans every time your team does something good.  If you can't be there, then the next best thing is a sports bar.  Why?  Because you are still surrounded by fans.  When there is a home-run or a touchdown, everyone goes BUCK WILD!  While being at a bar may be distracting to some, it's a great experience for others; people watching, drinking or not, eating, and enjoying the game all at the same time!

There is nothing more exciting to me than giving high-fives to complete strangers who share my excitement... and there is a lot to be said about the good sport fans that cheer for the opposing teams while you heckle them.

Again, since I can't go to the game - I'll be cheering the Twins along from my barstool along with a handful of other Twins fans!


Lastly, Randy Moss is a Minnesota Viking again - and I think this is great news!

Go Twins and Go Vikings - it could be a magical year for the players and fans alike!

Random v10.13

Today is going to be bullet style:

• Yesterday as I left work, I noticed that I had a missed call from my brother and a voice-mail to go along with it.  I usually will listen to those vm's right away as it's family and I want to be sure everything is okay.  Upon listening to this message I hear my brother in the background say 'say, "hi auntie"', then I hear Jordan say "hi auntie"
  Brother: 'tell her you were thinking about her and wanted to say hi'
  Jordan: 'thinking about you, hi'
  Brother: 'tell her you miss her'
  Jordan: 'I miss you, auntie'
  Brother: 'tell her you want to have a play date with her'
  Jordan: 'SHE ISN'T TALKING DADDY!'
  Brother: 'you are leaving a message for her to listen to later'
  Jordan: 'I love you auntie, call me, bye'
  
  Sweetest kid ever, my niece! I called them back and talked with her for a bit, she was so excited to talk to me I couldn't understand what she was saying.  Then I talked to my brother and he said 'we were just sitting here watching one of her cartoons and she said she missed you and wanted to call you and make a play date'.  melt. my. heart.  So I am going to cruise over there for a bit after work and love her to pieces!  She was so cute 'SHE ISN'T TALKING DADDY!' oooooh, voice mail.
  
  
• A couple weeks ago I made dinner for boyfriend, it was nothing super fancy; I just took chicken cutlets and breaded them, baked them and served them with a side of my semi-homemade pasta sauce for dipping and rigatoni on the side.  After that meal I gots to thinkin'... boyfriend and I eat out way too much and when we do cook, it's usually things we feel comfortable making, the times we branch out become a huge ordeal and we usually spend a lot of money to do it.  So I suggest to him that maybe he wanted to make dinner for me the next weekend and we could make a habit of it - we switch off weekends and cook at least one of the nights for the other person.  He liked the idea and he made a delicious beef tenderloin roast with super garlic mashed potatoes and garlic lemon broccoli on the side. He even went to the liquor store by himself and picked out a bottle of red wine to serve with it.  It was way impressive.
  So after this weekends meal (I made scallops over sticky rice with a veggie side), we gots to talkin' about how maybe we should be tracking these meals and wines that we are using.  Again, he liked the idea and we now have a shared google spreadsheet (still a semi-WIP), that will detail our meals and our wine selections along with tasting notes.
  At times, I think Steve is more excited about this than I am.. it's extremely rewarding for me to see him like this about sharing this with me and cooking in general.  Steve is so laid back and when he is excited, it doesn't show much.  So far with this, I don't see excitement in his face, but I can see it in the meals, the time spent, and his actions.  I feel like in a few short weeks we have opened up a whole new world to ourselves and not only come closer together,  but forced ourselves to think outside the box in the way of cooking.  We don't need to spend a fortune on meals (sometimes sprucing up a grilled cheese sandwich is a-okay), but we can if we want.  I tivo a few cooking/food shows that really help get our minds going.
  
  
• On that note: boyfriend is getting his wisdom teeth pulled out this weekend and I'll be taking care of him - it's his weekend to cook, but I'm giving him the weekend off.  Instead, I'll be making Jello.  Yay.
  
  
• To end this random post on a positive note - let's talk about the Minnesota Twins!  Obviously we already covered them being in the playoffs - what we haven't covered is the details and the games I could be going to!  The Twins will be playing the Yankees again in the first round and that's only because the Yankees are the Wild Card team (which basically means they DID NOT win their division)... in overall standings they have 1 game up on us, overall.  This comes after we rested most of our players and had a few minor injuries after clinching our division.  Had we been 100% and played our top dogs... things would have ended different, for sure.  Not the point.  The point is, we are a better team than the Yankees regardless of what the numbers show.  Some people worry about having to play them again; I don't and it doesn't sound like the Twins are too worried either.
  Now... for games... we have home field advantage for the first round, which means 2 games here, 2 games there and 1 game here, this assumes it needs to go to a 5th game.  Should it be tied 2-2 and we do play a game 5, Steve and I will be sitting at that game.  Imagine the excitement entering the series tied, at home, and shoving it down their throats.. walking away knowing we are one step closer.  It would be a fantastic game to be at.  HOWEVER, as I stated yesterday on my facebook page, I'd gladly give up those tickets to know that we've eliminated the Yankees in less than 5 games.
  Taking it one step further and assuming we do make it to the next round - Steve and I will be going to the first home game, which depending on who wins between Texas and Tampa Bay, could be game one of the series or probably game 3 or 4 of the series, depending on home field advantage.
  In all, it's really exciting stuff here people!