Busy Little Red Hens

Wow - the Little Red Hen Society has been busy! We have had an awesomely fun week that started last Saturday. Julie and I took in a Polish Fest held here in NE. I read about it in my little neighborhood newspaper - saw pierogi and cabbage rolls - and had to go! Julie came over in the morning with coffees and scones. Mmmmmm coffee and scones. . . . . and then we headed out for a bee-u-tiful (as Lon Sr. would say) day for a festival. The first thing we hit was the food - and both had pierogi - I think Julie had cabbage rolls too - but they had tomato sauce on them - and that's not how MY mom makes them. . . so I passed. :)



We bought many raffle tickets and signed up for door prizes - but no one's called me yet to tell me I won! Both of us bought a dozen frozen pierogi to take home - I shared with Lonny and Jaime. - and I think my little bro enjoyed them. :)

Sat. night we all hooked up again in St. Paul for cousin/brother Jon's Pirate-themed 35th birthday party. Whew! He's gettin' old!

Sun. was a spontaneous gathering of the Little Red Hens. We had no plans but kinda gravitated toward each other and met up at Rosedale for some shopping and then ended up at Big Bowl. for lunch/dinner.

We didn't see each other for 3 whole days - when we met up again for lunch with our cousin Jay. We went to Red Robin. in Shoreview (I think). It was a good lunch - with some "catch up" type chatter. Cool to "re-meet" your cousins as adults.



Wed. night was the weekly gathering for Project Runway.. Julie and I have gotten together for all but one night of this new season. Heidi hadn't seen it before - but got sucked in and was just as surprised when Allison got sent home as we were! What the hell??? Vincent should have been gone like 3 weeks ago!! The best part of Wed. night tho - was our awesome gourmet dinner we put together. Heidi brought over salmon and asparagus, Julie brought over veggies and salad, and I made sweet potato bake. We were so proud of our YUMMY gourmet meal that we HAD to take pics of it. Mary Jo would be proud - as it was very colorful!



And yes, I ate all of it - even the raw orange pepper (dipped in ranch). . . . little girl is growing up!

I love my girls. I love hanging out with them. It's fun to have cousins who are also great friends!

Another Boppy Cover

I made another one yesterday! I think it turned out pretty good. This cover matches Alice's bedroom a little better than the Mickey/Minnie one . . . so now Alice has TWO - so one can always be clean!



And here's the new cover on the pillow at Lon & Jaime's house. These aren't that difficult to make - the piping is the worst part - so maybe I have a new "shower" gift for friends who are expecting! :)

Weekend in Wisconsin

This past weekend my cousin Heidi and I took a road trip out to Milwaukee.



history: This past June, aunt and uncle (LaVonne and Walt) were at my house on their way thru town - Heidi was talking to them about who knows what . . .yadda yadda yadda . .they invited us out to Milwaukee to check out the Wisconsin State Fair. SO! We found ourselves at the beginning of a 5.5 hour car ride when Heidi got off work at 8pm last Friday. It was a pretty easy drive (especially for me - as I slept most of the way!) We were warmly greeted even though it was 1:30 in the morning when we pulled into town. After some late night chit chat we hit the sack - planning to get up early for a day at the fair.

We kind of slept in - and ended up at the fair around 10am. I guess the big things at the WI State Fair are the Cream Puffs. So - of course we had them FIRST!



They were good - they were cream puffs. BIG cream puffs.



I'm glad we had them - because everyone who knew we were at the fair asked us if we had them. We did hook up with another cousin of Heidi's (from her dad's side) and his wife - so they sort of served as our State Fair Guides. :)

After we could eat, walk, or see no more - we headed back to Walt & LaVonne's house. After dinner (yeah - I really don't know why we had dinner either!) - we headed downtown to Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward. There was a Jazz Festival going on - and we got to see Wynton Marsalis' little brother, Delfaeyo, play his trombone.



Pretty cool - now I've seen two of the Marsalis boys live. A night of touring downtown was cut short by me and my tummy issues. Yes, now everyone knows I need more fiber in my diet!



Sunday was Family BBQ day - which was great because cousin Pat and his girlfriend, Stefanie, joined us - as well as cousin Beth and her family.



It was a great afternoon of catching up and getting to know each other a little better. I truly hope we can stay in touch and see them all again really soon! Walt & LaVonne were terrific hosts - and I'm so happy we were able to stay with them!

Heidi and I got up Monday morning to start the drive back. We took our time with the trek across Wisconsin. We stopped when we wanted to - to eat (yes! we ate MORE!), pee, and check out a Cheese Haus to pick up some curds! We weren't even back home before we already had plans for Monday night! Julie and Donnie invited us to the St. Paul Saints game.



It was great - we tailgated, Heidi played in the Homerun Derby (& won a participation prize of a power drill!). The Saints won - and it was a beautiful night for outdoor baseball!




Great weekend - my only official summer vacation so far this summer - not too shabby!

knocked up

(Posted by Melanie) Keeping up with the baby theme......I'm having one too.

My little fling from Brazil ended up staying with me for a few months in the beginning of the year (in Bangkok), and then in the beginning of March he left for New Zealand to work and travel. The end of March I found out I was pregnant - I was completely freaked out.

Since then I've come to the realization that it's going to be okay. Fabio came back in June. We moved into a nice apartment a little further out of the city. I will finish my teaching contract in June 2007 and have a six week paid maternity leave. The baby is due in November. Fabio will be staying at home and taking care of the little one (we think it's a boy) when I go back to work.

This summer we went on vacation. We spent a week in Cambodia (Angkor Wat is amazing), three weeks in Bali (beautiful) and a few days in Malaysia. We had a relaxing time and spent most of it eating and watching the World Cup (Fabio is a big fan).

Not sure what will happen with Fabio and I - I realize that, statically, our chances aren't great. However, I figured I should give it a shot - being that he's the father and all. Either way, I'm going to be a mommy and I'm happy with that.

Alice Mae

Here's an official photo of my new niece, Alice Mae. She was born last Wednesday, July 26th. She is adorable - and I couldn't be prouder! Mom and baby are both doing great! - If you want to keep up on Alice's life - check out HER blog.

Boppy Cover for Alice Mae

Here is my first attempt with my sewing machine -




I think it turned out pretty good - ready to try one more - with a different fabric!



I think the actual cover was pretty good with the pattern - the piping on the side was hard! - but have you ever SEEN a boppy?? They're not exactly perfectly shaped. . . . .or it could be me. :)

All in all - pretty damn proud of myself!

Frickin 2006!

Geez -

Haven't yet posted in 2006 - and it's already 1/2 over!

This will be short and sweet - and hopefully more in depth later!

Mel's still in Thailand - hopefully she'll blog soon - as she has big news (Mel - even if you Cut/Paste from MYSPACE) :)

I'm still here in MPLS - still single - Big Red (that HORRIBLE date from last summer) - was my last date. blech. . .

My niece is coming in FOUR days! Bro and Sis-in-law are having baby via C-section on WEDNESDAY!

K - that's the short short version - more later!

Happy 2006!

How Do You Measure A Year In The Life?

525,600 minutes ago I was still married. I still owned a house and still owed money on a car that my estranged husband drove. In the past year I have filed for divorce, I sold my house, and the car was repossesed. I moved into my own apartment, my divorce was finalized, and my money was again my own to pay bills on time and to buy the things I wanted. Most importantly, during the past 12 months, I have found myself. I didn’t even know I was lost - until I found the freedom to be me. I listen to the music I want to listen to; I watch the tv shows I want to watch; I do things I want to do like laugh, cry, and be absurdly silly. I cut my hair - I grow it out, I wear the clothes I want to wear, I stay out til the wee hours - I stay in curled up with a good book. I am so happy with who I am now, I really don’t recognize the person I was 52 weeks ago. This year in my life has been a Season of Freedom. Independence. Friendships. Happiness. Closure. Identity. Healing. Uncertainty. Self-Focus. Growth. Transitions. Dreams. Starting Over - and truly - a Season of Love.

Go see RENT.

here comes your man

That was so sweet - I'm all teary eyed and stuff. It's so comfortable and nice to be with friends who understand where you are coming from.

I was on vacation with a friend/coworker this week and she commented that all her friends leave each other when a dude comes around (her included) and that's just the way it is. I said that my friends from back home were different. Maybe it's the places we hung out (in cool bars, not dance clubs), but they had to pass "the friend test." And if the dude didn't get along with all of us, then forget em. She looked at me like I was odd.

Moral of the story: It will be nice to be home for Christmas.

PS: I think you would have liked the Brazilian boy I met this week. He would have passed the friend test and he doesn't like to dance:)!!!

Float On

Ok - I just have to finally put this Blog down - it's kind of been in my head for awhile - composing itself.

This is a letter to my Schmoopie - and if you're not her - you can stop reading. :)

Melanie -

You probably don't have this issue - but sometimes - I'm in my car - and Float On comes on - or anything by The Pixies. And it all comes back to me - like you're in the car. It's 30 below zero. It's 10pm - we're heading out SOMEWHERE. We're jammin - obnoxiously so. We're jumping snowbanks to get into cars, the bar, your little apartment. What a great winter - and how awesome that I haven't lost it from my mind. I can still "BE" there - whenever I hear one of our songs. How weird it is that I can't come pick you up - that we can't track snow throughout your apartment - that we won't be getting up at 10am to go get coffee from your "Saturday Guy." It won't be tomorrow that I'm rummaging through your closet trying to find SOMETHING to wear - waking up at 6am to Luna knocking sh*t over to wake us up - or watching BRAVO while knitting and eating greasy TAKE OUT.

I miss you. I think of you at LEAST once every day. And sometimes I get more than a moment to sit and think of you - and remember the great winter we had - and am thankful that we became friends - and that we still are friends.

Love you.

Carrie