I had only been to ValleyFair once before for the Halloween event. Which takes place at night, is great fun but most of the rides are not open. So some of my friends and I went to the park this weekend, this way I could try it out in the daytime. We did do the after 4 p.m. tickets which worked out quite well for us. The park is open to 11 p.m. in the summer on Saturday so it's more than enough time to hit all the rides. Some of the coasters are just nuts. Such as the Wild Thing and the wooden coaster, Renegade. Really it's a good deal of fun. You should check it out. Plus, there is fireworks. I can definitely feel the aftermath on my back as an old lady.....
My Second Book!
A few snaps of the first copy of my second Sci-Fi book! I actually can't believe I got it together and wrote the second one.
Ok so here's the actual story of it's arrival:
I have been trying to distract myself all morning with videos and the like as I knew the first proof of my book was going to show up at any minute. (It turns out this isn't any easier the second time) I once slammed my thumb in a car door several hours from home and didn't shed a tear, nor when I was hospitalized off and on for a month nor when I had a biking accident that smashed my face into concrete and the ambulance driver kept calling me Brenda. But the doorbell rang and my hands were shaking as I signed for the parcel. As I opened it and felt the tears welling up because I am BAD ASS....My phone started to buzz uncontrollably with texts and calls. It turns out that I am also apparently having an affair with someone's husband. So yeah. This is even better than last year when a pallet full of someone else's book showed up instead of mine. Yes I laughed quite a bit. Even right now as I type this.
And More of the Foxes.....
Smelling the Roses...
I am trying to put together some real posts again and recover from my book launch, convention weekend. For now here is some rose pics I took today when saying goodbye to a friend moving away.
Northern Spark 2015
This past weekend was the annual all night art festival Northern Spark. It's such a great thing to wander around the city looking at creations all night long and then watching sunrise from the bridge over the river. One of the best events the city hosts for sure.
Spying on the Foxes
I love Minneapolis this time of year. It's green and lush and full of wildlife. The best one I've seen so far is little foxes. Have a look.
Lark Toys
I am always looking for off the beaten path places to go. I came across this article:Buzzfeed, Toy Stores and was most intrigued. So on Memorial Day weekend we made our way out to Lark Toys and I was delighted to find a magical place in a beautiful landscape. Including a completely hand craved wooden carousel. I brought home a wooden unicorn for myself. Of course.
The drive out there is gorgeous.
It's a very unassuming place but inside.....
Summer in My City
Spring and early summer here in Minneapolis are pretty wonderful. Late summer is not too bad but the humidity starts to weigh me down after a while. Right now though there are critters and plants galore!! I love walking around my house and trying to spot who or what is growing and running around. I also love that so many of the neighbors really get into gardening. Probably because we are trapped indoors for so many months.
Here are some pics my boyfriend and I took on a recent walk. Go outside.
Sovereign Estate Wine
Another winery visit took place on Mother's Day. This one out in the beautiful city of Waconia, MN. which is lush and green. The winery is Sovereign Estate Wine and it was a bit different from the other places I have been at this point in my explorations. First, the tasting room was adorable and pink. Most of them are simple, rustic, decorated with barrels. It was on very lovely grounds with a little garden to walk through and overlooking Lake Waconia. There was also bistro food served and I had a warm baguette with dipping oil that was a perfect compliment to the wine. Plus it was a touch chilly so it was nice for that reason as well. I enjoyed most of the wines but my favorite was the Blue Loon which smells and tastes of roses and violets to me. I liked this wine so much I will probably go back out there just to buy more of it. Have a look!
May Favorites
May was a busy month. And a bit rainy. Here are some pictures from a few things that I enjoyed.
I cooked with morel mushrooms for the first time and they were quite delicious.
I saw Above & Beyond at the crazy sold-out show.
New bedding and moon pillows from ETSY for my bedroom.
A fairy house on the way to the Linden Hill's Farmer's Market.
This adorable cat flask purse from Zulilly, which has great stuff.
Spending time on my newly put together deck.
Making large meals like french toast.
Visiting the Minneapolis Downtown Library for the first time.
Drinking champagne to celebrate finishing my second book.
Being excited that one of my favorite authors liked my photo! Woohoo!
Art In Bloom 2015 (Part 3)
Art In Bloom 2015 (Part 2)
Art in Bloom 2015 (Part 1)
I take so many pictures at the Annual Art in Bloom event that I break the posts up. So here is the first group! Happy day!
Next Chapter Winery
Two weeks ago on continuing the tours of Minnesota Wine, I went out to Next Chapter Winery in New Prague, MN. It was a gloomy day so it was nice to sit inside and talk to the bartender about the winery. They run on solar power. One of the owners was a pilot from South Africa. The winery it's self used to be a coffee roaster. They also own a bookshop and the other owner has written three books. My favorite of the wines, The Velvet Vines, was the cranberry bubbly. They made it bubbly by mistake and liked it so much they kept it. Well, I brought some home and it is already gone. The winery has barrels you can drink out of and I suppose if you're daring you can mix the wines together(not for me). The MN Blushing Bride white also came home with me and my friends liked that one quite bit.
Wizard World 2015
I have very mixed feelings about something like Wizard World. I am a big supporter of all geek things because I know without the big movies and shows there wouldn't be more geeky things. But I am not a big supporter of paying to meet celebrities. I simply feel that you already gave a lot of time and money to make their careers for them and you shouldn't have to pay for a minute of time from them. I realize that they are busy people but so are we all. What's more is without their fans they wouldn't be where they are so spending some time being appreciative of that seems pretty important to me. And not making people pay for it. Be that as it may I did attend Wizard World one day this past weekend and saw lots of cool things especially in the costume department. The Weta Workshop booth was definitely the stand out on the sales floor. Oh to have a separate house like Mr. Del Toro for collections of cool things to inspire and dream. Alas I'll just have to stick with what I have....
Macy's Flower Show 2015
The traditional visit to Macy's Flower Show took place a little over a month ago. Since my blog was being redesigned I didn't get the pictures up. The theme was Art in Bloom which is actually the name of another event I went to see this weekend (pictures soon). I really like seeing this little show as it's a way to find some magic in the ordinary. The top of a department store does not seem like a place to find a garden yet, every year there is one for at least a couple of weeks. They almost always have some dark blue colored orchid I swoon over but alas I have the most miserable time keeping orchids alive in my house. I don't have enough light. As much as I love them I really don't want to kill anymore of them. I did plant lots of new plants this year and will write about that soon. I have two decks on my house and I am trying to get some use out of them this year. People really get into gardening here and I think it is because we have to spend so much time inside for a lot of the year. The abundance of gardening means that Minnesota looks quite beautiful when it's warm. Have a look at my flower show pictures!
SPACE An Out-of-Gravity Experience
I always try to get to the special exhibits at the Science Museum of Minnesota. I really enjoy them a great deal. The most recent one: Space An Out-of-Gravity Experience is one of my favorites. I have seen it twice and both times I really liked the interactive aspects of the exhibit. I went once during the week in the evening which is a great time to go and once on a Saturday which was of course, very busy. I would suggest not going on Fridays during the day unless you don't mind lots and lots of kids as that tends to be a big field trip day. I think this is a great exhibit and you should go see it. It includes scenes from the ISS which you should also follow on IG. There's also a faux Destiny Lab to try out and lots of ways to test you meddle with the experiments. I failed epically at managing the space station the first time I tried and watched a couple of young boys do really well at it. I guess I'll stick to the robot arm.
Cupcake
If you ever find yourself at the Mall of America and are in dire need of a vegan cupcake...look no further than the 3rd floor! I remember the dark days of the mall when the most vegan things you could get were greasy french fries and some very poorly cooked Asian food. Now there's vegan cupcakes, gelato and lots of other choices. Stop in at Cupcake to find at least a couple of vegan choices. When I was there I got to try the Coney Island cupcake : chocolate with vanilla frosting and tons of sprinkles and the Vanilla Chai Latte cupcake, which was fabulous.
Luna Rossa Cave Tour & Wine Tasting
In my continuing efforts to drink all the wine in Minnesota, I went to a wine tasting that took place in caves in Stillwater, Minnesota. Stillwater is a great little town. It's like a town you see on t.v. with quaint shops, restaurants and beautiful views. There's things to do such as boat tours, antiquing and on this particular trip: a wine tasting in caves. The Luna Rossa Wine Bar is a very nice restaurant, wine bar and is attached to caves. Which used to be a brewery and then went through various stages of different use during Prohibition and beyond. I don't want to give too much away because the little tour is fun and you can drink wine along the way. Truth be told, I did not like the wine they served but to each their own. It was not made by them which makes it different from the other wine tastings I've attended but they did have an additional tasting after the tour in the wine shop with lots of different wines from around the world. It's worth a trip and if you like Italian food you can also have dinner (though I did not notice it to be vegan friendly). It's on the prettiest main street of Stillwater and there's other things to do as well if you plan.
Party History at CONvergence
It's that time of year again when several friends and I spend a whole lot of time plotting and building and preparing for our party at the CONvergence sci-fi/fantasy convention. As such I've been going through old photos from our very humble beginnings as a Dreaming themed party based on the Sandman graphic novels. These are pictures from 2003-2008 with themes ranging from Asia, Lost Library of Dreams, Midsummer Night's Tale, Nightmares to the love story of Dream falling in love with an Egyptian Princess. We built everything from faux bookshelves to pyramid walls. My friend brews homemade ciders, beer and wines. We make custom labels, cds, gifts and all sorts of giveaways so people have little things to remember us. It's a tremendous amount of work and money but we love it. It's really something when people come to oh and ah over what you can do with a hotel room(turns out it's a lot). Have a look!
Our first sign. Now we have fancy, custom designed and printed ones but everyone starts somewhere.
The Key to Hell is a symbol found in the story. We later designed and cut one out of wood that now hangs in my office.
Our faux library, to represent the Library of Lost Dreams.
We built an entire room within a room with sand painted walls and hieroglyphs for the Egyptian party in 2008.
The Key to Hell and Dragons hand cut and painted.
Nightmare themed party.
We cut "headstones" out of plywood and painted them with chalkboard paint so people could write on them. I still use these every year at Halloween.
We've since moved on from The Dreaming and now did one party with a second on the way based around the theme of my own book series. You can see a post about that here The Naturals. Have a great day!