A Yearly Visit to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival

I love going out here every year: MN Ren Fest. It's done for the season and I did go about a month ago but, that's no reason not to share pictures. We always start with a breakfast somewhere we love. This year we had a perfect meal at Pizza Luce. I have never had anything but excellent food here. They are so accomdating to dietary needs and the staff is always friendly.

In the Key of West

I had a my first, brief but wonderful visit to the Florida Keys. What an amazing piece of Earth. How mind boggling that we built highway bridges in the ocean! All of the keys are gorgeous places. I spent most of my time in Key West.

The Peanut Noodle dish pictured above came from the vegan friendly and delicious: Help Yourself cafe. Fresh and yummy.

The french fries cooked in truffle oil which were maginificient and the super veggie sandwhich came from: The Cafe. The fresh squeezed juice blends they made are also quite amazing.

Impressionist Minnesota

Fall is here and it's gorgeous.

More Miami

I had to share a few more pictures. I'm also ready for my next vacation. ;o)

Two Weeks, Fifty Pieces.

I love the weeks that I burn creative energy constantly. Even with work and home and many other things to do, finding that last bit of time each day to make things is so wonderful. In the last two weeks I've made over fifty new pieces and I am working on photographing(as well as organizing the mess that I made)them. Some ones I adore~

Miami Beach, The American Riviera

Miami is so lively and beautiful. So many things to take pictures of! I will probably post twice about this vacation. And the food! To die for!

A Visit to Vizcaya

I recently went to Miami and Miami Beach for a summer vacation. It was a really good time. I enjoyed myself quite a bit. There are so many beautiful places to visit in the area.

One of my favorite things I got to do was to visit the beautiful and awe inspiring Vizcaya. This gorgeous, historical house is something out of a fairy tale. Each individual room as eye catching and detailed as the last. I could not take pictures of the rooms, disappointingly. BUT I took pictures of the perfect and dream like gardens of this astonishing place. It was a trip to another world right here in our world. I also loved the recently remodeled gift shop and cafe. They had little gourmet treats and everything you could imagine with a beautiful mermaid on it.

Bits of Summer Geekery

Some pictures from my annual Geek convention. This was my 13th year in attendance. You should come next year. CONvergence It's a wonderful time.

Bonsai Trees

I took so many pictures at the Chicago Botanic Garden I left out a group of ones I want to share. They are some of the many, many Bonsai trees that were on display there. These little trees amaze me and I really would like to have one someday. They require a lot of care and when I have more free time, I'm going to get one.

Chicago Botanic Garden

I've mentioned before that I've been to Chicago about a dozen or so times. Each time I go besides visiting some old favorites, I try somewhere new. This time my new place was the Chicago Botanic Garden. And the way to describe it? WOW! I spent an entire day here and didn't see all of it. It was absolutely gorgeous, filled with one breathtaking sight and scent after another. Girly side note: the gift shop was DELIGHTFUL, I loved it and bought the cutest gifts for friends and myself a purple rose wristlet.

One of my favorite places.

My third visit to one of my favorite places and art museums. Many of the world's most famous pieces reside in the Windy City. If you have a day free when in Chicago and you love art, you should make it a priority to spend the day at The Art Institute of Chicago.

Chicagoland

Since moving to the Midwest some 13 years ago now, I find that I seem to visit Chicago about once a year. It's a place I really adore. There's plenty to see, do, smell and of course, eat. Here's some pictures from my trip this summer. I stayed at the Sheraton on the riverwalk overlooking the lake. I did have a wonderful view and the room was very nice.

A bit of Europe in Minneapolis

My dear friend just got married a couple of weeks ago and I just had to share with you the beautiful chapel the ceremony was held in. It's the chapel of the historical Lakewood Cemetery here in Minneapolis where people such as Paul Wellstone and Hubert Humphrey are resting peacefully. It is absolutely gorgeous. You can read more about the chapel here. 

There's no place like Madison

I've been to the captial city of Wisconsin, Madison, a couple of times now and I just adore it. It's not a very big city- only a few hundred thousand people but, it is lovely and full of the friendliest people I've ever encountered anywhere with the exception of New Orleans. There is always beautiful scenery and wonderful food. It's what we call a "college town" so, there's lots of colorful places to shop and plenty of veg-friendly food, if that's what you like.

History in Minnesota

I am going through many photos from the last couple of months that I want to share. Summer has been flying by and I didn't even notice because I've been doing so many neat things. I'm going to get through all these pics by the end of next week! I'll start with the Minnesota History Center visit I made in the middle of June to see the first official printing of the Constitution. As well as many other exhibits. It's a grand building and I am looking forward to visiting other historical Minnesota sites.

This great place is located in St. Paul, MN. our state's capital. I recommend a stop in during the day as it's not so crowded and gives you time to watch all the little videos. I will be going again! Have a great day in your state!