random thoughts on a tuesday night

Style advice from toddlers here.

Being a cheap drunk is a good thing.

Paint color really transforms a space.

Sometimes a Friday night in watching Friday Night Lights while eating pudding in your pajamas is the very best way to end the week.

The idea of having my wisdom teeth removed terrifies me.

Only 105 days stand between me and getting on a plane to Amsterdam with my mom and sister.

I have so very much to be fortunate for.

Being really good at making cocktails is more important than folding a towel in precise thirds before hanging it up, and definitely more important than making the bed every morning, but don't tell Mr. S.

who's hungry?

Dishes and drinks I'd like to learn how to make well. Well enough that Mr. S. gives them a 10 out of 10 on our "How good of a cook am I?" scale, or maybe even dares to rate them very low on our "How does this compare to Restaurant Alma?" scale.

Meatballs. Meatloaf. Panang curry. Split pea and ham soup. Olive bread. Pizza dough. Ice cream. Manhattans. Itchitinis. Homemade pasta. Roasted vegetable breakfast scramblers. Hashbrowns. Buckwheat pancakes. Chai tea a la Kenya. Corn chowder. Dinner rolls. Basil with beef. Breakfast porridge a la Hell's Kitchen. Really good chocolate cake. Grilled fajitas. Goma ae. Pulled pork. Dirty martinis.

honeymooning

Cocktails every night. Reading three books in four days. Oh the seafood. Sleeping in. Staying up late. Never having to look at a watch. Falling asleep to the sound of the ocean in a big cozy bed next to a crackling fireplace after a dinner of pasta and wine. Hot tubbing under the stars. Vodka martinis. Sablefish, crepes, sushi, crumpets. The best (Cuban) sandwich I've ever had. Sneaking into the hotel's saltwater hot tub after hours, bottles of cold beer in-hand. Biking through Vancouver, along the ocean, onto the beach. Free champagne. Whale watching, even if we didn't see any damn whales. Canadian accents. Running through the streets of Vancouver, drunk and laughing, to catch The Hangover Part II. Bubble baths. Raspberry scones, peaches, charcuterie. Two red Adirondack chairs overlooking the sea. Coffee on the pier. Buying fish at the fish market, veggies and the vegetable stand, bread at the baker, cheese at the cheese shop and wine at the wine store... all within two blocks. Cheap Thai food. Sake. Record stores, book stores, pie shops, coffee shops. Drinking wine in the shower. Naps, as many as you could fit into one day. Beaches. Green everywhere. Contentment. A damn good honeymoon indeed.

beer and wedding planning

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I considered going on a wedding diet and doing a wedding "cleanse." What is a wedding cleanse, you ask? I have no idea. I saw someone on Facebook post that they were planning to give up alcohol and other beverages -- only drink water and one cup of coffee a day -- for the month leading up to their wedding. Then someone commented on their post, "Oooh, the wedding cleanse!" So I thought, "Oooh, a wedding cleanse!" And without further prompting, declared that until the wedding, I'd only be drinking water and green tea. The next night I had two glasses of wine and decided a wedding cleanse was a terrible idea.

Who ever came up with these ridiculous pre-wedding rituals? Why do women, myself included, feel they need to lose weight, avoid any activity that might break a nail, and give up booze to be marriage-ready? Shouldn't you be as much like yourself as possible on the wedding day? I decided that yes, I should be me. Burger- and ice cream-eating, soccer playing, HOPSLAM! drinking me.

So that's exactly what I've been doing. Pigging out at Brasa with friends, getting punched in the face and all scraped up at soccer, and drinking beer. Oh how I love beer. How are you supposed to get through planning a wedding without it? I think instead of a wedding cleanse, society should encourage women to DRINK MORE BEER before their weddings. Beer makes everything better. Seating charts? No problem. Gluing 200 flags onto straws? Easy. No peonies because it's been a shit of a spring? Fantastic! Beer goggles have more than one purpose, I've discovered.

Ladies and gentlemen, spread the word. The new "it" diet for brides is a beer diet. Beer and cheese curds and whatever else makes you happy. Because that's what brides should be, and that's what brides will be, on their wedding day, no matter what they eat or drink beforehand.

Hot damn I can't wait to be a happy bride. Ten days and counting.

lol

This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long time. Of course it would have to be something related to the Royal Wedding to bring me out of blogger hibernation. It's embarrassingly fitting.

friday favorite

Artichoke nesting bowls. Love.

meat raffle

It is officially a life goal of mine to attend a meat raffle. What is a meat raffle you ask?

"A meat raffle is a tradition of raffling off meat, often in pubs and bars, common in Britain and in the USA in Minnesota and Wisconsin. In most parts of Britain a meat raffle is known as a 'meat draw.'"

How have I never been to one of these? Oh the anticipation. Drinking beer at a local VFW (lovingly referred to as "The V" by the mail lady at work) or Knights of Columbus while eyeing up hunks of packaged raw meat. Yes please.

Not only am I going to make it a Life Goal to raffle myself some meat, I'm going to make the bold move of putting it on my list of Things To Do In 2011.

You heard it here first.

lots to do

Work, work, work. Run, run, run. Plan, plan, plan. That's about all I do lately (it makes me sad that Blog, Blog, Blog is missing from the list...) But I got to head to my favorite U.S. city for work; running hasn't been as horrendous as you'd think, considering the temps here in Minneapolis; and wedding planning is So. Much. Fun. Really and truly. I love it. So many ideas, so many possibilities! The trick is just figuring out how to work them all in to The Big Day in a cohesive manner. Below are just a few things I've stumbled upon that have made the process oh so enjoyable.

I wish I would have thought of this.


Love this style, love Anthropologie.


Mr. S is going to be oh so dapper in his not-yet-found suit and tie (if I can carry his drink...)

And I can hardly wait to spend four uninterrupted days here in June. Pure wedded bliss in the Pacific Northwest. (And yes, I specifically asked if those chairs were still in the cabin before I booked. They are.)

artillery punch

With many holiday celebrations on the way, who doesn't need a recipe for Artillery Punch in their back pocket? I just might make some tonight to help me power through addressing our Save the Dates (that counts as a holiday celebration, right?). Maybe it will take away the pain from my bruised palm -- the result of a two-hour return-address-stamping ordeal. Uff-dah weddings are a lot of work. Thank goodness for inventive cocktails, Etsy and tutu tutorials.

this is not what our bedroom looks like

For work today, instead of combing through food blogs, I'm being spoiled by having to look through home design blogs. (Yay!) I used to be an avid reader of said blogs, but then life got crazy, I got engaged, and the only blogs I find myself reading regularly are those of friends and Style Me Pretty.

But now I'm being reminded of why I used to read home design blogs, and why, when I moved in with Mr. S, I decorated the sh*t out of that place. I was inspired; I had so many ideas floating around in my head. And now, instead of tables and lamp shades and rugs, those ideas consist of wedding shoes and centerpieces and chicken versus pork (or both, why the hell not, it's our wedding!)... not really home design material (though inspiration nonetheless).

Anyway, the place that got the least attention when I moved in was our bedroom. I did purchase new lamps, two new nightstands and two dressers (which I said I was going to sand and paint... more than two years ago...) and a mirror. Sounds like a lot, but really, it didn't transform the space. The carpet needs to be replaced (or deep cleaned, though I think it's past the point of no return), the walls are blah, I don't love the lamps, and our duvet cover is just okay. No headboard, no fun colors, nothing to perk up a space that can at times be quite dark (old loft = no bedroom windows = sad!). It's fine, but very uninspired and uninspiring.

However, check out this bedroom from Making it Lovely and these heavenly rooms from sfgirlbybay. Some day, when we have a house with bedrooms full of light, I will have a bedroom that looks like one of these, complete with a big bed with a feather top mattress, down comforter and a pile of pillows. *Sigh*