Nanny Mc Nina & the Husband

checking in

2012-02-07T21:08:00.000-06:00

Yay, we finally have internet!

Apparently there is a different

cable box used on the

'other side of the river'

The big move was last weekend

and we're pretty much settled now

I have lots of pic's to share

of all the progress that's

gone on around here

Sadly I've fallen ill and

hardly have the stengh to type

this much less to load pic's.

I'll have them up soon though!

We officially own a home! Oh shit, we offically own a home...

2012-01-30T14:12:00.000-06:00

We closed this morning and are now

officially homeowners!

I was so excited all through closing..

and walking into the house for the first time

was such an amazing feeling.

Sadly by the end of the day I was over it.

I don't know if it was the thousand phone

calls I made throughout the day,

or trying to figure out how the hell my

desk and a day bed will fit in the 2nd bedroom,

but excitement has turned to panic.

Did we pick the right house?

Is there really enough space for us?

I guess we'll find out the hard way!

plans for the kitchen

2012-01-23T11:56:00.000-06:00

So I have grand plans for my new kitchen.

I really hate how it looks now so it will

be the first thing to be painted.

My color scheme primarily revolved around

what would go with my bright yellow

tea kettle..

The answer is not a whole lot :(

But I am NOT giving up my kettle!

After looking at paint samples and

pinterest photo's I finally came up

with an inspiration item.
My Bike!

the seat and handlebar grips are the same

brown color the cabinets are stained.

The white is the floors, sink, counters.

So I'll paint the walls

mint green!

This is how the kitchen currently looks..

and the projects I have in mind

I can't wait to get in there!

1 week till home ownership!

nannying 101- #1 rule to finding a good fitting family

2012-01-22T21:38:00.004-06:00

This is something I've seen

over and over again.

In the interview the family says,

"We expect... We eat... We discipline..."

They have this very clear plan

of how they currently;

and/or how they want you to..

feed, interact, discipline.. etc, etc.
It will seem like they have this whole
parenting thing down and know exactly
what they are doing and what they want.

-Don't buy it. It's bullshit-

What they really mean is

"We have this IDEAL of how we want

to raise our children,

and we want YOU to implement it"

For instance when I met

my Swiss family they told me it

was SO important that I fix healthy

meals for the kids because

they were REALLY healthy eaters.

TRUTH:

The only fresh produce they owned was onions.

The little boy only ate:

1 type of fruit, 1 type of vegetable.

90% of what they ate came out of a box.

They meant they WANTED the kids

to eat healthy with me;

but they would continue to feed them crap

(mostly out of guilty working parent syndrome)

Parents will expect you to do one thing,

but they can do the opposite.
And they will give you many excuses of
why things are done differently on weekends.

You might be asking,

"So how do I prevent this Nina??"

I'm glad you asked imaginary

person I'm pretending actually reads this!

YOU have to tell THEM in the interview

that the most important thing is

CONSISTENCY.

You can implement any system they want;

but YOU expect that THEY too are following

the rules that have been put in place.

I always say- Your interviewing them

as much as they're interviewing you.

You are their employee,

but only if you choose to be.

Use the interview to establish if

they consider you 'the help'

or a child-rearing expert.

The standard interview questions don't
apply in the world of nannying.
They will ask you when you plan to
get married, engaged, have kids- whatever.
Because your life directly impacts theirs.

So don't be afraid to ask questions about
the details of their lives either.

Make sure the marriage seems stable,

Make sure their employment is stable,
Find out what happens to you
if grandma comes for a visit,

Do a background check on them!

Choosing the right family is tough.

Personally, I have to feel relaxed

with them and know I can come to them
when I have concerns.

Because a time will come when you have

to question their parenting-

and if you don't think you

can have that conversation with them

than they're not the right fit for you.

home improvement mayhem

2012-01-19T21:42:00.000-06:00

All week I've been brooding over

paint samples and trying to figure out

what projects to do first.

While the house is move in ready..

many of the design choices

are dated and tacky as hell.

Seriously, I'm going to

have to do a post on all the

'what the F were you thinking' moments

when they picked out lighting

choices in the place.

Anyway here's the master list:

kitchen
paint walls
window treatment
take out florescent light

recover bench seats

replace hardware
reface cabinet doors
paint cabinets
replace floors

farmhouse sink
tile backsplash

new countertops
take out radio

formal living room
built-ins around fireplace
repaint

dining room
repaint room
window treatments

bedroom
repaint

stencil accent wall
window treatments
replace ceiling fan
replace carpet

2nd bedroom
headboard
repaint
window treatments

bathroom
window treatments

replace vanity

new flooring
replace sink
better shelving organizer
take out mirror thing in wall
new cabinet doors

basement
paint
window treatments
replace flooring
replace stairs

new layout

add 3rd bedroom
new e-grass windows
finish ceiling
pot lighting
reface fireplace

basement bathroom

new toilet paper holder

change window treatments

new flooring

change lighting/re-wire

replace mirror

replace shower door

laundry
sheetrock
finish ceiling
paint
install cabinets

flip down folding table

3 season porch

replace or paint paneling

replace floor

add lighting

outside
paint the garage door
replace plants under windows
window boxes w/ flowers
remove shed from deck

The things that will get done

before we move in:

paint kitchen

paint kitchen cabinet knobs

paint basement

put up shower curtain

new kitchen blinds

basement window treatments

curtains in bedroom

build ikea guest bed

Husband says I have lofty goals..

which is probably true.

We love the landscaping,

the fireplace and charm,

and the garage..

and with some hard work,

we can love the rest!

moving is a process, not a destination.. oh, wait

2012-01-17T16:17:00.000-06:00

man, moving is really sucky!

I've been packing a little here and there

over the past few weekends and have

since stopped trying.

I was supposed to have the last

week of the month off so I thought

I'd have all the time in the world.

Now, that might not happen :(

So a little look into life when moving..

and then some odd pictures I

felt like sharing with you

at any time your likely to find a beaver laying around

I was so excited about a bread box only to never actually put the bread inside

LOVE my bigger Keurig!


Kaci's Christmas card is the only thing cool enough for my fridge.

Red Bull's people do stupid things event!

2012-01-14T22:45:00.001-06:00

I love to see people do stupid crap,

so when husband suggested we go to an event

where people ice skate down hills,

I was pretty excited

Red Bull Crashed Ice was a free event

where people went down a giant man made

ramp with turns and hill

on skates.

awesome.

80 thousand people there!

it was right in front of the big cathedral in st. paul

They had a mascot race with all the

local Universities mascots.

Hilarious.

My favorite part was when they sent

people down on what looked to be

giant tri-cycles.

nannying 101- marital relations and you

2012-01-11T10:03:00.002-06:00

I have recently come to the conclusion

that for a blog with nanny in the title

there is little talk of actual nanny life

so I'm starting a new segment called

nannying 101

Not only to provide candid nanny advice

and insight into the glamorous world
of being a nanny,
but also to complain about my job
and give the blog name some street cred.

lesson 1: marital relations and you

The first question I always get about
being a nanny is:
did the dad ever hit on you?
Have you ever slept with the dad?!

DISPEL!

Darn you trash magazines for perpetuating
this societal obsession of husbands
cheating with the nanny!

Moms and future moms-

We don't want to have sex with your husband!

Society-

We aren't horny whores trying to steal another woman's man;
rich or not rich.

In the 7 years I've been doing this,
having met 1,000+ nannies/au pairs,
I have heard of this scenario 1 time.

And it was the husband trying to get in

the nannies pants- not the other way around

I'm not saying it doesn't happen;

I'm saying there is less than a 1% chance.

ps- if your husband DOES look like Brad Pitt,

and is within 5 years of our own age,

the likelihood is increased to 10%

new furniture.. finally!

2012-01-09T20:03:00.000-06:00

so we finally picked out new furniture!

We went to a few stores and looked around,

but nothing really was right.

A discussion we had was Ikea vs. everything else

I love the look of Ikea, but we were afraid

of the quality.

In the end we went with this lovely model

in this nice grey color

and this will be purchased to complete the set

(insert kemit the frog here)

YAY!!!

peeping crazy

2012-01-08T09:41:00.000-06:00

So I thought I'd share something that I thought was

completely ridiculous.

There is an entire store dedicated to Peeps at MOA.

I don't know how you fill an entire store with Peeps.. but they managed!

While I'm a lover of all things cutesy- this is crazy

It's crazy that in this economy people complain

about raising taxed to support higher levels of

unemployment and infrastructure-

yet, they don't bat an eye dropping cash

on Peeps shaped pillows and candy.

ps- the hat was complementary

I just bought a house people-

I don't have money to spend on foam Peeps hats

2012 goals

2012-01-06T15:06:00.004-06:00

TO SAY THE YEAR STARTED OFF BADLY WOULD BE THE UNDERSTATEMENT OF THE CENTURY!

but instead of continuing to 

let it suck up the place;

i took action and stood up for myself.

this will possibly be the biggest accomplishment of 2012

I think that will remain my 

number one goal this year.

STAND UP FOR MYSELF

NOT TO GO ON THE DEFENSIVE BUT TELL

PEOPLE THAT THEY CAN'T TALK LIKE THAT TO ME

Because in twenty odd years I still 

let people say terribly rude and horrible things about me to my face

(sometimes in email form) because I'm not good with confrontation and

think i'm being the better person by

not responding back.

to quote Tina Fey when called a cunt to her face:

“No. You don’t get to call me that. My parents love me; I’m not some Adult Child of an Alcoholic that’s going to take that shit!”

2011's resolutions-check

2012-01-01T10:33:00.000-06:00

i'm not a big fan of new years resolutions,

but I did set some goals and wrote down

things I wanted to do in 2011.

In 2011 I'm going to..
. ~~read more~~

~~. go to colorado~~

~~. attempt to learn to ski~~

~~. go snowshoeing~~

~~. buy an awesome 40's dress~~

. learn to swing dance

~~. go on a road trip through the east coast~~

~~. see gettysburg~~

~~. make a dress from a pattern~~

. ~~visit a friend I made in europe~~

. take a ballet class
~~. buy a new car~~

~~. buy a house~~

. go back to europe this fall

I pretty much kicked that list's hiney!
Sadly I didn't have the funds to go back to europe
or even take ballet (really expensive btw!)

But I made the 2 biggest purchases a person
can make in their life:
a brand new car & a house!

Swing dance classes will hopefully come soon-
we've been waiting till we knew where we would be
living before we made a 8 week commitment.

One accomplishment i'm really proud about is
that this year I read 28 books!

I am coming up with a 2012 list..
but after accomplishing so much this year,
I'm afraid next year won't be nearly as exciting

other chirstmas delights

2011-12-31T10:32:00.000-06:00

we like a lot of people these days

end up having 5 Christmases.

1 with my parents

1 with my mom's family

1 with his dad

1 with his dad's family

1 with his mom and step-family

that is too much fucking Christmas!

-deep breath-

but it's over now, and we can finally relax!

But not before I share with you one of

my most favorite presents!

Oh.. and possibly the cutest picture of

a pug that has ever been taken.

the almost brown Christmas

2011-12-29T16:01:00.003-06:00

It's crazy to believe,

but we almost had a brown Christmas.

Infact- most of MN & WI did!

Kinda, maybe lucky for us it snowed

our entire way to Green Bay and the drive

that normally takes us 5.5 hours took us 7.5

Not sure if those extra 2 hours made it

worth having a white Christmas or not..

but that's just how it worked out.

Ok I totally lie-

it was worth it to wake up to this

on Christmas Eve morning..

Christmas eve we spent at my

uncle and aunts house.

We ate, drank and played with doggies.

Buttercup was especially cute that day

Christmas morning we ate cinnamon rolls

drank hot coco with coffee and exchanged

gifts with one another.

QVC now offers Oreo's?

mom jazzed about her new tablet

best coffee maker EVER

busted out my Grinch socks

Mollie tired after a long Christmas day

I got a new kitchen vacuum,

a dress mannequin,

and my Keurig

and a nook from my husband!

WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!

2011-12-19T14:15:00.000-06:00

the search is finally over!

Hazzah!

In a last ditch effort we saw just about

every house on the market in West St. Paul

And house we had time and time again

passed by because of it's price and

Brady Bunch basement..

is now ours.

We saw it Saturday, put an offer in

Sunday morning and got word that our

first offer had been accepted on

Sunday evening!

So without further ado.. our new home!

our 2.5 stall garage with workshop and screened-in porch

built-in breakfast nook

kitchen

formal living room

dining room

bigger bedroom

upstairs full bath

smaller room- future guest room/ my office

bar! fuck yeah we got a bar!

downstairs 3/4 bathroom

the brady bunch's living room

family room

awesome backyard

what we love about this house is that

it's in move in condition.

That however doesn't mean that I plan

to change almost every surface in the house

So stay tuned for my ideas and

more house projects!

first project- operation hot tub

relaxation!

2011-12-14T16:03:00.001-06:00

After a week like the last one I had

only one thing on my mind-

laziness!

Oddly enough that wasn't at all how

we started things off of course!

We recently found out that REI's

rock climbing wall is FREE;

and I'm a sucker for anything free

we did the easiest climb since we haven't

been climbing for 4 years.

I don't know if the course got easier,

or I got stronger cuz it was too easy!

After we got some french fries

to reward ourselves for our good work!

Saturday we were going to on a sleigh ride,

but of course it was all sold out!

So we just took a nice long walk

around the U of M Arboretum.

That night we put up our Christmas tree

After much debate we decided to go fake.

We're going to be in GB for Christmas

weekend anyway so why spend the extra $60

on a real tree???

Sunday was house hunting..

and more house hunting.

Agh! Probably have seen 100 houses now-

NO JOKE!

Nothing great this weekend once again 

:(

over worked holiday weekend

2011-12-11T10:19:00.002-06:00

Last weekend I had the kiddo full-time.

Of course he got sick the day mom and dad

left for the weekend!

Despite sickness we did get out and do a
few fun things with him last weekend.

Friday we took him to the new Muppet movie;

which was AWESOME!!!

Saturday I took him to craft and story time

at the American Swedish Institute.

They had the Tomte read a Christmas story

about Christmas in Sweden.

They also had a great display of how all the Scandinavian countries celebrate the holidays

everyone sang and danced around the christmas tree Scandinavian style

Norwegian Christmas tree for my Norwegian husband!

That night husband came out with us and we

went to see the Christmas land at Macys's

and then saw the Holidazzle parade.

It was a great night for it;

not too cold with white fully snow falling.

Sunday we spent inside keeping warm

and watching the snow fall..

Still not enough for snowshoeing though :(

ugh.. it's THAT time of year again

2011-12-06T16:36:00.000-06:00

while it's no secret that the holidays

and I have never been best friends,

I have no patience for it this year.

I've listened to Christmas music,

drank pepperment flavored lattes,

tried to build a snowman-

but it's not working.

Last night was St. Nick and it took all I had

to make myself put up the stockings and fill them for husband and the pups.

I know that avoiding it won't make it go away

but man.. it would be nice if it did.

I don't know if it's because we lost another house this last week,

or that I really need a vacation..

Either way-

Here's hoping trimming tree this weekend goes better !

thanksgiving

2011-12-02T14:41:00.003-06:00

Husband, the pups, and I went to GB for

Thanksgiving again this year.

The whole drive all I could think

about was how great it would be to host

Thanksgiving when we finally get a house.

It was great to see everyone,

I hadn't been home since July!

We did all the traditional things;

went over the store ads,

watched the parade,

watched some football (Packers),

and ate too much.

The only difference would be in our

black Friday shopping.

Stores opened at Midnight!

Which I thought was stupid and crazy;

but I think it actually worked out better.

I spent a crazy amount of money-

but so many deals to be had!

Husband and my dad avoided us

and went fishing instead.

Which was probably for the best since we

ended up shopping for 14 hours straight.

Saturday mom worked and husband, dad, and I

went shopping again- but antique shopping!

I got a WWII US coast guard work dress for $50! Extremely rare and worth at least $400

Well that was the whole weekend really.

That and a lot of family drama!

But what's a trip home without it!

first snow

2011-11-22T20:50:00.001-06:00

last saturday we had our first snow

rain, sleet, snow..

yuck.

to help get us into the winter mood

we went to REI and bought these!!

they went on sale this week,
still pricy but they're early
christmas presents to each other

I can't wait till there's enough

to try them out!

fall checklist

2011-11-20T21:10:00.001-06:00

so here's our fall checklist!

our winter to do list will

begin on December 1st!

what will get done:

GB thanksgiving

forshay tower

what probably won't get done:

antique trip

what for sure won't get done:

corn maze

MN Zoo

dance lessons

what really needs to be on there is all

the things around the house we've been

ignoring while house hunting

plastic on windows

winterizing

basement cleaning

ect, ect, ect

visitor from outta state

2011-11-16T14:27:00.000-06:00

my friend Kaci came and visited

with me last weekend!

It was a terrible start to the weekend,

with her having to sleep in the airport :(

I still had to work-

(crazy how you can't take a day of vacay

2 days after you have a month off)

Lucky for us my job goes where ever

so we took him to MOA.

She took him on the rides for me!

He is just big enough to ride the

roller coasters now and my stomach just

can not handle that!

We had a nice dinner and saw a show-

Shonen knife. Crazy all girl Japanese

middle-aged punk rockers.

It was super fun though and probably one

of the best shows I've ever gone to!

Saturday we took in the Walker Art Museum

did some vintage shopping,

got our tarot cards read,

had some drinks..

and saw another show.

While it was a great show-

we left early because I was beat!

They didn't come on till after midnight!

Way past this old ladies bedtime

Gotta cut me some slack though..

that was the 3rd show I'd gone to that week!

On Monday I went and saw The Wombats

It was a great visit and makes me

wish I lived closer to her every time

we hang out together!

summer checklist

2011-11-08T22:16:00.002-06:00

So I kind of remember mentioning

this checklist..
Husband and I created this checklist of things we wanted to accomplish over the summer months this year.

I am proud to say that we completed

all of these tasks except for:

1. forshay tower

2. kayaking

But 2 things out of a list of 22 is

not to shabby to say the least!

We've created a fall checklist and we're

now working on a winter version as well.

I love list in general;

but this is so helpful for us!

Those Sundays we're not sure what to do

we just look up at the board and pick one

rather than mulling over ideas all morning.

And we both pick things we want to do

so we're not always doing what

one person wants to do.
genius!

minnehaha park

2011-11-06T13:22:00.001-06:00

In an effort to enjoy the outside

as long as we can before the snow comes

we went for a long hike through

Minnehaha Park.

We had been there earlier this summer

and were excited to get back there

and really explore the area.

It almost feels like 5 different parks

in one because as you go further in

the landscape seems to completely

change and grow.

Can't wait to snow shoe here this winter!

cruel reality

2011-11-03T22:09:00.002-05:00

I should have known this whole house hunting

experience had been too good to be true.

We browsed about 25 open houses over

the past few weekends and finally settled

on what we needed/wanted/and location.

About 20 houses in we found it.

A lovely updated house is West St. Paul.

We picked a realtor and started the process.

The listing agent kept keeping us in the

dark about certain aspects of the house

and insisted there weren't potential offers.

Finally we told our realtor we were done

waiting to hear back and started the
process of writing up an offer.

Then our realtor finally heard
back from the listing agent.

The house had been sold the day before..

The listing agent was also the buyers realtor

and he kept playing cat and mouse with us

so he could sell it before we made an offer so he could get all 6% of the
commission to himself..

Thus further illustrating my dislike/distrust

of realtors.

We're heartbroken.

To make matters worse is that we

had picked out new furniture and everything.

I guess it couldn't really have been that

easy and that this was bound to happen.

Still.. it would have been nice.

this was the house :(

it might not look like much..
but it was lovely inside,
and most importantly- it felt like home

halloweeeeen

2011-10-31T23:54:00.000-05:00

I love halloween.

It isn't stressful or demanding,

it's always fun and light hearted.

This is my second MN Halloween

but my first handing out candy.

In Green Bay we have set hours

usually between 3-6 so kids aren't

walking around in the dark.

I was completely baffled when husband

told me MN has no set hours-

you just go when it gets dark out.

CRRRRAAAAZZZZZZZYYYYY!

Halloween was a perfect day.

55 degrees and sunny

We went for a walk before the

trick-or-treaters came

I carved pumpkins and we

watched this guy fill his face..

We ate beef stew,

drank hot apple cider,

listened to 'War of the Worlds'-

as we handed out candy to the kiddies.

I bought 10 bags of candy and we still

ran out before 8pm!

big changes

2011-10-28T22:34:00.000-05:00

For the last 2 weeks I've been home sick.

Ok- not exactly.

I have been at home though..

because I have...

A MONTH PAID VACATION!!!

WHOOOHOOOO!!!!

Sadly, as soon as it started I got...

1. a cold- which turned into...

2. a sinus infection- which turned into..

3. broncitous

Finally starting to get better!

Only with the assistance of heavy medication.

I've been using this month to finalize

my grad school plans, applications,

and to study like mad for the GRE.

I really didn't think I'd ever

get to go to grad school.

Now I don't see how I couldn't.

I am so lucky that I have the support;

emotionally and financially.

Anyhow..

Of course I've been cleaning, organizing,

sewing, selling things on ebay..

oh yeah, and finding a house!

I think we found it too :)

I don't want to say too much yet..

lets just say next week is

going to be HUGE for us!!!!

using dogs as children

2011-10-28T21:39:00.001-05:00

I am the first to admit that we are

a little too much of dog people.

To the point that our dogs are

our version of children.

So when the pug rescue organization

put on a doggie Halloween costume party,

I couldn't wait to dress them up!

I worked maybe 2-3 hours on the costumes

the night and morning of the event.

Originally Buttercup was going as Mr. T.

Sadly she kept trying to eat her beard.

So the night before we made a last minute

run to the fabric store and made

a whole new costume.

So I present...

BAT BOSTON AND ROBIN PUG!!!

I knew the costumes were pretty adorable

but wasn't expecting to

win first place

for best homemade costumes!!!!

I'm so proud of my girls :)

anniversary weekend

2011-10-28T21:19:00.000-05:00

For our 1 year anniversary

we decided to keep it kinda low key.

Truth be told we are trying to save money

so we can buy a house this winter.

Which meant cutting down on festivities.

Originally we were going to get a

fancy hotel room and dinner in the city.

We settled on doing a little local travel,

and doing things with the dogs as a family.

Saturday:

We took a little drive to Stillwater, MN

I'd driven through and nearby,

but had never seen the town.

Nor had husband.

We just enjoyed the beautiful fall day

walked around town, got a milkshake,

and went into the shops.

Mostly antique stores. We love old crap.

It has been decided that after we buy:

a new cell phone for me,

a new laptop for me,

a house,

sofa,

and tv.

That we'll buy an old radio.

Sunday we went out to breakfast at our favorites place here in EP.
Mmmmm coffee & french toast!

Then we went apple picking with the dogs.
The dogs were adored by everyone!

We went home and I made a nice anniversary roast chicken dinner.

In the end- I was pleased with our
choice to keep it a low key celebration because being together is what
was most important to us anyway.
After all- we didn't have a flashy wedding
so why would we have flashy anniversaries?!

the parents are back in town

2011-10-26T21:43:00.000-05:00

So back in August my parents were

in town for a long visit!

I was pretty excited since this is the

first time they've been here in the summer.

I love MN in summer and wanted to share

some of my favorite places with them.

Sadly, mom isn't much of an

outside/walk/bike/any form of physical exhaustion kinda gal-

so that limited our activity choices.

So here's what we did in pictures!

Saturday:

Mill City Museum

Twins Game

Sunday:

Renaissance Fair

Monday:

MOA with the kiddo

River Boat Ride on the Mississippi River

It was a great visit and I'm so glad

we got to see the city a little more too!

fall train ride

2011-10-06T13:22:00.001-05:00

We heard about this last year

sometime in November and were

bound and determinded to go this year.

So we took a drive to Osseo, Wisconsin

where the train depot is.

There we boarded the train.

It was a lovely early fall day.

The train just went over some of the more scenic areas in the St. Croix valley.

A nice relaxed way to spend a Saturday.

marriage- year 1. check

2011-09-25T22:07:00.000-05:00

today is our 1 year wedding anniversary!

I wish I could say time flew..

but this year has seemed like 5.

I love my husband dearly,

and I want to grow old and ugly with him-

but damn, marriage can be hard.

I think this day has brought a

sigh of relief from the both of us.

Everyone has said the first year

is always the hardest.

SO WHEWWWWWWW!

Glad that's over with!

So happy anniversary to the best

husband I've ever had.

a vacation note

2011-09-14T16:15:00.001-05:00

One of the mostest awesomest parts of the Philly leg of vacation is that we found the elusive ice cream man! Apparently, he and his fellow dairy distributors moved to Philly to get away from me.. or something like that.

There were probably 50 delectable treats to choose from! This was me in disbelief at the vast amount of choices. PS- He arrived in the most pimped out ice cream truck I've ever seen!
I settled on a Sonic the Hedgehog.

3 reasons

1. I have a fondness for Les hérisson (hedgehogs) that I developed in Swiss
2. Sonic was my favorite game growing up. (SEGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA)
3. It's sorbet and won't get me sick!

I obviously put a great deal of thought into this decision. Sadly, in all my time weighing my options I did not foresee the upcoming catastrophe involving a missing filling and the rock like gum balls eyes of my woodland creature. In short my tooth broke and I had to go to the dentist for emergency treatment.

I now see why it is imperative to keep ice cream trucks away from me.

last of the vacation: Chicago

2011-09-11T17:38:00.000-05:00

We had talked about catching a concert
in Chicago, but never really finalized
anything. Since we left DC early and made
great time on the way back we ended up having
an extra day. So after a little arguing we finally settled on spending the afternoon in Chicago and driving home that night.

First we went to see the Museum of Science and Industry just to see the U-505 WWII German Submarine. It's the only one left in the world! We didn't get to see inside but the display and outside were amazing. We'll have to go back to get the inside tour.

From there we just kinda drove around. I know it's weird cuz who really wants to drive around Chicago- but it was such a nice day we just drove the route around the shore.

We ended up downtown and got a hotdog and then onto the music festival!

That was the real reason I wanted to go there- the Pitchfork music festival was that weekend and Fleet Foxes were going to be there. They would be in MPS the following evening but the concert was sold out already.

The festival was pretty great! My only complaint is that there were far too many hipsters. Saw one really great band I'd never heard of before, husband bought me a super cool camera strap made of vintage seat belts and I got the cutest pug pin!

Husband and I have very different taste in music, but we both like Fleet Foxes so I didn't want to miss an opportunity to go to a show together.
Fleet Foxes were pretty good in concert. You could tell they played their more popular songs more begrudgingly, but other than that their sound translated well to an open air concert.

We left Chicago at 10pm and got home at 4am. The drive back was horrible. It was the hottest night of the year and at 3am it was still 92 degrees! It was so foggy I couldn't see 5 feet in front of me. I was so happy to be home and glad to have all day on Sunday to relax before heading back to work.

And that was our vacation folks!

vaction continued: D.C.

2011-09-09T10:12:00.000-05:00

Our great American vacation continued

on in our nation's capital Washington D.C.

It was definitely a whirlwind tour of the city. We got in and dropped our car/bags off at the hotel and started walking.

I don't think we ever stopped walking in D.C.

Found the White House, Washington monument,

Lincoln memorial, and so forth.

Then we went to the hotel to relax by the

pool. We aren't sit on your butt by the pool kinda people- but man did it feel amazing!

After drinks it was right back out the door to get some dinner and night shots.

The next day we saw the National archives,

Holocaust museum, and Air and Space museum.

I think the national archives would have

been great if I had a good deal of time

to spend there.

The Holocaust museum was my favorite.

I've been to a good number of them now,

as well as concentration camps;

and I would have to say it was my favorite.

So well done- it really leaves your

blood running cold when you come out.

After that we headed out of D.C. at 5pm.

Rush hour in D.C. on a Friday is not fun-

I hope to never repeat this.

We drove as far NW as possible and got

to Somerset, PA before resting for the night.

Cheap hotel with horrible beds-

but it did have this going of it!

A corded phone above the toilet. Talk about new technology!

labor day weekend

2011-09-04T22:34:00.009-05:00

Labor day weekend we sat back

and took it easy most of the weekend.

On Saturday we went to movies in the park
it was a perfect night to cuddle in
blankets and watch movies outside.

On Labor day we went to the State Fair!

We love the fair.

Mostly- We love the food!

Matt shaking his fist at the republicans

we ended the weekend at a BBQ
at a friends house.
It was great to see everyone and
meet new people..
but sad that it was the last of the year :(

philadelphia, pa

2011-08-08T13:35:00.000-05:00

Philadelphia is one of few places in this

world that husband has visited and I haven't.

He's gone out there every summer for as long

as I've known him to visit family.

This year I went along for the ride!

I've been to New York a few times now,

but aside from my few hours of hell in

New Jersey.. I haven't seen any of the coast.

We did all the touristy things in Philly

even something we don't do often;

take a guided tour.

Neither of us know a ton about revolutionary war stuff so it really would be the best way for us to actually understand the importance of the things around us!

The tour was strictly the old town.

We saw the liberty bell..

Independence hall..

 

Besty Ross's house..

and the town hall where the Bill of Rights was written and signed..

The rest of that first day was spent trying to escape the 90 degree humid day..

and trying to find Zara.

PS- US Zara = disappointing

The next day we went to Eastern State Penitentiary. The oldest prison in the US.

If you have a chance to go I'd definitely recommend it!

After that we went and saw a WWII submarine and the USS Olympia

 

busy bee

2011-08-03T08:47:00.000-05:00

hello people who actually read this!

life with a 3 1/2 year old

for 10 1/2 hours a day..

is crazy.

i hardly have time to eat,

much less write about vacations.

man, i can't wait for school to start!

point being- updates soonish?

vacation #1: gettysburg, pa

2011-07-22T20:36:00.000-05:00

when coming up with vacation destinations

Gettysburg quickly rose to the top of our list for US destinations.

not because we are big civil war buffs;

though we probably know more than most..

It because it's one of the few truly historic places this country has to offer.

husband loves his battles so I let

his explain much of the strategies

and so on to me as we walked through.

what I was most taken aback by was the scale of the battle grounds and the vast

difference in landscapes.

everything from farms and orchards

to hills and bluffs.

we elected to drive the perimeter

rather than taking a tour.

the best part of Gettysburg park was they had

special parking for hybrid cars!

I was super psyched to take advantage of it! 

split vacation personalities

2011-07-22T10:11:00.003-05:00

So I think to explain vacation 

it's best to split it up.

1st vacation: Gettysburg

2nd vacation: Philadelphia

3rd vacation: DC

4th vacation: Chicago

Within all that was about 3 days of driving;

in which I learned as much about our nation

as I had in any of those 3 cities.

After many hours, discussions and arguments;

I convinced my husband to take our vacation as a road trip rather than the conventional flying we usually do.

Long drives don't scare or deter me.

I don't let traffic terrify me. 

In fact; sometimes though a cites traffic is when you learn the most about the inhabitants of that particular city.

Philadelphia was surprisingly kind and respected following distances.

DC was largely congested and will take any opportunity to screw someone over for their own benefit and possibly even enjoyment.

Chicago is always packed but fairly organized.

So here was our vacation! 

things i came home to

2011-07-18T21:12:00.002-05:00

apparently a lot can change in a little

over a weeks time.

here are some surprises

i came home to after vacation

a tomato plant taller than me!

tomatoes as big as my fist

some almost ready to pick..

raspberries ready to pick from the patch

a new deck staircase!

this one is especially exciting.

the old one was dangerous..

I literally fell through one day!

we also came home to

the hottest day of the year.

so steamy the windows of our house

were fogged up all day long!

ps- also why these pictures aren't the greatest- my lens kept fogging up

are you adjusted yet?

2011-07-17T21:11:00.000-05:00

i've been home from switzerland

for 1 year today.

kinda a bittersweet anniversary.

i think back to my life in swiss..

and it was just so completely different.

not better, or worse;

just different.

so much so that it was hard to

adjust back to american life.

i guess i'm fully integrated again,

but sometime my experience in swiss

seems more like an alien abduction story,

than a real live event in my life.

it's better to remind myself of not the

swiss life that i left;

but the minnesota one i gained.

i've been living in minnesota for a year today with my wonderful husband, in this

old house with our beautiful boston.

adjusted or not..

life is pretty great.

roadtrip state soundoff

2011-07-16T21:17:00.000-05:00

for our vacation this year

we took a road trip!

now, if you didn't notice previous

trips taken in Europe;

this may be a good time to introduce

to you the fun fact that I love road trips.

on this particular one we visited:

Philidelphia, Gettysburg,

D.C and Chicago.

I'll blog more about each of the stops;

but here is a photo representation

of the 10 states we drove through.

this is Ohio btw.. little late with the camera on that one

this is the closest thing we saw to a welcome sign in Delaware

the only ones we're missing are

New Jersey, Virginia and Minnesota!

summer lovin'

2011-07-15T21:17:00.001-05:00

so a very long time ago,

like late May long ago,

I created this super cool

summer checklist!

we've been marking off things

as we go through summer

trying to get one thing every weekend.

summers up here go by so quickly

I'm hoping this will help us

get the most out of em'!

out of the office

2011-07-13T19:31:00.000-05:00

husband and i are currently

on a road trip out east.

i'll catch you all up soon!

weekend update

2011-06-30T16:29:00.001-05:00

Friday we went to see Midnight in Paris.

A compromise to me seeing X-Men

the previous weekend.

I hated Midnight in Paris.

Great concept for a movie..

horrible execution.

I actually liked X-Men better!

Saturday we had a wedding all day.

Fun, but we didn't know anymore there.

Besides the ones who got married of course!

We went to the drive-in for the

first time of the season!

Super fun in the new car.

Super 8 was a great movie!

Sunday we took a road trip to southern MN

to see a civil war re-enactment.

It was.. an interesting viewing experience.

Kinda makes me wish I knew more about

the civil war than I do.

Over all, 100% better weekend

than the previous weekend.

arboretum

2011-06-22T13:58:00.001-05:00

this last week I took the

kiddo to the arboretum

where we met husband.

we all took a nice little walk,

and took some time to smell the flowers!

I love peony's!!

they are by far my favorite flowers,

and we were at the gardens during their peak

beautiful :)

yay weekend!

2011-06-22T10:25:00.000-05:00

I'm super excited for this weekend!

My sister is coming to town for the weekend!

Friday the kiddo and I

will spend the day with her.

And on Saturday I plan on attending

the Stone Arch Festival

lots of great local music to sample!
Hopefully the weather cooperates..

about last weekend..

2011-06-20T15:56:00.000-05:00

so about last weekend..

it was a total bust.

all except my sister coming.

we got to hang out on friday;

which was pretty cool.

we took the kiddo to the aquarium.

relaxed in the afternoon.

a bit of shopping,

and the worst fondue ever!

it was like cat shit in my mouth. The rest of the weekend was a bit of a bust.

It poured on husband and I at the car show,

I didn't get to go to the music fest

because of the rain and yuck.

Sunday I cleaned, organized,

went to lunch with my sister and her bf,

got both end sick in Ikea,

and spent the rest of the day

in the bathroom and/or bed.

cold, rainly, shitty (literally) weekend.

the end.

daily walks

2011-06-15T21:22:00.001-05:00

I'm so lucky that I work

a stones throw away from

Lake of the Isles in Minneapolis.

I take a walk around the lake

almost every day I can.

I love Lake of the Isles!

Calhoun is good.. but a bit

busy for my liking.

At any rate here are a few

pics I snapped of my favorite

places around Isles.

trip to duluth

2011-06-13T20:26:00.000-05:00

this last weekend we finally took that

trip up to Duluth, MN.

First we hit the train museum..

then the William Irving Ship Museum

Then up to Split Rock to see

the famous lighthouse up there.

Then to Gooseberry Falls.

There we hiked all around the park,

and saw the falls from all angels

And ended the day at Betty's Pies.

back post- June 7th 2011

2011-06-12T22:28:00.001-05:00

Tuesday, June 7th 2011

new car

I finally got my new car!!!!!!

A brand new 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid

The last few days were the hottest on

record for the Twin Cities in 8 years!

103 degrees with no air condition in my car!

Worst yet,

103 degrees,

no car air conditioning,

and a 3 year old child.

For obvious reasons my boss grounded

me to the neighborhood.

I decided then and there that

it was new car time.

I can't imagine being stuck in

the neighborhood with the kid

55 hours a week all summer long!

Sooo that night when I got home

husband and I went to the lot.

There was one there that I really

wanted a few weeks ago.

I put an offer in but they didn't

come down as much as I wanted;

so I walked away.

It was on the website so I figured

maybe I could still get it for the

price they had come down to before,

and just call it good.

Well of course that car wasn't there :(

I test drove an Accord;

but something about it wasn't right.

We were on our way out when he asked

if we had seen the 2012 civic hybrids.

I had, but figured we could look.

Husband instantly hated the color;

but I loved it!

Even more I love the new console design

of the 2012's!

I test drove it and knew that it was my car.

I don't know how to explain this..

but it looks like me.

Just in car form.

It was just meant to be :)


ps- mileage isn't accurate it takes a bit to calculate; 23 miles on it!!!! And its's sill 95 at 9pm

I bought a brand new 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid.

It's listed as green metallic pearl-

but is a pretty blue/green color.

Very unique- very ME!!

The best part is that

I'm getting 51 mpg!!