My first DIY project

Anyone who knows me knows I'm not much of a DIY'r not because I don't want to be...more so because I don't take the time to do it. 

About a month ago I mentioned to Mr.G that I wanted to paint two tin vases we have in our house with chalk board paint. The tin vases hold sticks and are in a corner of our home, they are decorative. Chalk board paint is so popular and I love the way it looks, I wanted to try to use it on something.

We bought the paint and it took me a month before I actually committed to the project. This weekend we are at the cabin and I brought the vases with me and painted them. 

I'm happy with the end result and can't wait to see them back in our house. 

I will add pics soon, we decided to stay an extra night at the cabin and go in to work directly from here. 

At the moment I am in comfy clothes by the fire place with my husband watching the Vikings vs Packers game. 

Here are pics of the before and after of the tin vases. 

Hope you are having a great weekend!

With love,

Mrs. G
 

Weekend up Nort'

Well, the summer has officially come to an end, actually awhile ago, and Autumn seems to be fighting off winter unsuccessfully here in the North.  Mrs G and I are headed up to the family cabin one last time this coming weekend with lows in the low 30's and highs barely hitting 40.  I love the cabin and love to spend time up there however during the Fall and Winter months the number of activities that can be done up there is very limited.  Sure, I can always go do work around there which I love to do however Mrs G can only read so many books and watch so many movies. (As seen in a recent post, we don't see many movies.)

Anyway, Mrs G has graciously agreed to head up there with me.  My folks and my brother's family will be there also.  We're hoping for decent weather however we're working on coming up with ideas for time indoors as it could be nasty.  We're thinking of board games, maybe some cooking etc.  Movies are another idea.

So, why did I write this post?  Basically to thank my lovely Wife for going up Nort' (as we say up here.)  I know it's not her favorite thing to do this time of year but I appreciate it!

Love,

Mr. G

Date Night

Mr. G and I dated for close to six years prior to tying the knot, and if I must say so myself we were great at dating!  We loved and still love going out on dates, on Tuesday evening we had a great and affordable date night.  The weather in Minneapolis was pretty crummy, rainy and cold as fall has officially made its appearance.  Yuck, I am not ready for cold!  Sorry, I digress.

We don't go see movies very often, like 6 movies in 6 years, so I thought it might be kind of fun to see a movie since we couldn't be outside due to the weather.  I sent Mr. G some options and we both decided that we would see "Enough Said" at the Edina Theater.  After we decided to go to the movie Mr. G found a great deal for dinner prior to the movie.  Mozza Mia restaurant is across the street from the theater and has an offer they call the "reel deal".  For $40 you get a bottle of wine, wood fire pizza, gelato and 2 tickets to the Edina Theater.  It is a fantastic deal and had we ordered each item individually the bill would have been $62 for the two of us.

We enjoyed the Cabernet and the Asparagi pizza which had chicken, asparagus, burrata cheese and an olive oil base on a crispy crust.  Everything was delicious and we enjoyed yummy gelato for dessert.

The move was great, we both really like it.  I thought it was a very sweet movie however there were some extremely uncomfortable moments.  I mean seriously, how could it not get uncomfortable when Julia Louise-Dreyfus is dating James Gandolfini and is the massage therapist of JG's ex-wife.  Eventually everyone figures it out...I won't tell you anymore as to not ruin any part of the movie.  Both Mr. G and I would recommend the movie.

Our date night was fun and romantic and I look forward to enjoying date nights with my handsome husband for many years to come.

Have a wonderful weekend all!

With love,

Mrs. G

Weekend Review

Our weekend was nice, a bit quiet but really nice.

Friday evening we enjoyed having our SIL M over along with our nephew C, they are doing a major remodeling project on their kitchen and dining room so they have no furniture and basically are living out of their upstairs bedroom and basement.  We enjoyed chicken tacos with yummy wine, C had root beer, and ice cream for dessert.  It was a nice evening.

Saturday morning Mr. G and I enjoyed coffee and breakfast while watching television.  The weather here in Minnesota has gotten a little chilly so I had my slippers and a comfy sweatshirt on, I like the cool fall mornings.
Saturday afternoon I met my mother, sisters and future sister in law to shop for bridesmaids dresses for the upcoming wedding of my younger sister and her fiance.  It was a great afternoon spending time with my family, it was filled with laughter and fun.  We did find a great dress that I am really happy with and look forward to wearing at my sisters wedding.

Saturday evening Mr. G and I had some drinks and appetizers with some friends and I tried a really yummy dip to go with sweet potato chips.  It is goat cheese mixed with some honey and a little bit of cream, mix it all together and serve with sweet potato chips.  Can I just say, YUM!!!  I could have eaten the entire bowl, and with some really yummy wine it was fantastic.

Sunday was quiet, we went to church, watched some football and enjoyed leftovers for dinner.

With love,

Mrs. G

Weekend Review!

I know it is Thursday and another weekend is fast approaching but I wanted to recap our weekend as Mr. G and I had a very eventful and fun weekend!
We prepared for the TC 10 mile race, enjoyed a historic show at a historic theater and ran 10 miles...here are the details.

Friday afternon my older sister and I went to the River Centre in downtown St. Paul to pick up our race packets for the Twin Cities 10 mile, the race was on Sunday morning.  We ventured into runner's paradise (race expo) to get our packets, buy some Gu (energy gel to eat during the race) and some new socks!  We really enjoyed browsing all of the running gear and became pretty excited about the race even though we had not trained as much as we should have.  Life happens!

Friday evening Mr. G made a delicious fall dinner; we enjoyed a roast with potatoes, carrots, onions and mushrooms.  We had Mr. G's brother and sister in law (B&M) over along with their son C, our active and fun 6 year old nephew.  Dinner was great as was our company!

Saturday morning I was able to sleep in a little and once awake I made us breakfast and just relaxed at home...it was lovely.  Around 11am I had the pleasure of meeting both of my sisters at the local bridal shop to pick up my baby sister's wedding dress.  She is getting married on May 17, 2014 and her dress fit perfectly and looked beautiful.  The dress looks like it was made for her!  Sorry I can't post a picture of the dress just in case her fiance Sara decided to stop in to read the blog.

Saturday afternoon Mr. G and I met his parents in downtown St. Paul for some appetizers and drinks (sparkling water for me, no alcohol before a race) prior to enjoying Garrison Keillor's live radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" at the historic Fitzgerald Theater.  If you don't know what "A Prairie Home Companion" is, check out this link:  http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/about/

Here is some information about the Fitzgerald Theater: 
http://fitzgeraldtheater.publicradio.org/about/history.shtml

Mr. G loves this radio show and tries to listen to it every Saturday evening if possible, I have really come to enjoy listening as well.  To be completely honest I wasn't sure what to expect seeing & listening to the radio show live.  I didn't know if I would be bored, fall asleep or love it.
I LOVED IT!!  It was incredible to watch this LIVE radio show; it was funny, had beautiful music and incredible sound effects.  There is a man who creates all of the sound effects with his voice or little props, no computer whatsoever!  The two hour show went by in the blink of an eye and I cannot wait to go back again, I'm hoping we can purchase tickets again before Garrison Keillor retires.

After the show we went home to get ready for the TC 10 Mile race the next morning.  My older sister stayed with us so she could take the bus to the start with us.  Here is a picture of our running shoes, race chips on (this is how they track a runner's time) and all ready to go!

Sunday morning our alarms went off at 5am, with a 7am race start we needed to be on the 5:55am bus.  The start of the Twin Cities 10 mile and full marathon is downtown Minneapolis near the Metrodome.  We arrived at the sweat bag drop (each runner is issued a clear plastic bag for extra clothing, etc that is transported to the finish line from the start line) at 6:45am.  That gave us enough time to drop our bags, use the facilities, stretch and find our starting corral.  Not all runners start at the same time, it avoids a traffic jam of runners if the race officials start the runners in 4 increments.  The elite runners start first as they will be in contention to win the race.  We started in corral 4 which is the final corral to start; we crossed the start line at 7:15am.
The Twin Cities marathon and 10 mile courses are known as the most beautiful urban marathon due to the gorgeous views along the route.  The participants run from Minneapolis to St. Paul through some of the most beautiful parts of the cities.  I will focus on the 10 mile course since that is what I participated in.  The 10 mile participants enjoy the scenes on both the west and east river parkways, these roads travel along the edge of the mighty Mississippi River.  The fall foliage during early October is stunning and with the early morning start the fog is slowly lifting off the river.  After following the river parkways the runners begin the long, and exhausting, run up Summit Avenue in St. Paul.  The 5 miles of the course that are on Summit Avenue are a steady incline until the runners get to about mile 9, in my opinion it is a brutal part of the course.  It is nearing the end of the race and exhaustion has or is beginning to set in.  At least for me it did.  Summit Avenue is a beautiful area of St. Paul with lovely old Victorian homes, the Govenor's mansion and the historic James J. Hill house. 
The spectators are GREAT!  People come out to cheer on all of the participants and it makes the run so much more fun.  We had a variety of people cheering us on. 
At mile 4 we had AL cheering us on, AL is an avid marathon runner and recently completed his first Iron Man competition.  He actually ran along with us for a little bit so he was like a traveling cheerleader. 
At mile 5 we had my younger sister, brother in law (my older sister and running partners husband), my niece and her roommate.  They had water, gu and vitamin chews ready for us to pick up and give us the boost we needed. 
At mile 7 we had Mr. G's parents, sister in law M, nephew C and great family friend Larry.  C decided to try running along with us for a bit but was very distracted when he discovered the bouncy house about a block down Summit.
Mr. G crossed the finish line about 20 minutes before me and was greeted by his brother and sister in law M&L, once he crossed he was able to join them at the finish line to cheer on me and my sister.  It was wonderful to see my loving husband holding up a sign that said "Go Mrs. Granberg!"
Thanks to all of the spectators along the way, your encouragement is wonderful!

Here are some great photos from the race, I need to get the pictures of Mr. G during the race from his mom...as soon as I have those I will add them.

After the race about 13 of us enjoyed some yummy food and drinks at Billy's on Grand Ave and watched some football.  It was fun to spend time with both sides of our families and celebrate a great accomplishment!  By 2pm...I was ready for a shower and a nap!  So Mr. G and I headed home and enjoyed some rest and relaxation before indulging in very tasty Chinese food for dinner.  It's not something we have often but it sure tasted great.

We hope you all had as great of a weekend as we did!

With love,

 
Mrs. G