PopUp Dinner - Thomas Lowry Park

Oh my! This summer is just going by way too fast! I haven't been in this space much, but hope to eventually catch up with sharing some summer highlights like Paul's birthday, chicken shenanigans and how in love I am with blueberries. For now, please enjoy some scenes from the second annual Twin Cities PopUp Dinner.

Our second time around with this event proved to once again be a fabulously whimsical experience.  This year the quaint setting, Thomas Lowry Park, had a English garden party feel. The setting last year was very grand and expansive. Each location was wonderful in its own way. HandMade Events has done a superb job in choosing their locations.

Our table was under the grape arbor which was nice because it provided us with some shade on a very summery evening, i.e. hot and humid with little to no breeze.

My mom deserves the credit for snagging the great table and lavishly decorating it with sterling silver and crystals.

From appetizers to desserts, the collaborative meal was beautiful and delicious.  From the looks of it, the same was true of everyone's dinners!  Table ogling is encouraged, so let me share a bit of that with you.

These beautiful ladies were making their floral accessories right at their table!

There were no albino squirrels this year, but there was a faux chicken that watched over one table.

We took a lot of pictures together:

Me, Jamie

me, my mom

We may have gotten a bit slap happy by the end of the photo taking.

Me and my moms! From L to R: Joanne (my mother-in-law), Charleen (Jamie's mom and my 2nd mom growing up), Me, my mom

Not included in the above photo shoot, but integral members of our PopUp table were:
My mom's good friend Deb, who came last year and returned with her daughter Lisa this year. The mother/daughter theme to our table was coincidental, but turned out to be a pretty neat dynamic.
Finishing out our table was my new friend from my book club, fellow knitter and wine bringer extraordinaire Kate. Props to Kate for jumping in to the mix and holding her own!
Thank you to the ladies whose fun loving spirits make the event so memorable.

The white napkin wave to mark the start of dinner!

Our vegetarian, gluten-free meal was really delicious, healthy and colorful!

After dinner, the event shifted a bit towards dancing and imbibing.

The tables transformed as the candles and lanterns were brought to life.

The whole group made it out to the dance floor!

The paper lanterns made a comeback, although not a great one since the air temperature was a bit too hot for them to really take off.

Lively story telling and chatting was the norm all over the party from start to finish.

Then at 10pm, everything got packed up and we all went off into the night!

Ooma

We live next door to a rental home.  In June our neighbors, whom we will not miss, were evicted from the house and left their cat behind.  The cat they weren't even supposed to have! This didn't become known to us until the handyman who was there cleaning out the house asked if we might be able to find a home for her.  He had been feeding her for 3 weeks, biding time, perhaps hoping the family would come back for their pet.  When he let us know about it, the situation had come to a head and the landlord was working with the city to have the cat removed from the house.  We asked to meet the cat and found she was super friendly and so hungry for affection!

We put a call out to see if anyone would want to adopt this cat we knew next to nothing about other than she had lived in a house with a huge family that had kids of all ages and that she was friendly towards us.

Paul's mom came up as an option and she was willing to take her in! Before we brought her over to Joanne's house, we spent some time with her on our front porch making sure she was healthy and as friendly as we experienced when we met her.  Yep and yep!  She is an awesome cat!
 

It was hard to get pictures of her because she kept dive bombing my hand to get more affection.

Her purr was SO LOUD!  She even drooled on my lap because she was so blissed out.

Since she passed all of the tests, we loaded her up and brought her to her new home.

She didn't love the car ride, but I have yet to meet a cat that enjoys the car.

This kitty got a major upgrade.  From a beat up rental home...

to the posh suburbs!

She has a name, now, too.  She is Ooma (object of my affection).  We think she has found a forever home.  We saw her again last weekend and I am happy to report she is totally settled into her new home and exhibiting polite cat behavior (i.e. using the litterbox and refraining from eating houseplants).  Success!

Water

Whatever was so entrancing to me about the water during our recent canoe trip was still very much present at the cabin.   I couldn't get enough!

Each morning between about 6:30 and 7:30 there was this mist/fog that rose up off of the lake.  It was breathtaking and made me run out with the camera in my pajamas.  Each camera captured it a bit differently.  It disappeared so quickly that I was lucky to get a few shots before the moment passed.  I will remember that natural spectacle.

One last picture!  We played with the monopod on the dock right before we left.  What a fantastic getaway.  I came back feeling balanced and recharged.  And, of course, when I turned all of the technology back on, I instantly longed for more time at the cabin!

Tettegouche - 3rd Time is the Charm

We picked our best weather day for our day trip.  After the sad ending to our trip to Tettegouche and a cancelled trip in the fall last year due to my health issues, we were determined to explore Tettegouche this summer.

And explore, we did!  It was a fantastic day.

I love exploring the shore of Lake Superior.  There are endless interesting rocks, including this one that makes a good toy camera.

Teeny, tiny wild strawberries! I ate them.

After hiking, picnicking and playing along the shoreline, we headed to the trailhead to hike a portion of the Superior Hiking Trail.  While in the parking lot we heard these noisy kids mimicking birds a ways off on the trail. They were really loud!  I heard them getting closer and closer, expecting them to emerge out of the trail area and then I saw them!  Lots of these big black birds. Further research has revealed that these are ravens.  I think.  Do you know?  They were making such loud sounds that didn't sound at all like a crow.

They followed us a little ways into the woods and then went their own way.  It was a fascinating experience!

Little known fact about me, I can't help but be on constant lookout for things to eat while I am hiking.  Paul thinks it is funny and it has become a bit of a running joke between us.  Here I am with some foraged edibles: wild strawberries, wild blueberries and purple clover. The blueberries were just starting to ripen so I only found a few but if it had been a week or two later, we would have found the motherload!

Paul would usually rather get to the destination than stop to shop, so it was surprising that when I shouted "FLEA MARKET!" he almost squealed the tires to maneuver us into the parking lot.

Somehow we spent a long time browsing but left without any treasures.  It is ok, though.  We have plenty of stuff.  It was really fun to peruse the well organized tables of goods.  I would definitely stop here again and hope they still have a good collection of vintage pyrex.