Gluten Goodness

I have been living a (mostly) gluten-free life since the age of 17.  By the end of high school, we were unsure what was contributing to some very disruptive symptoms and finally landed on a gluten intolerance.  I am usually quite good about it all but come holidays I become weak and find ways to "be bad."

This Christmas, I told mom, "we are going to go to isle bun the day after Christmas." I figured if I ate a cookie or two on Christmas, I might as well go wild and eat a whole cinnamon roll.

Enter Isles Bun.

If you are a local in the Minneapolis area, I hope you have had the chance to indulge in this wonderful place. If you haven't, it is a must to add to your "to do in 2013." Because we all have those, right?

Well, all I can say is that it was worth it. The stomach ache I foresee in my future will all have been worth this lovely indulgence.  So you may all understand: they offer a vat of frosting so each patron can smother their own warm bun with sugary goodness. Therefore, you all may agree that I made the right choice... 

Till next time, love!

Cheers,

Alissa

Hokey Pokey

I was just recently discussing with my sis that every now and again, we must take the time to enjoy the absolutely ridiculous things in life.

Exhibit A, for example. I was simply taking my hair out of a braid and in a flash it was an Afro. Just a simple, white girl fro. So clearly the first thing you do is snap documentation to prove to your homies that yes, in fact, you do have a little ghetto running through your preppy veins.

So here's to the silly, whimsical, belly-aching times of life! Enjoy them every day. Because that's what it's all about, eh?
Cheers!

Museum with a Cherry on Top

This city if filled with endless adventures.  There are always more museums, parks, restaurants, and artist studios to visit and discover that gives the Twin Cities such a dynamic feel.  It is big city fun in a smaller city package! We know we are no New York, but our bragging rights of being second only to the Big Apple in terms of theaters per capita give reason to our much deserved nickname of the Minne-apple.

Today's adventure consisted of visiting the Walker Art Museum and adjacent Sculpture Garden with the famous Spoon and Cherry...

The most picturesque view of downtown Minneapolis from inside the Walker.  There is art inside and out!

Anyone that has ever had to sit through the unbearable traffic on 94 passing under the tunnel knows what a pleasant sight this two-toned bridge is...roughly, it translates to: "Congratulations. You have survived."

The first look of the Spoon and Cherry.  I feel like a groom on his wedding day...

Feeling inspired by this artsy environment and capturing our Peter Pan shadows.

Art inside the green house too... This glass koi fish was too large to fit in the frame and equally impressive in person!

I take pictures on benches.  Any bench I see? I snap a photo. Quirky? Yes.  But I guess it makes me the bench girl...

Then I can say, "I was into benches before they were popular."  Did you read that Star Trib article? I mean, we are number one for hipsters.

I couldn't resist.

After enduring some peculiar exhibits inside, we ventured outside and downloaded a crazy app that has scavenger hunts all around the city! Questions can be added by participants and answers are in the form of fill-in-the-blank, picture uploads, or multiple choice.  Here is our picture of people climbing on art...

And something red...

And our vantage point of the Walker...

It was quite fun, actually. Then at the end, if you have enough correct answers, you could win something!!

There is this weird mirrored, see-through glass partition in the sculpture garden too.  Confused yet? We were too.  Can you tell by our confused body language we captured?

But then we started having fun with it.

And clearly the most natural thing to do in a sculpture garden is to impersonate the sculptures.  So we did.  And then we added that question to the scavenger hunt.  I would say it was a successful adventure.

On top of that, we won a prize from the Walker refreshments!!

We were pretty thrilled.

We also won a free magnet.  It was like a goldmine...or I guess we could say it was the cherry on top.  Adventures are always worth it.

Cheers,

Alissa

Stillwater Shopping

Thank goodness it's Friday, y'all! To celebrate, my mom, sis, aunt, and cousin took a quick trip to the beautiful Stillwater to visit some vintage shops, have lunch, and share endless laughs. We also had a surprise to share!!

I guess I was caught up with the quirky things I found that I ended up with some silly photos and none of all of us gals. I'll have to steal my mom's phone to sneak some of her photos...

I'm on the hunt for these fine men.  If you find them, please report to me immediately.  Seriously, this gem was a vintage sewing pattern and I am so thrilled this wasn't tossed out.

Understand your'e Swede. With a pack lunch, great sweater, ax, and quite a few children.

Those crazy kids in the 60s...

So many pocket knives! I guess my friend, Cady, isn't the only knife-enthusiast!

"Capturing a Crescent" for Gamma Phi Beta! I tweeted this photo and got a retweet from our international account so I felt famous for all of 12 seconds.

These were some neat buildings. I just wanted to soak up that rust on metal. If I had the time, I would have sat right down and got my paintbrush out but a quick snap will have to do for now.

After strolling around Stillwater, we had worked up quite the appetite! We went to a delicious resaurant where I ordered salmon. Whenever I can order salmon, I do. Like a true Scandinavian (why, yes, I DO know I'm a Swede), I can never get enough salmon.

So far, my sister had an extra special adornment on her left hand and was keeping it secret from my aunt and cousin...so over lunch she had the chance to share the news! She and Dan were engaged!! It made the wonderful day all that much better when we were celebrating something so special :)

After lunch, we stopped at a great coffee/stationary shop.  I love Russel+Hazel paper goods and this Mara Mi is a joint company--so they had a few similar products and I quickly fell in love. Being a printmaker, I love card designs and so I took a few snaps of designs that I wanted to remember for inspiration. 

Who wouldn't want a mushroom and fawn themed baby shower? It was also fun to snoop around the wedding card and such with the newly shared news.  I think sis is going to enjoy this exciting time of life!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and have a chance to share a relaxing lunch with loved ones too!

Cheers,

Alissa

Bloglovin'

Don't you just love smart phones?

If I'm really to do this whole blog thing...I may as well really do it, right? Here's to bloglovin'!!
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Oh, Brother

Heavens to Betsy! I'm already a delinquent blogger and I have just begun! As we all know, life can sometimes get in the way of just about everything. Lately, it's been a scramble between work, school, home, and everything in between. So, I figured it would be a good time to say a bit about who I am and what my influences are...and more importantly, hopefully providing reason to my sporadic blogging style.

I am a senior at the University of Minnesota studying Economics, Latin, and Art. I grew up in south Minneapolis and my love for this city runs deeper than a pile of snow in late February. However, I wish traveling could truly be one of my hobbies because I do love a good adventure every now and again!

As graduation is sneaking just around the corner, I have yet to really decide what I want to be "when I grow up"...be it marketing, finance, children's author, or shuffling papers, I'm just excited about what they future may hold! So, in the spirit of "new life chapters" and "exploring options", I thought it was a good time to have a little fun with fashion...because, let's be honest, I may or may not have a bit of an unhealthy relationship with shoes, nail polish, and cashmere.

Well, with the vision of a full day of macroeconomics, global trade, and ballet--I believe I ought to call it a night!

Hasta Luego,
aHm

Trending

I seem to have a knack for always being just behind the trend of these social medias...I never quite got into the whole Facebook thing, just got a Twitter account last spring, and now just decided to start blogging for the third time. We'll see how this endeavor goes...

I have a passion for lovely things and I want to enjoy them here. Whether my favorite recipe, moment in the day, or a particular whimsical outfit creation--I want to store it in my personal Pandora's box of random musings. Things that, to me, are always superb.