Happy Father's Day, Pops!

Now you know the apple doesn't fall from the tree.

Let the Wookie Growl

Who says IT doesn't have a sense of humor? Well, typically ours doesn't, but when a test email accidentally went out on Friday, I was one of very, very few around here who got a chuckle out of it.

Goes to show to be careful what you put in test mode. You never know who will see it!

Happy National Doughnut/Donut Day!

Today is National Doughnut Day.  We're doing our part at work to help celebrate.

 

Is it 'donut' or 'doughnut'?  I guess it can go either way. I can tell you that the word brings back some funny memories for my family. You see, when my parents first immigrated to the United States back in the 50's from the Netherlands, they had to learn the English language. Many of us take that for granted, but anyone who has learned a second language knows how English doesn't follow some rules that other languages do (i.e. With German,  the verb always comes last in subordinate clauses.) But I digress.

When my parents came to the States, they had never heard of this fried confectionery that breaks the resistance of even the most powerful dieters. Mom and Dad walked up to Winchell's and, according to the words painted on the enormous pastry outside of the establishment, ordered a 'doughnut' (pronounced 'duffnut').  The cashier, was confused a moment, and then politely corrected my parents and told them it was a 'doughnut'.  Think about it. Tough. Though. Rough. Bough. How do you explain to someone learning English when to use which?  Food for thought.

Speaking of which, Happy National Doughnut/Donut Day! Now go do something about it.

Parking Can Be Such a (Panda) Bear

I had two cravings yesterday when it came to food: Mexican and Chinese. I should tell you it wasn't at the same time. That would be interesting. I should also tell you due to location and time, fulfilling my yen for Chinese wasn't realized with authentic cuisine. I had to stop at Panda Express. Now that Hot Wok went out of business near where I live, there aren't a plethora of options available within walking distance.

But on my way into Panda Express, I noticed something that deserved to have a picture taken and made mention of here. I can't tell you if it was a scorn lover or a drunk friend who was the architect of this parking job, but if I were the owner of the truck, saying I would be mad would be a gross understatement.

I don't know any more to the back-story or what happened when I left, so it remains a mystery. I don't even know how one parks that way.

Speaking of parks, they must have seen me coming when they doled out the fortune cookies. Looks like I'm going to a Disney Resort, Baby!

Father's Day Gift. Shhh!

 

Dad Word Frame Insert

Check out our modern shower invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

I made one for Mom, and now it's Dad's turn for Father's Day.

Put the Medal to the Metal

Each year, the Edina Art Fair (their website is down, so even though I've given you a link for it, you may want to check out their Facebook Page instead) attracts thousands of visitors to view the various works of hundreds of artists. Perhaps that's why this fair ranks as the top art fair in Minnesota.

In the 20+ years I've lived in Minnesota, this fair ranks as one of my favorites, too. This year, there were over 320 artists with an estimated 150,000 people attending. I know for sure that at least one person from France attended, because even though I missed seeing my friend, I knew he and his girlfriend were there. I did run into other friends, so sometimes this fair is like a mini-reunion of sorts.

There's all kinds of art at the fair: paintings, pottery and ceramics, jewelry, sculpture, and of course food. Yes, that may not be art, but hey, it's important to have food at any event!

See those dark clouds? It never fails with the Edina Art Fair. You get rain at least one of those days. Happens every year. In fact one year, it was sad because strong winds broke several pieces of artists' works. So you'd think I'd learn to carry an umbrella with me just in case. Nope. I refuse to do that, which is why the heavens opened up on me just after I took this picture on the way home. Since you can ride the bus for free to/from the fair, I waited, and got soaked, by the rain. Yes, the rain stopped as soon as I was on the bus, but that didn't matter.

Okay, I jumped ahead a bit. Back to the fair. It's fun just to stroll around and look at all the goodies. And it's nice to see many artists come back year after year. There are so many outstanding pieces, but there's only so much room in the condo. Having said that, eyes are always open for the next treasure. I really wish I could have taken home this prize, but it certainly wouldn't fit on the balcony. In fact, the bottom half would be the property of the lady who lives down on first floor!

Some years, I don't buy anything, but this year was a splurge on me kind of a fair. (Okay, it's always about splurging on me!) You know how sometimes something strikes you, and when you walk away to look at other things, your mind keeps going back to what you saw? Well, that happened to me this year.

There is an artist by the name of Aaron Sault, whose jewelry just caught my eye. Normally I'm not a big jewelry kind of a person, but sometimes I just have to have something. I think the last time that happened was when I was in Cancun and wanted a ring. They made me haggle for it, even though I said I was willing to pay full price for the ring because I had to have it.

 After walking the entire fair, I went back to Aaron's booth and asked him to show me the ring and the cufflinks again. While I do wear cufflinks often, I told him I'd probably get more use out of the ring. Ring me up! I should expect to see the ring in about three weeks. I love that this is custom work instead of something that is factory made.  Probably explains why Aaron won the Edina Art Fair's 2012 Best of Show Award. (Shopper not included)

Well, you're probably wondering what the ring looks like. I thought maybe it was on one of Aaron's websites, but it's not. You, like me, will have to wait until I receive it and then I can take some pictures of it and post an update.

In the meantime, there are three places to check out Aaron's work. Two are his personal websites (he's moving one over into another) and the final place is on Etsy.

Aaron Sault Jewelry (former website)

Aaron Sault Jewelry (new website)

He will be back the first week of August for the Uptown Art Fair, so I may have to brave going to that one to ask him about the other ring I saw in person as well as a cuff I saw on his website. I don't know if I can pull of that cuff look, but it intrigues me.

I have to admit that I went back to the Edina Art Fair on Sunday after church, and while it was cool and breezy, it didn't rain. No matter rain or shine, I'll be back next year as always.

Red Cow: It's Simply Mad!

Finally we have a nice weekend in Minnesota again! Well, it wasn't perfect, but mostly it was. This is the time of the year when we try to forget about winter and head outdoors. And especially this weekend, because it's time for the annual Edina Art Fair.

But before I get to that, I'm going to start off with a restaurant review. Usually I save those for Yelp, but on the way to the art fair, I finally was able to try a place that I've been wanting to go to for months, and they've only been open for three months.

Ever since the 1900's, America has been obsessed with hamburgers. A burger is a burger, right? Wrong! Gauge my waistline and you will know that I'm an expert when it comes to dining. Years of practice you know.

What do you see? My coworker told me what he saw, and let's just say it's not close to what it is supposed to represent!

Red Cow is a neighborhood gem that is not your typical burger joint. I wouldn't call it upscale, but it certainly isn't McDonald's either. I keep wanting to call it Mad Cow; obviously I watched too much news in the 90's. Red Cow uses some 'non-traditional' meats for their burgers, some of which you may have tried, like turkey or bison, and others you may not have had, like elk and lamb.

I went for the lamb burger, which came with mint jelly and jalapeño cream cheese. At first you may wrinkle your nose at that, but it was one of the best burgers I've had, next to an In-N-Out Double Double of course. Since my doctor wants me to cut back on the fries, I decided to order the Coleslaw. Usually I'm not a Coleslaw fan, but this was homemade and was so fresh! Very tasty! And if you don't want a burger they have plenty of other sandwiches, salads and more. I have to go back and try the Scotch Egg, which is one of my faves.

 

Now speaking of homemade, and I'm working backwards here, I started with a bowl of the Beef Barley soup. You can totally taste that it's made from scratch and not out of a can or bag. It came with some crackers that reminded me of Wheat Thins (in a very good way), but I couldn't tell if they were made in-house or not. They were good either way.

 For those of you with deeper pockets, you may enjoy this 007 Special. I just got a kick out of the description. If you are a drinker, they have a very respectable beer and wine list.

If you are a Minnesotan, you probably know Woullet Bakery, which is located next to the Red Cow. Rather than try to compete with Woullet, they feature some of the bakery's items for desserts. Probably a wise decision until Red Cow establishes themselves.

The service was fantastic, which added to the dining experience. I've given you plenty of links to the menu in this post, but you can check out my Yelp review if you want to read more. Be sure to follow me on Yelp, too!

Well, I had such a fun weekend at the Edina Art Fair, starting out with a meal at Red Cow, I've decided to split up my blog posts.