Archives for June 2012

Urban vegetable gardening: Progress (or lack-thereof)

I stumbled on a fun new blog this week called “Pintester,” wherein the author tries out Pinterest pins and shares the results, good bad, and ugly. It’s very funny. I wasn’t really setting out to be a Pintester with my urban vegetable garden projects, but I have indeed produced a Pinterest fail with my gutter […]

Gratitude, at Tettegouche State Park

A couple of weeks ago I joined a couple of friends for a short trip to Tettegouche State Park. When I was 19 I spent a summer at Wolf Ridge Environmental Learning Center taking some classes for college credit, and spent a lot of time at Tettegouche. It’s a place that has a lot of […]

Finding my farmer’s market home: Market in the Valley

To find my perfect farmer’s market, I had to head to the suburbs. We live fairly close to such Minneapolis gems as the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market (a giant affair in the shadow of a highway), the Mill City Farmer’s Market (a smaller, cozier market with a focus on organic and sustainable agriculture in the heart […]

Summer fun with kids in Saint Paul

This is my second summer at home with my kids (after 10 years as a working mom) and I feel like I’m getting in my summer mom groove a bit better this year. A kid’s summer should be about freedom and unstructured time and play, but too much of a good thing is just  . […]

Summer Reading List 2012

It’s summertime and the living is easy . . . or so they say. Our family is actually very busy with camps, lessons, training, traveling, and oh, that seasonal business we own (more on that later). Nonetheless, I can’t help but make a summer reading list, in the same way I want to buy school […]

So you’re going to have a toddler! Advice for moms of one-to-two year-olds

I shared how I asked for baby advice before Beatrice was born, and when it came time for her first birthday, I found that I needed some more advice! My baby was quickly turning into a toddler, and I need to do some homework before we developed bad habits and got ourselves into a mess. […]

How to make a paper pennant banner

A while ago I shared how much fun it is to sew on paper. Here’s another super-easy, fun project that yields impressively cool results, and proves that sewing on paper is still fun. My nephew Tyler graduated from high school last weekend. The first grandchild and nephew in my family, he’s been very close to […]

Father’s Day Gift Guide (and why good ideas are hard to come by)

I am typically a very good gift-giver. I love the challenge of the perfect gift and more often than not I hit the mark. Aunt Jenny’s gift is often a favorite, and I have a knack for surprising adults with something they had no idea they really wanted. So yeah, I’m good at it, and […]