Vacation.

Posted By: Anna

Yes, it seems The Wandering Arrows went on a vacation.  We did.  We took a bit of a break from blogging - but we're back!

I actually not only took a vacation in January from blogging but also from work, school, and life and went to Playa Del Carmen Mexico for six days.  It was glorious.  A friend and I went to an all inclusive and did nothing else but relax, read, relax, lay on the beach, relax, eat, relax and drink.  A FANTASTIC way to spend six days in January if you ask me!  The weather down there was about 80 degrees each day - partly cloudy and it rained one day, so not the best weather I have ever seen in Mexico - but it was nothing to complain about - Minnesota hit negative temperatures when we were down there!

When we checked in, we were told we were going to be PLATINUM members, which meant we got to wear this cool wristband all week.

However, it also meant that we were greeted with champagne.  I felt the champagne was calling my name, not only because we had to get up at 3am and had been traveling for the last seven hours, but also because the champagne bottle had my name on it!  

Our room was amazing - it wasn't an ocean view (unless you stood on the balcony railing), but it was spacious, clean and the beds were semi soft.  

And the bathroom was huge, which was super nice!

The food at the resort was pretty good.  It was just as expected to me - some meals were REALLY good like our fondue night.  They had all kinds of meat and vegetables to dip into the cheese fondue.  Our waiter was charismatic and we had a great time while we were there.

 Other meals were, well, interesting - like this steak at the "Steakhouse" restaurant.  Although it tasted good - lets just say it was VERY chewy!

Our back up plan to not liking our meals was always the chips and guacamole at the buffet.  You can't really go hungry, because no matter what happens, you can always go find some chips and guacamole! 

Besides eating, the better part of our time in Mexico was spent here:

It was great - the beach was beautiful and we spent a lot of time in these blue chairs.  When you are in Mexico, all you really need is a drink, a book and lots of sunscreen!

A great time was had by all - and I already can't wait to go again!   :)

Lefse.

Posted By: Anna

One more Christmas post for me - and then we'll move on to...2013!  A little background on this one...my family is Norwegian, and very proud Norwegians at that.  (I can tell some mean Ole and Lena jokes!)  We eat lutefisk every Christmas Eve and have krumkake, rosettes and pizelles as cookies for after dinner.  But my favorite tradition of all is making lefse with my grandma and cousins on Christmas Eve morning.  I have been making lefse since I was in elementary school I think.  Grandma did almost all of the work that first year  and we just got flour all over the kitchen.  However, times have changed a bit and now we are in charge, and Grandma can relax a but while we roll out and grill lefse for about 3 hours Christmas Eve morning.  

For those of you that don't know what lefse is - according to Wikepedia (the always trusting source) - "Lefse is a traditional soft, Norweigian flatbread.  Lefse is made out of potato, milk or cream and flour, and cooked on a griddle"  It looks a lot like a very think large pancake or tortilla when it is all rolled out.  

Sadly, I forgot to take pictures on Christmas Eve morning (still blaming this on beginning blogging!) so some of the pictures below are actually of another lefse making event this year at the Northfield Retirement Center.  My grandma organizes a group, both family and friends from her church, to come and make lefse and krumkake for the residents of the retirement center.  We all whip out the lefse and serve it to them nice and hot with coffee. 

First you have to roll out the dough - the thinner the better!

Then grill the flatbread - 

Then comes the best part - the toppings.  I personally like butter with either brown sugar or cinnamon sugar.  Others like jelly or white sugar.  Its all up to you.  

Finally you roll it up and eat - yum!!

   

Truth be told, eating the lefse isn't even my favorite part of the process, its more about the tradition of spending time with some of my favorite people.  But isn't that what makes most traditions great?!  

Talk soon!

Anna

Keri Noble.

Posted By: Anna

I don't know about you guys, but nothing puts me more in the Christmas spirit than Christmas music.  Some of my favorites include....

Amy Grant - Tennessee Christmas

 Mariah Carey -  All I Want For Christmas

and of course NSYNC - Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays

(sidenote:  Even after all these years of listening to this song, I had NEVER watched the video!!)

However, this year I started the Christmas music season off with a different note (no pun intended :)...Keri Noble.

Keri Noble is a very talented singer/songwriter in the Twin Cities area.  She actually has a very interesting background, being born in Fort Worth, Texas, raised in Detroit.  Her father is a Southern Baptist minister and she has grown up singing in church.  She is also a co-host on the Cities 97 radio show.  She has a fantastic personality that goes along with her beautiful voice.  I was joined by 4 other friends at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis to see her Christmas show.

It was a great way to start the Christmas season out!  If you haven't heard her music before, click here for a sample.

I hope you all had a great Holiday season as well and enjoyed by those that you love the most!

Talk soon!
Anna

Merry moments.

Posted By: Kristin

Merry Christmas to those that celebrate!  I thought I would take a minute to spread some holiday joy by sharing the below link.  I guarantee that it will add smiles to your evening!

26 Moments That Restored Our Faith In Humanity This Year

Anna and I wish everyone love, laughter, and good health in the New Year!

Focusing on happiness.

Posted By: Kristin

Can you believe it is only Wednesday?  I’ve felt emotionally drained this week from the Connecticut school shootings and some tough work cases, so I’m determined to focus this post on things that make me HAPPY!

Last night, our wonderful friends came over and gave us the best housewarming gift!!  She is a talented artist and painted this beautiful painting for us after I fell in love with a similar one at their apartment a few weeks ago.  It could not be more perfect for our house!

I am so amazed at her impressive skill and excited to have more original artwork in our home!  I haven’t quite decided where to hang the painting, so am anxiously waiting for my mom to come over so we can walk around and thoroughly discuss each option! 

On another happy note, this is our first Christmas in our new house!  Our living room is decorated for the holidays, but I was not planning to decorate our upstairs family room.  And then I went to Goodwill.  I was wandering around the store while chatting on the phone with this fun girl.  Thank goodness I was paying more attention to her than anything else because I unconsciously ended up in the holiday section and spied a beautiful, unopened garland from Target for $3!  I immediately recognized it from Our Fifth House and grabbed it!  I was already planning to stop by the craft store, so I decided to copy Carmel’s window décor.  I picked up the holiday cards from the dollar section at Michaels and a felt tree ornament for .49 cents. 

I started crafting as soon as I got home.  I found it was best to hot glue the cards onto the ribbon because otherwise they all slid into the center.  These were super easy and simple decorations that quickly added fun holiday cheer to the room.  I love it!  I’m planning to pick up some holiday pillows during after-Christmas sales so I can spruce up the couch next year. 

Six days until Christmas!  Can't wait!

Kristin

Houzz.

Posted By: Anna

Have you heard of Houzz.com?  I just recently discovered  it and am totally hooked! It is fantastic!!  It's like a "Pinterest for Houses on Steroids".  The website contains tons and tons of pictures of ideas for differant areas of your house.  It's like a big idea book for all things house design.  You can filter by style (contemporary, modern, asian, tropical etc) or by room type (bedroom, bathroom, garage, porch etc) or you can do both!  For example I searched for tropical bedrooms and found the following results...

Tropical Bedroom design by Denver Interior Designer Slifer Designs

Tropical Bedroom design by Other Metro Interior Designer Jenny Carter

Tropical Bedroom design by Charlotte General Contractor Andrew Roby General Contractors

They are all so different yet, still tropical!  It's a fun site to just check out, especially if you are doing any sort of home design!  

Talk soon!

Anna

Containers.

Posted By: Anna

Today I went to the greatest store in the entire organizational world…the Container Store!  

The store actually overwhelms me.  There are so many ideas, options and products.  They have an entire aisle of square open bins to choose from...

And even an aisle devoted to trash cans!

(They do make a trash can look pretty though, don’t they!?!?)

But today I was on a mission (cue the Mission Impossible theme song) - to tackle the horrifying cupboard I call the spice cabinet.

I know...it's horrible. 

But with a little help from this gem I found for $12 at the Container Store...

 My spice cupboard now looks like this....

They actually had lots of different spice rack options to choose from, but this one looked like the best choice for the cupboard space and spices that I have.  After taking more time than I thought it would, I have a newly organized spice cupboard.

I think the best part about this particular spice rack, is that you can easily take it out and put it on the counter if you know you will be using many spices when cooking.

I wouldn't say it’s perfect, but definitely an improvement!

Talk soon!

Anna