chimesblog

… I’m too tired to recap our trip right now, but here’s a little taste of the house we stayed in.

Frank Lloyd Wright windows and craftstman style interior. Yum.

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This past weekend, Mark and I trekked up north to his family’s place in the Twin Cities to hit up his brother’s 30th Birthday and Housewarming party.  Our friend Ben met us at Mark’s parents’ house on the way back from a camping trip in Canada. Ben’s car had been broken into a few different times and dismantled, so he didn’t have any way to get back to Iowa. His parents were going to Madison, and since Minneapolis was kind of on the way, they dropped him off with us since we were heading back to Iowa.

Anyway, that was kind of a mouthful.

So Nick, Mark’s brother, turned 30 (which, guys, I realize I’m getting closer and closer to that. No more birthdays. Seriously.), and he christened his house that he bought back in March or February with a nice little get-together. Mark, Ben, Mark’s dad and I showed up with some Moosehead Lager (my new favorite beer) and a bottle of Jim Beam. We were ready to roll.

Ben and me (also, check out the epic cleavage! what up?)

Beautiful scenery … one of my favorite parts of heading to MN.

I love the lilypads in all the little ponds and lakes.  I actually ran 6 miles on Saturday on the Gateway Trail and went past a few of these. It was so refreshing — not to mention, it was about 5 degrees cooler and a lot less humid. So much easier and more enjoyable to run!

… not beautiful scenery. I giggled when I saw this guy driving by. But then I quickly realized this is probably going to be Mark someday.

Related: this truck pulled into the gas station we stopped at on the way back. The guy left the truck running, took up two spaces, and pretty much gave off an all-around aura of douchebag. Seriously. Who drives this?

And I must mention, that nothing makes me more happy than a new pair of big, cheap earrings. I love going to visit Minnesota for so many reasons, and sadly, one of them is to hit H&M for some adorable cheap couture. I picked up a skirt, a dress, a scarf and 2 pairs of earrings for an unbelievably low price. Why we don’t have one of those stores here is beyond me. Regardless, I am happy to have some new earrings!

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I haven’t updated much lately because I’ve got way too much going on!

Quick updates:

1. The other designer I work with is leaving next Thursday, so we’ll be down yet another person at work. I pride myself in saying that we hardly ever HAVE to stay late and when I do it’s of my own volition to save myself or somebody else a headache and it’s not very often; however, that may change. Hopefully not, but it may.  Either way, I’m trying to take vacation tomorrow through next Tuesday, so I have been sticking around later this week to prepare for that
2. I have a LOT of projects I have to finish TOMORROW before leaving town. I’ve got a few things I have to finish for the Chicago trip … not to mention PACKING for the trip, some onsies that have been ordered after a few of my tweeps saw my blog post about them, a t-shirt recon for my co-worker who’s leaving next week, a teacup for a custom order on Etsy and 2 more things for my metal swap.  Hrmmm.. how much stuff can get done in ONE DAY???  EEEP!
3. Also, I have a half-day photoshoot today, but for me, it’s an all-day event. I’m directing the shoot and we’re doing 12ish still-life things, so I have to spend most of the day setting up so hopefully when our photographer gets there he can move from place to place, set up lighting, and go.  One good thing — no people in the shoot, which makes life SO much easier.
4. I’m doing a 50% off deal on Mary Kay right now, so I have to place my order for that today or tomorrow to get my discount. It expires on the 30th and I’m going to be out of town… So add THAT to the list.
5. there’s gotta be something else. I know there’s something else. Oh well.

As you can see, I’m super busy!!  Soo I probably am not going to update again until next week or even the week after that. I’m going out of town for 4th of July and may not bring my computer again.

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Today was my first day of my self-imposed spring break. I didn’t really have anything planned this week other than to get some rest and catch up on some running and possibly get some shopping done and MAYBE getting my hair cut.

I drove back to eastern Iowa today.  Got up at 8ish, threw my stuff in my car and went to Ames to say goodbye to Kasey before he left for work. He’s coming back this way on Wednesday but I’m not sure how long I’ll be back, so I didn’t want to chance not seeing him all week.

Drive went okay. I immidietly regretted taking 30 instead of 80, but I got to see Kasey so I guess it was okay. I forgot to mention that I managed to drop off 5 bags of stuff at GoodWill while I was in Ames. I’ve been meaning to do that since January. Anyway, I hate 30 because it’s 2-lane…4-lane…2-lane…etc. Annoying. The speed limit changes about 50 times and I always get stuck behind a slow person.Today I got redirected around an accident involving a semi-trailor around Tama/Toledo…30 minutes out of my way. No biggie. I made  it home.

I got home, turned around, went back outside and ran 4-5ish miles. It was too warm. I had a really tough time pulling that mileage even though it’s not even near what I should be running right now, but whatever.

I got about halfway down my street and ran into two older ladies walking up the hill. The one lady stopped me and said, “We’re out walking, but we want to look like you! How do you get to be that skinny?” (and if you know me, I’m never skinny enough for myself) I told the lady to try running a marathon… and that oughta do it.  haha.

After I got done running, I hit the monkey bars at the elementary school down the street. I spent hours on end when I was in 4th-6th grade trying to cross those damn bars. I did it today. I was pretty proud of myself. I rock.

Went home and did some pilates (mostly planks) and showered. Then I ate all the Valentine’s candy that my mom had given me earlier since I haven’t been home since January. I started my laundry (10-11 loads?)… and hung around the house for a while.

I called my friend Danielle at some point and she invited me to go to women’s choir with her. Our choir director from high school (back story: she retired our senior year and everybody was really close to her) is the director of the choir and was excited to see me (back story: I used to be a phenom at singing).  I informed her that I’m now tone deaf, but I’d be up for singing anyway.  It was a fun time. I didn’t feel too out of place or as tone deaf as I thought.

I got home and my sister and I went for a walk… actually I walked to her boyfriend’s house where I found the 2 of them scratching lotto tickets and took her for a walk around the block a few times.

I got home…threw some more laundry in, and recapped the day.  All and all, not productive — except for the laundry part. Either way.

Tomorrow I plan to do a bit of work on the INK tattoo site. I might try to find something fun to do for St. Patty’s day. I’ve never thought of it as much of a holiday since I’m not a huge alcoholic and I’m definitely not  Irish, but it seems wrong to stay in tomorrow…so I’ll be going out. I’m also supposed to run 15 miles, but I don’t see that happening. I’m going to shoot for 8-10. MAYBE 12. I need to hit 12-15 at some point so I know I can do the half in a month (EEP!).

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just a quickie.

All my friends are going to Texas, so I guess I might too.

I’m tentatively planning a trip to TX to see my friend Meredith with my friend Kelly and possibly Maria. We’re awaiting vacation approval. I’ve got a shit ton to use up (since I didn’t use any snow days this year).

Anyway, more details to come if it happens.

Also, I’m trying to plan it so I can run a race down there while I’m at it. Choices are a marathon or  a 10k. I’m shooting for the 10k.

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