Let there be light.

There's been a Bridgeman's down the street from our house that's been closed for about 5 years. It's just been an empty building since then. For some reason, Adam decided to google it and discovered something amazing... a Pizza Luce is moving in! I thought it must be a joke or a fluke, but I didn't believe it. After some of my own digging, it was confirmed. I'm so excited to have a bar/restaurant that's so close and also so good right by our house. We went to brunch with my parents at the Hopkins Luce (that used to be Baker's Square), and they did a really good job with the re-design, and of course, it was a delicious. It's expected to open in June or July, I can't wait. But I also get a little sad knowing that we're probably only going to live in our house for a couple more years. Of course the neighborhood starts to get "cool" as we begin to think about where our next house is. But the upside is that hopefully all the renovations in the neighborhood will help improve our property values and make it that much easier to sell our house. I keep thinking there has to be a young couple like us out there that will love our house when we're ready to move on. But I do know that getting a Luce isn't a bad thing for the neighborhood and gives us one more pizza option at just a block away. Hopefully all the walking to Luce will offset all the increased calories I'll consume!

Just Write: Slow Down.

As I spent most of my 3-day weekend (last weekend) working, I wondered: why? Why do I keep working at a pace that can't be sustained for more than a couple days. Why do I work at a job that often demands my nights and weekends. Why don't I just slow down and stop? After reading this post from a friend, I realized that things don't always end up as we thought they would and her words were the catalyst for mine.

One of my favorite quotes is from High Fidelity... Read the book if you haven't and if you're not into that, at least watch the movie. It might be the only book turned into a movie that I like both equally. Of course they feature my two favorite cities, London for the book and Chicago for the movie. But I digress... My favorite quote is:

"Some days I'm afraid I'll go berzerk, throw the country A-K rack out on the street and go work in a Virgin Megastore and never come back."

Some days I want to throw my hands up in the air and say I'm done, I'm going to go find a nice relaxing job. But then I wonder, would I be happy? I naturally move at a fast pace. I get frustrated at the grocery store when people walk to slow and I can't go down the aisle as fast as I want. And don't even get me started on slow skyway walkers, I spend my lunch hours weaving through the slowness. I love visiting Chicago and New York and the thrill of all the people. I'm also pretty sure I have an unhealthy love for elevated trains and subways. But I don't live there, I live in Minneapolis where I drive to work, because the bus is too slow. I have my exciting "city job" but I don't live in the city as I always thought I would. It seems as though when we're not looking our life travels down a path that we may not have planned. It's not necessarily wrong or right, it's just a different path and before we know it, we're miles away from where we thought we'd be. Again, not right or wrong, just different.

Quality over Quantity.

I've been trying to focus on quality over quantity this year. Quality time, food or goods to name a few. A couple years ago, I had such a hard time saying no to invites because I didn't want to miss a thing. But now, I realize that my time is more important and I shouldn't do something that I don't want to just because I was invited. I also used to be upset about "missing out"on something, and I've realized that it's just fine to miss something. You can't always be there... life goes on. Learning to say no has allowed me to have more quality time for myself and with Adam, it's really nice. I don't know why I didn't do it a long time ago, but I think that's part of growing up.

The other week, my family and I went on a brewery tour to the Harriet Brewery. It was awesome. I highly recommend going if you like beer. They were really friendly and it was inspiring to see so many people following their passion. It's easy to see how happy people are when they really love their job. After the tour, we were going to go out to dinner. I spent a couple days looking at different restaurants in the area and found one that I thought would go over with everyone. My family loves food, but we all like different things and as I discovered very different qualities. I wanted to go to a pub and my brother to a buffet. A buffet that has sushi. Ummm, no. In my opinion, sushi should not be at a buffet. His reasoning was that the price would be cheaper, by $2. Despite my protests, we ended up at the buffet. As I watched my brother pile his plate high with shrimp, I realized that he hasn't experienced quality so he still goes after quantity. I'm not a foodie, more of a food appreciator, but I've eaten some amazing food and less often is more.

I remember as a kid being excited about having a lot of halloween candy. Now, I'm happy with just two pieces of dark chocolate. Is this another part of growing up? Learning to know that quantity doesn't always make it better? If so, I'm ready to turn 30 and the quality I have yet to discover.

Mac & Cheese

This is a recipe I found off of Cooks.com, it's pretty much the best Mac & Cheese I've ever had.
I get asked for the recipe a lot, so figured I'd just post it out there (and I wanted to pin it to pintrest, but there wasn't a photo with the recipe).

CROCK POT MACARONI & CHEESE

2 c. dry macaroni
2 lb. box Velveeta cheese
1 stick butter
3 c. milk

Cook macaroni until almost done. In crock pot on high, mix butter and cheese cut in small pieces until melted. Add macaroni, milk and stir well. Set crock pot on low until meal time, stirring occasionally.

This is a photo of my crockpot when the recipe is doubled.