Hello Short Hair!

I took the plunge this weekend and cut off my hair :) Well, most of it anyway. I had been growing my hair out to be long for the wedding and had told myself I'd finally cut it off after the wedding. Well we're about 9 months after the wedding and I just now held to my vision. But it's the perfect timing with summer upon us (95 degrees here today!).

I also have to say that I've never had hair this short in my life (okay... maybe at age 3...) so it's quite the change for me. But I walked out of the salon Saturday feeling like a new and free woman. I'm definitely still adjusting to the new cut and style, but I love it and enjoy experimenting with new ways I can wear my hair now. Nick has been supportive about my hair journey this weekend ;) he's listened to me try to describe to him how big of a change it is, told me how good it looks when I couldn't get it to look "right" and has been learning more about the hair of a woman and the products/gizmos needed to style it.

Here are some before and after photos:

Loving my new cut :)

Homemade Pasta Sauce

I'm a bit of a picky pasta sauce eater and I found this recipe for sauce I love! We've also tried it with ground beef and it's great that way too. Sided with some asparagus baked with some olive oil and a tad of salt - yum! Asparagus is in season and more affordable right now too - bonus!

Simple Pasta Sauce:
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tsp Dried Basil
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I used diced)
Salt and Pepper to Taste

Directions:
In a large skillet over medium heat, saute garlic in the oil for about 2 minutes, until it is tender (it also makes a great aroma). Stir in the tomatoes and basil. Season with salt and pepper and cook 15 - 20 minutes until it slightly thickens. Enjoy!

Foot in the Door

We were able to check out the Minneapolis Institute of Arts this weekend. They have a great exhibit going on (for free!) called Foot in the Door. This exhibit happens only every 10 years, and they allow Minnesota artists of all kinds to submit work for this exhibit. Anyone can submit as long as the work fits within 1 cubic foot.

This year was the 4th time they've had this exhibit - the first one, in 1980, had 470 artists - today, they have over 5,000 pieces of work in the exhibit and is the state's largest exhibition. There are some very unique works and many that cause conversation about what it is or why it was created. Someone could spend hours and hours looking at all of the artwork. It was amazing and caused us to redefine our definition of art.

Happy Mother's Day!

My mom and dad were able to come visit us this Mother's Day and we had a great time having them here. We ended up exploring a few lakes and trails and took them to see the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden since we enjoyed it when we went back in January. It turned out to be a beautiful day! Here are some photos from the day...

The Spoonbridge and Cherry spouts water out of the stem during the warm months.. kids sure loved getting sprayed! In January, we were able to walk up to it, but there's water there now. I love the refection it makes in the water.

Dad and I by a lake not far from where we live



Mama Duck and her babies taking a Mother's Day swim at the lake

Mom and I with pretty flowers at the sculpture garden

Nick and I trying to take a photo while getting sprayed by the cherry stem...

Pretty flowers at the indoor conservatory

Homemade Granola Bars

A coworker of mine brought these really good looking granola bars this week so I had to ask her about them. She said they were homemade and she brought one the next day for me to try. YUM it was so good, I had to get the recipe. Here it is:


Ingredients:
2 Cups Oats
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Ground Flax Seed
1/2 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Vanilla
1/2 Cup Honey

Add-Ins: You can experiment with other add-ins and find what you like...
1/3 Cup Dark Chocolate Chips
1/4 Cup Coconut - we didn't have any, so we left this out
1/4 Cup Sliced Almonds


Mix all together except for honey, and once everything is mixed well, add the honey and that will make everything stick together. Bake in a greased pan at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Nick and I really enjoyed these - hope you do too!