The Grandma Skirt

Maya here! While Dionne was visiting us, we took a short trip at a consignment shop nearby called The Second Showing. While we were there, I bought a skirt. I didn't pay very much mind to the brand, but rather to the actual design. I like pleated skirts and polka dots. It wasn't until days later that I overheard my mom on the phone saying it was an old lady brand. Talbot's.




Shirt- Gap; Skirt- Talbot's via The Second Showing; Shoes- Payless; Purse- vintage via Saver's, borrowed from mom; Hat- Tater Red's, borrowed from mom


April here. Now, to be fair, the exact thing I said was "I thought it was awesome that Maya was able to take a skirt from an old lady store and make it look young and fresh." But of course, Maya picked up on "old lady store" part. I think it does bring up a good point, that we always need to think outside the box and don't judge an entire store by its image when shopping. Who knows, next time I venture to the mall I may take a peek at the sales rack at Christopher and Banks.

Speaking of older ladies, and how fabulous they can be, have you seen the blog Advanced Style? I want to be all of these ladies when I grow up, even if it means shopping at Talbot's.


Entered in Rule Breaking Monday

Day Trippin': Three States in One Day- Part 2

After leaving Lanesboro, Dionne and I headed toward Decorah, Iowa. It was an incredibly gorgeous day, despite the humidity, so it wasn't long before we stopped to admire the view.





A little homage to Children of the Corn

We weren't on the road again long before we were distracted by yet another glorious site. A big sign that simply said "Honey," with an arrow pointing up a driveway. I'm never one to turn down a roadside honey stand. It once led me to my first taste of orange blossom honey on a back road in Florida.



The honey was sold by an Amish family, and a polite young man pointed us in the right direction. It was also self serve. I'm so glad that the honor system is alive and well in some parts of the world.


And finally, the people of Iowa welcomed us to their fields of opportunities.

We arrived in Decorah and didn't really have a plan. I'd only visited once, when I worked at the Commonweal in Lanesboro and wanted to do my grocery shopping somewhere other than La Crosse or Rochester. It's a college town of under 10,000 with a strong Norwegian heritage and is home of the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum as well as Luther College. We found the main street and decided to have a look around.
Almost immediately we stumbled upon Sugar Bowl Ice Cream Company.



Ice cream parlors that try to exactly replicate 1950s soda fountains are a dime a dozen. Sugar Bowl is definitely not of that ilk. The building itself is new construction, and the best way I could describe the interior is Scandinavian minimalism meets classic Americana. I spoke a little with the owner, and he said that he'd worked on the shop for about eight years. His diligence certainly paid off.





A great touch is that all of the signage and memorabilia has been completely restored, adding to the clean and simple feel of the shop.





I know you're probably thinking, "Yeah yeah yeah but what about the ice cream?"


The ice cream was delicious. I had a root beer float, which I tend to get obsessed with in the summer, and Dionne had blueberry cheesecake.

After our snack, we looked around a bit more. If I were a location scout, I would jump to shoot in Decorah if I needed a pre-1960 street. Water Street is beautifully preserved. They even had something I've heard about from the old days, but never seen before.


Before the advent of Wal-mart and shopping malls, free standing, downtown department stores were the norm. If you live in a smaller town or city, just ask any older person if they remember where the JCPenney or Sears used to be. They'll probably point out a building that now houses a bank or office suites. Hopefully they won't point out a parking lot.








On the door of a tattoo shop. I think it's safe to venture that it's best to make an appointment.

After a quick stop at the post office, we said goodbye and headed back toward La Crosse.




We did make a quick stop to admire the sunset. The trip home was uneventful. More lovely scenery, sparse traffic and Amos Lee on the stereo. Then, leaving Lansing, Iowa, we came upon the scariest bridge I have ever encountered.


I took this photo from the Wisconsin side. I'm not afraid of heights or bridges, but this thing seriously had me on edge. It's very narrow and instead of an asphalt bed, the roadway is just metal grate. It's incredibly loud to drive on, making you feel like you're going faster than you really are. Plus, there's no real warning that it's coming up. Just a sign that says to turn right and then you're facing a steep incline that makes it impossible to see what's coming.


That smile? It's a smile of absolute relief.

I can't wait to see Dionne's updated tattoo. I think she's going to get state flowers for Minnesota and Iowa.

We're taking it easy this weekend with no day trips, but I'm looking for fun, inexpensive places to explore in the coming weeks.

I Told You I Was Trouble, You Know That I'm No Good

Source

Last Saturday after we woke up, Dionne logged onto the computer and hopped over to Facebook. Within seconds she said "Amy Winehouse died."

My first reaction was to tell her to go to TMZ to confirm. Now, I don't usually go hopping to TMZ to confirm major news events, but I do go there to confirm celebrity news. They were the first to break Heath Ledger's death, so I put a lot of faith in them.

My second reaction was that this was not a surprise. It's never a surprise when a known addict dies. It's sad, and wasteful, but never a surprise.

I've been thinking about writing about this for awhile, but didn't really know where to start. Firstly, I didn't want anyone chastising me for not writing a detailed post about what happened in Norway, or about any other tragedies that have occurred in the world recently. Is it bad that I feel compelled to write about this? I don't think so. I've seen friends and family struggle with addiction. I am the child of an addict. I have lost friends to the direct effects of addiction and to the violence and car accidents that are related. Considering how much of a party girl I was, I find myself lucky to have escaped with only an addiction to nicotine.

What finally compelled me to write about this was a conversation I had with Angie last night. We talked about people's reactions to Winehouse's death, how the jokes were almost immediate, and something Angie said really struck a chord. "Would these people make a joke on Facebook about someone who had just lost a five year battle with cancer?"

Look, I get it. People make jokes about horrible things. I'm guilty of it myself. I used to laugh hysterically at my late friend Jake's dead baby jokes. I'm not trying to make anyone feel bad for being one of the 20 people on my news feed who made a joke about Amy saying no to rehab. Well, I will make you feel bad for your utter lack of originality, but that's neither here nor there.

I think this goes beyond another sad story of the wasted life of a talented young person. What makes me pause is that the things said about Amy Winehouse are indicative of the way that our entire culture views addiction and other mental illnesses. Too often we don't exhibit compassion, only scorn and ridicule.

You may say that an addict's struggles are entirely self inflicted. In many ways you'd be right. But would you fail to give compassion to someone who has heart disease, because they didn't eat perfectly their entire life? Most people with chemical dependency start out self medicating a deeper problem such as depression or anxiety. Addiction rarely starts with a healthy person. Saying that addicts just lack discipline and willpower is like saying that people with depression should just "be happy" and "get over it." It shows complete ignorance of the nature of these illnesses.

Showing compassion does not mean that you are condoning the behavior. It doesn't mean that you are letting the person not take responsibility for their actions. Accepting responsibility is the fifth step in the 12 step program. Steps eight and nine are about making amends. When an addict admits they have a disease, they are not relinquishing responsibility, they are finally embracing it.

Dr. Drew Pinsky has said that addiction is the only disease that you have to convince someone they have. In most cases can't just take a pill or have surgery to correct the problem. If there is medication available, such as methadone, it's just as addictive as the original drug.

Also, recovery is a lifelong process. You are always a recovering addict. The recovery process requires constant vigilance and personal development in order to succeed. And even then you don't always succeed. Recidivism rates are high, as are death rates.

I am addicted to nicotine. I have not been a regular smoker since 2003, but I know that if I let my guard down I could be back up to a pack a day in no time. That occasional cigarette when I've had a couple of drinks could easily become a habit again. It almost did early this year when I was having a particularly stressful time. Cigarette addiction may not destroy a person's life as drastically or with the same speed as other drugs, but the nature of the addiction is the same. I am still triggered by stress, and by seeing others smoke. Sometimes I can't watch Mad Men without wanting all the cigarettes in the world.

The mechanism of nicotine addiction has been compared to that of heroine. Both are physically and psychologically addictive, and strongly tied to habit as well as biological changes. So when I see someone struggling with an addiction to alcohol a hard drug, I go to those days when I couldn't even go to a bar because I knew I would end up smoking, when I would stand out in the cold to smoke, and I try to walk a mile in their shoes. I imagine what it would have been like if I'd become addicted to something other than nicotine, something more insidious. I think that for many of us, only one or two good choices separate us from tragedy.

Free for All Friday: Outtakes

I take a lot of pictures, and many of them never make it into blog posts even though I like them. I shared a few of these before. Here's the latest roundup of outtakes. This summer's been pretty awesome so far.



















Have a wonderful weekend! I plan on catching up on neglected housework and doing some reading.
If you haven't entered our giveaway already, it ends Sunday, so don't miss out!

What are your weekend plans?

I Get So Promotional

My best friend, Angie, is shooting her first video today! While I'm bummed that I couldn't be there to help out like I wanted, I'm so excited that this is finally happening. The song, "Right Into You," is a lovely pop-country ballad that's perfect for summer.

The video shoot is truly a labor of love. Our mutual friend Jeff is directing, and Angie's roomies and friends are helping with production. I can't wait to see it.

If you want to be one of the first to see the finished video, just sign up for Angie's mailing list using the widget below. You'll get lots of exclusive news, videos and photos--in a non spammy way of course.

Throwback Thursday: Mommy Meals

The other day I got home from work, and decided that instead of making a salad or pasta or something else super wholesome and healthy, I would make us the kind of meal we used to have a lot when Maya was little.

My best friend always called them "mommy meals." Meals that aren't completely unhealthy, but have a good dose of processed comfort foods.



Pretty simple. Breaded chicken, bread, mac and cheese, strawberries and baby carrots. If you don't have a juice box, a big glass of milk is the perfect accompaniment. I also had to bust out the plastic plates for this occasion.

Pro tip: When making boxed mac and cheese, I always substitute the milk and butter with plain Greek yogurt. I think it makes it creamier and tastier. Plus, it helps cut down that scary color that some cheese powders have. Plain Greek yogurt is just great to have around anyway. I sub it for sour cream, use it in smoothies, and add honey to it to use in my parfaits.

Making this meal also got me thinking about the kinds of things we ate when I was little. My mom is a nurse, and is pretty savvy about nutrition. We always had fresh fruits and veggies around and ate fairly healthily, especially for the 80s, when processed food was still considered the time saving life force of humanity. However, she was a single mom who worked third shift, so we often had a fridge and freezer stocked with convenience foods. I have to say I loved me some Salisbury steaks, and to this day I will occasionally buy an sodium packed Banquet Salisbury Steak dinner just for the nostalgia factor. Like the bologna sandwiches I mentioned before, it's a guilty pleasure.

What foods do you associate with your childhood?

Day Trippin': Three States in One Day- Part 1

My friend Dionne has one of the coolest tattoos ever.


Click to enlarge

She has a goal to have visited all 50 states before 2014. She fills in a state with a detail from the flag or the state flower whenever she visits one. This was her first trip to Wisconsin, but she got it filled in at the same time as some others because she knew she was coming to visit us.

She landed in Minneapolis, but we didn't really spend much time there since she got home so late. La Crosse is in a tri-state area, so on Saturday we decided to eat breakfast in Wisconsin, lunch in Minnesota and dinner in Iowa. It turned out a little differently, but I think the best part of travel is going with the flow.


We woke up fairly late, so we actually started the day with a late breakfast at Marge's, a diner here in town that is only open for breakfast and lunch. They are firm believers in gigantic portions


Trevor's burrito. He took home more than half.

We didn't head to Minnesota right away. There were still showers to be taken and consignment store shopping to be done. Eventually we headed across the river.


Minnesota's got fancy signs.

We headed to Lanesboro, where I worked as a stage manager at the Commonweal Theatre in 2007. When I arrived in Lanesboro on a winter night four years ago, I felt like I was entering a snow globe village as we drove down into the valley. In addition to the theatre, people also come to Lanesboro to hop on the bicycle trails and river activities like kayaking, tubing and canoeing. It's a beautiful little town of less than 800 people, but it's bustling in the summer.

For a late lunch/early dinner, we hit up one of my favorite haunts, Pedal Pushers.  I ate there a lot before shows when I worked at the theatre.


Housed in an old drug store, Pedal Pushers features classic diner food with a dedication to locally sourced ingredients. It's the best of both worlds. I indulged a bit with a Great Balls of Fire burger, fries and a root beer. Dionne had lasagna and we shared an order of cheese curds.



I was telling Dionne about my friend Jerome, and how he and another actor used to sneak over to Pedal Pushers during the show for coffee and pie. I was sad because I thought that he had already gone to California for grad school. Turns out, he's in town for another month or so and working at Pedal Pushers until he leaves!


I had to include both of these, because if you put them together, they'd make a great picture.

We wandered around for awhile after we ate. There are at on of cute shops in Lanesboro offering everything from handcrafted jewelry to Amish goods to your basic state themed tourist fodder.

This diner has been "Coming Soon" for at least a year. I can't wait until it's open.

Dionne and I are both old enough to remember when phone booths were more prevalent, but it's still pretty fun to see one.


My favorite shop in Lanesboro is Slant Avenue Mercantile. It's a well curated, beautifully merchandised shop chock full of gifts, stationery, classic toys, home decor, locally produced coffee and more.




You can tell that there was even careful thought put into the candy selection. I could seriously spend quite a bit of time and money in there if I had it. However, we were short on both so after a quick stop for something to drink we headed for Iowa. I'm breaking this up into two posts so that I don't bombard you with pictures. We kind of discovered the coolest ice cream parlor ever.

Until then, let me reiterate that Lanesboro is a pretty nice little place to visit if you find yourself in southeast Minnesota.