Five in Two

Picture Credits

In the next week, I will have two days off in a row. This is a rarity in my life, and therefore am going to set some goals for myself. I want to accomplish five things in these two days:

1. Clean and Organize my closet for Fall.
2. Make two/three batches of soup that I can freeze for easy lunches.
3. Move the old couch into the guest bedroom so that it can now be a place for Ian and I to hang out together.
4. Re-arrange/Decorate the guest bedroom.
5. Work on my Senior Project. (Really, this should be first on the list. But I put it last so it doesn't seem as intimidating. Ha.)

There you have it! Now that it is all written out....I have to do it. Isn't that the way it works?

Love,
Miranda

Red Sky

I had an interesting experience this morning.

I am sure that you have heard the old rhyme:

Red sky at night, Sailor's delight.
Red sky in morning, Sailors take warning.

I was getting ready before the sun rose, when all of a sudden, our bedroom was absolutely pink. I peeked out to find a red sky over Minneapolis - and I was reminded of this rhyme. Most likely, it is just a fall storm (one that I will relish every second of), but for a slight moment, I felt as if something else was coming - and it made me uneasy. Who knows? Only God does.

Other than this unsettling moment, the morning was fantastic. It was raining when I left the apartment, as predicted, so with my heels tapping the wet pavement, I danced down the sidewalk to Vince Guaraldi. Brilliant man, I tell you. Wonderful music. And what a wonderful morning it has turned out to be.

Love,
Miranda

Photography Pix

Finally

Hello, blogging world! It's been a VERY long time, and a much needed break. Let me fill you in on what has been happening:

First off - my absence from the blogging world. If you read my blog before, you know that I have not blogged for at least a month. To be honest, I don't really understand what made me want to stop blogging for as long as I did, but I know that I loved the break. I wanted to live life, and not have the accountability that I put on myself through blogging. It was great to just experience things and not document them - and it was good.

Well - now I'm back. :) Hello! Since my last post, I have started my last semester at school, surprised my family at Disneyland, Keeley has moved on to South Dakota and then Arizona, and it is FALL! I am truly loving the brisk weather, and my house smells like cinnamon and spice with all of the candles I have been burning.

So...what have you been up to? How's the blogging world? I guess I'll soon find out!

Love,
Miranda

Wishes

According to my husband, I do not need any more sweaters! But you all know the truth...a girl can never have too many sweaters. Am I right? Yes.

I found one that I really love. It is part of H&M's Fall collection.

H & M

Isn't it beautiful? Mmmm. And then, there are these shoes. Mmmm.

Minnetonka Moccasins

They would be absolutely spectacular with a skirt and one of my sweaters. Mmmm. :)

Love,
Miranda

Twenty Minute Project

The other day, while I was trying on fall outfits (yes, I have done this quite a lot in the past few weeks), I decided to modify one of my blouses. It is one of the blouses I have thrifted (you can see it here) - and the collar is beautiful, but the sleeves were not working for me. I wanted a shirt that could be worn under sweaters and dresses this fall - and the sleeves just wouldn't lay right.

So...I took the sleeves off.

This is what it looks like as is. It is still pretty boxy. If I wanted to wear it as a sleeveless top, I would need to modify the shoulders more to give it some shape...but for it's intended purpose, just hemming the existing seam was perfect. It took around 20 minutes by hand. (I also listened to my Glen Miller record while sewing...it was very enjoyable!)

And this is the final product! I love the fact that I can wear it under anything, and it doesn't feel bulky and make wierd wrinkles around my armpits. :)

Well, there you have it! I can't wait to break it in with all of my sweaters this fall.

Love,
Miranda

A Perfect Date

Ian took me on a date last night. :)  It was wonderful - he planned everything all by himself, and I had a wonderful time!

He told me that he wanted to take me somewhere new - so first, he took me to The Anchor Restaurant. It is a cute little Irish restaurant in North Minneapolis.  It was adorable, the service was great, and the food was fantastic!

The Anchor

Ian had the Fish and Chips (pictured above), and I had the Meat Pastie (which is a ball of mashed potatoes, vegetables, and pork rolled up and fried!). Both dishes were fantastic.

After this, we went to McDonald's and got ice-cream cones. :) The weather was perfect, so we ate them outside. While trying to keep the cone from dripping everywhere, Ian suggested that we go on a bike ride.

Now, I like biking, but the bike I have now is very different from my old bike, and the handlebars are smaller, the back brake doesn't work, and it is so tall that I have to jump on it to get started. I wasn't keen on going down hills - but he took me on the Greenway, which is super close to our apartment. It is a beautiful ride, with no hills - and no cars! We went all the way around Lake of the Isles. 

It was beautiful! I wish I would have taken the camera - the sun was setting, and there was a lovely breeze that kept us cool the whole time. I had a wonderful time! Ian was very excited, because he LOVES biking.

Yup - he did a great job! :)

Love,
Miranda

Test Run

redbubble.com

As of the 31st of this month, I will be starting school again. I am enjoying the anticipation of waiting, the back to school shopping, and the planning. There will be something different this semester though - I'll be a full blown commuter.

Since I plan on taking the bus everywhere (it is so much easier, and I can go straight to work from school), I will have to take everything with me when I leave in the morning. I had the urge to come downtown today (I'm at Panera right now. Ian met me for lunch earlier, the dear!) and test run the bag I got for my travels. It is heavy with everything that I need in it (and believe me, I made sure I was down to the bare essentials!) It's going to be difficult...but I am up to the challenge.

Here is what my schedule will look like:

On a day that I work in the morning - Leave the house at 7:00. First class at 7:45. Leave immediatley via light rail to the MOA, and open the store at 9:30. When I am done, take the light rail and bus back home.

On a day that I work later - Leave the house at 7:00. First class at 7:45. Find a quiet place where I can plug my computer in and work on homework (School Library, Down Town Library, Barnes and Noble, Panera), and stay there until I leave via bus or light rail for work.

I am hoping with the time that I have for doing homework, I will actually get my Senior Project (a 50 page paper) done with little to no stress. Knowing me, and my love of procrastination - we'll see how that goes.
I'm going to give it the old college try, though!

Love,
Miranda