Oh, Happy Friday! You know, one of those Fabulous Friday nights, when you go out with a completely cool couple, previously unknown, and just have an enormously great time? This was one of those Fridays, thanks to Sheri & Darin Lynch (Darin is a basketball/client friend of John's). Yeah, good times, and good food to boot. Dinner and lots - LOTS - of yummy Foris '06 Pinot Noir, at Campiello in Eden Prairie. D'Amico, baby, they always know how to do you up, oh yeah. As an appy, we split uber-crispy/spicy calamari, as well as a rich (!), truffly-creamy linguine, mmm. I had a delicious homemade ravioli with roasted chicken and mushrooms, although my true main course was merrily chatting with lovely Sheri, ha. Other dishes 'round the table included gnocchi with slow-roasted pork and taglietelle with bolognese, both of which I was mighty tempted to order myself. All in all, such a fun night, thank you Lynch's for a lovely dinner! (No, I didn't bring my camera, and yes, I wish that I had...)

Other than that? I'm thinking John and I need a very serious run to the grocery store tomorrow to stock up for the supposedly-coming snow storm. Soup, soup, soup, to counter the six-to-ten inches of snow...? We'll see. Nothing will ever compare to the Halloween Blizzard of '91 (yes, I know how old that makes me sound), when I was young and foolish. Was I lovin' my curly hair? Unlined face? Unplucked brows? That was literally Halloween Blizzard Weekend, my friends... Hunkered down at my boyfriend's house, lucky to have arrived in one piece. My car ended up buried outside - looked out the window, it was just...gone - so we went exactly nowhere for the whole weekend. I baked several frozen pizzas and drank quarts of hot chocolate (healthy, ha). Wow, sixteen years ago, what a difference, ahem, the face she is a-changing (sigh)... Well, anyhow, if it's going to snow, bring it on. It'll be the weekend, we just got a pile of wood delivered today, and hey, I even have a Christmas tree! I'm ready.

So, if you're looking for things to do this snowbound weekend (that don't include frozen pizzas!)...how 'bout baking Foccacia Bread (pictured above) or Rockin' Challah ? Or...a batch of Lindsay's Dipped Gingersnaps? Or... if you're feeling carnivorous, a buttery, roasted chicken (with or without a Chicko, it's all good...)? Or...if after a snowy hike, you're massively craving carbs, Spaghetti All-Amatriciana? Oh, such cozy options, there's nothing like cooking/baking on a cold, snowy weekend (except perhaps grilling/chilling on a fabulously warm, sunny one, but you know, we Minnesotans take what we can get...). Enjoy!

Bloggin' on the porch on a lovely Saturday morning...ahhh...doesn't get much nicer than this. All my hard work is paying off and I'm actually starting to enjoy the spaces I've endeavored to clean up and beautify. NICE! I still have a chair to spray-paint, hopefully today, and other bits and pieces of things to do, but I'm nearing the end. And chillin'...yeah, baby!

I had such a nice day yesterday, too. Opened with Friday Morning Coffee with Suz - really, is there a better way to start one's day? - who in a twist on our usual routine, picked me up and we headed over to the Edina Art Fair. We did some serious wallet damage (ouch!) buying gifts for others and, uh, ourselves. Namely, necklace-type gifts. Suz didn't buy the one she's modeling here - it was WAY expensive, thus the look of longing on her face - but she did get a gorgeous one. And so did I! Some woman wanted to damn near buy it off my neck and Suz was like, step back, lady! Gotta love friends who will defend one's shopping turf - take that, beyotch, ha! And don't mess with Suz's dimples! After a yummy lunch at D'Amico and Sons (with all the rest of the women shopping at the Art Fair, ha), she dropped me off and was on her way.

Then last night was Baseball Moms, woo hoo! And a baseball game, to which I and co-Jiffy mom Nancy showed up a bit, er, late. I was totally busted by a "where WERE you?" from Nathan, but he had lots of fans there to support him, including Stace and Cooper Cuteness. Who had to don his adorable rain jacket because shortly after I arrived the skies opened and it POURED, sending everyone scattering for shelter. The rain did quit, and the game did proceed, and when it was done John and I headed over to Beaujo's Wine Bar for a late snack/dinner. After a lovely salad, and bowl of asparagus soup, it was time for beddy-bye, bye, bye. Nice way to end the week - and nice way to start the weekend, huh? Sparkly-necklace-shopping with Suz, beer and chat with the Baseball Moms, and a late evening meal with my husband? Sheesh!

It's supposed to rain, rain, rain today but I'll enjoy this window of sunshine while we have it. You enjoy your Saturday as well! Perhaps I'll grill me some pork ribs tonight, hmmmm, stay tuned...

Update: well dang, those ribs were mighty, mighty fine. Fall-off-the-bone tender, crisped up with BBQ sauce on the grill, we devoured them in oh, about 3 minutes. Luckily, they are no work whatsoever. I popped them in the oven and let them slow-bake while John and I went to a movie. A few hours later, a quick pass on the grill, and time to Dig In, yum. I forced portion control on us all by buying only a pound - by the time the bones are out, no one could eat too terribly much, which is a good thing. A few ribs go a looong way calorie-wise. And I just made a simple green salad as a side. As fabulous as slaw and biscuits would be - Lawdy! - it's nice to let the ribs be the star. Plus, there's that damn moderation thing...

Forgot to say yesterday that I FINALLY pulled off Friday Morning Coffee with Suz this week - woo hoo! With vacations and deaths and birthdays and what is generally known as life constantly intervening, we are far from our weekly groove lately. I was sooooo needing to laugh, and laugh we did, whew it was great. We had so much to talk about I had to send her a pre-coffee, warm-up email, ha. Next time I'll have to update her on...

...Cooper's birthday party today! My little red-haired nephew celebrated turning the Big 01 today, in his new home, in the presence of all five of his grandparents, a couple of aunts and uncles (including Mary & Bruce), his one and only cousin (Nathan!), lots and lots of friends, and his proud mommy and daddy. Stace and Bowen brought in a buffet of tasties from D'Amico & Sons - spaghetti with meatballs, ravioli, pizza, salads. Susanna made a lovely pot of Potage St. Germain soup (pureed peas, lettuces, and leeks, spring-in-a bowl, yum). Of course there was the must-have, butter-cream-iced cake from Wuollet Bakery. The Coopster was a Super-Star, the most chill one-year old birthday boy I've ever seen. As in, he actually calmly played with his gifts as he opened them, instead of frantically tossing them aside and playing with the boxes. He squished some birthday cake, happily let everyone hold him, talked on cue, and had a nice little mid-afternoon birthday nap. Turning 1 in style, that's our boy - Happy Birthday Cooper Cuteness!