Anthony with Josiah and Doug at the MN State Fair Talent Show. They were robbed by a cute girl in an awesome dress which shouldn't have made up for her lacking voice and uninspired lyrics. So goes talent shows.
Julie @ 10:28 AM Permalink |

My new favorite thing to do for lunch is visiting the various food trucks that have started inhabiting downtown St. Paul. If you follow me on twitter you already know this. But you should try them too, they have yet to disappoint. So far I've tried:


@128cafe



@chefshack1


And @forknroadtruck

I'm looking forward to trying Barrio's Truck or maybe Meritage's crepe stand soon. There are lots more in Mpls too! Find them all through @tcstreetfood
Julie @ 11:15 AM Permalink |

Things were on sale last week and I may have bought impulsively, but how awesome are these shoes and this dress?

I got the shoes used (but I can't even tell, I think I "used" them more trying them on in my bedroom) on Amazon Warehouse (didn't know this existed before now) for less than half the price that Piperlime was asking. Plus, Piperlime had sold out of my size.

And the dress was on final sale with an additional 20% off with a coupon code. I couldn't even buy it on ebay cheaper. I even tried making an offer to an ebay seller for the same price as J. Crew's sale website and they turned me down.

So excited to wear this. Now, I just need to decide which shrug from my collection to add (it will be October) and will probably also add some opaque black tights and big earrings too.
Julie @ 9:30 AM Permalink |

The fair starts on Thursday this week and I'm really excited. We are planning to go at least 3 times.

Recently, our church (Church of the Good Shepherd United Methodist) merged with Hamline United Methodist Church with a simplified name of Hamline Church. It just so happens that Hamline has a dining hall at the fair that my parents and I have been going to forever and this year Anthony and I are going to staff it for a day.

Here are mom and I in front of the Hamline Dining Hall in 2007.


Anthony is playing in the State Fair Talent Show twice this year. The first will be him solo on Thursday night at 6:00 pm. So if you are at the fair on the first night come on over to the Leinie Lodge to hear him sing "Julie Mae". *Swoon* The second will be Sunday night also at 6:00 pm backing his friend Josiah Erickson.

Here they are at tryouts. Sorry the color is so bad, it was a sunny day and I was far away.

Plus we scored Carried Underwood tickets for Tuesday night!

I'm also loving these old photos of the state fair from the Minnesota Historical Society. I want to frame them all and put them on my walls (of course). Who doesn't love the fair?!

Julie @ 12:05 PM Permalink |

via design*sponge
For you folks that need some inspiration to hang pictures, Design Sponge posted her favorite "gallery walls" from homes she's featured on her blog. http://tinyurl.com/2uaxdul This is my preferred way to display art, but it's too much for some. Maybe just one wall in the bathroom?

I was shocked to hear that my friends and family don't know what or where to put on their walls!

My tips are:
• Don't think of it as permanent. I switch out photos from frames all the time. Who cares if there are a couple holes in the wall, where you moved something. No one will notice.
• Don't worry if the frames don't line up perfectly. Again, no one will notice. I'm more of an eye-ball-it kind of gal. However, I'm blessed with a semi-perfectionist nail pounder who relies on his tape measure and level. So, I kind of lucked out.
• Don't pay full price for frames. Prior to being married I was a Target end-cap clearance maven. Thus, I have more frames than I need (and more than my husband wanted to move). Unless it is awesome art that you purchased, don't get a custom frame. Something from Ikea will probably do just as well. (I cheated a bit on this recently.)
• Just put up stuff you like. Love your pet? Put their face on the wall. Love your cocktails? Take a picture at your next happy hour. Miss the view from your parent's backyard? Put it in a frame. I also like the idea of scanning old photos and having them reprinted. You've got to have some picture that you took that you like.
• Put a few together. I generally don't print photographs bigger than 8x10 because the prints and frames are expensive. However, one doesn't really fill up a wall, so do a block of 4 or a line of 3.
• Online photo resources are your friend. Personally, I prefer Flickr because they keep the original size of my photo, I can share it online, I can edit online (if needed) and order online through snapfish. P.S. Snapfish is your friend too, $.09 per 4x6 print. Yes, please.
• Etsy is your friend. I want, like, everything on there. Take a look through my favorites for examples.

Want more help? Call me and I will come to your house.
Julie @ 2:03 PM Permalink |

I love to be surrounded by pictures and prints of beautiful things and people I love. It never looks like too much too me, so on Friday we added a few more to our growing photo wall. (Sorry about all the glare, our bay window is just too good:)

The "before" shot. I had moved a large print to the other side of the room and these 3 together just didn't fill out the space. It felt out of proportion. I had these two prints framed and didn't quite know where they would end up.

I love this print by my childhood friend Terese Elhard. It's taken up on her family's farm in Northome (near the Albrecht's family farm too). The words in barbed wire are just so cool. And the 'E' is in her handwriting, which is just like her mom's. They were our neighbors growing up in Bemidji and they used to have an 'E' painted above their garage door just like that. You can see her other art and contact her about prints here: //mysterese.com

Here is how it turned out. I have been begging Anthony to hang a guitar on the wall forever and he picked up a mount at Guitar Center a while ago. I just love that it looks cool and he can just pick up his guitar and play anytime he feels. He doesn't think the guitar is good enough to display. But it just makes it all the more OK if something bad happens to it. To the right of the guitar are a picture of my apartment building in New York City and a favorite shot from our wedding with my bridesmaids. (Obama is on the adjacent wall, I love that print too. Stars and Stripes By Phil Fung)

To the left are the same Elizabeth Taylor Warhol print (clearance from SFMOMA) and a shot of Julie G. with a red neon light shining on her at Bridgid's in Bemidji. Unfortunately, we are going to have to cover our old holes. You'd have thought all of those pictures would have covered them up, but alas, no.

The Minnesota print ended up next to the entertainment center. It replaced a print of the Chrysler building. Not sure where I should put that either. For now, it's in the closet.

We also added two more pics to the other end of the room. Angi's Lotus 2 and one of Anthony singing in his old kitchen. Makes it more dimond-y shaped than the previous arrangement.

The whole wall. I didn't get a shot of it but we also put up the hoop I embroidered for our wedding by the TV. Maybe some day I'll convince Anthony to let me rearrange the furniture, but I'm happy with it for now.
Julie @ 12:01 PM Permalink |