Tuesday With Vous

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

The Redcoat on New Year's Day Edition

Last week I asked Kate if she was going to invite me to contribute to Tuesday With Vous, and she said yes!! It was coincidental that she then suggested I do next week which just happened to be New Year's Day.  I had already decided it was unlikely that I was going to follow her usual structure as I doubted I had the patience to take a photo on the hour, every hour, so I broke from that format and did my own thing.  I'm married to her, I don't have to play by the rules... So, without further ado, let's begin.

It was most exciting to be greeted by a very blue sky first thing in the morning, (okay - it was actually 10 am before we got up - sorry, before I got up, Kate was still in bed) as we have not experienced such a glorious splendor very often since we arrived here, back in May.

 This was less exciting.........

But this made me feel better again, to see the sun warming our little Christmas Fern. It is actually a Norfolk Island Fern - which we both love because we don't have to pick up any needles and we can re-use it again next year.

I went out for a quick stroll and thought how appropriate this signage was for the start of a new year. I had not noticed it before.

And when I got back, I prepared breakfast for us both. I know, uncooked sausages are not particularly attractive or appetizing to look at. Take my word for it though, they were very tasty.

After breakfast and because it was so nice out, we decided to go for a walk. I got these shoes out in readiness.........

Kate said, "I thought we were going on an athletic walk."  So, a little reluctantly, I put these on instead.

 And we set off!! It was a melancholy day for Kate, so I decided to keep my distance. We did walk together at some points but mostly we were at a distance........

It was therefore not total harmony. We often walk together but not, if you see what I mean, and one of the things I love about Kate is that we are very similar in this regard. There are times when we talk as we walk, and other times when we are both quiet, reflecting on things separately, coming together at certain points on the journey and then drifting off slightly. One thing for sure though, is that we are always in perfect step with one another.

After our walk, we had some more coffee. Kate read quietly and I played Scrabble with friends on my iPhone.

This year though, I shall do less of that and more reading.  Jeff and Kim bought this for me for Christmas, and I promise to do my best to read it.  Loved the film.

It was getting dark as the sun began to set. This is at the back of where we live and I just loved the colours (colors, USA).  

And on the other side there is St John's Church. The sky was still quite blue, even in late afternoon.

Around 5 pm I opened up an email from a friend (Simon) who had written to wish us a Happy New Year. His email told the story of a French Professor who was presenting to a group of Senior Executives from a number of US companies to talk about time management. The presentation started with an experiment whereby the Professor produced an empty glass jar which he then proceeded to fill with large stones. When he could not fit anymore of the stones into the jar, the Professor asked if they thought the jar was full? To which they all cheered Yes!! The Professor then found some smaller pebbles and began to fill in the gaps between the large stones. Again he asked the question and this time the executives, starting to understand where he was going replied No! The Professor then poured sand into the Jar and finally he poured in some water. He paused at this point and stated that the purpose of the experiment was to demonstrate that if one had filled the jar up firstly with the pebbles and then the sand and water, there would not be enough room for the larger stones. The executives were a little confused, until the Professor explained the significance. What are the large stones in your life? Health? Family? Friends? Your Goals? Doing what you love? Fighting for a cause? Taking time for yourself? What we must remember is that it is most important to include the larger stones in our lives, because if we don't do so, we are likely to miss out on life altogether. If we give priority to the smaller things in life (pebbles and sand), our life will be filled with less important things. Because of this, never forget to ask yourself, what are the are stones in your life?


After reading his email I browsed through my Instagram. I have always loved Instagram, ever since Kate downloaded the app to her iPhone when it was first launched, I was so jealous!! I only had a Blackberry. Now that I have an iPhone, I can share pictures and comments with friends all over the place, it is FUN!!!

If you can get hold of this, do. I threw together some chopped carrots, spring onions, fresh ginger, garlic, mushrooms and rice noodles to make a glorious soup for our supper.

I did not take many photos after this, apart from when Kate and I played cribbage later in the evening while enjoying a couple of Manhattans, a drink Kate introduced me to. I am happy to say, however, that I did take these last two photos because I WON!!!!

Really bad photograph

And a very sad, defeated face...... LOVE YOU xxxx

Happy New Year

Kate here- hi.  Oh my glob, that picture! Atrocious.  And by atrocious, I mean a winning example of glamour.  I mean, are those forehead wrinkles?!  Whatever.  Anyway, many thanks to David for taking over photography duties for the day (though he disregarded all my posting requests- tisk tisk) and a big thank you to you for sticking with us and for checking in. Kisses!

Tuesday With Vous

Today's Tuesday With Vous is brought to you by my wonderful friend, Sarah.  She lives in Minneapolis and is always up to something interesting-  whether it be starting a new business, working a gallery opening party at the Walker, going to local shows, writing books- whatever.  She's a Jill of all trades, if you will, and I'm enormously pleased that she's taken the time to share her Tuesday with us.  Enjoy! 

As always, all italics from here on out are mine, everything else belongs to SVK.  

Tuesday, December 11
Sarah Vande Kamp Edition

I actually woke up slightly early on my day off, all to indulge in this spicy chai tea, on a bright snowy morning. I had never tried this chai before, but I would definitely recommend it! Very delish and very easy to make (just add H20).

Helped a friend come up with her Etsy store name. We also decided to form a partnership over this, and so I will be doing the business side of her clothing and jewelry design company. She is such a talent, so look out for her and Auroral Elements. 

Went to meet my friend and business partner at her house. We went for a walk in the frigid air with her dog. 

My face froze but it was invigorating.

That snow!  So jealous. Maybe?

This is delicious lunch she made for us before we got down to business. Yum!

Just starting to work on ideas for the book we are collaborating on. It is on innovation and we will being using case-studies and market research to substantiate it.

So many books. Sorry this is a boring photo, but we were still working away in the office, and I do love books.

So starts the hour in the car I spent driving, well not driving, more like surfing over the road with my car. Birthday present in hand(passenger seat), I picked up some great czech dark lager from a specialty beer store and headed to my brothers place. It's his 21st today.

More driving. Or more like "not driving." As I waited in traffic in the Uptown area of Minneapolis, I snapped this photograph. Oh Minnesota, I love you and your snow, but not on the roads...

And here is the birthday lad! Relaxing before the festivities. And here, also, are my $15.00 prescription glasses that make me feel like I'm continually looking through a fish eye lens. I only need to wear them 6 days total, due to Lasik surgery...sooon. 

This was taken exactly at 18:00, which I'm very proud of. A beautiful cityscape. 

So much MPLS skyline these days, I love it! 

Wrote a blog post for my new blog The Business Observer. It's very new, but do check it out, especially if you like businessy things. I also just started this very interesting book on Hallucinations. 

At the bar! In honor of my brother, many people showed up on a Tuesday at a great bar called The Acadia. We have dark ale, a cider, and a lighter ale pictured. Kate, you will be jealous knowing that the two beers on the right belong to Amanda Kogle and Joe Whitson.  

So so so so so jealous.  Hi, friends!

There was also live music at the bar. Yesss.

Going back to my brother's place with the gang. The snow is still clinging to the trees which I love. 

We ate cake, confused some of the other guests by using esoteric language (including the fact that we used the word esoteric), and then smoked hookah. 

I'm going to break the rules here, but I really wanted to include this picture because I like it.  

Finally in bed with one sock inside out. Long day full of morning relaxation, an afternoon of hard thinking, slippery roads, and day-end celebration. I count it as a day well spent.

Thanks, Kate, for letting me be a part of your wonderful blog. It was a pleasure, really so much fun. And it forced me to capture some great things that happened throughout my day. Miss you much xoxo.

As always, thank you for reading.  I think I'm on the cusp of another cold and am having a restful Wednesday with my laptop on the couch and Sufjan Stevens' Silver and Gold playing in my ears; I hope yours is cozy and bright day, too. 

I'll see you here tomorrow.

Tuesday With Vous

I met Angie when we were fourteen.  It was our freshman year of high school and we were sitting at the same lunch table when I said something neat, like, "I love Cool Ranch Doritos." Then, she said something funny, like, "I love the way they crunch in my mouth."  And then we started a highly intelligent conversation about the crunchiness of Doritos that, at the time, was very funny. 

Eleven years later, and she's still making me laugh.  She's also: inspiring me to embrace power tools, slowly luring me back to Minnesota, and hanging out with her bearded fiancé, Chris, and their husky-lab, Cato.  During the day, she works behind the scenes on the breath-taking visual merchandising at Anthropologie and also runs an event design company on the side.  This time of year, she's basically an Anthropologie Christmas elf, and today, we're going to share a Tuesday with her.

From here on out, all italics are mine.  Everything else belongs to Lady Trygg.

Tuesday, December 4

 Angie Trygg Edition

Cato is the snuggliest in the morning which makes it very difficult to get out of bed. Upon my getting out of bed, she uses her adorable eyes and body positions to try to lure me back. Usually it works for at least 10 minutes.

I can't believe people wake up this early.  Unless, of course, they have a plane to catch.
A plane to somewhere very fabulous.

The art room at work is currently overrun with sparkly, jingly, glittery piles.
I find that messes are much less overwhelming when they're cute.

How many hours do you think you could tie jingle bells together before you've had enough?
My guess would be one.
I've done this for at least four.

Oh look! An adorable penguin cardigan has arrived in shipment!

 This is what our holiday windows look like when the sun streams through the large front windows. This paper forest is so much more exciting between 9 and 10 in the morning.

 Jo-Anns is completely sold out of silver jingle bells. I would have loved to use that as an excuse to never touch another jingle bell again, however, I am dedicated to my work and googled the nearest Michael's.
This is where my day took an unexpected turn.

Michael's is near my mother's office. So I popped in to see Lor and BEHOLD! She now has a "stand-up" desk which she graciously demonstrated for me. Then we went to lunch.

Hi, Lor!

 Then, because my bright red plastic car didn't look stupid enough, I smashed in to a parked car in the ramp on my way back to work. It sounds bad, but if I drew you a diagram of how this all happened, you would be like "Ohhhh, I can totally see how this all happened." 

And if you were really a spectacular friend you would also say "I've totally done that before!"

I haven't.
:(

 Sadly I did not make it back to work. I was all flushed and stressed and bored with jingle bells, so I went home and broke out my handy car repair kit. It worked beautifully.

 Cato is adventurous by nature. We must constantly peek out the kitchen window to make sure she is not attempting an escape from the yard.

 I spent some time working on a wedding invitation on our gigantic new computer that I love. One must keep oneself distracted after a mini- car wreck. They are no fun to dwell on, which I have learned from the last few mini- car wrecks I've participated in.

 Christopher gets off work around 4 everyday which is an excellent time to drink beer, as it turns out.

 And while I'm at Namaste, I might as well get the cauliflower, peas and potato curry that I always get. With garlic paratha. 

This is a weird, unflattering photo of Chris.

Hi, Chris!

 One of my favorite activities to do around this time of year is to obsess over the gifts that I've purchased for people and imagine how delighted and impressed they will be upon opening them. This one is particularly delightful and impressive.

 Because I'm essentially a very old person, it's time to wind down and watch an episode of the greatest show of all time: Agatha Christie's Poirot. 

(Amazing how many beverages accumulate on my desk.) 

Nearly bedtime.  

And there you have it, friends, the fabulous life of my wonderful friend, Angie.

She's really marvelous.

You're really marvelous.

Thanks for reading!