Project: Dining Room

Here's a room we can almost check off the list of things to improve / redecorate: the dining room. We recently purchased a dining room furniture set and accessorized it. We're pretty happy with it, and here's a peek at how it looks in the dining area:



We have a couple more chairs and a leaf for the table. We can comfortably seat six or more in the dining room. We still need to hang some things on the wall, but we bought the hardware to do that today so that will be completed soon.

More Interior Home Shots

Here are some interior shots of our new home from when it was on the market. We'll call these the "before" shots. Hopefully some "after" shots will follow soon, once we've completed some projects.

Living Room:

Dining Room:

Kitchen:

Upstairs Bedroom:

Upstairs Sitting /Landing Area:

Basement Living Area / Bar:

Basement:

Bathroom on Main Floor:

Home

Here it is...

From the front:


from the side:



the backyard:

The Great Outdoors

Today was a beautiful day, so we took advantage of the outdoors. We drove through downtown Wayzata to enjoy Lake Minnetonka. Then we cruised the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway (http://www.minneapolisparks.org/grandrounds/home.htm) via the Minnehaha Parkway in Minneapolis and stopped at Minnehaha Falls. Here are a few photos of our day.

Us at Lake Minnetonka, Port of Wayzata:

Stopping at Minnehaha Creek along the Minnehaha Parkway:

Minnehaha Falls:

Trip to Michigan

We visited our families in Michigan during the 2nd week in July. It was our first visit since moving to Minnesota, and we were really happy to see everyone we've been missing so much. We were also happy to be able to lend a hand for the 50th anniversary party of some dear family friends.

Unfortunately, we didn't take many pictures while we were in MI. Here's a shot of us with Becca, Nick, & Madison:



It was hard to leave everyone again, and we look forward to our next visit back home.

A Taste of Minnesota

On the 4th of July, we went to Harriet Island in St. Paul to check out the Taste of Minnesota festival. We were expecting a good time with lots of entertainment, good food from local restaurants, and fireworks at night.

What we really encountered was an excellent people-watching opportunity and some very unhealthy carnival-type food. Hey, who doesn't love a good funnel cake? But we thought the ads for the festival were a bit misleading. The group of old guys (we're talking late 70s) trying to belt out Patsy Cline songs on stage weren't really capturing our attention.

Here are a few pictures from our Taste of Minnesota experience:

The unhealthy food options:

Us:

Stillwater, MN

We decided to visit Stillwater, MN (www.ci.stillwater.mn.us) in late June. Stillwater is a town on the St. Croix River, bordering Wisconsin, often referred to as the birthplace of Minnesota. We heard that a visit to Stillwater was a popular day trip for tourists from the Twin Cities. It's only about 45 minutes outside of Minneapolis, with great shopping and restaurants. Here are a few shots from our visit.

Sitting along the riverfront:

Watching the boats go under the lift bridge:

And best of all, Josh's awesome find in an antique shop:

This beauty is one of a set of two. We're going to assume they're still available. Any takers at $3K for the set?