all that's past is prologue...

I am part of a felt food exchange with 5 other people, where we each make sets of felt food, then exchange them with each other, so that we each get a well-stocked, high-in-fiber kitchen for our child. I decided to make jam tarts, and in exchange will theoretically get pretzels, ravioli, s'mores, figs, and clams. I finished my tarts yesterday, and I am pretty happy with how they turned out: Now I just need to get going on setting up the kitchen for Beatrix...

So there's a ton of (mostly Nautilus-related) art stuff in my life this week — come join me for it! Tuesday, April 21 - Rough Cuts at 7:30pm This month's Rough Cuts is an evening of new cabaret songs. Fantastic performers, and some pieces that will turn your idea of "cabaret" completely on its head. Plus, just $5, with free cookies and milk. At Augsburg College (22nd and Riverside), the Foss Center (music building) tv studio. Wednesday, April 22 - SISTER STORIES house party from 5:30-7:30 It's been over a year since Jennifer Baldwin Peden and Christina Baldwin have been onstage together, and since then they have had babies, Jeune Lune has closed, and the world has changed greatly. Nautilus commissioned these four short pieces on sisterhood for Jen and Christina over the past few years, and we'll premiere the work this June, IF we can raise enough money by the end of April. Wanna come to a great house party, preview the piece, and make it happen with a don...

Before: After: After years of planning, months of work, and lots of futzing, we finally have a library, located off of our dining room. This gives us a great place to hang out at night while Beatrix is asleep on the 3rd floor. Highlights: - "industrial chic" metal bookcases from the 2F hallway, with out books actually organized in them! - art we've been meaning to hang for awhile - a media center that streams everything from the Drobo to the iMac — last night we even sussed the "watch it now" feature from Netflix - coffee table courtesy of our friend Kelly - new comfy leather couch from Ikea It's a great place for a glass of wine, come on over and hang out!

This last weekend, my grandparent's old house was on the Renovator's Home Tour. This was the house that they owned from the time my mother was a teenager until I graduated from high school. I spent so much time there as I was growing up; I know every inch of that house. So it was with equal parts trepidation and curiosity that I wanted to see it. The approach set the tone — very much the same, but very different. The style, and the shutters, the mailbox and the big hill were all the same, but much had changed — new stone steps, a brick walk, the big pine tree to the side gone and the white siding painted a soft gray. Inside had the same feeling — so much the same, but so different. The hall had the same light fixture and stairs, but the walls are now a deep, soft red (much like our new library, actually). The den had the same panelling and floors and cupboards I knew so well. The living room was closed off, but we peeked in — much the same. I tried to describe the lay...