Holiday Season 2014 - Minneapolis Holiday Market: Nutcracker

My next order of business was to purchase a new nutcracker. This is my first new one since, I think, 2004.

Holiday Season 2013 - Holidazzle Parade 4

It's been a number of years since Dale and I have been to the Holidazzle parade. This is the last year of the event so we decided we'd better squeeze in one last visit for old time's sake. Our friends Warren and Brandon accompanied us. I believe the parade began way back in 1993 as an attempt by the Downtown Council to draw shoppers away from the new and competing Mall of America in Bloomington. It worked. Back in the day the parade was 5 or 6 nights a week but in recent years it's only occurred on Friday and Saturdays. Next year there will supposedly be a new downtown event but there's no word on what it might look like. Dale and I went a couple of times when we first met each other. Mom, Sam, Becky, and the boys went with us in 2007 or 2008.

Graphic by design: jdl
Photo taken December 20, 2013

Holiday Season 2013 - Christmas Cocktails

Really need a mid-week martini. Listening to Patti LaBelle's album This Christmas from 1990. It's sounding somewhat dated in a fun late 80s/early 90s kind of way. I didn't buy the rerelease (from 2004) until a couple of years ago but just the sound of it is bringing back lots of memories of the time. I've seen this woman in concert a few times and the sound from her soul can go straight to your own. What a beautiful human being she is. This is all lots of fun and I'm realizing the house is starting to look quite Christmas-y.

Holiday Season 2013 - Nutcrackers

Dale seems to have a special affinity for these guys. They made their first appearance of the season tonight. Mom gave me the five in back over the course of the mid-90s/early 2000s. The two shorter ones in front I added myself.