DIY: Raised garden beds in an hour

Did it HERself, in fact. And I feel very proud of myself.

The husband has been traveling a lot lately for work. We’ve recently moved into a new house, and yes, there’s a lot to do. I was determined to put in a garden this year. During one of our over-the-fence chats, my neighbor asked if I was going to do a raised bed. I’d never thought of it, but that would be a nice way to set the garden off and keep things contained. I’m in the city now, so I don’t want a huge garden. Just enough to give us some food for dinner now and then.

During another over-the-fence chat, my master-gardener neighbor told me she buys dirt and mulch in 25-pound bags from Home Depot. It’s easier to schlep around, she confessed. Hmmm... I was wondering how I’d get a dump truck full of dirt and/or mulch (and who I would order it from down here), and where I would dump it in the small yard I have now. Plus, getting stuff in bags suddenly made things very doable for me.

I loaded up the toddler and we headed off to Home Depot that night.

I found a bin in back of the lumber area where they sell scrap boards for 50¢. Score! I grabbed four 5-foot by 6-inch boards, being careful not to get any pre-treated lumber. I don’t want those nasty chemicals leaching into my veggies.

Then I headed over to the garden center. A nice young guy helped me load up my cart and then unload it into my truck. Score again.

Back at home, I found my power screwgun (which every woman should have) and some two-and-a-half-inch nails. I put three in each side. Then I dug a bit of a trench along three sides of the new garden bed. My yard slopes towards the fence and I wanted the garden bed to be level. I popped the boards in, unloaded the bags from the truck (which I had parked as close as I could), and walah.

One hour later I had a new raised garden bed.

Course then I decided I needed another one the same size and a smaller one for herbs. Back to Home Depot. The 6-inch pre-cut boards I needed were gone, of course, so I settled for some longer ones that a store employee cut down to size for me. The hubby was home that day, but it was nice not to have to ask him to cut the boards for me. I could remain self-sufficient. I opted for cedar this time, instead of regular wood, on the advice of my dad. It’ll withstand the weather better.

Again, it was less than an hour and I had two new garden beds. Time to plant!

Indoor playground with your coffee?

Looking for a place to bring the little ones on a rainy day when you’re both going crazy? Check out Sovereign Grounds in south Minneapolis. It’s a coffee shop that also bills itself as an indoor playground. I know you’ve been looking for a place like this!

The indoor playground. It's not huge, but it's enough.

Sovereign Grounds is located just off the corner of 48th and Chicago in South Minneapolis and has been there since 1995. Owner Hakan Sezer immigrated to the United States from Turkey in 1988. He’s typically behind the counter making espresso and selling the various bakery items, spinach pie and tamales his wife wakes up early to make. I recommend staying away from the espresso (which always tastes burnt) and trying the Turkish Roast instead. There are juice boxes and a number of sugary treats for the kids, if you’re so inclined.

The place is usually pretty busy in the mornings, but clears out for nap time. It’s a great place for a play date, that’s for sure. It’s too bad there aren’t more out there.

Sovereign Grounds owner Hakan.

813 East 48th Street

Minneapolis, Minnesota 55417

(612) 825-6157

Hours: Mon - Fri 6:30 AM - 5:30 PM, Sat 6:30 AM - 4:30 PM, Sun 8:00 AM - 3:00 PM

www.sovereigngrounds.com

FEATURES

• Kid-friendly

• Indoor playground

Pizza Luce: something for everyone (even if they’re gluten-free or vegetarian)

I don’t know whether the claim to the best pizza in the Twin Cities is true or not (because I haven't tried it yet), but I will certainly argue that the pastas and sandwiches are fabulous at Pizza Luce. Yum, yum!

Oh, the joy of finding an extensive gluten-free menu.

Get ‘em parmigiana style or deli style. Both are mouth-watering.

Enjoy the "best pizza in the Twin Cities" or grab a delicious sandwich at Pizza Luce.

We visited the location at 2200 E. Franklin Avenue in Seward neighborhood (www.pizzaluce.com). The restaurant is located in a former caster company space and has been there since 2003. There are huge windows, a small bar, and seating on the patio when the weather is nice. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. Get a slice and a pint for only $5 during happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. (Other locations include downtown Minneapolis, Uptown, St. Paul, Hopkins and Duluth.)

Feeding someone who is gluten-free can be pretty difficult. It’s definitely a warning sign when you ask, “Do you have anything gluten-free?” and the answer is a blank look. It’s best to just walk out the door then, advises my friend Amy, who stopped explaining what “gluten-free” meant a long time ago. They often just stay home, but we were out with the girls (moms and daughters) and we wanted to enjoy dinner out. So we were thrilled when we discovered an extensive gluten-free menu at Pizza Luce.

I found the coloring sheets full of witty tattoo drawings to be hilarious.

Heavy metal is piped through the building and the coloring sheets are full of funny tattoos. I laughed all the way through the cleverly worded menu. We also enjoyed checking out the art on the walls; apparently it changes regularly as various local artists are featured.

This is a place I plan to go back to.

Muffeletta $7.39 - This hoagie features our special blend of green and black olives, red bell pepper, garlic and oregano sandwiched between sliced ham and Genoa salami and topped off with provolone cheese and all the fixings. Served toasted.

FEATURES

• Kid-friendly

• Gluten-free menu (and it’s extensive)

• Vegetarian menu

• Free online delivery

Italian Sausage Parmigiana $7.39 - You'd think we flew this baby in straight from the old country! Our Italian sausage topped with our tangy red sauce layered with onions, tomatoes and lots of melted mozzarella and provolone cheeses.

Author Lorna Landvik a South Minneapolis native

“This is my library,” well-known author Lorna Landvik announced while speaking on Thursday night, May 19, 2011 at the newly renovated and recently reopened Nokomis Library in south Minneapolis.

Lorna Landvik, author of "Angry Housewives Eating Bon-Bons" and more, signed autographs following a humor-filled speech at the Nokomis Library in Minneapolis on May, 19, 2011.

A photo of Landvik as a child appeared in the Minneapolis Star to herald the opening of the library in 1968.

As an adult, she used the library as her “office,” showing up every Monday and Thursday night to write.

It was the library where her mother showed up on Mondays to check out six books that she returned on Saturdays. And it was the library where her daughters went.

Looking around the changed space, Landvik commented, “I still see it as the old library.”

Landvik is one of the children in the loft of the Nokomis library on the day it first opened in 1968. This newspaper clipping was on display May 19, 2011 during her speech at the newly renovated library.

ON WRITING

Torn between writing a novel and staring in a Hollywood blockbuster, Landvik moved to Hollywood, residing on Hollywood Boulevard. There she did stand-up comedy, waitressed to pay rent, and worked temp jobs (which included a stint at the Playboy mansion cataloguing Hugh Heffner’s video tapes). She wrote short stories to keep writing, although she never thought that style was her strength.

One day, two women came into her head, Patty Jane and Harriet, Landvik recalled. Next came the title: Patty Jane and the House of Curl. And she started writing. All of her books have followed this same pattern.

When she finished “Patty Jane and the House of Curls,” she sent the book out to publishers. One day while she was vacuuming — “This is such a woman’s story,” Landvik injected — she got a call from an agent who wanted to represent her.

Lorna Landvik was among the first to speak in the new community room at the Nokomis library after its reopening on April 30, 2010 following a two-year closure. The library renovation project cost $7 million.

Four years and 30 rejection letters later, a small publishing company decided to print her first book — without giving her an advance. The paperback rights went faster, and ended up being purchased by Ballentine, the publisher she has been with since.

Despite her success, one book that she has written hasn’t yet been published: “Mayor of the Universe.” “They said it wasn’t a Lorna Landvik book,” Landvik explained. “I said yes it is! I wrote it!”

My daughter met her first novelist. Lorna Landvik is a native and current resident in the south Minneapolis neighborhood we just moved into. How exciting!

Landvik currently resides in South Minneapolis, and is nearing the end of her next novel. She returns to the Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis for a comedy routine in July. Expect free margaritas.

BOOKS

• Angy Housewives Eating Bon Bons

• Oh My Stars

• Patty Jane’s House of Curl

• The Tall Pine Polka

Landvik doesn't just write funny books, she gives hilarious speeches. She will be performing a comedy routine at the Bryant Lake Bowl in July.

• A View From Mount Joy

• ‘Tis the Season

• Welcome to the Great Mysterious

• Your Oasis on Flame Lake

I'm about to - gulp - start potty training

Today, I’m reading up on potty training. I am going to start soon, really I am. My mom thinks its definitely about time. Josey has been two for two months now. Apparently, I’m behind schedule. However, all the books I have been reading lately tell me it’s perfectly fine to wait — and I should if my toddler is going through major changes or is in a negative period. That’s my excuse for not getting to this before she was two: We remodeled a house. Then we moved. Things were pretty unstable for awhile there.

Anyway, I’ve been preparing by reading up on potty training. I plan to put it on my To Do list for next week — or maybe the week after that. Or maybe the week after that. It depends on the weather, quite frankly. I’ve decided to do a big immersion for one to seven days. We’ll have naked potty days and hang out in the yard. I figure that’ll be the easiest way to keep the mess down. She can pee out there without it being a big deal. I hope that way she starts to recognize what her body is doing. A friend pointed out that some kids learn to potty train naked, but then can’t translate it to going potty with clothes on. I guess we’ll see if that happens and deal with it if it does. (Please, God, please don’t let that happen.)

I also want to get her one of those dollies that pees. I’ve been weighing the pros and cons of that for awhile. Potty Patty isn’t cheap; she’s $40. But given how much my little girl LOVES dolls, and the way she “cares” for them (feeds them, changes their diapers, rocks them to sleep), I think that a potty doll will be a way to make potty training (potty learning as the books stress these days) more fun for her.

I’ve been reading three books, off and on. Mostly they say the same stuff. Today, I read most of Elizabeth Pantley’s The No-Cry Potty Training Solution (she also wrote the “No-Cry Sleep Solution” which is a good book to read if you’re having trouble in that area), and got some good ideas. I loved the three-page Quick Guide she has at the start of the book.

STUFF I LIKE:

• Don’t ask if she has to go to the potty.

I’ve made this mistake a lot lately as we ramp up for the Real Deal. Instead, make it a statement: Let’s go sit on the potty now. To keep your kid interested in the whole thing, offer choices. Do you want to use the upstairs potty or the downstairs potty? Do you want to run to the potty or walk to the potty? Do you want to use the big potty or the potty chair? What do you want to do first, get dressed or go to the potty? (page 77-78)

• Make it a game.

When kids are having fun playing, why would they want to interrupt stuff to go to the potty? To counter this thought, make potty training fun. Start a Potty Train ritual. “Announce its arrival with a loud ‘Choo Choo,’ and call ‘All Aboard’ to your child encouraging him to follow you. Chug around the room a bit and end up at the potty stop,” Pantley encourages. If the train loses its appeal, switch to an airplane or a circus. (page 78)

• Create a custom potty book.

Josey loves to read the potty books we got from the library for her. So, I think that making one about her going to the potty will be a big hit. Pantley recommends taking photos of your child at each step of the pottying process. “The first photo should be of your child playing with toys, so you can explain that he must first identify the urge and stop what he’s doing. The second will show your child’s trip down the hallway, and the third is your child entering the bathroom. This sequence of photos will continue right up to the final hand washing and drying and leaving the bathroom afterward with a look of pride. Yes, a picture of poop or pee-pee in the potty will make a gleeful addition to your homemade book! And happy Mommy and Daddy faces are a good ending,” Pantley says. (page 80-82)

• Make a potty poster.

This is similar to the potty book idea. Place photos of your child or cut-outs from a magazine on posterboard. Illustrate the steps you want your child to include in the potty process. Number the actions from start to finish. Then hang the poster at your child’s eye level in the bathroom. Use the poster to help teach your child the steps involved in pottying, and to remind him/her what to do each time he is there. (page 84)

• Use stickers.

Make the above potty poster or another chart special by allowing your child to add a sticker each time she uses the potty. You can either create a blank space for stickers or let her put them wherever she wants, says Pantley. Stickers can be a great incentive for kids. It’s the small things, right?

Stickers on a chart can apparently motivate a child during potty training.

• Fill up a Potty Prize Treasure Box

Prizes can be a powerful motivator for kids. I hesitate using food treats (although I might use cheese). This treasure box idea could work well. The idea is to buy about 30 inexpensive little prizes, the sort you can find in the toy store’s party favor aisle or at the dollar store. The key is to wrap each gift seperately in colorful wrapping paper. Then put the prizes in a clear plastic bowl on the bathroom counter. Allow your child to select one prize each time he potties. (page 91-92)

Every few pages, Pantley reminds parents to Be Patient. Expect accidents. This sounds like so much fun. Uh-huh.

A disservice to women

Feminists have done women a disservice. Instead of valuing the work done in a home, they turned around and said women should enter the “work force” and prove they were as good as men. Look at us 40 years later. The work women (and men) do at home is not valued. At all.

I don’t know about you, but when someone asks me what I do I feel the need to tack on a whole bunch of other things to “stay-at-home-mom.” And I teach. And I attend grad school. And I write for a mommy blog. And. And. And.

I admit that part of the problem is in my own misconceptions, and how I’ve sucked up our culture’s value system. I’m working to change that personally. But how can I change society? Our culture doesn’t value a woman unless she is contributing outside the home. How many of you get the “do you do anything else?” when you say you’re a stay-at-home-mom?

A newsletter from a wise therapist I know really hit home with me a few days before Mother’s Day. She wrote about how our culture pays lip service to moms on Mother’s Day, but people don’t live like they value mothering (or fathering for that matter) the rest of the year. Sure, we all take a few moments out of our lives on Mother’s Day to tell mom how great she is. But what do we do the rest of the year? Do we tell her how wonderful it is that she’s washing dishes, making meals, cleaning the house, doing the 100th load of laundry and making the house a home the rest of the 364 days of the year? Do we tell moms how valuable the time they spend with their kids are? Do we foster a culture that values kids? Or do we encourage parents to leave their kids home to attend weddings (where the point of the event is to start a family!!), leave their kids home to have fun, and leave their kids home when they go on vacations? I’ve definitely gotten the impression that folks think I’m too tied to my daughter because I bring her most places with me. But ya know what?

I enjoy spending time with her. I think she’s a great little person. I actually like her.

I believe that what I’m doing as mom is one of the most important things I could be doing. For all you moms out there (who may have had terrible mother’s days!), I want you to know: You are doing something that is so valuable and important. I truly believe that. Do you?

Wine of the Week

Try a South African wine this week that is sweet and juicy. Personally, I couldn’t help but grab the Jam Jar bottle to try it out when I saw it sitting on a store shelf. It has a twist-top that looks like a red-checkered picnic tablecloth. This sweet shiraz has the ripe flavors of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I loved it. The bottle label boasts that it makes a perfect partner for bacon cheeseburgers, soft cheese and desserts. It also works well to relax at the end of a hard week.

A favorite of mine is The Wine-ing Farmer’s Wife made in Morgan, Minn. (near Redwood Falls). I love the name, don’t you? It’s a semi-sweet white wine, and it’s oh, so delicious. This is one wine you can serve to anyone and they are guaranteed to love it. The Wine-ing Farmer is the red version — and I highly recommend that one, too. I stumbled upon this winery while visiting southern Minnesota a few years ago. They made their wine then at the family farm, and I took a tour through the big red barn where they make their delicious wines. These days, they’ve moved to downtown Redwood, Falls where they offer tastings Thursday to Sunday. The family-run winery offers a few fruit wines and a variety of reds and whites. I think their dessert wine, Debauchery, is next on my list!

Now, that's just fun. Cheeseheads vs. Vikings

If you’re looking for a fancy wine, Cheesehead White won’t be for you. But if you’re looking for a fun bottle to bring out on game day, you’ll love this white wine from Chateau St. Croix Winery and Vineyard in St. Croix Falls, Minn. The twist-top is covered by a piece of yellow cheese. Seriously. If you want to get conversation rolling, offer up Helga’s Red (complete with a Viking hat on it’s top). Which one will be most popular? It’s up to your friends to decide! It just so happens that the Living Social deal for today is $23 for a tour and tasting for two at the Chateau St. Croix Winery (regular $46). You even get two glasses to bring home.

Good food, good drinks at Spa Day

Hanging out with the girls requires some good food. During our recent Spa Day, we spent the first 2 hours around my buffet table chatting. Spa Day is a great opportuntity to catch each other up on what’s going on in our lives. We hit on both the high and low points, the small and the big.

The spread doesn't have to be gourmet. Ask everyone to bring a snack to share and there will be plenty for all.

To make Spa Day more relaxing, we don’t have any one person do everything. Instead, we split up the work. Each person brings a food item and a spa activity. When we have a really big group (5-10), we split folks between food and activity. We’ve never run out of either food or fun.

Here are a few tried and true recipes to try at your next gathering:

BEST CHEESEBALL EVER

2 8-oz. cream cheese

2 c. (8 oz) sharp cheddar cheese

3 T. chopped green olive and pimento

3 T. chopped green pepper

3 T. chopped red onion

1 T. Worchestershire sauce

3 t. lemon juice

Pecans, chopped

Mix all ingredients together. Roll into a ball. Chill. Roll in chopped pecans. Serve with crackers.

* I always add a little too much worchestershire sauce and lemon juice, and extra olives, pepper and onion. I like a lot of flavor, and this delivers.

MANGO MADNESS

(From Better Homes & Gardens February 2010)

2 c. Chopped mango

1/2 c. Chopped red pepper

1/4 c. Finely chopped red onion

2 T. chopped cilantro

2 T. lime juice

Pinch salt and pepper

*This recipe looks oh, so beautiful in a bowl with the vibrant reds of the onion and pepper, the orange of the mango and the green from the cilantro. Plus, when my hubby got home, he couldn’t stop eating it.

To stop her family from eating it before Spa Day, Jenni placed a warning on her granola.

JENNI’S DELICIOUS GRANOLA

Honey

Brown sugar

Quick oats (like quaker oatmeal)

Pinch of salt

Half cup of olive oil

Whatever nuts, coconut, or dried fruit

Chocolate chunks

Mix to a chunky consistancy and cook on foil or parchment paper at 350º for 15 min. Let cool completely before packaging or it can get soft and mushy. Do not add chocolate chips until granola has cooled.

Oranges are great both for sangria AND spa treatments!

WHITE SANGRIA

Sweet white wine (Reisling or Moscato are good options)

Mango-Orange juice

Sliced oranges

Marachino cherries (Pour the juice in for some extra pizzazz)

Mix the liquids together and then add the fruit. If it’s not sweet enough, add some more juice. Chill before serving.

Relax with the girls; plan a spa day

Take time to pamper yourself, relax and reconnect with your girlfriends. Plan a Spa Day.

My friends and I have been gathering each winter/spring for several years now for our annual Spa Day. It started a few years after Jenni had two babies back to back. She hadn’t been out of the house for a fun afternoon in quite some time (as you can imagine that was a pretty tough thing to do with not just one but two babies). So, three of us gathered at my house and we focused on relaxation. The next year, we invited a few more women. I have to confess there have been times when it was such a large group that I had trouble relaxing (10 is a lot). And often my house has been left a disaster zone (it doesn’t take much). But it’s always been a great afternoon to hang out with the girls. Just for that, it’s worth doing.

Toast to friendship during your own spa day.

Now, we don’t put a big effort into Spa Day. The goal is not to have a salon-like experience, but rather to try some new things. We try to divvy up the work, too. Each woman brings one snack and one activity.

Over the years, we’ve slathered oatmeal and honey on our faces, oil and salt on our hands, and parafin wax on our feet (that one’s super messy). We did henna tattoos. We’ve done each other’s nails, made massage oil, and refreshed our sinuses with a steam inhaler. I look forward to the foot baths each year — they smell so good and look so beautiful.

The treatments we do are good for our skin, faces and feet, but nothing tops the fact that we are a bunch of women together for an afternoon. That in itself is soul-soothing.

The year I was pregnant, Amy drew fantastic designs with henna on my belly. I loved it.

It’s tough these days to take time out to be with friends. One has to be intentional about it. Spa Day is a way to do that. There’s a lot you can say over sugar scrubs and oatmeal-honey facials.

Here are some of our favorite recipes so you can have your own Spa Day:

LEMON FOOTBATH

Sea salt

Sliced lemons

Fresh mint

Mix with hot water and enjoy.

Ah. The aroma and look are almost as good as how wonderful my feet feel afterwards.

REFRESHING ROSE FOOTBATH

Epsom salts

Rose petals

Rosemary sprigs

Mix with hot water and enjoy.

ORANGE & SALT SCRUB

Table salt

Vegetable oil

1 T. orange juice

2 slices of an orange, squeezed

1 T. sugar

Mix all ingredients together. Rub mixture on hands (or feet). Rinse and cap off with lotion. The salt exfoliates and the oil cleanses and detoxifies your skin.

REFRESHING STEAM

Hot water

Tea bags, such as vanilla, peppermint, chamomile, lemon

Boil water. Pour in a bowl and begin steeping tea bags. Drape a towel over your head so that it holds in the steam. Inhale deeply for as long as you want. This steam cleans your pores and sinuses.

This stuff works great on dry skin in the middle of winter, as well as for massages.

ENERGIZING MASSAGE OIL

1/2 c. sunflower oil

1/2 c. grapeseed oil

1/2 c. almond oil

3 T. dried lavender blossoms

20 drops bergamot essential oil

Using a glass measuring cup, measure out required quantities of the 3 base oils and pour them into a small saucepan. Place pan over low heat; stir continuously with nonporous utensil until oils are completely blended. Remove pan from heat. Add lavender blossoms. Let blossoms steep in the hot oil for 10 minutes. Line nonporous cone coffee filter with filter paper. Pour oil through filter into 2 c. glass beaker; discard blossoms. Add 20 drops of bergamot oil to filtered oil. Using wire whisk, thoroughly mix oils to combine. Let perfumed oil cool. Pour into glass bottles with stoppers.

VARIATION:

Mint oil energizes and refreshes. To make, use basic oils listed, but substitute 3 T. of dried mint leaves for the lavender blossoms and 30 drops of grapefruit essential oil for the bergamot.

They might kill me if they knew I had posted this online. But they sure had fun with this sticky facial!

OATMEAL-HONEY-YOGURT FACIAL

1/4 c. plain yogurt or buttermilk

1/2 c. oatmeal

2 T. honey

Finely grind or process the oatmeal in a blender or food processor. Set aside. In a small bowl, stir together honey and yogurt. Add oatmeal. Mix thoroughly until a smooth paste consistency has been reached. Smooth over face and neck. Leave on for 15 minutes and then rinse with warm water. Can be used daily.

Feet feel so soft after a salt or sugar rub. Try it yourself and you'll be amazed.

LEMON EXFOILIANT

Lemon

Brown sugar or salt

Mix lemon and brown sugar or salt and apply with a rubbing effect over hands and/or feet especially in rough areas. Rinse with water and notice how fresh and soft the skin feels.

Click here to see recipes.