Today was pretty good. I came home from work and started on this new banana ice cream recipe I'm trying. If it's any good, I'll let y'all know later this week. For now, I gotta wait for the fruit to freeze.

Tonight I had another meeting at Rivets & Roses. The loft space over there is full fascinating things to shoot (old elevators, orange bathrooms and broken pianos, to name a few), which is good since I spent the rest of the day working my tail off on the sofa and doing absolutely nothing of any visual interest... Ah well. Better luck tomorrow...

We spent a little time running errands over in Northeast Minneapolis today, and on our way back down to our 'hood we crossed through downtown. I love coming in from the north -- especially on the bridges. It feels like they are dropping you off right in the heart of things. Oh, and for the out-of-towners, yes, our sunsets are at 4:15 pm in January.After errands, my man took me out for a *delicious* dinner at Tilia. We hadn't been there in a long time -- months, at least -- and it was thirteen years ago today that he proposed to me, so we wanted to celebrate. Stop it. Stop doing that math right now. In your mind's eye, I should be about 31. Let's keep it that way.

Hey look who left the house tonight and went to see some rock'n'roll FINALLY! (Uh, that would be me. I'm thinkin' the guy in the photo has a much more rock'n'roll lifestyle than I do.) Tonight was The Current's birthday party down at First Avenue, and some of my very favorite local artists (Sims & Poliça) were playing. I know I've blogged about these kids before, but seriously, that Poliça just took the club by storm. Those double drums? A force to be reckoned with.So that's my photo of the day, the extremely talented Ben Ivascu of Poliça. Every single time I see these guys play, I want to learn the drums. What am I? Fifteen years old?Anyway, if you would like to see the full set of photos from this evening, they are over here. Enjoy!

Today, I was at home working, deep into my thoughts, when I glanced outside and saw that WOW IT IS SNOWING BIG GORGEOUS FLAKES OUTSIDE. So I grabbed my coat, boots and camera and ran outside... and the snow stopped. Of course it did! So I head back in, take off all the layers, settle back down into my work, cozy up under a blanket, and then it started snowing again! Mother nature was *toying* with me.So I layered back up, and ran back outside, and snapped a few shots. Man, was it pretty. And so quiet! Snow days are the best.

Tonight we had our annual "Hotness Happy Hour" for vita.mn. This is an event where we do a big photo shoot with the 12 finalists for our "hotness" contest. Yes, this contest is what it sounds like. People submit photos, site users vote, finalists are selected and we host a happy hour to meet them all and learn about their back story (and to take their photos for the magazine). We also supply hair and makeup touchups (as you can see above) so the contestants feel confident in front of the camera.I have to say, each year I am pleasantly surprised at all the interesting folks and conversations. Tonight I had long talks about high school basketball, the art of coaching, a Motorhead show at First Avenue, volunteering more time for kids, painting murals that take up entire rooms of your house and landscape architecture. Another twelve hours of work, but the last four were entertaining to say the least.

Another super early morning on campus, but man class was fun today. These kids? They were asking me about FONTS. Oooooh kids, please please please let me get paid to talk to you about typography. Seriously.As I was leaving for the paper after class, I passed this pole where all the kids hang their fliers. Man, did that take me back. See, back in the dark ages when I was in college, Jamie and I used to go on "flier runs" together to promote the shows we were putting on. And wow, was THAT a long time ago. The only thing that really surprises me is that kids still use fliers this much. I would imagine that most of these kinds of posts now happen on Facebook or Twitter or something.Oh! And let's talk about my college for a minute, shall we? Did y'all watch the Kansas v. Texas game this weekend. SO. MUCH. FUN. Go watch the highlights here! Serioulsy. (Even you non-sports fans... Margaret).