I woke up this morning and rushed to the window to see all the snow that the weathermen had forecast for overnight. Nothing... until 9:45 or so. Then this blizzard started, and we stayed in watching the snow all day long. Well, most of the day -- when I wasn't completing my passport renewal forms/taking my new photos etc. I gotta say though, for all the complaining I hear about these storms? I like 'em. It forces you to stay in and relax (until the shoveling at least). And I'm 100 percent pro forced relaxation.

This morning I had a shoot for my friend Alice who runs her own styling consultancy. She needed some fresh photos for her website and wanted not just portraits, but some shots of her working with clients, which is what led to this shot here. I have been shopping with this woman, and let me tell you, she is a force to be reckoned with at TJ Maxx. If you are thinking you might need some help updating your wardrobe, please go check her out.But something else happened during today's shoot. I got a text, which I dutifully ignored until we were done, that let me know I had won more design awards for vita.mn in this year's Society of News Design competition. So tonight I had a big-ass glass of wine, flipped double birds in the direction of that old college professor that told me I should aim for "something with less style," shouted a quick rant about the boss that didn't trust I could be creative enough and wanted to keep me out of features and magazine design, and just basked in the glory of proving them all wrong. Today's lesson? Don't let rejection get you down. Fight for what you are passionate about, and fight hard.

Today was pretty great. Probably because it started with ELEVEN hours of sleep. Yeah, seriously. It also included a happy hour with my buddy Stacy who I hadn't gotten any one-on-one time with in oooh, maybe months? Since before Christmas for sure, and that was really nice.Then The Man took me out to Meritage for dinner. Meritage is a French bistro in downtown St. Paul that looks like something that was pulled straight from Paris. I really wanted to get in this place today or tomorrow because, um, let's just say that I have heard that a major news outlet in town is about to feature this place, and it's gonna get crowded. So if you've been pondering a visit, you might want to go today. Just a tip.

I caught this beautiful sunset on my way home tonight. A) It's amazing that i"m driving home in daylight! And b) the lake is still frozen through (even saw some fishermen on the north side) this water is just giant puddles from the snow on top of the ice. That said, you wouldn't catch me out on that ice... not when it's 50 degrees out.

I think I caught a cold today. I feel very much under the weather, but the good news is that when I got home from work The Man had made me homemade chicken soup and it was damn delicious. Now I'm taking Zinc and heading off to bed. Also? I'm cranky because of my cold, so please forgive me.

Look who's growin' up! Remember when this kid was born? And then how he got those enormous cheeks? Now he's like a little kid running around with his superhero t-shirt on and giving me fist bumps! Bodhi's dad just got a job at the paper, so his mom brings him in for a handoff a few times a week, and I gotta say, it's fun to watch him grow from a baby into a boy.

Luckily my man provided a wonderful Valentine's Day, because my basketball team most certainly did not. After work he took me out for a delicious dinner before we stopped off at a favorite bar to watch the Jayhawks in their No. 1 spot get their asses handed to them by K-State. Ahem.But we disregarded that bit of the evening as we wandered over to First Avenue to watch Justin Townes Earle sing about ... um ... addiction and lady problems. Is that accurate? I think that's pretty accurate. Regardless of his clear woman trouble, he is amazingly charming in his between-song banter, and we had a very nice time. You can see more photos of the show over here.Also, for the older set that reads this blog (Hi Mom! Hi Dad!), you might want to check out Mr. Earle's music. He's the son of Steve Earle, and I think you would really like it. Listen over here.