One of the smartest things I did this semester at school was to move my office hours out of the office and over to a coffee shop at the library. I like this a) because I have never, not once, had a student actually come to my office hours and b) I can snack at a big table and sometimes catch up with a friend of mine who also moved her office hours there. It's genius, truly. And beyond that, it's in this lovely library with these gorgeous ceilings. Nice, eh?I also posted more photos of the bulldogs over on my facebook page today. You can spy a few of them over here (and like my page if you haven't already!).

This morning I woke up with a bang and cleaned the whole house top to bottom. Well... I didn't vacuum (blech), but I did almost everything else. Then we took Merlin for a nice, brisk walk and then met up with my buddy Will for a late brunch over at Hell's Kitchen (whose chandelier is featured above). He's on the road with a british band (A Silent Film) that's playing tonight at the Triple Rock, and it was just good to see him outside the club and catch up. Plus, we hadn't eaten at Hell's Kitchen in a super long time, and yes it's still amazingly good food. I was super tempted to head back to the Triple Rock tonight to see the show, but being on campus tomorrow at 7:30 am forces me to make Adult Decisions sometimes, and this was one of those moments.After brunch we came home and I laid down and napped for two hours. TWO HOURS. Holy moly did that feel good. We had such a slow weekend that I was thinking on Thursday how boring it would be, but man it was kinda nice to just sleep and hibernate. And I better get all of that outta my system now that March is around the corner...

Oh man, I had fun today. I got to photograph TWO bulldogs, one of which you see above.George up there has an amazingly handsome brother named Cesar, and the whole family got to go on a hike in the snow today for photos and then a few in the studio. I am normally very much against dressing dogs up in people clothes (especially the tiny dogs), but somehow this tie just fits George to a T. Man, and this guy was so full of love. Slobbery kisses for everyone!

Tonight we went to the Cardinal Bar for a surprise party for some friends/clients of mine. I adore this couple so much -- and they're having a baby at the beginning of April, and it was so fun to catch up with them again. But this bar the party was at? Man, it was AWESOME. It was the perfect "Minnesota" bar. Everyone was super casual and friendly and they had pull tabs (a gambling game for all you out-of-state readers -- similar to Keno maybe?) and they had posters up for a chili cooking contest and they had signs up for Bingo night as well as the weekly Meat Raffle. I am pretty sure that's a Minnesota thing as well -- the good ol' meat raffle. You know, where you go to the bar and buy tickets hoping to bring home the meat. SO MANY JOKES, and yet this is a real thing here.Anyway, we had some pretty solid bar food for dinner and then the couple showed up and the birthday boy was surprised and then I snapped a few shots of him playing pool before we left. A totally fun and casual night. Now I'm gonna go snuggle under some covers and catch up on this week's episode of The Americans. Are y'all watching this? You should be. And that link back there will let you watch it on the Internet in case you are one of those people that doesn't get FX.Oh! And for all you Kansas fans out there... or well, fans of watching super athetic men dance around a locker room... you should check out the Jayhawk's Harlem Shake video. It had me laughing, anyway...

First, let's talk about how sharp my man looks on Valentine's Day. Next, let's talk about that AMAZING card. I laughed so hard. How often do you want to hang your Valentine's Day card up at your DESK? Ah, he knows me so well.After a long day at work, we ended up over at Solera for a delicious Spanish dinner of Tapas and Sangria. The food was delicious, but a touch overpriced in my opinion. For example, we ordered jamon iberica (one of our favorite dishes when we were actually in Spain) and it was $16 for FOUR small pieces of ham. And I mean smaller than like a piece of bacon. Hello, that is Uncool. And yes, with a capital U. But lucky for me I had extraordinary company that looked good to boot.Happy Valentine's Day guys!

I should really just make this whole "I'm too damn tired on Wednesdays after 13 hours of work to take a photo" thing a THING you know? Like, how 'bout we just call it "Way Back Wednesdays," and until class ends (or I somehow become lightning fast on the PC at work) we'll just reflect on a photo that I never used on the blog before?Like this one! The other day I was searching for that "before" shot of my office, and I accidentally was looking in November of 2011 instead of 2012 and I found this. Man, how cute is SHE? I mean, she just defines trouble in that photo. And look how much browner and healthier she looked in 2011. Sigh.Anyway, as I hinted at before, my day was slammed with work, but with a few nice surprises sprinkled in -- one being a Macklemore show announcement at SXSW the night I arrive. Hello and welcome to Texas! I cannot wait.I hope y'all have a wonderful Valentine's day today, and I hope you get a little extra affection from the person you want it from (and not from the creepers you'd rather avoid). XO!

How smokin' hot is my man in a suit? Eh? Eh?Tonight we decided to head out shopping over at Martin Patrick 3 (my favorite men's store on the planet) because we heard they were having some good sales. And wow, yes they were. And Jamie got this suit! For more than 50% off! Which, uh, means it was less than a full price suit at Banana Republic but much, much better quality. So we'll leave it at that.Shopping for man-clothes is fun. And you know what? They even offered us a drink to celebrate the purchase. Like, a bourbon drink. Told you it was my kind of store.

So apparently, the best tip I can give you about gardening is the same for anything in life. If you're not getting your way, just whine about it on the internet. That seems to do the trick... for me anyway.I guess we'll just call this my Valentine's amaryllis. I'll take it.