Happy Thanksgiving you guys!We had a pretty great day up here. Tons of food and tons of friends and a lot of laughing and happy puppies... it was a nice and relaxing holiday. We ended it by inviting a few people over for dessert and drinks, and that is always a really fun time. We got to catch up with friends we hadn't seen in awhile, and the dogs got their fix of licking strangers.The only problem was that I bought two pies for the occasion (we normally have 6-7 bottles of wine on hand and some beer in the fridge, so I didn't really bother stocking up on that stuff). And then when everyone left we had three more bottles of wine than we started with AND ANOTHER PIE. People, I will take the wine, we all know my soft spots. But not the pie. I need this stuff out of my house pronto. If you have any interest in free pumpkin or blueberry pie, please come by and take it. There will be no judgement, only gracious thanks.These photos are of my man being all manly and carving the turkey over at Eric and Betz's this afternoon and my friend Stacy's Prosecco and blackberries tonight at our place. I love those bubbles...But seriously. Come get some pie.

Today was great! Tons of work got done, and I had a fun happy hour after work with my fellow vita.mn founders. Of course we had that big party last week to celebrate the five years, but this was just the five of us who have been there since the beginning. And it was so much fun just to sit back and relax and joke about all that we had been through.One of my favorite memories, that I had somehow blocked from my brain, was the very first issue of vita.mn. There was a "news" story about how the city council was passing legislation about how large pasties needed to be in terms of nipple coverage for local burlesque shows. And so, you know, I thought we should illustrate this! It's hard to verbalize! So we had a burlesque dancer come into the photo studio with her proper pasties and we shot them. But then we were in a total space crunch, and we needed to crop in on a smaller, tighter image of the, um, pastie. I HAVE A VERY UNIQUE JOB.But this photo shoot etc. wasn't even the best part of the story! The best part was how I had to get approval on the image, so I sat at my computer with the Star Tribune's then editor (Anders Gyllenhaal) and we discussed whether the photo was necessary and newsworthy etc etc. It was a real test of how far the Strib was going to let vita.mn go in terms of pushing limits, and he said to run with it. I couldn't believe it. (And hello awkward boob discussion with much older boss man.)The only other time I've been that surprised by management's hands-off approach was when I illustrated this cover and got away with it. Damn, there have been some real moments these last five years.Oh yeah, this photo! When I was leaving happy hour tonight, I spotted this view from the top of the parking garage. I love my city.

Ooof, the last coupla weeks of hard work and long hours are almost at a close! If I can make it through Wednesday, I'll have SIX days off! Well... um... I have three shoots and two meetings set up... and about 24 hours of processing to do... but it's working from home at my own pace, so that's nice. Working with a dog at my feet is always the preferred office setup, in my opinion.Tonight I called my man on the way home from the office, and he suggested heading out for a drink. ATTN MEN: Date nights -- especially *spontaneous* date nights -- are always a win. Also? Completely wonderful glass of wine over at Kings Wine Bar this evening. It was a McManis Pinot Noir. Yum. Y'all should get on that.

Confession: I have a really tough time with spatial relationships. When we cook dinner, and I go to put the leftovers away, I always choose a container that is way too small. And tonight I stopped off to pick up a new dog bed for my boy here, and, um, as you can see I was a bit off on the sizing. But it was the biggest one they had! So I assumed I was safe. And he's sleeping on it right now near my feet. With his head and butt both falling off the edges. Poor guy.

Isn't it amazing how fast the weekend days go by? And sleeping in until 11 am, probably doesn't help much either, eh? But don't worry, it's not all feather beds and bon bons around here. I ended up spending the rest of the day (and most of the night) working. But? I'm almost caught up! And it looks like I'll be able to take Thanksgiving day off completely. Man, I cannot wait. A day off AND pumpkin pie. Perfect.Also? How gorgeous is this watch? This was what Jamie got for me for our anniversary this year. It's made of wood, and it's super light weight. LOVE IT.

Look at these cuties. One hundred and twenty pounds of pure fur on EACH of them. Holy smokes! These are some big dogs!This is Maddie and Haddie (I think from left to right, but I'll admit I have a tough time telling them apart). Maddie is Haddie's mom, and today we did some Christmas portraits. I had a super cute one I was going to post of Maddie that we shot inside, but I wanted to show y'all that it snowed today! First snow of the year, in fact.It's a tad messy out there since it iced first, and then snowed. But in general, I love the start of winter, and I think it's gorgeous out there right now. In March, it will be a different story.We're heading out to a gallery opening and then to a party this evening, and with the slower roads, I wanted to post a photo before we left. Stay warm everyone!

Tonight was vita.mn's fifth anniversary party with POS (above and from the other day) and The Hold Steady. The music was good, but I was much more excited to have so many of my favorite people all in one room. In fact, there were so many that if I saw you there, I probably only chatted for about 10 percent of the time that I wanted to because so many fantastic folks kept walking by. Also? Epic (where it was held) is LOUD. And I don't mean because the bands were loud, I mean because it's like a giant concrete box and all the sound bounces around.It is because of this that I am now sporting a throaty Lauren Bacall sound. Get me on the radio, stat!Actually, get me to bed, stat. I get to sleep in tomorrow! Fingers crossed that my brain will let that happen.

Today, after all that work yesterday, I woke up before 5 am, and hit the road before 6 am for our winter fashion shoot (which started at 7am). I took a few snapshots from the shoot with my iPhone during the day (which are posted above) before heading back into the office to work until after 7 pm tonight*.Let me tell you what, Thanksgiving day I am going to collapse into a pile of mashed potatoes and gravy. And then I will sleep for 18 hours straight. I hope.But before that, I have the vita.mn party tomorrow night. Here's hoping I have enough energy left to enjoy it.* Part-time. HAHhahaHAHAHhahahHAHAHAahahaha. Yeah. Let's get back to that now, shall we?