We visited the Art Shanty Projects at Medicine Lake this afternoon with Hailey. Despite the rain and perhaps because today is the WARMEST DAY OF THE YEAR at thirty-six degrees, we enjoyed our first visit to the shanties. Having come prepared (thanks to Mel) with art to share, all three of us exchanged art at the Ice Art Swap Shanty. Tom took home an antler-themed picture frame, I found a set of notecards, and Hailey traded for a piece of pottery.

Our favorite was Tiny Shanty, the smallest three story mansion on the ice where visitors can create tiny art and enjoy tiny tea time courtesy of the tiny wood stove’s tiny log fire.

Thanks to Scott and Caly for welcoming us to their tiny home. Check out Tiny Shanty’s gallery for more pictures or the Projects’ flickr page.

Yesterday marked one year from the first post on marthaandtom.com. What better way to celebrate than Simple, Good and Tasty’s dinner tonight at Brasa? Alex Roberts and his crew whipped up a sumptuous – and seemingly endless – feast of comforting local food, served family-style. (If you haven’t yet tried Brasa in St. Paul or Northeast Minneapolis, do!) Plenty of good food can be prepared with local ingredients even in the midst of Minnesota January, when everything is frozen three-times over. Just when we thought we couldn’t eat any more – Chef Roberts was generous with seconds and thirds – Brasa surprised us with three desserts.

Not a bad way to kick off another year of faithful blogging.

Thank you for reading.

Thank you for your comments.

Have some cake!

Click the image to see this photo set on Flickr.

Thanks to the Monday holiday, Tom and I have today, tomorrow, and Monday off. This time last year we were headed to Red Wing, MN; this year we’ll be exploring the Twin Cities. With a couple of pairs of rented skis, the plan to stay in town is shaping up pretty well. We’ve light-breakfasted (on granola), skied, and brunched already. We’ll see where the afternoon takes us….

Ever since, oh, January 2nd I’ve been on an organization and cleaning binge. Perhaps the rest of you find yourself in this new-year-cleaning mode as well? If you don’t have the itch to clean, don’t feel bad–I don’t mean to say our place is in perfect order. Given the de-decoration that occurred on January 6 and the distance and darkness of our storage area where holiday décor is stored year round, I’ve yet to deal with a certain number of boxes of ornaments and lights. As they say, no one is perfect. On the other hand, our linen closet is pristine, as is the office area and every surface including windowsills and (!) kitchen cabinets. With all this in mind, I’ve been thinking back to some organization aids found on our visit to one of the fall craft fairs at the Midtown Global Market. There we found St. Paul-based online retailers Olive and Myrtle who carry, among other things, Beehive SoftBowls by MIO. Exploring MIO’s own web site today, I found some other fun treasures. Here are a couple of highlights, including the bowls themselves, which are definitely on my wish list.

Incidentally, Olive and Myrtle also carries one of my favorite gifts from Tom, a game called Pandabo made entirely of bamboo. It’s a bit like Jenga, a bit like Pick up Sticks, and a lot of fun. Tom picked up the game here in Linden Hills at Wonderment, but it’s good to know it’s also available online.

Images: MIOculture.com, Olive and Myrtle