Swiss cheese

The last few days have been absolute heaven. Jon and I started our wedding trip with a visit to his parents in Switzerland. We arrived on Friday happy and ready for relaxation. We have had a wonderful time strolling around small Swiss towns and enjoying delicious meals with my in-laws-to-be. They are such great company and I am sad to leave them so soon. However, it helps knowing that we will see them again in just a few days for our wedding. Our few days spent here have been exactly what I needed, rest, relaxation, and Swiss cheese. 

    Lake Zug

    Water fountain in Lucerne

    Champagne and amazing sunset at Theater Casino in Zug

    Beautiful flower shop in the old town

    Amazing lunch at Brasserie Bodu. Our wedding song played while we ate and life was perfect.

La Vita é Bella

Today we leave for our wedding and honeymoon.  Even as I type it, it's hard to believe the day is actually here. I have a range of mixed emotions for today;  happy, excited, anxious, hungry, and that feeling of wondering what I'm forgetting to pack. As I was looking through photos for this post, I paged through so many photo albums of when I lived there and when Jon and I went back to visit.  These photos put an instant smile on my face and my heart began to dance.  Italy is my happy place, and I cannot wait to be marrying the man I love at a place that means so much to us. To be totally honest (and I know many of you brides out there may give me the stink eye for this), wedding planning was so much easier than I expected, and I have truly enjoyed every minute of it.  Life has many ups and downs, and the next few weeks will be filled with many ups. I am sure traveling with the entire family will be challenging at times. However, for the next two weeks I am going live, laugh, and love as much as I possibly can. Life is beautiful, and I cannot wait to live out this adventure. Ciao!

About Blooming Time

Glimpse of sunshine

For those of you who don't live in Minnesota, small chat about the weather is always a valid topic of conversation.  I have lived in Minnesota most of my life, and I have to stay this is the longest winter I can possibly remember.  Today is Earth Day, and we got a couple of inches of snow.  Looking back on my childhood, I remember planting trees or cleaning a park on Earth Day.  Mother Nature, I think we need to have (as my mother would call it) an "attitude adjustment." I've been pretty good not to complain about it though.  There have been plenty of distractions for me lately as our wedding is 4 weeks away.  My sincerest apologies for the lack of posts. I have a long list of things I have been meaning to post about, but my free hours seem to be spent with work and wedding stuff.  Thanks for sticking around to see me through this crazy time.  Even though I will be sad when the wedding is over, I will be happy to go back to my normal routines of cooking, shopping, and blog posting. In the meantime, here are some photos from the past few weeks.

Heavenly spa day at Spalon. 

Creme brulee at Sunday night dinner. 

Spring tulips despite the snowy weather

Did somebody say steak?

Grass fed New York cut steak

There are some days I think I could be a vegetarian.  And then there are days where all I can think about is eating a perfectly cooked steak.  I have grown to love steak more and more over the years and really appreciate going to a nice steakhouse for a good cut and amazing sides.  When a new restaurant opens in Uptown, you can be sure I have a reservation within their first few weeks of opening. Burch opened their doors last month and I was so excited to read reviews and try out their new menu.  With a Steakhouse on the main level and a Pizza Bar down below, I was very intrigued to see what kind of atmosphere could combine those two concepts. I have now been to Burch twice, and both visits were remarkable.  The food was fantastic and there was a refined aura to the restaurant.  On the main floor, they kept the original tile flooring of the old Burch Pharmacy which adds a touch of history to a modern steakhouse.  The menu has plenty to choose from and will please many different palates.  Down below in the Pizza Bar, the walls seem to be the original foundation in it's rustic form lined with votive candles for some extra ambiance. The menu was reasonably priced with a variety of pizzas and small bites to choose from.  The bar was full with people sipping cocktails from mix masters while house music was playing through the speakers.  Burch is a great new addition to Uptown, I am sure it will gain many new regulars.  I wonder if I can make two reservations for the same night; eat steak on the main level and then head downstairs for pizza?  Sounds like a winning plan to me!

Warm atmosphere in the Pizza Bar

1 Year

1 year ago today, I picked a name, created a site, and wrote my first blog post on Lady Nine.  It has been so much fun for me to share my creative thoughts, inspirations, and daily life with you all.  I have big plans for Lady Nine this year, I hope you become a "regular" and visit often.

• Lady Nine (the name) was inspired by the song, Lady Day by Billie Holiday. One of my favorite songs to this day. 
• My first post was on a beautiful Minnesota spring day.  It was 60 degrees that day.  Today, the high is 36 and we are supposed to get snow tomorrow.  Minnesota weather is unpredictable. 
• According to my statistics, I am averaging about 2.6 posts a month.  That seems ridiculous since my social/cooking/baking/shopping calendar is way more packed than that.  While I work to get that number up, feel free to follow me on Twitter as I like to post random thoughts and pictures daily. 

Thanks for celebrating Lady Nine's birthday with me today, I think it's time for cupcakes!  Here are my favorite posts from this past year. 

Still my favorite Spring/Summer beverage.  I'll be posting variations of this recipe this summer. 

The essence of food, friends, and summer.

The most beautiful moment of my life thus far. 

I'm trying to come up with excuses to make these Christmas cookies all year round. 

Wedding Registry a.k.a. Jon Got Free Breakfast

This past weekend, Jon and I registered for our wedding.  We (and by that I mean I) decided that Crate and Barrel would be a great spot to register for many of our kitchen needs. We signed up for a wedding registry event and set our alarms for Sunday morning to arrive with dozens of other couples ready to scan to their heart's content. I give lots of credit to the guys in this situation.  There were a lot of men following their soon-to-be-wives around the store while she asked what kind of spoon he liked better.  C&B does make it easier for the guys though.  There were multiple tables full of food, and every time I looked up, Jon had a new plate in his hand.  After two and a half hours and a full battery charge on my phone (wedding registries now have apps for your smartphone instead of a store scanner), we were able to pick out most of our kitchen wants and needs. Below are a couple of my favorite items that I can't wait to use.

This ivory marble cheese board will hold big hunks of cheese while entertaining

Beautiful wooden bowl for serving salad

The perfect picnic knife for our summer dining alfresco

Reusable produce bags for the grocery store instead of those difficult plastic ones

A Job's a Job, Right?

Today on my bus ride home, I overheard a girl talking to a friend about quitting her job.  She was a waitress at a great Uptown restaurant and apparently decided to leave unexpectedly. She told her friend that she had found a new job, but wasn't too thrilled with it.  The friend replied, "Hey, a job's a job, right?" On my walk home, I really thought about that phrase.  When does a job become more than a job?  Or even better yet, when does a passion become a career, and people just call it a job?
Currently, I am pursuing a new career at my work.  It is not easy, and it has taken me a lot of time and effort (which is why my posts are far and few between).  However, I know in the end it will be worth it.  I call this next step a career move because it will be the first job that allows me to use my creativity. It is the first job that I am pursuing, not because I need a new job, but because I want this position and I have a passion for it.  Whoh...I think I just grew up a little bit.  I am chasing a dream, and it feels good.