i know it’s pretty early in the year, but 2015 is shaping up to be a little better than 2014. for one thing, everyone i’m close to is pretty healthy and stable. that’s a big positive. for another thing, i’m getting on an airplane to go somewhere totally new-to-me in just a few days. i haven’t been on an airplane since 2012! i don’t know what was going on in 2013, and i know last year was pretty full of roadtrips between my home and hometown, so. 2015! year of the getting on a plane again. year of the doing great things.

here are some great things i’ve already done this month, totally out of order because of the way i uploaded photos to flickr.

this past weekend i met a few friends for brunch at ike’s in downtown minneapolis. specifically to try their bloody mary that was recently raved about in an article about the ‘top 10’ or something like that. it was nice! spicy, lots of accessories like a shrimp and giant block of cheese. the brunch was a little confusing, however. i wasn’t expecting one family-style free-for-all for a flat fee of $18/person, but that’s what happened because i really wanted eggs and bacon to go with my bloody. i did very much enjoy the giant caramel that came to our table at the beginning, though. it was a sweet little messy pile of heaven.

it was the seventh annual sexy dress up day, with brunch at ihop. i pooped out of going to mini golf at the mall of america afterwards because i was sick of people, but it looked like everyone else had a good time.

i brought my kristi to my company’s annual winter party. we decorated our own sugar cookies and snuck around backstage at the fitzgerald theater. i mean, uh…

i joined vani for a last-minute outing to see ‘off book’ and ‘the mess’ at huge theater in uptown. so much fun! i hadn’t been to an improv show in a long, long time. ‘the mess’ had me laughing so hard that i cried. i almost couldn’t catch my breath, but — i survived. you should go see it. get tickets in advance. they sell out! it was really fun, i swear.

it was a super night to be an uptowner, also, because we had dinner before the show at world street kitchen (YUM) and after the show we went to glam doll donuts for dessert. i felt so hip! and then i returned to my suburb before i turned into a pumpkin.

i’ve been knitting, trying to complete more projects before i start anything new. i’m hoping to finish the shawl pictured above during my upcoming vacation. it would be so nice to have finished photos of it with the ocean in the background.

jason’s new hat just needs the patch sewn on, then he’s got a one-of-a-kind bruins hat.

we celebrated christmas in iowa the weekend after new year’s eve. some of the kids even stayed awake to watch a muppet movie. (i went to bed before the last half hour or so.)

hannie came over for a pajama date and we watched the dark crystal. well, she watched for about five minutes before she started running in circles around the house. she didn’t want me to change the movie, though, so… maybe we’ll try again someday. though its not my favorite movie, i really would like it if she would at least appreciate fizzgig.

cheers to more awesome stuff happening! jason and i are talking about a potential fall airplane trip and maybe this summer i’ll finally get to the judy garland museum in grand rapids. a girl can dream…