I will always be excited to see my name in published materials. Today I am excited for a photo credit in City Pages.

See that article for Tuesday, April 7th (in the A-Listed events section)? See that little photo of Salon Saloon host, Andy Sturdevant? And under that, see that little type? THAT’S MY NAME! I’m very thrilled.

In short: you will again be able to find me and my camera at the next Salon Saloon on Tuesday, April 7th, at the Nomad World Pub in Minneapolis. This month’s topic is “Road Stories.”

If you want to see more photos from the first two months of Salon Saloon, or have your own photos to contribute, visit the Flickr group.

Saturday’s baby shower for my sister, Karyn, and my future niece or nephew went very well! I had my clipboard, many lists, and excellent guests. We had a lot of fun and Karyn received a lot of very nice gifts (in many shades of green and yellow). I put my cousin, Jen, on photo duty and she did a great job of capturing the day!

Thanks to everyone who came!

After that party, my family (from my Mom’s side) went out for dinner at Buca di Beppo’s (always too much food). Some of the gals and I played Phase 10 at the hotel afterwards, as well.

For the second installment of Salon Saloon, the discussion focused on the topic of “hard luck.” Andy’s co-host for the evening was local musician, Mike Gunther. Guests included one of the founders of NEED magazine, Brad Zellar, and Molly Priesmeyer. And if all of these awesome people weren’t enough, the intermission provided a rousing game of group poker.

And the sing-a-long? Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.”

I will be able to relax on Sunday. No more events to plan, no more lists to make, no more places to go. I may walk a little lighter that afternoon. But, for now, I’m putting off the list-making/event-planning/place-going to bring you an update of what’s been going on in my world.

Last weekend, in Vermillion, family and friends got together at the Mona Lisi to celebrate my mom’s 50th birthday. My dad and Karyn put together quite the surprise party, and everyone had a super time. The food was delicious, the wine was tasty, and the company was lovely.

Tonight I will be headed to the Nomad for the second installment of Salon Saloon. I’ll be taking a few more photos (hopefully better than last time), and perhaps sketching out a website concept while I’m there (so I guess I will have something to occupy my time after Sunday).

Tomorrow night I’ll be joining a few friends at Café Lurcat during Mpls/St. Paul Magazine’s Restaurant Week. I’ve always wanted to visit this café, and this is a great opportunity! I’m looking forward to an awesome dinner at a fraction of the price.

On Friday I’ll be running around town, finishing up details and buying necessary supplies for Karyn’s baby shower that I’m throwing on Saturday. Family will be in town that night, so I’m not sure if this will cut into my preparation time or not. There are about 30 women coming to the baby shower, which begins at 1 p.m. and I hope it all goes smoothly. But I just remembered something else I have to do… I better get back to list-making.

My friend, Kelsey, and her family were in Minneapolis (technically Bloomington) over the weekend for the Mall of America’s Knit Out and Crochet 2008 event. I joined them Sunday morning to check out the festivities, get some free stuff, and be inspired by other crafters.

(Clicking on that last image will show you everything I took home, with detailed notes.)

And, of course, I had to get my photo taken with the Lion Brand Yarn mascot:

Also, since this was a craft-related post, here is a reminder that you can still sign up to receive a gift from me.