2013 GRSF Chocolate, Shakespeare & Champagne

Another year with Great River Shakespeare Festival means another beautiful party to attend. One of the great perks of being in theater communities, are the "opening" parties. There is always an opening night party, or a kick off party or something along those same lines.

2013 GRSF Chocolate, Shakespeare and Champagne

Chocolate, Shakespeare and Champagne was held at the Alexander Mansion in downtown Winona. The evening couldn't have been more ideal. Clear skies and cooler temperatures made everything more pleasant at the lovely bed and breakfast venue.

It's always a treat to be at a historical venue we drive by every day. This beautiful mansion has all the richness you would expect: dark wood, tapestry, antique furniture and lavish stairways. This mansion is slightly hidden and after having the opportunity to step inside, I feel as if I've seen yet another gem of Winona.

Great River Shakespeare Festival has numerous donors who have been very generous with their funding and time. This is a great opportunity to for everyone to come together to anticipate another good Shakespeare season here in Winona. It's a chance for everyone to get to know each other and hob nob a bit... which is not my game, in the slightest... but the air is full of positive anticipation and eagerness, which can only result in a pleasant evening out with a few very happy people.

Until next year...

Sun's Out...For Now

The sun has come out a few times in the past couple days and that's been awesome! I don't have a lot to report... just crazy hormones (mine), schedule's ramp up (Matt's) and a child who has mellowed out... a little bit (Lucas).

But... here are a few pictures of our last week.

Our little boy is becoming more adventurous, which enthralls and scares me at the same time.

Every day we see squirrel, ducks, rabbits and geese... but this guy surprised us by making a "run" for the lake yesterday. 

On the fishing dock, we talk a lot about the fish in the lake. Next year, we'll bring our poles!

Lake Winona can be very picturesque. 

"Don't worry Mom, I got this."

Day Out In In Winona

Thanks be to God, the rain let up. It was starting to get a little feral around here... with a preschooler and all. Even I was beginning to wonder how I was going to stay sane.

Thankfully, we had a full day of dry. We went to the Farmer's Market, which surprisingly is still a little bare. No fruits and veggies, other than rhubarb... but plenty of herbs and greenhouse flowers. The weather here has been significantly cooler (and wetter) than normal, so seasonable produce is a little bit behind schedule. But, we did find the same sweet pie lady as last year... and we went ahead and bought one! Win.

After that, Lucas and I wandered around downtown, which is quaint. It's a bit dilapidated, but has a ton of charm. My favorite part of Winona are all of the independently owned gift shops. My favorites so far are:  Hearts Desire, and Pieces of the Past. I'm not kidding you guys... the BEST gift shops...with upstairs and downstairs and basements and such. Cute candles, trinkets, books, cards, pictures, stuff you don't need but LOVE looking at. It's a girls day out wonderland. Needless to say, I stuffed Lucas' hands in his pockets and we enjoyed our morning in a few gift shops.

If you enjoy antique and consignment shops, Winona is full of adorable independently owned stores. These stores are just as cool as the gift shops, except they have everything that has been previously owned (duh). The charm is that it feels like a treasure hunt, at half the price (unless something is really an antique)! I could spend hours in one... sifting through old jewelry, trinkets and furniture. I found these darling baubles at Inside The Vault Consignment! 

  

Lastly, we hit up one of the many coffee shops in Winona. A hidden gem in this town; the coffee. You can get delicious coffee, smoothies, and sandwiches on nearly every corner. A couple places we're familiar with thus far are: Blooming Grounds, Mugby Junction and Blue Heron. To boot, you can find locally roasted coffee that's rich and full of flavor at almost all of the shops. Definite perk.

A day out is always fun here. The people in this small town are friendly, easy to talk with and always doting on Lucas. I swear if that child hears he's "so cute" one more time his head is going to explode. Folks really like kids here. It's nice, actually. And it was nice to get out and see that other people don't think my child is as much of a nuisance as I do when I've been locked in an apartment with him for nearly two weeks.

Fun Stuff

Steamboat Days is happening in Winona right now and for us that means a lot of fun stuff to participate in.

Lucas and I headed to the park for a quiet romp this morning, only to find a bouncy house, train rides and a grip of folks hanging out. Low and behold, the parade route for Steamboat Days was right there! Fun stuff!

After a train ride, some bouncy house action...and a little playground fun, we sat and watched the parade with the entire town of Winona. It really was fun stuff!