Gray Duck

Best Holiday Drink Ever – Cinnamon Spiked Eggnog

I love, love, love Christmastime. Not only is it a fun and playful time of year, it helps make the long Minnesota winters a little more bearable. But it’s more than just a date on the calendar, the holiday season is an ambiance. A collection of sensory experiences: frosted windows, pine boughs, scented candles, crackling fires, snuggly quilts, that embody the season. But there is another…

If you follow Gray Duck with regularity, you know I love pretty pictures. And I love taking pretty pictures – at least trying to. I think there is something magical about photography. The lights, shadows, and shapes that make up the world are captured, stored, and viewable anytime you please on a tiny digital card (or negative). Magic. Anyway. Over the years I have worked to improve my “life…

’Tis the season of giving. Or for most people, myself included, it is the season of over-spending, last-minute shopping, and stress. But, as I get older, rather than rushing through over-crowded malls in search of the best “deal,” I work, instead, to focus on the essence of the season: time spent with loved ones, binge-watching holiday movies, eggnog, snow, and twinkle lights. Now, don’t get me…

Hearty Apple-Cinnamon Steel Cut Oatmeal

How many times have you heard the old adage: breakfast is the most important meal of the day? More times than you care to recall, I’m guessing. I have a hard time putting that rule into practice. Maybe it’s because I’ve never been a morning person, or maybe it’s because I don’t particularly enjoy cooking. But I’m guessing it’s mainly because I don’t want to make decisions at 5am. A large cup of…

An Open Letter to my Husband on our Anniversary

  September 26, 2008 – Exchanging Vows To many, today is just another day. To you and me, it is a quiet celebration of being “us” for another year. It is not a notable anniversary. There is no gold, silver, or platinum commemorating the day. But there are two people. Here. Together. Nine is not a unique number of years. Just 3,555 days blurred into one. But for us, they are 3,555 days of…

Strawberry-Rhubarb and Mint VODKA SPRITZER

Alright y’all. It’s finally arrived. The most loathed weekend of the year: Labor Day. It’s the proverbial end-of-summer holiday where people gather at backyard barbecues to lament how “the summer just flew by.” And, indeed, it has. In just a few days, school will be back in session, the leaves will change and fall from the trees, and I will be digging my car out from under the freshly fallen…

Before & After: $75 Craigslist Find Gets Chic New Update

I collect used furniture. It’s one of my greatest joys in life. The hunt, the find, the rejuvenation of discarded pieces, it is oh, so fulfilling. And addicting. As I’ve gotten older and fine-tuned my style, I have developed a very strong preference for aesthetic variety in my living spaces. Buying second-hand makes it easier to meet that desire. I also think my preference for used furniture has…

One Ingredient Frozen Custard

Although summer doesn’t officially start until June 20, the weather is already heating up. Predicted to be a summer of record-breaking heat, I am already putting together a survival kit. My favorite thing for keeping cool in the summer? Ice cream. Maybe it’s childhood nostalgia, maybe it’s my cravings for sweets, but there is something about ice cream that helps alleviate the swelter of Minnesota…

I have to say, I am borderline obsessed with avocados. I spread them on my sandwiches, top my salads with them, and mix them up as guacamole. And aside from tasting great, avocados are a fantastic source of healthy fats, dietary fiber, potassium, and vitamins C and B-6. Plus, they are low carb. Bonus. Anyway, I’ve recently heard of people baking sweets with avocados and thought I would give it a…

If you haven’t noticed it yet, you will soon. Right now is the height of its season and it’s all the rage at the farmer’s market. What am I referring to? The world’s most tart food: rhubarb. For the longest time, I avoided anything with rhubarb. I mean, who wants to eat something that completely sucks the moisture out of your face? Not me. That is until my husband introduced me to…

The Unfolding of Spring

Spring is creeping slowly into Minnesota. Puffy clouds, cool rain showers, and the first bright blooms of the year are yours to find. The month of April is like a never-ending game of hide-and-seek. If you know where to look, you can seek cardinals hidden deep within the barely budding Dogwood bushes, you can spot blue petals of Siberian Squill as it snakes through the grass on a south-facing…

St Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland, died on this day in 461 AD. Over the years, celebrations to mark his death and recognize his influence on religion in Ireland, the color green and the shamrock have become synonymous emblems of the day. The color green being a symbol of Irish Catholicism, and the shamrock a symbol for the Holy Trinity. Furthermore, celebrations of his death allowed for the…

Five Ways to Survive a Panic Attack

I had my first panic attack in 2008. I remember thinking I was going to die right then and there. But I didn’t die, instead, I ended up at urgent care where an over-worked PA shoved a prescription for Xanax in my face and sent me on my way. I relied solely on medication to control my anxiety for a little under two years. The final straw for me was that I got tired of feeling like a drug addict…