The National Council for Interior Design Qualification defines Interior Design as a multi- faceted profession in which creative and technical solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built interior environment.

That sounds serious.

Even more serious, perhaps, is the scope of services required of the interior designer: Safety is an essential element.

Safety.

The interior designer’s concepts must be safe, functional, aesthetically appropriate AND must meet all public health, safety and welfare requirements. So basically, these people are left and right brainers. Lucky for us! Imagine a world full of just left brain designers:

Blech.

Now, imagine a world of Jessica-brains:

Jessica Meidinger has passed her NCIDQ exam and is now a card-carrying, certified interior designer. Here is proof:

Because she is a left-brainer, she actually counted her study hours – 240 in 3 months. And because she didn’t think that was torture enough, she also trained for Grandma’s Marathon – 183 miles of running.

She wears that medal every day.

A girl that tells you she doesn’t care about diamonds is lying. I was that lying girl once and you know what it got me? A lovely antique gold band and a nod from my fellow feminists.

My grandpa even gave me my grandma’s old engagement ring – minus the diamond. He told me some story about the kitchen sink but really the story was full of holes. Just kidding grandpa.

Tanek is doing their part to make sure that every bride-to-be has the perfect setting (ha! Get it?!) to fully consider the perfect rock. The newest shop is in St. Louis Park’s oh-so-swanky West End and opens on November 12.

What if I started this blog post with dry data and statistics about the increase in Greenway traffic ? What if I went on and on about the rising percentage of recreational and commuting cyclists over the past 10 years? What if I was just hung up on the idea that 1,000,000 people use the Greenway each year? Wouldn’t that be boring?

Everyone knows that the best place to have a lemonade stand is right, smack on the edge of the sidewalk. A busy sidewalk. With thirsty people. At the end of the day the pitchers are empty and the cigar box is jammed full of money. Some would call that free enterprise, I call it Summer. I wonder if the owners of Pizza Lucé had lemonade stands when they were kids…  Lucé has been working with Tanek to open their 6th (what?!) restaurant – located right, smack on the edge of the Greenway at 210 N. Blake Road Hopkins, MN.

This new location will have a similar feel to the recently finished Downtown Lucé (redesigned, naturally, by Tanek) but with some twists, here’s one of my favorites:

Little fixit stations for your bicycle! Isn’t that cool? Now I can “accidentally” pop my tire and order a Maximus and a Surly Firkin! What will they think of next? How about a bar area with overhead garage doors that open up to a patio? Okay – they thought of that too. Tanek and Lucé are going to milk every last drop out of Summer! They plan to open in July and I plan to be there.

PS: Elisa Richardson demonstrates how to hang a sign – with style:

That was the most delicious 10 year anniversary party for an architectural firm I have ever been to.

It was!

Nat and Ken were thrilled to see everyone – and for all of you that missed it – don’t worry, the 20 year anniversary party is just around the corner.

The location (Pizza Lucé) was perfect  -  I heard that Tanek designed that space just so they could have their 10 Year Party in it. My friend (wink)  created her own line of greeting cards because she didn’t feel like going to the store to buy one. So I guess it makes sense.

…There isn’t a whole lot to tell about the building block competition because Nat kept pushing small children out of the way – Nat, we get it. You’re an architect.

Some Tanek employees built something – but Nat pushed them out of the way – and knocked over their tower.

Ken Piper was his usual buoyant self… Here he is being the tallest man in the room:

Oh, one more thing! : There was a fantastic prize given to some lucky soul that dropped their name into the cookie jar:

Scrapbooking is super fun but I lost my pinking scissors and glue-stick so this blog will just have to do. Blogs are great for sharing photos, keeping memories, spreading important information – I mean, blogs give a voice to those that normally would be silent. Anyway, I wanted to know how the Tanek employees spent their Holiday…Typically, I would just go through someone’s trash to find out how they spend their time. But people just e-mailed me photos.

Elisa Richardson sent something really strange. I think it’s a weasel or ferret dressed like Santa?

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This photo was taken when Nat and Sabine were somewhere past Fargo. Needless to say, they enjoyed an evening in a lovely motel with an even lovelier view.

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Chaleece Roberts has a beautiful family. Never mind that pile of Santa on the floor .

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This next image was sent by Ryan Haro. He went through a blizzard to see Sherlock Holmes. That reminds me of the 18th century fur-trapper trapped in the blizzard with frozen feet. Luckily, he happened to have an awl and some brandy – so his feet were spared. Merry Christmas!

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Jessica Meidinger took this photo of the true meaning of Christmas:

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Nat carved exactly 8 pounds of Christmas beef. For himself.

Get back to work.