Okay, so it's been super busy with work and I've been neglecting other things (like cleaning my house). I'm very glad it's Friday and we have a busy weekend and week up ahead. We'll be in Red Wing this weekend for Michelle and Steve's wedding. I enjoy going to Red Wing, folks are friendly and welcoming. It's a charming town with lots of shops to visits, sights to see and places to eat. I'm also getting excited for our trip to Chicago and Milwaukee. Currently, I'm trying to get places plotted on a city map so that I can easily refer to it when we are there. Yes, I'm a dork. But at least I'm a dork who is extremely organized! I've gotten lots of recommendations from friends about places to see and restaurants to check out. Summer road trip, here we come!  Have a great weekend everyone!

I love love love it when the weather is nice during the weekend. On Saturday, I woke up bright and early and headed to the GLBT Pride Festival at Loring Park . I volunteered at my work booth for a couple of hours and then wandered around the festival after my shift was over. What an excellent event with lots of corporate sponsors and interesting events. I hope to make it to the pride parade next year. After that, Veronica and I headed up to the Albertville outlet mall and spent a couple of hours shopping. It might have been my most productive shopping trip in a very long time. It's great shopping with Veronica because we like the same stores (instead of just waiting at stores for someone else). Found shorts, a skirt, a shirt, a cardigan to wear over my dress for Michelle's wedding (okay, so it's cardigan #2, but I like this one better), a little something for baby Luis when we get to meet him in November and the iced tea shower gel that I've been intrigued with from Bath and Body Works (how do they make it smell exactly like iced tea??). Consumerism at it's best, what can I say? In the evening, Bryan and I checked out the new Benihana in Maple Grove and we were impressed. The decor is fabulous and the food is what you'd find at any Benihana = deeelicious. After dinner, we headed to the Nomad World Pub on the U of M west bank to see Trevor's band Sketches from Memory and Chris' band Hazel Strange play . It was a great show and we had a fun time. So fun that we didn't make it home until past 1am. This morning, I went to an ice-cream cooking class at Williams Sonoma (yum) and then in the afternoon, Bryan, Zoe  and I cruised around the lake in the boat. Very fun.  Linda will be here in a couple of days and Michelle's wedding is coming up. This summer is flying by!

 

So that is a summary of my life. Thanks for reading.

I love the Office. What a freakin' hilarious show. Anyway, it's the weekend- YAY! Just got back from the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum with Pat and her friend Sue. We spent about three and a half hours there and I took a ton of pictures. I'll have to go through them and get 'em posted up here. It was a very hot day outside, in the upper 80s, I think. The place is gorgeous and over 1,000+ acres. The arboretum is owned and operated by the University of Minnesota and I got free tickets through the library. Anyway, Tom stayed at our house the last few nights and it was great catching up with him. Zoe also loved having him around. Good luck on your journey out to the east coast and with your new job!  As Bryan would say, "so long, stink town!"

 

Tomorrow, we are meeting Tyler at Dave and Busters for lunch and then Veronica and I are going to the Stone Ach Festival by St. Anthony Main. Hopefully, it won't be thunderstorming out and we'll cool down in the shade. Next weekend, I'm volunteering at the GLBT Festival at Loring Park, I hope I find parking! I've never been to it before and I'm excited to check it out. I'm sure it'll be interesting and full of things to see and do. Now that I think about it, I should have signed up to volunteer on Sunday, since that's when the parade is held. Oh well, maybe next year. Only a couple of weeks until our road trip to Chicago and Milwaukee. I hope the weather will be nice and I'm excited to show Bryan around Chi-town.

 

And last but not least, THANK YOU to all of my faithful readers, coming back and reading my rants and ravings. I don't know why this is interesting to y'all, but ya keep coming back. 20,000 hits can't be wrong. Or can it? Heh. Thanks for reading, I love ya all! (you folks who came by way of Google as well).

Wow, what a perfect day. It's a hot and sunny 80 degrees outside right now and the weather couldn't any better. Woke up this morning and headed to an hour long massage, which definitely worked all any stress I was carrying around. In the afternoon, Bryan and I headed to Como Zoo and Conservatory, walked around, looking at all the animals, plants and flowers. The only annoying part was that we had to circle around the area for almost 45 minutes just to find parking. Everyone else had the same idea! Lots of families and kids out at the zoo at the Como Town amusement area as well. We also had a chance to stop and check out the Sparky sea lion show, which was actually really impressive. Being an animal trainer would be so cool. Saw giraffes, ostriches, zebras, monkeys, polar bears, snakes and lions. Most of the animals were napping when we went by and the most interesting one was probably the ostriches because when lying down, they look like one big feathered lump with a stringy head. Weird! There was a wedding going on at the Conservatory. I wonder where all the guests park? If they had to circle around like we did, there was no way they'd make it to the wedding in time! 

 

Later that evening...

 

We ended up having a BBQ party at our house in the last minute tonight. Jennie came over after work, Mike came from the airport after being in Chicago all day, Kyrsten and Craig stopped by and Debby came on her way back from Albertville. We had teriyaki chicken skewers, bacon wrapped sirloin, mashed potatoes and chips. Yum. For dessert, we toasted marshmallows on sticks that Craig found and made s'mores. Yum again. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect summer day!

Yesterday, Bryan and I celebrated our third wedding anniversary. Can't believe that we've been married for three years now, time sure has a way of flying right by. I know I say that every year. To celebrate, we had dinner together at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse last Friday, since that was the only time we had to just spend together. On our actual anniversary, we went out for dinner with Linda, the Marshalls and Jennie and Chris at Woody's Grille. It was fun to celebrate with everyone and especially so since it was also Richard and Kyrsten's birthdays and Linda's birthday the following day. My wonderful husband also got me an hour massage gift card and a TiVo! It's still in the box, we hopefully, we'll get it hooked up tonight and start TiVo-ing shows. I'm VERY excited.  This weekend, we are planning to go to Como Zoo, run a couple of errands and relax.

Wow, what a busy weekend! First of all, our central air conditioner decided to sputter away to a lifeless state. I guess it's not really a surprise, since it's estimated at about 20 years old (average lifespan is 12-15 years). We got a couple of quotes to get it replaced and will definitely be doing it soon. On Saturday, it was hot and sunny out and I went to the Edina art fair while Bryan went to Stillwater to play in a golf tournament. After the art fair, I headed to Amy's baby shower and then went to Captain Jack's on Prior Lake with Rich. Linda arrived in the Twin Cities shortly after. On Sunday, Bryan and I went to a grilling/BBQ class at Williams Sonoma, where learned about the difference between grilling and BBQing (cooking over flame quickly vs. indirect heat for a long period), rubs, marinades and techniques. Pretty interesting stuff! After that, Linda and I went down to Red Wing for Michelle's bridal shower. A busy weekend with a busy week ahead!