Met Kevin and Craig at the Newsroom on Nicollet Ave after work today. Kevin is out our house right now. We just ordered pizza and we're watching the Twins kick butt against Texas. It's been great catching up wit him.

 

Another HOT HOT HOT day in the Twin Cities again. 101 degrees, I believe was the temperature. First time in 11 years. Crazy. Thank goodness it's cooling down by tomorrow. Phew.

Bryan and I slept in our basement last night because it was so hot. It was really cool downstairs. Woke up this morning and just lazed around. Then we headed to Bed, Bath and Beyond to pick up a new desk chair. I just put it together. Pretty easy! Bryan and I stopped at Broders' Cucina Italiana for some pizza slices and sodas. Derek and Bryan are working on hanging a ceiling fan in our master bedroom right now. Good thing Derek knows what he's doing. When I was at Lowe's yesterday, I also picked up house numbers and a plaque to mount them on. They are a brushed nickel, I think it looks quite nice. I hope they mount on okay and can go somewhere on the front of the house. Now we'll finally have house numbers. Although I think people don't have much trouble finding the place. Must be the excellent directions I give.

 

It's another hot day again outside. Phew. I can't wait for the heat spell to be over. Weather.com says it feels like 109 degrees outside. WOOHOO!! HOT!

Bryan, Zoe and I spend this morning on Grand Ave in St. Paul. It was a blast. Stores were handing out treats and had water dishes out and there were plenty of dogs walking around, enjoying the day. We stopped by Bread and Chocolate for a quick lunch and had some Italian ice at the Grand Italian Ice shop. Yummy! We even brought Zoe into J Crew to look around. It's weird being in a clothing store with dogs! I wish we could do that all the time. How cool would that be??

 

Bryan just left with Derek and Adam to go golfing. Who could golf on such a HOT day? Zoe and I are doing the smart thing by staying inside the air conditioning. I might head to Lowes later today to pick up a ceiling fan for our bedroom. Bryan is always complaining that it's too hot to sleep, although I think it's the perfect temperature! I love weekends. It's nice to just do nothing and laze around.

Boy, it's getting HOT  outside! It's supposed to be 100 degrees on Sunday. Maybe I'll have to re-think going to Ribfest. Still want to go to Paws on Grand though- anything for my Zoe. Tomorrow I'm meeting Jennie with lunch at the ever popular Global Market. Yum!! I might have to consider trying something I've never had before. At work today I took a tour of the 911 ambulance dispatch center. Wow, they do a fantastic job there. I'm always so amazed when I go through there (this is the 2nd time I've been there). How fulfilling to do a job where you save lives and impact so many people. I really admire the work of all the dispatchers, EMTs and Paramedics out there. Way to go!

 It was very hot and humid outside today. Started to thunderstorm in the afternoon. Good thing too, because my car was pretty dirty from Bryan mowing the lawn right by it. The ground was so hot that I could literally SEE the rain water evaporating from the street. WEIRD!! It's stopped raining now and the sun has come out again. I've got a couple of errands to run at Target and Hallmark, but I don't know if I feel like going out again. Getting a bit lazy just lying on the couch at home. Might just wait for the weekend and run all my errands at once, at least I'd save a bit on gas, right? One downfall of the summer is the re-runs on TV. Too bad we can't have new TV shows on all year round. What's nice about my current job is that I still actually have time to come home, relax and watch TV! It's kind of dumb, but a nice luxury to be able to do whatever I want with my free time. I'm sure there are a few of you out there who would agree. No one will be staying at our house this weekend. It's been a while since the guest suite has been empty for a weekend. Kev is coming to visit this weekend and I hope he has time to meet for dinner or drinks. It's been forever since I've seen him. Can't wait to take my Zoe dog to Paws on Grand on Saturday. I love dog friendly events!

Yet another busy day. Woke up this morning and headed to the Mall of Amerca for our Bare Escentual makeovers. It was very fun! Walked around the mall for a while before heading to the Ikea to exchange Mel's curtain rod. Then we went to Sam's to pick up an EZ Up tent that Jennie needed for her art fair coming up in a few months. Now I'm really tired! Seems like I"m always tired at the end of the day. Surprise, surprise.

Today was Kim's long awaited bridal shower/bachelorette party. Slept really well last night. Could hardly get up this morning. Did some last minute cleaning before I got the food ready. Our manicures at New Reflections Aveda Salon/Spa were awesome. I definitely put them one notch up above Juut. Then we headed to Maple Grove for some shopping, followed by dinner at Buca di Beppo. Note to all those who enjoy Buca- make reservations! We had reservations and were seated in just a few minutes. Walk-ins were quoted 45 to 60 minute wait times. Ouch! Tomorrow, Kim and I are headed to the mall for our Bare Escentuals makeovers. Should be fun. We are going to meet up with Jennie after that and run a few errands around town. It's been a LONG day. Time for bed. *Yawn*

I drive through the Lowry Tunnel on 94 every day on the way to and from work. They closed it a couple of days ago to clean it and honestly, I didn't realize the inside of it was supposed to be WHITE instead of GREY! Gross. It's like a brand new tunnel!

 

Again, it's FRIDAY. Yeah! Okay, now it just seems that the summer is going by way too quickly, since it's almost August. Kim is coming over tonight and staying at our house for the weekend. Tonight, when Bryan gets home from work, I'm going to take him to the Claddagh Irish Pub in Maple Grove. I think he'll like that place. It's a beautiful day out today. In the upper 70s. Perfect!

 

Later that evening...

 

Wow, totally change those plans. After writing that entry, I got a call from Mary, who told me to go downtown to meet them at the Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant. Bryan picked me up on his way home from work and we headed down there. Took a total of about 2.5 hours for us to go through three courses. Don't go there if you are short on time! The food was fantastic. Great cheese and chocolate fondues. Oh, and the lobster- YUM! It was great to see everyone. Kim made it to our house in the dark with my directions. Glad about that! I ran around the house before I left for dinner, vacuumed, took the garbage cans back in, ran a load of laundry. Seems I get more cleaning done when I'm on a tight schedule. Tomorrow I've still got to do more cleaning before setting up for the bridal shower.

 Today is my brother's birthday.  Happy Birthday Daniel!!

 

Got a call when I was at work today from my old co-worker Bridgett. Went and met her for dinner in Bloomington and it was great catching up with her. After that, I headed across 494 (drove, didn't walk of course) to meet Derek and Adam at a random bar and then Bryan finally showed up. For some reason, they choose weekday nights to close down highways and do road construction. How annoying!! Will it never end? Anyway, had a great of just chatting with people and hanging out. YAY!! It's Friday again. My almost favorite day of the week, besides Saturday, of course. Went to the grocery store today to restock our fridge and to get stuff for the party I'm hosting for Kim. Should be a fun time. Confirmed all the appointments we've got booked also. Kim should be getting into town tomorrow. Gotta make sure I clean the rest of the house before then. Anyway, it's way past m bedtime. Better get going.  Good night world.

1. FIRST NAME? Karen

2. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Karen Carpenter?

3. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Can't remember

4. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? When I try

5. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Turkey

6. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? No

7. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?

8. DO YOU HAVE A JOURNAL? Does my blog count?

9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Oh yeah...

10. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS? Yes

11. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Sure...

13. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No

14. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Yeah, for the most part

15. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Cherry Garcia or mint choc chip

16. SHOE SIZE? 7.5

17. RED OR PINK? Pink

18. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? That I hold a grudge

19. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My friends I don't get to see often

20. WHEN AND WHERE WERE YOU BORN? 1982 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

21. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Black shoes and brown capris

22. WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Peach yogurt

23. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? A video playing

24 IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Orange

25. FAVORITE SMELL?  Zoe after a bath and Bryan

26. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED WITH ON THE PHONE? Bryan

27. THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE YOU MEET? The way they look...

28. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Entertaining :)

29. FAVORITE DRINK? Water

30. FAVORITE SPORT? Football, especially with good seats!!

31. HAIR COLOR? Shades of brown

32. EYE COLOR? Dark brown

33. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? Yes

34. FAVORITE FOOD? Mac and cheese

35. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDING? Happy endings, usually

36. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Hoodwinked

37. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Baby blue

38. SUMMER OR WINTER? SUMMER!

39. HUGS OR KISSES? Both!

40. FAVORITE DESSERT? Chocolates are good

41. WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU READING? I'm going to start on Kite Runner pretty soon

42. WHAT'S ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Don't use a mouse- laptops at work and home

43. FAVORITE SOUNDS? Good music and silence

44. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?  Stones

45. THE FURTHEST YOU'VE BEEN FROM HOME Ahem. I'm here right now

46. IF YOU COULD PICK ANY TWO PEOPLE TO HAVE DINNER WITH, WHO WOULD
THEY BE?  I'd let Bryan and Linda have dinner with Brad

Kim is coming this weekend. Should be a fun time. I'm washing the towels and bedding from the guest suite right now. Kim said it's like I have a bed and breakfast here (except there's no breakfast). Britani, Adam, Napoleon and Lola left to drive home to Grand Forks just a couple of hours ago. It was kind of a long day at work today. Didn't feel overly motivated because I knew that the rest of this week was going to be crazy hectic. I've got to clean the rest of the house and pick up food for the bridal shower before the end of the week. All I want to do is take a long and relaxing nap and maybe watch some mindless TV. Anyway, I just spoke with Kim and it sounds like she has a LOT planned for the wedding. Everything is really coming together and it's going to be very fun. I'm glad she asked me to be a part of it. GOOD NIGHT!

 

Later that evening...

 

Okay, not good night yet. Just checked the price of MCD stock and it went up by $1.68 in just one day. YEAH! C'mon, work for me!

Phew. What a busy weekend. Britani and the pups arrived on Friday evening and will be here until tomorrow. It's been a blast hanging out with them. On Saturday, we did lots of shopping at Ikea, the Mall of America and Trader Joe's. Bryan played in a golf tournament in Buffalo and we all got together in the evening for a BBQ. On Sunday, we did even more shopping, Bryan did even more golfing and since the weather has been so hot and humid outside, I'm exhausted.  Tonight, we are going to Benihana for dinner. Yum. Dang, it's almost Monday again. Next weekend is Kim's bridal shower and bachelorette party. I've got to clean the house before she comes and go to the store to pick up the necessary supplies. The weekend after that, Kevin has mentioned coming down to visit. It's been a really long time since I've seen him, I hope he comes!

Zoe might be famous again. I just received an email from the Star Tribune and they've just started publishing a pet magazine called Whiskers. The art director liked her pictures!

 

After work today, I headed to the Aveda headquarters research salon and got my hair dyed. I think it looks pretty good. Received some free products for volunteering. It's nice to have a change. Plus, best part is that when it grows out, I can just call them and make an appointment. Easy as that.

 

I'm SO glad it's the weekend!! Fridays at work are definitely the best day. Everyone is cheerful, joking around and chatty. Britani is coming over tonight and staying at our house for the weekend. It's supposed to be 100 degrees tomorrow. WOOOOO!! HOT!!

It's almost Friday- yay!! After work I went to the grocery store and now I really don't feel like cleaning the house, even though I know I should. I compared prices and going to the store saves a significant amount of money vs. shopping online for groceries. Dang. Wish I could afford the convenience of grocery delivery or shopping at one of those fancy stores like Kowalski's, Byerly's or Lund's. Instead, it's Rainbow, Cub and Super Target for me. Well, at least it gives me something to work towards. I'm working a super early shift tomorrow, which means I get out of work super early. YEAH! Today I went to the Aveda Institute and participated in a Chakra aromatherapy study. All the scents were a bit icky smelling. Not my kind of scents. Tomorrow, I'm heading to their HQ to participate in another study. Fun stuff. I got a $25 Aveda gift card for doing the smell study. Only took about 20 minutes to go through. Well, I should start making dinner before the husband gets home.

Tee hee

I can't believe it's already mid-July! Where has this summer gone to?? This weekend is supposed to be SUPER hot.  In the upper 90s. Bryan is playing in a golf tournament and Britani will be in town! We are having another BBQ this weekend, since Derek and Adam are in town working. I know I say this all the time, but I love entertaining. Work has been going pretty well. Keeping myself busy. Need to grocery shop and clean the house before the weekend. It's a good thing I have guests- gives me a reason to clean. The Aquatennial is going on this weekend, along with Wayzata's Crazy Days. Should be plenty of things to keep us busy. I was considering trying out www.SimonDelivers.com, the grocery delivery place. Would be so handy and time-saving. Not that I'm such a busy person.  But you know, the price of gas. (Great excuse for almost anything)

Zoe is in this month's issue of TC Dog magazine! She is on page 1 in the table of contents and again on page 24.
http://www.tcdog.com/

We had a fantastic BBQ last night. Lots of people came over, the weather was perfect and so were the food and drinks. Adam is staying at our place right now, he's watching the Sorapnos downstairs. We spent a ton of time cleaning the house and yard yesterday before everyone came over and surprisingly, everything still looks pretty good this morning. I made Bryan crepes for breakfast. They are very tasty and easy to make. Here is the recipe, if anyone feels like trying it out. They are great with some jam or butter.

 

*************

Crepes

 

2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons melted butter
Butter, for coating the pan

In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. This allows the bubbles to subside so the crepes will be less likely to tear during cooking. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.

Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to the cutting board. Lay them out flat so they can cool. Continue until all batter is gone. After they have cooled you can stack them and store in sealable plastic bags in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months. When using frozen crepes, thaw on a rack before gently peeling apart.

Recipe source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_17312,00.html