Entries Tagged 'Twin Cities' ↓

i’ve been following along with jenni’s monthly updates on completing a list of 101 goals to complete in 1001 days, which has finally motivated me to begin my own.

yesterday i kicked off my own 101 in 1001 list by having lunch at the melting pot with my sister — #12: Visit 20 new-to-me restaurants in the Twin Cities.

the motivation behind going for lunch was actually because jason had purchased one of those online coupon things and it was going to expire before he could find time to use it. so… thanks, sweetie!

though we didn’t anticipate it being a two hour visit, it was a fun lunch! the booths are wide and tall, so it felt very much like we were dining privately. the food was all delicious, too!

i currently have 61 items on my list that should have 101 items. i’ve been trying to brainstorm, but i’m sure more ideas of things to get done will come along. do you have any suggestions? i think i could probably add some goals related to my professional life, fill out of the list of goals for home, and add some more twin city to do’s easily enough. what am i missing?

Honestly, I was more freaked out at my 27^th birthday. After entering my late 20s and becoming more confident in who I am (a crazy cat lady who enjoys knitting and wine), 30 didn’t seem so daunting. The only thing I was worried about was how I would celebrate entering a new decade in my life — I couldn’t think of anything I really wanted to do (other than knitting, petting kitties, and drinking wine, of course).

Luckily, two of my friends from South Dakota, Bridget and Lindy, decided to take a weekend vacation to the cities. This quelled my fear that I was truly boring. If I decided to stay in and do nothing, at least I’d have friends to talk to about how much I love staying in and doing nothing!

My weekend actually began with an 11/11/11 celebration at work — finger food and Apothic Red. I’ve been with Gage Marketing for about two weeks now, and the worst thing I’ve found is the toilet paper. Seriously, so far this place is rad. I’ve had a couple small projects so far — I’m looking forward to more — but it was pretty nice to end the work week with a glass of wine.

That evening, Jason and I went to a wedding on UMN’s Showboat. Our friends, Joe and Laura, got married. The ceremony was very lovely, her dress was gorgeous, and the karaoke was great!

On Saturday, I joined Bridget and Lindy for a day of adventure. We ate brunch at Fat Nat’s Eggs — a casual joint that I pass everyday going to and from work. I ordered the “Favrito” and it was super spicy and delicious. The atmosphere was similar to that of a VFW. It was a down-to-earth restaurant, and I will definitely go back to try more of the spicy breakfast platters they offer.

After that, we went to view some Ukrainian antiquities at the Museum of Russian Art. I’ve passed the building before, but never actually gone in. We saw a lot of tools, jewelry and vases that were about 4,000–6,000 years old and our minds boggled. I really, really wish I could’ve taken photos to share with you. We also saw art from Oleg Vassiliev. Most of his art was political and a bit over my head, but I enjoyed his storybook illustrations that were on display.

Then? IKEA. Boy, did I get some ideas about things I’d like to have in my house…

So we wore ourselves out pretty well and came up with the best way to recover and ring in my 30^th birthday: we stopped at Target for part 2 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on DVD, the fixin’s for Tater Tot Hot Dish, and some cake mix. Kristi and Jason joined us for the evening as well.

Having friends that will watch parts 1 and 2 of the final Harry Potter installment with me? Priceless. I’m a pretty lucky gal!

Yesterday morning, I made a strata and Vani came over for some chatter before Bridget and Lindy had to head back to South Dakota. I opened various cards I received in the mail and the gift that Jason got for me — remote start for my car! That will be so nice to have this winter! My brother and sister-in-law sent me the most recent A Book Apart books (because I also <3 web) and my sister and brother-in-law sent me a gift card to Amazon.com (what should I get for myself??).

So, I'm feeling pretty spoiled thankful because I have an awesome boyfriend, amazingly generous friends, and a pretty good life in general. So far this decade is off to a fantastic start!

last saturday night, jason and i went for a photo tour with midwest photo safari. our nighttime tour was at st. anthony main in minneapolis.

we met at 6pm for a brief introduction and initial set-up. don and rebecca, our tour guides, made sure we all knew how to adjust settings on our cameras and got our tripods set up correctly.

the first tip i learned? adjust the exposure compensation in aperture-priority mode. so simple! yet so handy for those times i don’t want to go completely manual.

my dslr is a canon rebel xsi. rebecca saw me shooting the guthrie and the gold medal flour sign across the river, and gave me my second canon-specific tip: set the white balance to “tungsten” to bring out more blue in the sky. voilá!

c’est magnifique!

i was enjoying capturing the light reflections in the water.

then rebecca told me to try f22 to help the lights form more of a star…

i was hooked. (she told me not to go overboard, but! stars!)

we ended the evening on the northern end of the stone arch bridge. i was taking some photos in the middle of the bridge when a bicyclist with a blinking light approached.

see the weirdo dashed line on the left-hand side of the photo? oooh, mystery light…

and? don and rebecca even provide certification after the tour. cute.

it all felt a bit rushed, but we both got some good tips for nighttime photography, as well as booklet to bring home with even more tips and ideas. jason and i plan to go again on our own sometime — maybe when it’s a bit warmer, too. (jason hasn’t posted his photos yet, but he has one of me all bundled up — hat, gloves, sweatshirt, etc. brr! october in minnesota can be quite chilly!)

this year, vani was my date for rock the garden. she is an awesome date, by the way! you are jealous.

it was actually sorta fun to hang out in the rain and drizzle all afternoon. we fortified ourselves with summit beer and fabulous food from the chef shack (bison burger and bacon beer brats, drool).

i borrowed jason’s barenaked ladies poncho for the occasion and felt like a pretty terrible girlfriend when the neckline ripped pretty early on. does anyone know where i can buy a replacement? or maybe i can get him something awesome when we’re in san francisco in four and a half days eeeeeeee!!

i was trying to find vani and myself in the time-lapse video, but there are just too many people and we all look like ants!

social media in the rain is tough. i was typing from under my poncho.

kristi and jared shared our sitting area. somehow they walked right by us, which is amazing. seriously, there were so many people.

that’s neko case. she sounded positively delightful. also, the zoom on my camera sorta sucks. i think it’s almost time for a new point and shoot… any recommendations?

okay, so i also enjoyed the heck out of a gyro. it seemed like everyone around me was enjoying them, so i had to have my own later in the evening.

my cute date and me.

my charming landlords.

in this photo, kristi is waiting for jared to return from the barrio food truck with “like, a million tacos.” (he came back with one of each!)

i’m always makin’ friends with nature. as long as the nature isn’t in my house, you know?

barry and stacia joined our excellent spot for a better view of my morning jacket.

that’s mark wheat in the fuzzy distance.

this guy started a beach ball that bounced around to the front of the audience during the first few songs of my morning jackets’ setlist. way to go, beach ball guy! he was really proud of himself.

oh, we also ate the hell out of some fries.

i danced. everything was so wet and muddy! it was pretty fun.

see that beach ball?! yeah.

meanwhile, sunset.

i love you, rock the garden! see you next year!

the word of the day was…

this past valentine’s day, my sweet boyfriend snuck into my house and left a big bouquet of flowers along with a couple groupons that i would like — one was for a visit to chateau st. croix winery & vineyard, which included a tour, a cheese plate, wine tastings, and two souvenir glasses to take home. the winery was across the river in wisconsin, so we decided to make a whole, fun day trip out of it.

we paused in st. croix falls at a scenic overlook since we were a little ahead of “schedule.”

i think this photo is hilarious because it was my idea to look DIRECTLY INTO THE SUN so of course i’m making a stupid face and ruining an otherwise pretty darn cute photo.

i’m now not sure if those (off to the left of the photo) are taylor’s falls or st. croix’s falls.

king of the world! … or at least of this rock.

look at all that lichen.

zooooom!

jason risked his life for this photo. i almost had to leave him behind. (but he had the keys to the car…)

james knox polk: thank you for making wisconsin and for providing a name for a great street to live on (twice).

chateau. lions everywhere. i loved it.

now entering narnia!

our first tastings: 2006 atelier alexander valley zinfandel (the zin) and jaune d’or port (“like drinking a sugar cookie”). both very delicious. i liked most of what we tasted, and i went home with a bottle of the 2009 wild river rose.

oh, now we’re on the tour.

it would be fun to volunteer on bottling day/weekend in september. who wants to join me?

jason got on the floor for this photo, reviewed it, then proclaimed he was a genius. yes, you are, sweetie.

the cheese plate for two. you mean i have to share this?!

jason was even gonna eat the whole plate, too!

super cute bottle. i would’ve bought a bottle if i had a “wine fund” set aside.

knights like us, baby we were born to runnn… to the winery… to drink wine…

this photo was an “accident” but it’s evidence of the face that i make at jason most of the time. it’s my i’m-falling-more-in-love-with-you-right-now face.

dead wine barrel converted into a charcoal grill = totally awesome! can also be used as a smoker.

it was a special festival weekend at the winery, showcasing some of the local artisans and businesses. the sun came out just for us to wander around the booths and take it all in.

at this booth i informed jason of my plan to some day have my own sheep and my own wool-spinning machine. heck yes, i’m gonna make my own yarn. maybe i’ll get a llama, too (that is the yarn used for the hats in the foreground).

i liked the chardonnay and roasted garlic marinade.

meow!

i wanted to steal this puppy.

this is his (her?) “good side.”

see? more lions!

hello, wisconsin.

this is in the bathroom. sort of rude, but sort of funny, too.

vineyard birds.

sign says: “open wine”
i say: “okay, i will!”

then we stopped at this goofy little sculpture park on our way to stillwater.

this is the work area. there was some art in production as we walked around.

jason told me i live here. it doesn’t even have a floor.

there wasn’t any gold leaf left for us.

hey, then we got to stillwater! the river here was really high — the muddy area is where it had been in the last couple weeks.

strawberry/banana malts at leo’s.

obligatory photos of the stillwater lift bridge.

see the water? those steps are supposedly leading down to a lower pedestrian pathway. i will have to imagine…

this photo is mostly to show the streetlamp in the water.

this is the one place on gowalla that i didn’t check in. dang!

all in all, it was a pretty perfect day with my sweetheart — good weather, good scenery, good wine…

thanks so much for the gift, jason. i love you.