Minneapolis Misses Me?

Or maybe it's just that I miss Minneapolis so much. Yep, I think that's it.

I DO miss it TERRIBLY. Driving into the cities this past weekend was delightful - I was filled with excitement at the possibilities and surprise at the differences that have taken place in a mere 10 months. I remembered the long drives to and from Green Bay, I thought about how much the cities (and, of course, the people IN Minneapolis) have seen me through. Good times and shitty times, changes and static places in my life; the cities have old friends and new friends. But mostly old. It's old and comfortable, but still appealing. That's what I feel like Minneapolis is to me. It feels like home.

I was on a high for a few days, but after seeing 35 people in 5 days, I was exhausted. Mentally, physically, psychologically. Totally and completely exhausted. Oh, but I enjoyed myself SO MUCH. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to set up shop (or house or apartment) and stay forever!

So, I left on a little late on Thursday morning which wasn't especially good because I was supposed to meet Sarah for lunch at noon. Oops. The previous day, I had this huge-mondo bike race to run for work (a 14 hour day at that), so I didn't have much energy to pack the night before. But, I was on the road by 9am and cruising along, singing to my newly burned "Summer Hits 2006" CD. Unfortunately, I got pulled over on the way there for having no front plates on the red Cavalier. Seriously? Seriously. Go flippin figure. I got to Sarah's around 1pm and we screamed and giggled and laughed and chatted our entire way to Longfellow's Grill (the place where she serves with EXCELLENT food). She had a few coupons and a discount, so we got a free lunch! It was so sweet for her to use those on me (thanks Sar!)...we talked and talked and talked and talked from Longfellows to Dunn Bros to the end of the bridge and back. We couldn't stop (we never can)! It was really wonderful. Again, I was centered for the rest of my trip and the rest of my visits. Sarah never fails to bring me right back down to what's truly important.

I got ready at her house and left to go downtown for dinner at the Melting Pot with Steph, Laura, Kirsten, and Anne. Of course, they were waiting for me (I was late for EVERYTHING that weekend) and I walked in with so much excitement to see them! They all looked like such polished professionals sitting at a table in the bar with their skirts and heels and sweater vests and collared shirts on. So cute, my friends. I couldn't decide who to hug first, I just wanted to gather them all up in my arms and squeeze! We made our way to our table and sat down for dinner. I was the only one who had been to the Melting Pot before, so I was excited for them all to try it. After a few hours (actually, really only minutes...we were on a roll) and several friendly server check-ins later, we decided on our order. We would get the most food for our money, but it would be expensive: a cheddar cheese fondue for one at $14 (we'd share it and still have room for our entree), four entrees at about $20 each (terayki beef, terakyi beef and shrimp, chicken, and vegatarian which all come with one salad each) with a plate charge of $10 for the fifth person (but an extra salad with that credit for the extra person), and two small (one to two servings each) chocolate fondues at $15 each. We figured that amount would be perfect for the five of us. WELL, the cheese fondue arrived and we went to town on it. At one point during the appetizer, I looked into the bread basket and said, "Hey girls, look! There's a piece of chicken in here!" They didn't really believe me and said that it was probably just a piece of bread that looked like chicken. "Okay," I said, still thinking it was chicken. But then, Anne took it out and tore it open, "It's chicken, girls. Look." Sure enough, it was a piece of chicken. I ripped off a piece, dipped it into the cheese, and popped it into my mouth. "It's chicken," I said, confirming what had already been established. We then set the piece at the end of the table for the server to see. We also joked, "Ha, maybe they'll give us some kind of free dinner or something." Fat chance, I thought. The server, Dave, came by and asked us about the chicken piece. "Where do you think we got it?" Anne said, "Out of our purses?" "I even tried it," I said, looking for Dave's response. "Uhhh, that probably wasn't such a good idea and I probably wouldn't have done that, but at least it was cooked. Let's just hope you don't get sick." Laughing, Dave said he'd take care of it. Ten minutes later, while waiting for our entrees, the manager came over to our table and let us know that she knew about the misshap. "I can buy you a round of drinks for our mistake," she said. We looked at each other..."Nah, we really don't feel like drinking." She recoiled. "How about I buy your cheese?" No. "How about dessert?" A quick glance around the table clarified the answer. That was a winner. "Sure!" Oooooh, we were SO getting 2 different, regular fondues that would serve up to 8 people (as opposed to the two smalls - a $30 value total - that we originally had decided on). YES. Entrees came and ended up being SO GOOD (try the terayki beef, I dare you!) that we ate EVERYTHING despite my warning that we were going to have "way too much food." Finally, it was dessert time. Upon ordering, I didn't have the guts knonwing it would be comp'ed, so Steph took charge and ordered up the two different chocolates that each cost $30. It would be the Original and the Flaming Turtle for the 5 of us. YUM! We were excited for the chocolate, but we were even MORE excited for the fact that we were getting $60 of free food! As Anne so eloquently put it, "This totally warrants high-fives! Do you think that would be inappropriate? Yeah, high-fives might be a little inappropriate. But STILL!" The feeling was mutual: WE TOTALLY SCORED! All thanks to a little piece of chicken. Dessert came, we ate filled with satisfaction at the food and the bill, and all was merry. THEN, we got our REAL bill and...guess what? The total was only $85!!!! In the end, we got approximately $90 taken off of our bill, again, just because of a little piece of chicken. HA! Needless to say, we were all totally estatic afterwards, giggling and chattering like a treeful of sparrows. It was great!! We not only had a wonderful night of fun, but it was also quite inexpensive for what we were expecting! Hooray!

Following our unexpectedly cheap evening at the Melting Pot, I went home with Kirsten and Anne to sleep over! We chatted for a bit and then all retired to bed - we were exhausted and both Kirsten and Anne had to work the next day.

(I don't have a ton of time, so you're going to get an abbreviated version of my visit.)

Friday, I got up at 5:45am to get out the door by 6:15am. I met Tess at a McDonald's (well, it was supposed to be a Caribou, but we couldn't find one!) and it was a glorious time chatting with her! I forget what a good time I have with my Minneapolis friends. Good thing I forget, though, because if I remembered, I think I'd be sad all the time. I left McDonald's feeling on top of the world. Tess just seems to renew my spirit and energy.

After breakfast, I called Jason and made drive over to his house to see him. We gossiped, I helped him clean up, and then I feel asleep! I couldn't help it, I was so tired already. I woke up and went to pick up my lovely Krista for a little shopping trip to find a wedding present for the following day's celebration. We did lunch (Pizza Luce!) and found something exquisite (stemless wine glasses and a canter).

I dropped her off and finally I was off to Brianna's house in Bloomington. We were going to do a little exercising, then a little dinner, then a little drinking and dancing. I was up for that! We took a walk (and a beautiful one, at that), got ready (took a bit too long), and went to Raya's bf's house for a little house party. Four shots and no dinner later, KELLY IS IN THE BAG. Ooops. You know you never get drunk on those nights you say you're going to! You know it! So, it was quite a surprise to find myself totally sloshed. Sad. Brianna and Angela (our other pal) made me eat a Filet-O-Fish from McDonald's. Yay, two visits to Mickey D's in one day! I force-fed myself and felt a little better. OH, and I didn't even mention that we were totally in her dad's Hummer H3. What a sweet ride. It was cool. Anyhow, we went downtown after the McDoe's drive-through and found ourselves at Drink for a bit. Two drinks (strong ones!) and a few dances went by and we decided to leave. Fun, but we needed a different scene. Champ's Alley won for the next place. That was fun and I remember about...oh, none of the night after that. I remember going to Brother's for a bit, but after that, I get mighty foggy.

The next morning, we woke up and had a delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes. It was good. Then, I blew a quick kiss goodbye to Brianna and family (well, not really, more like hugs) and sped to Cafe Latte to meet Ashley Court, my friend from Green Bay who lives in Minneapolis and is getting married in October (I'll be back for the wedding)! We, of course, had a wonderfully long two hours of chatting and nodding and giggling and gossiping. It was delightful. We saw an old friend of mine from college (boy, do I sound old) and he talked with us for a bit only to find out that he knew a few people she knew from highschool, etc, etc. Weird. It's a damn small world, I tell ya. After a mocha later and a sore mouth later (for her, not me - you know what caffeine does to me), I sped to Krista's house to get ready for the wedding. Late, of course, as always and we still needed to stop for a card and gum. Geez. The three of us (me, Krista, and Krista's girlfriend, CJ whom I adore) rushed around the apartment in mad dashes with questions ("These earrings?") and answers ("Definitely not.") only to look absolutely astonishingly beautiful in the end. Phew. We practically ran out the door, stopped for gas, stopped at Walgreen's, and got to the wedding just as Lindsey was about to walk down the aisle. Oops. Luckily, we got seated and were able to witness the entire wedding from a pew instead of from the door. It was beautiful (of course, Lindsey has great taste) and afterwards, we made our way downtown to the site of the reception (Windows on Minnesota - the 50th floor of the IDS Towers in downtown Minneapolis). GORGEOUS. It was breathtaking up there. We were so high and the day was clear and the food was good and the atmosphere was elegant. Dinner went well, but the music at the dance was really bad, so Krista, CJ, and I all decided to leave much more prematurely than we orginally expected. Fortunately, Kirsten and Erin (!) were going to meet me downtown to go to the Lodge (yay!) and have some drinks. Fun! I changed in my car (with the help of Krista and CJ - they made sure no one captured me) and met my girls right on time. Perfecto. We walked to the Lodge, had a few fun drinks, but we weren't really feeling it. Sad, because when Kirst and I get dancing, we don't stop. I think we were all pretty tired that night, plus, K had to drive the next morning, so we called it a night early. I had contacted Raya and Company to see if they would make an appearance downtown - no such luck, so I thought I'd go to them after my little rendezvous with Kirsten and Erin. I arrived in Uptown around 1am and Raya and I walked to Drink (didn't even know Uptown HAD a Drink!) to meet up with the peeps. An hour later, I found myself talking to a friend I knew in highschool who never lived in Minneapolis (he went to Madison for undergrad and was in Milwaukee for grad school), but was visiting some friends for the weekend! How fricking ironic! We chatted, then it was bar time, so Raya and I trucked to Rainbow for some food. In Rainbow, I found a stick on a sandwich that said "Monster Minnesota" and I stold it to wear it. So awesome. I was proud. The rest of the night was pretty much us talking and getting ready to go to sleep (at 4am, mind you).

I woke up the next morning at 9am to get to Jason's (for brunch) by 10am. I am always late, so I was really trying to be early this time. Upon my arrival, we (there were about 20 of us - the fam was in town) piled in the car and went to the St. Paul Grill (the last time I was there, I was still drunk from the night before - February 2005 - and I feel asleep in the bathroom stall). I had a scrumptious brunch of salmon omelette (but not as good as Seattle) and some good chatter. Finally, everyone said their goodbyes and I was left alone (thankfully, I was starting to get to be a crab ass, quite frankly). I sat in the park for a while (across from the Ordway) and just thought. It was nice. Then, I walked a bit and thought again and breathed and processed the weekend. The whirlwind of a weekend.

I left to go meet Ash at Sebastian Joe's shortly thereafter and found myself crying in the car. I don't know why, but I did. I think I was tired from lack of sleep and sad to leave and exhausted from being so energetic with friends. It takes a lot out of me to see everyone and be interested and interesting and alive. Ash got there and we drove down to Calhoun to walk around the lake. Perfect. Exactly what I needed at exactly the right time. (Thanks, Ash.) We talked and laughed together and just felt comfortable. It's nice just to be able to be yourself with no expectations or restrictions or pre-conceived notions. Funny enough, we ran into Britta on the trail and talked with her for about ten minutes. That was nice and unexpected. Perfect and ironic timing.

Ash and I finished our walk and went to Lund's to buy water to quench our DYING thirst. WOW. I haven't been that thirsty in a long time. I guzzled a whole liter of water in minutes. Good thing I bought two! :) It was time for her to go, so she drove me back to me car, we said goodbye and I was alone again. I drove back to Jason's in silence and thought again. You'll get these thoughts later when I'm done with this mother-loving long post.

For dinner, it was Chino Latino, so I took a quick shower and got ready. Jason, Greg (Jason's uncle), Mark (Jason's bf) all went to uber trendy and ultra yummy Chino. It was an interesting night because I was kind of crabby and I don't think any of us were really in the mood for chatting, so we just lazily talked and sat and ate. It was all good, though. After dinner, Leah and I were supposed to karaoke it up, but we both weren't up for it. Then, I was going to go to the Gay 90's with the boys, but I was dead tired. I could barely hold a conversation and I desperately needed sleep, so I went home. I needed me time.

I fell asleep in no time and was feeling a bit better in the morning to run errands and do lunch with Jason. Errands consisted of dropping off a check (Jason) and buying running shoes at the Running Room (me). Then, we (Jason, Jed, and I) all went to the Loring Pasta Bar for some lunch. It was yummy - the bread was awesome - and we enjoyed each other's company once again.

Afterwards, we went back to Jason's only to find a damn ticket on my car - for MISSING FRONG PLATES!!!! Can you f'in BELIEVE THAT??? What an UPROAR that caused. I was PISSED. I mean, it's one thing to warn about missing plates, but I was PARKED. AND NOT IN THE CAR! SO, I couldn't even defend my status. And the ticket was for $100! (To update - we fought it and it's in the process of being received right now...) I was livid. More than livid.

Following THIS incidence (GRRR), I went to meet Leah at Espresso Royale (my favorite coffee shop in Dinkytown and where I spent countless hours doing homework). We talked about everything for about 2 hours, then we both had to jet - me to home, her to another engagement. She was leaving for Ohio for training that next weekend (then to Hawaii for her!), so she was trying to say goodbye to everyone!

I set off for home at around 4pm with thunderstorms brewing in the distance. Lucky me, I got caught in some really severe ones - it was the thickest rain I've ever had to drive in. I finally got home around 8pm and went to meet up with another high school friend living in Madison who was only in town until the next day.

PHEW. Needless to say, I was seriously crabby for the rest of the week, not to mention trying to catch up on sleep and alone time. But, the upside is that I got to see almost all the important, defining people from my Minneapolis life! :)

I'll have more for you later - that was too grueling to go any further!