To finish with my story from this past weekend, after checking my email on Saturday afternoon, I went to Kirsten and Anne's condo in Shoreview. We hung out for a few hours - painted nails, ate leftovers, watched a movie - and then Kirsten and I got ready to go out on the town! Amanda and Erin also stopped by to say hello and I got to see Erin's new engagement ring which is really gorgeous. We wanted to be downtown at the Lodge before 10pm (no cover), so we made our way down there and had a seriously awesome night. It was so much fun - one of those nights when you don't plan on getting drunk (I didn't want to drink anything!), but one drink down and all of a sudden, you find yourself with a boy on one hand and a shot in the other. Good thing, though, I only ended up paying $13 for drinks the entire night. It was also one of those nights when you just really let go; I found myself just letting loose and dancing, laughing, and having a great time. It felt really good.
Sunday morning I went over to Sarah's new house and we just hung out all day. First, we went to the Seward Cafe (SO YUMMY) and talked for about 3 hours. Then, we went to meet her bf at one of his buildings (he's a realtor) and we looked at one of the unit models and talked for another hour or so. After that, we did ice cream at the Grand Old Creamery (again, SO GOOD) and ended our little rendezvous. That afternoon, I rode over to Raya's bf's house to meet her so that we could go to the rooftop movie at Solera. Upon getting there (to Solera), we decided to do dinner at Rock Bottom instead. The movie screen was pretty small and I wanted a burger. We had a great time laughing and gossiping over dinner that night; it was so much fun to just be with her instead of out partying (our normal activity together).
I slept over at Jason's house on Sunday night and despite getting there at almost 11pm that night, we stayed up talking until after 2am! It really was exactly what I needed that night - time to process, vent, and just be with someone with no expectations.
Monday morning, Jason and I woke up and went out to a nice little breakfast at the Egg and I after an hour was spent trying to look for other breakfast places. Mental note to those in Minneapolis: Grand Avenue doesn't have any place for breakfast on Monday mornings. After breakfast, I took off to Prior Lake to visit Tami (a friend, advisor, and mentor from undergrad at Minnesota) and her family. It took me over an hour, but I finally got there following a few wrong turns (thanks MapQuest!)...it was really lovely to meet her girls (Olivia Faith and Ryhan Isabella - the cutest names ever) after hearing about them for so long! We were able to catch up a bit which was so nice - I haven't seen her in about a year! I went grocery shopping with her so we had to talk and shop and talk and grab some milk.
After seeing Tami, I flew (drove, I didn't fly) to downtown to meet my girls (Kirsten, Andra, Laura, Steph, Greta, and Britta) for happy hour at Old Chicago. It was so lovely to see them all again! Picture below, of course:
Then, I drove to Ashley's to spend some time with her considering last time, I only saw her for 2 hours as we walked around the lakes in uptown. So, I drove out to Minnetrista (it's farther than you might think!) and arrived around 10pm. We were excited to see each other, so we chatted for awhile and then went to bed (not before figuring out our fair food plan for the next day, though).
We woke up with plans to go to the Minnesota State Fair on Tuesday morning and, lucky for us, it was super sunny out! Here are some pics:
Me and Ash with our (oh-so-yummy) Pronto Pups.Only a fraction of what we chowed at the fair.
Ha! I loved this tee shirt! It was in the gift shop!
So, we ended up getting to the fair around 11am that morning (of course, not eating a thing until we got there) and we started off our eating fiasco with mini donuts (the perfect fair breakfast food). Split those and made our way to the Pronto Pups (corn dogs without the corn). Gee, I love the state fair. (See above tee shirt saying.) We sauntered around for a while and saw the birthing center (but we were sad at all the animals in captivity with no space to actually live), the horse barns (pretty desolate by the looks of it), the cattle and swine barns (both semi disgusting, but still worth seeing and smelling), and the dairy barn with the butter statues. So cool. Gyros were next (Good Lord, I love these) and then we got Fudge Puppies (Belgian waffles on a stick dipped in chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles) - my first time and they were SO GOOD. My favorite food of the day. Afterwards, we went for some strawberries and cream (the REAL homemade stuff) and our last venture (right before leaving) was a chocolate malt for me and a twist cone for Ash. I have to say that next time, I'll opt for the cone - much creamier. We left around 6pm which meant we had been there for a whole 7 hours! Whoa. We drove back to Ash's and didn't eat anything the rest of the night. I was plump and ready to be cooked by that time. We stayed up and watched Project Runway. I am now hooked and might hate Ash for making me watch it. Just kidding - that could never happen.
Wednesday, we woke up, putzed around, got ready and I left to meet the OTHER Ashley (Court) for a quick lunch. We picked up sushi and salads from Byerly's and went to Normandale Lake to eat and chat. It was much too short-lived, but still satisfying to see and connect with her. But, she's getting married in October and I'll be back for the wedding! I'm so pumped!
I left there to meet Krista and the Mall of America (haven't been there in SO LONG) to hang out and chill. We had so much fun (we're great shopping partners). See the fun below:
I'll have you know that I bought that hat and it looks simply fabulous on me. I love it. Only $6. I left the cities around 5pm (later than intended, but shopping was so fun!) and hit rush hour on 494 - to my dismay. I ended up getting home around 9:30pm. Not too shabby.
On Thursday, my mom and I went rafting (actually, it ended up being kayaking because the water was too low for actual rafts) on the Pestigo River for a few hours. I was weak; I could tell that I have not been working out and that I still had a touch of sickness in me from a few weeks ago. Eww. Let me tell you, though, my arms SERIOUSLY hurt after we went down the river. Luckily, I didn't tip, but my mom did! :)
Afterwards, I was so tired that I slept all the way home (about an hour) and then we both conked out for another hour or so! I was exhausted from my Minneapolis trip, being sick, the Community Event and rafting.
Friday, I went into work for my last day and wrapped everything up. I also had lunch with Niki, which is always a pleasure. Saturday we had a little going away/end of the summer party for me and Tyler, which entailed good food and good company. Sunday, we did a little shopping (errands), visiting, and cleaning out my closet (hooray!). I also went to dinner with Jeanna and Kyle. Monday, I went to breakfast with Rob and Mandy, lunch with Kathy and Cody, brought my brother and his crew back down to Milwaukee, and dessert (late night style) with Stacy.
This morning, I woke up with some serious stomach cramps, but I pulled through. (The overwhelmingly deep-fried lunch at Curly's yesterday and the decaf coffee I drank to combat it were not serving my stomach or my body well.) I went to lunch with Becca, did a second lunch with my mom, and now I'm at home trying desperately to pack and clean up my junk that's been on the table for a few days now. I'm not being very successful as you can probably imagine. I fly out tomorrow and I still have to pack, clean up my junk, run an errand, eat dinner with the 'rents, and visit my aunt and her family tonight. I fly out tomorrow at noon and I get into Seattle at 4pm. I am actually quite excited! It will be nice to get back. :)
Then, Rebecca's birthday is tomorrow, so we'll hang out and I'll try to get some stuff done on Thursday before leaving for Vancouver on Friday morning to see BABE! I am SO PUMPED. I've never even been to Canada and I never realized how easy it is to book a train ticket on Amtrak for so cheap! Only $56 round trip - that's more than gas would be! I'll come back on Monday and update y'all on my trip. For now, have a good week and there'll be more soon! :)
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