Another day..

Did you have a good Memorial Day?  A nice and needed day off for most people, I'd assume.
We had a busy one - on Saturday I went with Shannon to the Chanhassen Dinner Theater to see Hairspray!  It was so much fun - and my first time to the Chanhassen!  I had a blast and it was good to finally catch up with my cousin since she had been married almost a month and I hadn't even heard about her honeymoon yet!

Sunday we spent the hottest day of the year (so far) at the Twins game - sweating.  The Twins lost... yada yada.. tell you something you don't know, right?  It was so stinky muggy outside and our seats were directly in the sun - what a day!

boyfriend and me at the game.  This picture made it on the big screen when they show fan pics!  I almost peed I was so excited!

Monday we went up to my aunt and uncles new lake home in Lindstrom, MN.  It is about 50 minutes from our house and it's a perfect place for them to live happily ever after together!  My aunt made pealla - yum!

Now it's Tuesday - I'm at work.  Sadly, 4 days wasn't enough.  I still hate it here.  Like, before I even walk in the door I hate it here.  This morning I walked up to the door to find this:

Yep - it is what you think it is

a dead bird... on the sidewalk.

Then... the company we share the building with has some very nice people who work for them - all of whom talk to me when they walk by and ask me how my weekend was and ... well, I feel like they genuinely care about knowing this stuff and that it's not just 'office talk'.  Even though a minute of conversation with them is not enough to make me feel less lonely, I'll take what I can get.  One of the guys brings me this:

Rhubarb Custard

I'm a sucker for anything rhubarb.  It was the nicest thing anyone in this building has done for me.  I'm super emo lately too, so it almost made me cry.
I was talking to my dad this morning - he called me at work bright and early - and just talking to him about how much I hate it here and other things like Father's Day... I was tearing up.  After I got off the phone with him, I had to go into the bathroom and I just bawled for a couple of minutes (no one else was here yet, but I figured it was better to be safe than sorry).  I'm not preggo, don't worry, just emo about a lot of aspects of my life right now.
I was laying in bed last night, not able to fall asleep and I just started to cry... then it dawned on me that I haven't had a good cry in some time.  It felt good, but as soon as I realized it, I stopped.  So that was lame.

On a brighter note: I have lupine in my yard.. I think I've told you this - here are a couple pics:

Purple

Pink

The plant with the pink flowers has several more flower stalks growing, so I'm anxious to see how it all comes along.  Lupine HATES to be transferred/transplanted... so far, I feel like they are doing okay.  Fingers crossed.

I have my camera today, so hopefully I'll get some New York pictures up?  I wouldn't bet on it... OR it might just be a post of pics... unedited.

Other than that... I've got nothing.

Random v12.3

******So I've been watching this show, Smash, on NBC - I'm sure you've heard of it and if you haven't you need to crawl out from under your rock and live a little.  Anywhos ~ at first I was all: meh, I'm not sure if I like this show... it's pretty meh.  For some reason, I kept watching... having the same feelings...I know sometimes it takes a few episodes for a show to get rolling.
Enter the threat of an affair... I'm instantly hooked.  Why?  I have no idea.  The story line as it pertains to the affair is the number one reason I'm still watching - that and the two leading ladies - now that drugs are involved and potential for the lead being up for grabs.
I think it's kind of messed up that I'm enjoying the show more now that there is an affair... don't you?******

{via}

*****I don't know how to do my own make-up.  I'm going to be in 2 weddings within the next 4 months and I have no idea how to do my own make-up.  Sure I can put on eyeliner and blush and all the right stuff... I just don't know how to make it look any different than one way.  I see pins on Pinterest and want to be able to do some of them... I end up looking like a clown.  It's like the Pin fail sites that are coming out, but rather than messed up recipes and crafts, it's my face!  The smokey eye look... don't even get me started (cause I'll look like a emo clown when it's all said and done).*****

****I'm in the process of planning shit again - 2 bachelorette parties and 2 vacations (NYC and Chicago) with the boy.  I'll bet you can imagine I'll be voicing some frustration with those.  The bach parties so far are mixed - one is going perfect, the other.. not so much.  I began to think it was just me, maybe I'm a hard person to plan with?  Until one of the girls from the difficult planning party told me that the other girls are the 'issue' and really it's not life or death - it's not going to make me hold a grudge against the girls, it's just lack of communication.  To me, if you're planning something with many people you need to, kind of, over-communicate.  Make sure you're all on the same page with tasks, money, etc. - apparently not everyone thinks this way.  Oh well, I bet I'll get over it once it's all said and done.****

{via}

***Steve and I are just over the 3rd cold we've had this 'winter' - I tell you what... I've gone many years without being sick... I guess this year is making up for it.  During such a mild winter too.  We've had practically no snow this winter - it's march and we've hit 80° already.  Been in the 70's many times... it's absolutely nuts.***

**I've signed up for a Kettlebells class starting in April.  I'm anxious, excited, and nervous.**

*Steve and I have several dates on the calendar for Twins games already!  Even though there are many names on our roster that I do not know anymore... I'm still hoping for some good outdoor baseball!  You have to remember this is the 3rd season we've been back to outdoor baseball - before that the Twins played at the Metrodome - for almost 30 years!!*

Twins Home Opening Weekend

So... after the wedding reception was over we all wanted to hang out longer, because we are awesome people.  Turns out the kegs that were purchased were still flowing!  WAH-HOO!  Unless, of course, you're already bombed and don't really need to drink anymore.  The bar tenders filled up probably 12-14 pitchers of beer and let us take them up to a room with us.  Did we need them?  Nope.  Were we quiet while drinking them?  Nope.  Did we drink them all?  I have no idea.  I'm not even sure what time Steve and I went to bed; it was late/early though.

We had tickets to the Twins game - home opening weekend tickets are always fun games because the crowd is electrifying!  We set the alarm for like 8am, because Duluth is a good 2.5 hours from our house (we left the tickets at home, durr), then the ballpark is another 30ish minutes from the crib.  We snoozed a bit and decided we didn't have to be at the field right at 1:10.  I was a mess; still drunk most likely.  Steve went and sat in the shower for probably 30 minutes.. then I told him he had to drive home because I couldn't even think about it.

We finally got on the road - after picking up some coffee (which I barely touched) and a tasty McDonald's breakfast sammy.  After making several stops along the way we finally made it home, grabbed the tickets, and headed back out to Target Field!  I think we walked in the gates round about 1:30-2:00.  I really didn't want to be around people... being wicked hungover, loud crowds of people are not appealing to me.  First things first... Walk-a-Taco.  This is a new food item at the ballpark; it's a taco you can eat while walking... cone shaped shell with all the taco fixings mixed together inside of it.  Scroll down a bit on this page to see a picture.  Looks good, right?  Steve and I were really excited to try these; we ordered one chicken and one beef:

For me, it left a lot to be desired.  I liked the chicken better than the beef, because you could taste cilantro in it (and I LOVE me some cilantro)... but they mix in some sort of sauce with it and I don't really do taco sauces on my tacos, and I felt like that either ruined it for me or took away the rest of the flavor or something. Maybe I was just hungover and unable to taste.. who knows.  Great picture though, right?!

Twins lost, which, for how I was feeling, was fitting.  A few other pictures from the day:

 cute, huh?

Year 2010 in Pictures

Over the month of December I've been trying to pull together all the pictures I could (my own folders plus facebook) of the best times of 2010.  I somehow managed to get distracted, so hopefully I have enough here to cover the year.

One of the biggest highlights of 2010 was the man that I got to share all of my life with; celebrating one year of being officially committed, going to many Twins games together, having fancy date nights, going on a road trip - my best friend, Steve:

Another highlight of my year was becoming an auntie again; Cayden Taylor was born April 30th:

Then of course the other niece, Jordan - who turned 3 this year.. and acts... about 13.  I've never felt the kind of love I feel from her - it melts my heart:

My cousins, Shannon and Michelle, became 2 people who I can truly count on and I've loved becoming real friends with them more than just family.  We have out annual summer weekend going up North getting drunk, we do photo shoots every time we are together and this year we've been together every Tuesday to watch the new Glee episode - I adore these girls!

I went to about 700 Twins games this year, which was completely awesome:

I went to (and planned) my 10 year High School reunion:

Going to Madeline Island for the second year for a long weekend of camping:

Having girls dinners, almost monthly:

Annual Spring weekend with my mom, aunts and cousins (we call it Mother/Daughter/Aunt/Niece/Cousin weekend):

Meeting some bloggers in real life!!

Going to see the play of The Wizard of Oz with these folks and ending up spending a classy night downtown Minneapolis:

There was one bad thing, one bad memory of 2010, but its the kind of memory I don't want to forget; my friend Davina passed away.  It amazes me how often I think of her now that she is gone - RIP Davina, I hope you're having as much fun up there as we had down here!

Here's to a very happy 2011 - to all of you.  

For me, I have Hawaii coming in about a month, I'll be moving in with a boy, and hopefully some other great memories will come this year!

If you want to check out my other year in picture posts, click on these years: 2008, 2009