Afternoon Twins Game

On Tuesday, April 23rd, this is what it looked like outside in my backyard:

That wasn't a good enough reason to play hooky from work though.  What is a good enough reason is an afternoon Twins game.  Not only a game where you don't have to pay for the tickets, but a game where your employer pays for them and tells you to take the day off.  Why?  Per the email our Director of Servicing sent out: 

Congratulations! You are receiving this email because you were rated as a high-performer on your recent annual performance review. We would like to reward your exceptional efforts by inviting you to attend the Minnesota Twins baseball game versus the Miami Marlins on Tuesday, April 23 at 12:10 pm.

I was so excited when I read that email.  Not only was I excited to go to the game, the excitement level got a little bit higher when I found out where the seats were...behind the visitor's dugout.  But don't worry, I was also able to go to the company's suite for all the food and drink I wanted. :)

Because of the snow and the fact that the game the night before was postponed, they pushed back the start of my game until 1:10 pm in order to clear the snow and to accommodate the double header that day.  I bundled up wearing the exact same outfit I wore for the home/season opener and it turns out I wouldn't be cold the entire day.  I didn't even need my jacket for the game.  Thank you, Sun.

Even though it was snowy at my house, you wouldn't be able to tell at the game.  The field was green and the seats were clear of any snow.  There was a group of us that went and four of us were able to sit behind the dugout, four were able to sit behind home plate and the rest sat in the seats at the suite.  Joe Mauer hit a foul ball that one of my friends caught in the suite.  Well, she didn't actually catch it.  Instead, it hit her in the butt when she was trying to take cover.  She still got the ball.

Twins beat the Marlins 4-3, including a 3-run bomb by Oswaldo Arcia.  I had the BEST time at the game.  I worked a little bit in the morning from home, went to the game and was home again by 4:15 pm.  Perfect day.

Thank you to my friend Ed for the first six pictures below.  

Ed taking our pic from behind home plate

Looking down from the suite

Drinking beer with Zak

Jared and I 

Another Benefit

We went to a benefit for a friend/family member of M's on Saturday, April 6th.  It was held at Champps in Maplewood and it was a small space but it was packed.  David, the person who the benefit was for, has some form of cancer affecting his bones and is terminal.  He's in his lower 50's.

They had raffles and silent auctions.  M won a basket through a raffle containing $100 in restaurant gift cards, shirts, candles, diffusers and lotions.  This was also the first time we saw M's mom and dad since coming back to MN from Florida.  They had just gotten back the day before.  (I think they thought it was safe to come back at that time and it wouldn't snow anymore.  Ha!)

I forgot to take pictures but thank you to Kim for the picture below.

Greg, M, Me, Chad, Megan

We love to support causes but no more cancer, please!  Since and including my dad's funeral, I have been to 4 funerals in 6 months...all cancer. 

Conscious Box- April and Special Box

April's Conscious Box was, meh and the special box they offered this month in addition to the regular box was even more meh.  No more buying special boxes.  I mean it this time!

Here's April's regular box.  Being that it is Earth Day month, I thought it would be a great box.

Instead, I got a few items I've already had before.  I want new stuff!  The natural almond dish washing liquid is pretty good though.

April's special box was filled with stuff they had left over from other month's boxes so I knew I'd be expecting duplicates in this box.  Unfortunately, multiple items were from April's regular subscription so that wasn't too exciting considering that the boxes were only a week apart.  I did get the vegan macaroons that some people got back in the fall but I didn't get.  I was very excited to try them but I really had to hurry up and eat them because they were expiring in two days from the day I received the box.  (I still ate them after expiration.  Expired raw, vegan food never hurt anyone, right?)  The one thing I was not excited to see again was the Freekeh.  Freekeh is roasted green wheat and I just didn't care for it BUT I will give it another chance and find a better way to eat it this time.

Ward 6

For our monthly dinner with my mom and sister this month, we went to Ward 6 in St. Paul on April 10th.  It was my mom's turn to choose a place and she chose Ward 6 based on a review she read.  Being that I'm so trendy and progressive, I had already been there in January.

We got there just before 5 pm and good thing we did.  It was a Wednesday and the place was packed by the time we left.  I'm pretty sure that's the way it is there always, which is a good thing.

What I really wanted to try was the fish and chips.  Both my mom and sister ordered this and it looked fab.  They both said it was really good.  

What I did end up ordering was the only vegan option on the menu, Cicero Stew.  To me, it was ok. I only ate about half of it when the server asked if I wanted a box.  I told her no and she asked if I liked it.  I told her the truth...it was ok.  She apologized profusely and I said it was fine and nothing to apologize about.  She asked me what about it I didn't like and I told her it just didn't "wow" me.  No biggie for me.  I'm sure the stew is great for someone else but I just didn't prefer it.  

When the server was dropping off the bill, she asked if she could make it up to me/us and bring out beignets for us.  Well, ok, if you insist.  She brought out 3 of them for us to enjoy.  She really didn't have to do that but we appreciated it for sure!  Finally, I told her that the food had no negative reflection upon my experience and that I'd be back again. 

Believe it or not, I am getting better at taking self-portraits

Charity Challenge- April

This month's charity challenge is a no-brainer.  April's charity is the Animal Humane Society.  Why?  Because I'm doing the Walk for Animals in a week!  Oh, I might just happen to love animals too.  

Because I appreciate all of you that read my blog, I've made a donation in your name, Dana's Readers.  Thank you, readers.  ♥

If you are interested in helping me reach my goal of $750 (I'm 78% of the way there!), please consider donating.  If you have already made a donation, thank you!!!

My Donation Page

And for those that donated between April 15-18, an extra special thank you to you.  I was notified by the Animal Humane Society that I raised the most amount of money during that time frame. (I didn't even know there was a challenge going on.)  Because of that, AHS is sending me 3 t-shirts as a thank you gift.  I could choose between cat or dog shirts or a mix of both. What do you think I chose?  Meow!

I was featured in the weekly newsletter!

Help animals just like us!

Twins Home Opener

The Twins home and season opener was on Monday, April 1st AKA April Fool's Day.  We got our share of April Fool's that day.

When the season opener starts on April 1st and in Minnesota, there is a delicate balance that needs to be figured out when it comes to the weather (especially when the temperature is in the low 30's) and how early you arrive to the game. Fail. April Fool's!

We got down to the area of Target Field about 30 minutes before game time.  We couldn't find a place to park...anywhere.  We drove around and around and around and around and around and around and around, seriously.  We were so frustrated to not be able to find a spot, due to A) It's the home opener and there's an expected crowd of 38,000 and B) Oh yeah, it's downtown Minneapolis in the middle of the day where everyone's working and is taking up all the places to park. We tried parking ramps and lots that were a mile away with no success.  Fail.  April Fool's!

All this frustration of driving around with no success get on your nerves and in turn gets on your partner's nerves.  Attitudes in the car are not ideal and one can become mad at the other.  So mad that we are almost ready to turn around and go home and forfeit our tickets. So mad that we start laughing because this is so ridiculous. This happens when you are literally driving around for an hour!  We are way late to the game at this point.  Fail.  April Fool's!

We FINALLY find a parking spot about a mile from the stadium.  A-ha!...it's only $5 to park here!  That is, until we meet the parking lot attendants who say it's $20, despite the sign outside of the parking lot.  April Fool's!  I lose my cool a little bit and proceed to tell them we have been driving around for over an hour looking for parking and please give us a break.  Reluctantly, they do.  $5 parking.  This is the first thing that goes right during this whole fiasco.

The second thing that goes right is a bike taxi comes up and asks if we want a ride to the stadium for $5.  Yes, please!  We hop on and we're there in a handful of minutes on this cold day.  We give him $10 because we're super thankful, because we're already late and because after spending $5 on parking, $10 on the bike still equals $5 "extra" dollars in our pocket considering we were supposed to have paid $20 or more on parking.   April Fool's!

We walk into the door at 4 pm.  Game started at 3:10 pm.  We missed any pre-game/season opener/home opener activities.  I found out later that Nicholas David from The Voice sang the National Anthem but that's ok because he's the very first person I see when coming into Target Field and I just stare at him, trying to get M's attention but he's not paying attention. (P.S. We saw him sing the National Anthem at a Vikings Game last season.)

We get to our seats and there are people sitting in them.  April Fool's!  After an attendant gets involved, the people leave because, well, those are our seats.  April Fool's on them!

FINALLY, we are allowed to enjoy the couple hours left in the game in the warm, April weather.  April Fool's!  It got up to 34 degrees at the highest.  Despite that, we were in the sun the entire time and it was slightly cold but it really wasn't that bad.  We're hard-core Minnesotans for Pete's sake. Glad I wore my long underwear though.  I also wore my Twins shirt that was my dad's.  My mom gave it to me after he passed away.  He was at the game with us too.  

The Twins were behind when we walked in and they would stay behind the whole game.  Twins lose the opener to the Detroit Tigers, 4-2.  Despite all that went "wrong", we had lots of fun and really enjoyed ourselves.  Oh, and we did get to see Nicholas David sing "Take me out to the ballgame" for the 7th inning stretch.

Me and Nicholas David, er, I mean, Michael

Andrew Zimmern's new food stand-serves cabrito (young goat) burgers.  No!

Finally, here's a couple of new fragrances that Sephora wanted people to vote on their Facebook page for which one they liked better.  Which one would you have voted for?  April Fool's!

A Different Kind of Easter

Easter this year was different.  Well, it was different for obvious reasons but it was different because we didn't get together at my aunt's house like we normally do.  No one got together as a large group this year and I can't remember that happening, ever.  But that's ok.

We didn't have a plan in place up until Wednesday of that week and then my mom decided to have Easter at her house for M and I and my sister's family so we started a new tradition this year...at least for this year.

It was a brunch and we had lots of yummy food including almond orange french toast casserole, egg bake, cheesy potatoes, fruit salad and of course, bacon. 

My sister's family just got back from Florida so they talked about their trip and showed us pictures.  My little nephew Colton picked out a canister of toy cats all by himself while he was in a gift shop in Florida.  He couldn't have made his auntie more proud.

My mom had some goodies for the kids...and the adults too.  (My nephew Keith told my sister a secret while they were in Florida.  He said he knew the Easter Bunny didn't exist anymore.  Well, he's almost 10 but I want him to be innocent and believe in everything forever!)

It was a cold and windy day on Easter but now looking back, it was pretty nice!  I think it was close to 40 degrees and it didn't snow that day! 

The Easter Bunny made a stop to my house too.  I got WAY TOO MUCH candy and some fun other stuff, including Poli Grip for my dentures!  Yep, the Easter bunny doesn't know me very well or had an odd sense of humor.  The Easter Bunny knows I hate Peeps too but he gives them to me every.single.year.