Sushi with Bestie

I met Tanya on Thursday, July 25th for sushi at Saji Ya.  I took Tanya out for her birthday, which was earlier in the week.  We had yummy cocktails and sushi and even better conversation.  We could talk for hours and hours and hours non-stop and never run out of things to say.

When we both lived blocks from each other in Uptown, we met at a coffee shop and sat at the picnic table outside off Lyndale.  We talked for 8 hours and then went back to my apartment and talked for a couple more hours.  We've been talking like this since we were 14 years old.  Happy Birthday Tanya! 

Alpha Gang

The Alphabet Gang meets all over the Twin Cities but rarely do we meet in the area of where I work.  Since Carrie and I work together (we've both worked together at the same 3 jobs in the last 11 years) and Aaron started working about a mile from where we work in Bloomington, we decided to have our happy hour at Cowboy Jack's just blocks from our work.

The whole gang was there except for the other D, Deanna.  Since finding a place to sit on the patio is a hot commodity, we put our names in for the patio and sat inside until then.  It was about an hour later before the patio was ready but at that point, Aaron and Tiffany were leaving so the remaining girls went to the patio. We didn't stay for too much longer, enough for another drink or two and called it a night.  The weather was so beautiful that night and it makes you appreciate the warm MN evenings you can be on the patio because there aren't too many of them we get during the year.

If you've never been to a Cowboy Jack's, they're extremely busy but have super great happy hour drink and food specials and their patios are incredible.

Conscious Box- July

July's Conscious Box wasn't the best for me but there was more exposure to some new products rather than some duplicates I've received.  I still really like getting this box but when my subscription is over next March, I won't be renewing, despite having bought multiple products I've been introduced to each month.

  

Cherry Ride 2013

The 6th Annual Cherry Ride was held Saturday, July 20th.  We started at Woody's in Bayport, MN.  Each paying rider received a 2013 Cherry Ride pin and a breakfast buffet.  Check-in was supposed to start at 10 am but by 9:40 am, we already had over 50 bikes there.

The weather was perfect, considering we had just finished a hot streak of weather.  Not only we were celebrating Cherrie, we were also celebrating Ray, Cherrie's brother, since it was his birthday.

We had Dee and Holly, both representing the American Liver Foundation with us to talk and support our ride as this is the foundation where the money we raise goes to.

Johnny said The Lord's Prayer and we hopped on our bikes shortly after 11 am.

We had multiple stops in both Wisconsin and Minnesota throughout the day and at the best count, we had 92 bikes, but depending on who you asked, it was anywhere from 92-98 bikes. Wow.  We really broke last year's record of 55 bikes and compared to the first year, we had 17 bikes.  We're really growing!

We raised over $2,200 to go towards liver cancer research and awareness. We didn't have any accidents during the ride despite our biggest group yet and the fact that we were spread out over a mile in length.  

The day was incredibly successful thanks to so many people and this couldn't have been done without all of you.  This was my favorite Cherry Ride yet.  

Here are some photos of the day but please look at the slideshow of all the pictures I took throughout the day as well as the video that our friend Joe made of the ride so you can get the full day experience.  The link to the photo album is also below in case you don't want to view the slideshow further below.

Cherry Ride 2013 Photos

Indian Dinner Date

I met my friend Justin for dinner on Thursday, July 18th.  We went to Dancing Ganesha, the same place I went with my friend Tanya the month before.  He had a gift certificate to use so we we ordered samosas and I had to have the Tikka Masala again.  I loved it so much the first time.  I've even made it at home since then but it wasn't as good.  Justin had some sort of salmon dish.

I completely forgot to take a picture of us as we stood on the corner of 11th and LaSalle talking forever before we finally went to our cars.  You'll have to settle for a picture of our samosas instead.  

All Pints North

M and I went again went to the 2nd annual All Pints North beer festival in Duluth on Saturday, July 13th.  We went up that Friday, stopping in Hinckley for breakfast with my sister Jamie and BIL Tom and then we went to M's parents house for a little while before taking the scenic route to Duluth.  We took this route the month before when we went to Duluth but it was hazy and cloudy so we missed this scenic overlook.

We went through Superior, Wisconsin this time to get to Duluth in the late afternoon.  We checked into our hotel which was less than desirable (but it was free thanks to my lovely sister) and then went to Canal Park.  We ate and then right about where this picture was taken I ran into one of my coworkers (my former supervisor) on the street walking her dogs.  It was really weird to see her there but she was in Duluth for a dog show for the weekend.  

That evening, we heard music coming from one of the blocks close to our hotel and saw a block party with a band and people in the streets so we hung out there before walking down to 7 West Taphouse for a Surly takeover. 

We drove up as far as Two Harbors on Saturday only to turn around because they were having a parade through the main drag.  We checked into a different hotel in Canal Park and waited for the beer fest to begin at 3 pm.  Jamie and Tom would be meeting up with us there shortly after the gates opened.  It was a really hot weekend in Duluth so even though the cloudy day wasn't the most desirable, it saved us from extra heat.  

M and I went to last year's debut of APN and it was a little different this year including about a thousand more people than the year before.  Having my sister and Tom along enhanced my afternoon and they had a great time experiencing all different kinds of beers.  My sister and I liked the grapefruit beer by Schell's, Schell Shocked, the best.  There were several experimental beers with fruit besides grapefruit including clementine, watermelon, coconut and mango. 

The size of this game was funny!  The bags were pillows! (see original size in the left side of the picture)

APN wrapped up at 7 pm so we headed over to Grandma's.  We got a spot on the balcony patio and ordered food.  One of the servers brought a flight of beers to our table complimentary of another table.  We were like, are you sure it's for us?  We think it may have been from a group of people we met earlier in the day that we saw sitting in the corner.  We thank you whoever it was!

We got to see a ship come in from our elevated view on the patio.

After Grandma's, we walked over to the lake walk, hanging out for awhile before settling at Canal Park Brewery.  We didn't even finish a beer there as a ship was leaving so we just left to go see it.  After that, we separated for the night, Jamie and Tom going back to their hotel right next to the brewery and M and I walking down a couple of hotels to ours but stopping in a store full of pop on our way home.  It was almost 11 pm and they were closing for the night but let us come in and shop around.  I rarely drink pop but it was pretty fun and colorful in there.

I walked down to the bridge on Sunday morning to see the same ship we saw come in at Grandma's the night before, depart.  We left Duluth around 10:15 am with another memorable weekend.  

It's Been Five

I went to the cemetery on Wednesday, July 10th.  That day marked the five year anniversary of my grandma's passing.  I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when I found out the news of her passing.  In some ways it seems like a long time ago and in others, it doesn't.  A lot has happened since then.  I miss you, Grandma.  I can still hear your laugh.

I also had a pretty good chat with my dad while I was there.  I couldn't talk too long because the mosquitoes were getting me but my penny is still at his grave. :)

Fitzgerald Family Reunion 2.0

Saturday, July 6th was the second time in three years the Fitzgerald side of M's family had a reunion.  It wasn't as big as the first one but it was still a good turnout.

We had a potluck, libations, water balloon toss and lots of mosquitoes.  M won the can toss, a game where every time you finish an alcoholic drink, you pay .25 to toss your empty can with hopes of making it in the bucket.  If no one wins it, the pot stays and the game starts again with the next family gathering.  The pot hadn't been won for at least a couple of years so M walked away with $83.

M's parents live in the woods so there was no wind or breeze coming through which was unbearable, particularly in the evening when M and I were trying to sleep in the camper.  M couldn't stand it so at almost midnight, we packed up the car and drove home so M could be in air conditioning.  Oh well...at least we had a fun 12 hours.

4th of July

I'm officially a full month behind on blogging but I have a need to live in the past just for a short while to get caught up.

First, I have to acknowledge it was my cats' birthday on July 1st.  Powder turned 10 and Fuzzer turned 13. For those that know about my number hauntings....10, 13.  UGH.  For those that don't, the numbers 10 and 13 together have "haunted" me my entire life.  You probably know the whole 11:11 thing and it's very similar. Moving on...  Happy Birthday kitties.

Thursday, July 4th was pretty uneventful.  The weather was warm and sunny but M didn't feel good.  He had an incredibly headache, most likely sinus-related so we bummed around the house for awhile and then decided to go on a motorcycle ride.

This was only the second time I had been on the bike the entire summer.  We had no destination in mind but decided to ride around Mahtomedi, Dellwood and White Bear Lake looking at multi-million dollar houses (we looked them up when we got home) and dream and sigh.

We attempted to go to Pine Tree Apple Orchard but they were closed.  It was at that point that M realized he still didn't feel good so we went home.

He felt like crap the entire day so I ruled out fireworks very early in the afternoon.  It was almost 9 pm when he said it felt better and wanted to go see fireworks.  I kinda laughed because it was already 9 pm and they'd be starting in a little over an hour and we didn't even have a place to go.  I'm sure it would be packed where ever we went at this time.

We hopped on the motorcycle and went downtown St. Paul.  There were people everywhere but it was still manageable to get around and park.  We parked just a block away from Harriet Island and walked over.We easily found what we thought was a good spot on the hill and parked our blanket, drinks and sprayed ourselves with my homemade all-natural bug spray while looking at the St. Paul skyline waiting for the show to start.

Despite the day not being the greatest, being able to see fireworks totally redeemed the entire day.