Jax Cafe

M and I went out to dinner on Friday, September 9th.  We went to Jax Cafe and I took him there as an anniversary dinner of sorts.  Not our dating anniversary but an anniversary of something that happened one year ago from that weekend that changed our lives forever.  I hate to be all sneaky and private about it but it was something that consumed our lives for 9 months (and no, not a baby!) but has gone away, will never be back and our lives are fantastic now.  

M and I had only been to Jax Cafe one other time and we didn't realize what occasion it was until we were there.  We celebrated our first anniversary together, which was almost 7 years ago.  

We started with a cheese fondue and what I think was pita bread and it was so delicious.  I had a salad and then we had filet mignon and a baked potato.  M's filet was great, mine, not so much. It had a very different taste and I really should have said something but I didn't and just left it on my plate. I would still go back but I will never get steak again. 

On the table, there were a couple of matchbooks and M said, "That's weird".  I said, "I know.  Why would they give you matchbooks?"  He said, "No, look at what they say!"  

Check out this bad-ass sidecar!

If you're not going to be serious and smile nice for the camera, the Internet will find you

Abbreviated Alphabet

It's been near impossible to try and get everyone in the Alphabet Gang together over the summer so instead we keep rescheduling to a later date only to have another cancel so finally we decided that majority rules and three of us were able to meet Wednesday, September 6th.  We met at La Grolla in St. Paul and it was nice enough to be able to enjoy ourselves on the patio.  It had been months since we last got together so the conversation was flowing (maybe some martinis and wine too) and it was fun just being with the girls.  I had a tomato based pasta with olive oil and Catha had lobster ravioli.  Our server told us about the specials which one was halibut and Deanna decided to go with that.  Maybe he could have told her about the price because when we got the bill it was over $110!  My dinner was $10 and the wine cost almost as much but we realized that Deanna's was $34 for the entree, $6 for a side salad and a cosmo later, it's $50!  I would not have been very happy if that was me as I debated on getting the halibut.  What part of $34 is the special?! 

Catha, Deanna, Me

Labor Day Weekend Part II

On Sunday of Labor Day weekend, I went over to my sister's house as she was having a BBQ for the afternoon.  We hung out for a few hours outside before calling it quits for the night.  I didn't get any good pics of my family and it became the Colton Show.  He's too cute not to take many photos of him.

As for Monday, I can't even remember what we did!  Too long ago.

Labor Day Weekend

It's the middle of September and I'm still here writing about Labor Day Weekend!  Geez.  No matter what I do, I can't blog up-to-date. M and I had Friday off so we bummed around the house waiting for the terrible traffic up 35 to clear and went up to M's parents house.  We were the only guests that night and with M's mom at the casino, M and I and his dad set up our chairs in the driveway and admired all the stars.  The stars are amazing out of the lights and cities and you can see everything, including the Milky Way.

The sky on our way up to Hinckley 

On Saturday, we headed up to Mille Lacs to see M's uncle and Charlotte, who just recently found out she has cancer.  After a brief visit with them, we headed back to M's parents house only to hop back in the car again and head to their cabin to look at some storm damage from earlier this summer.  We finally headed back to M's parents house for the night and would stay there until about 1 pm the next day.

At Mille Lacs-it was very windy

Trying to get creative with reflections

What better time to shoot off fireworks than when you're drinking!

Vikings vs. Texans

I talked about the state fair yesterday and today I'll discuss the Vikings game but they happened in the same day.  After spending several hours at the fair, we went home for a bit and went back out to go to the Vikings game.  Because it was so hot and not enough hours before the game, we didn't tailgate but ended up spending some time hanging out on Metrdome Plaza.  We went down to the game with M's cousins and ended up meeting our friend Loren and his son and ran into my cousin's cousin's husband Troy and their son (got that?!) so we had a nice little group with us.

We were able to experience our season tickets for the first time since we had different seats for the first game.  We moved down two whole rows, which is a very big move and pretty exciting since we weren't able to move at all the last two years.  We are now in row 9 in the upper level and about the 40-45 yard line.  I love our seats!

The Vikings beat the Texans 28-0 but I have to admit, I didn't pay close attention to the game.  We sat next to one of the other season ticket holders we've known from years past so we spent a lot of time catching up with her and chatting the night away.  This would never happen in the regular season though!

Minnesota State Fair

M and I went to the State Fair for a handful of hours on Thursday, September 1st.  M works next to the fair and his company pays for all employees and their families to go the fair with only one condition....you wear the company t-shirt that is designed for this occasion.  It's the least you can do for free admission (which is now $12), right?  I had the day off and M wanted me to meet him at noon and I told him I would be there shortly thereafter and I told him I had an appointment.  He was surprised when I showed up because this is what I looked like:

This is what I looked like just a few hours earlier:

We didn't experience too much at the fair.  It was damn hot and humid and at least 90 degrees but I think it was even hotter than that.  The first thing we did was sit down so M could try a craft beer sampler and  I got my standard root beer. 

We went on the sky glider and the parade was going on below us.  When I saw Ronald McDonald, I yelled, "Hey Ronald, up here!" so he would look up and we could get a picture of him.  Man, is he creepy! 

The first thing I needed to eat was a fish taco.  I had it last year for my first time and I've thought about that taco so many times throughout the year.  Unfortunately they don't have a restaurant outside of the fair.  I got it at San Felipe Tacos inside the food building.  

Here's what I ate: 

Fish Taco

Potato Buffalo chips (shared with M)

Corn on the cob

A cheese curd

Crab cakes (They were gross so I threw most of it away)

I feel like I barely ate anything considering I was at the fair. I think it was just too hot to eat.  I suppose that's a good thing but I'm already missing some of the items I didn't get that day....like Sweet Martha's cookies! 

Us in our stupid t-shirts 

Hi Ronald!  You're creepy!

Bacon!

Vikings vs. Cowboys

It's two days past the official kickoff of football and only one day before the Vikings actual season starts but here I am writing about the third preseason game which was the Vikings first game at home.  The game was on Saturday, August 27th and the game didn't start until 7 pm so you'd think we'd be out there all day tailgating and maybe we would have if we M didn't get stung by a  bee that day, which he is allergic too.  After a quick run into the bathroom and an adrenaline shot into his thigh, he was ok but we hung out a bit at home just to make sure he wasn't still going to have a reaction.  We finally got down to the tailgating lot around 4:30 pm where we met up with a group of people we know.  It was a perfect sunny and warm day to tailgate.

Upon walking into the Metrodome, it would be the first time we would have been there since December 2010 when the roof collapsed due to a magnitude of snow. The new roof is whiter and brighter which allows you to see the hint of blue sky outside.  There are many flaps/panels that hang from the ceiling now that assist in the audio but I'm not sure what exactly they do.

Remember when my friend Vince won the planking contest at work?  Well he wasn't able to use his prize, which were tickets to this game so he gave them to me!  We were able to sit on the 50 yard line, lower level on the visitor side.  They were great seats and it's one of the very few times I've sat in the lower level for a Vikings game.

The game was good as we were able to see most of the starters play at least the 2nd half and some into the 3rd quarter.  The Vikings lost 23-17 with a chance to win with seconds left.

After the game we went to M's cousin Lorrie's house.  She was celebrating her 50th birthday party and there about 5-6 poker tables set up with at least 4 people at each table.  There were also people out by the fire in the backyard where M and I spent most of the time we were there.  Happy Birthday Lorrie!