Friday's Fun Facts

Happy Halloween!

• Experts have calculated that if a person could see everyone who came within 168 meters of Times Square in New York City, it would take less than 7o hours for that person to see someone he or she has met previously.
• Grand Rapids, Michigan was the first city to put fluoride in their water
• 90% of the continental US is still open space or farmland
• Architect James Horan was awarded $500 and a parcel of land in Washington, D.C. for his 1792 winning design for the President's House, now known as the White House.

The Old Crew

I went out to lunch last Thursday with a group of former coworkers from my last job. Most of us were laid off in October 2007. After it was all said and done, the company ended up laying off 5,000 people. I hadn't seen Shannon or Greg since the layoff...actually since a week before we got laid off as I was on vacation in Texas when I got the call from Michelle that we had been laid off. I have only seen Michelle a few times and I see Catha on an ongoing basis and Beth every day since we work together again now. We met at Fuddrucker's in Edina. It was fun to catch up with everyone and what they are doing now. Shannon and Greg work together again, Michelle has her own business and Catha is on maternity leave from her job as she and her husband just welcomed their daughter, Violet Rae into the world on October 2nd so we got to meet her. Shelley was also with us and is going to school but she left before we took the pictures. Shannon had cancer in her eye and had to have her eye removed back in July. After the surgery, she was cancer free! She now has an acrylic eye that she told us took less than a day to make it. I love that Shannon is so candid about her eye and cancer that you can ask her anything. I missed everyone and I miss that job. I had a great time catching up with some of the old crew and we hope to do it again sometime soon.

Back: Greg, Beth Front: Catha, Shannon, Michelle

Check out that hot dog!

BeanBoozled

Check this out:

Jelly Belly's wildest collection dares you to compare some of our tastiest, most popular flavors with our craziest ones. But here's the catch - you won't know which ones are which! The black Licorice bean looks exactly like the Skunk Spray bean! Sweet Caramel Corn might also be Moldy Cheese. You may think you're choosing our world-famous Buttered Popcorn bean, but what you'll be biting into could actually be Rotten Egg. The only way to find out what beans you're getting is to eat them!
The Jelly Belly BeanBoozled collection currently contains 10 colors of beans, and 20 flavors (10 "real" ones and 10...well...different ones). Also, coming this Fall from Jelly Belly: the BeanBoozled Spinner Game Gift Box, which brings our spinner promotion game to life. The second edition of BeanBoozled introduces two new flavors: Canned Dog Food and Centipede. See the chart below and then get ready to have some fun.

Friday's Fun Facts

Happy Friday and cross your fingers for a Vikings win this weekend.

• Every day, $164 million worth of ties are worn in Washington, D.C. alone.
• In the 1893 case Nix v. Hedden, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the tomato is a vegetable.
• One out of 15 Americans don't know the order of the months.
• The average strip club's operating hours are longer than the average public library's.

Weekend Recap

On Friday night, M and I went out to dinner at Acapulco and then went to see the movie, Law Abiding Citizen starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx. Before watching this movie, I thought it might turn out to be really cheesy but it was really good and intelligent, and that's not just because Gerard Butler is hot. I recommend this movie.

I woke up on Saturday morning and was more than thrilled to see the sun shining bright. The days are few and far between for the sun this month and we've been more accustomed to cloudy skies and rain. I took advantage of the morning and left the house before M got up and went to the cemetery. I went to visit my grandparent's graves. I love cemeteries and have since about 10th grade. While I am afraid of death, (not for myself but for others) I do not think of death very often in cemeteries but more of history. Cemeteries are one of the most beautiful places on earth and they are fascinating. I especially like the cemetery that my grandparents are buried in. It's probably my favorite. I also went there to try and take some pictures for the photo hunt I am currently working on. After not having a charged battery, it was almost dead so I only took a few. I did see some deer there though. I have only been there one time when I didn't see deer. I hope you don't find the pictures of my grandparents grave stones creepy but interesting.

This Dala horse (Swedish horse) was on the ground. He looked like he fell off of something.

After I got home, M and I went out to breakfast to a cafe in St. Paul. We hadn't been there for awhile and I ended up seeing someone I have successfully avoided for the past 15 years, one of my ex-boyfriends. I don't normally hold grudges in life but there are two people on my grudge list and he's one of them. Here's a good reason why: I met him when I was 17 years old and he was my first BOYFRIEND if you can figure out what I mean by that without me having to say it. He was older than me and I was a naive, young impressionable girl (I still am) and he just hurt me. The best example of that hurt would be when I found out from someone else after he had broken up with me that he was engaged to another girl while we were together. Yeah..... So I saw HIM on Saturday. As far as I know, he didn't see me. Good. Moving on.....

M and I took a little ride in the car later in the afternoon to Tamarack Nature Center and later up to Chisago City, Lindstrom and Center City. M used to live on Chisago Lake with his brother so he took me to look at his old house. All of those towns are so cute and were founded by Swedish immigrants. (P.S. I'm about 75% Swedish-also according to Wikipedia, Minnesota has the most Swedish Americans of any other state) We also went to a pumpkin patch. I've been to places that have pumpkins already cut and ready but this place still had the pumpkins in the...patch. I've never seen that before. It was fun to walk around see all the families picking out their own pumpkin. There was a corn maze that had Wizard of Oz theme but we didn't go in there.

Michael building something with the sticks in the woods-Ok, not really. The sticks were already there. He's just posing with a stick as though he had built it.

Look at that butt... I mean the leaves!

Do you see M way back in between the trees? This was a cemetery and there was one single grave back there.

We got back to our house and I made filet mignon and baked potatoes. We relaxed and watched Saturday Night Live and went to bed and went to the Vikings game on Sunday. I already posted about that here. I hope your weekend was as good as mine!

P.S. Dad, we drove by what used to be Paradise Resort in Chisago. It's partially a park now and some other place to stay or a private residence. It brought back memories you grounding me in a room while we were on vacation. I still don't know what I did. Everyone felt bad for me. I hope you're not still thinking about it after all these years. It's obvious I haven't forgotten. Ha ha. :)

Michael and Michael

In M and I's quest to see a comedian every month, we went and saw Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter at the Pantages Theater last Thursday. They have a show on Comedy Central called Michael and Michael Have Issues, which I've never seen. I actually won the tickets through The Onion. If you watch VH1, you will know Michael Ian Black. He's been a few Sierra Mist commercials too. I picked up the tickets at will call and was surprised when we were seated on the main level, center section, row 7. They were good seats but if you've been to the Pantages, they are all good seats. There wasn't that many people there. The ticket prices were steep, almost $30. The show itself had it's funny parts but some of it was so far out. There were some scripted parts but I think a lot of it is improvised as both Michaels are on the stage with each other and they just feed off one another. You could meet the Michael's after the show but I just snapped a quick picture while they were signing autographs. Before the show, M and I ate at Hopscotch Grill inside Gameworks on Block E. There was hardly anybody in there but my sandwich was super good. We drove down Hennepin to get there from Washington. Remember Hennepin and First Avenue are both two-way streets now! It was so weird driving that way down Hennepin! I think it's been a one-way since at least 1993 when I started driving down there.

Tony Oliva

I went to Target in Bloomington last week on my lunch break and guess who I saw? Tony Oliva. I called my Dad right away and asked him if he would be here in the off season and he said that he could be. Well after doing a little research tonight, I found out he lives in Bloomington, so of course he frequents the local Target! I literally almost ran into him too. He was walking in and I was walking about. Hey Tony, you're not supposed to come in through the out door! (Dennis, this represents the social circle of major league baseball that some dude named Bob Jackson commented about on your Six Degrees of Separation post. Ha ha!)

Tanya and Chris's Wedding

M and I were both chosen to be a part of Tanya and Chris's special day. We were asked on June 15, 2008 to be in their wedding as a bridesmaid and groomsman and of course we accepted. The day finally arrived on Saturday, October 10th, 2009. It was a very chilly day, 20 degrees cooler than average and with snow on the ground! This is what it looked like when I went outside:

Getting Ready:

I headed down to the City Center Marriott around 10 am to get ready with the rest of the girls. Tanya took care of the hair and makeup costs for us bridesmaids. We got our hair and make up done in an executive suite on the 29th floor with a beautiful view of the city while having the movie, Sex and the City on and drinking mimosas.

All of our flowers

One of the views from the room

Photos:

We were running a little late to get down to the lobby and meet for pictures. We went down to the street level to run outside and hop into the limo for the next couple of hours to take pictures around Minneapolis. Just walking from the hotel to the limo was freezing! It was so cold to be in a dress outside. We all packed into the limo, all 13 of us, including 2 photographers. We were just a couple of blocks away when we realized we were missing a groomsman! Matt was still back at the hotel so we turned around to go pick him up. We got him and we were back on our way again and about 5 blocks from the hotel, there's a cop car behind us and he is pulling us over. The photographers are in the front seat, smashed with the driver and the cop approaches the window and we hear some talk about a seat belt and improper use of it, something minor at least. Well the minor pull over turns into something major. The limo driver apparently was not licensed to drive people as a public, hired limo driver and the cop said they would be towing the limo and we all had to walk back to the hotel. It is freezing and Tanya is in her wedding dress! Chris insisted to the cop that Tanya cannot walk back to the hotel in her dress so the cop decides that we can go back to the hotel with an escort. He follows us all the way back and then tows the limo. Tanya and Chris remain very calm in the situation and do not appear to be upset, even though I'm sure they were. In the meantime, multiple people are scrambling to find alternative transportation for us because there are pictures to be taken! The photographers take the guys down the street to get some pictures while our next form of transportation can be found. After the guys, us girls head down the street to get some photos. There are guys on the street and in cars that are making cat calls to us and congratulating Tanya. There's even one guy who walked by us and asked Tanya if she was getting married. She said yes. His response? "You just threw your life away." Nice! We head back to the hotel and take some more pictures inside City Center. After about 3o minutes, the hotel provides two private taxi's for us, a Suburban and a minivan and we head to the St. Anthony area, specifically the Stone Arch Bridge. Tanya and Chris used to live in the Stone Arch Apartments right next to the bridge. We get out of the car, freezing our butts off and get our pictures taken on the bridge before heading to the next location, First Avenue. The plan was to go to First Avenue, outside of the building and take pictures in front of the famous wall, adoring stars with names of all the bands that have played there before. Not only do we get those pictures, they let us into First Ave. to take pictures in the empty club. We pose on the stairs and up at the bar but the one catch, no pictures on or of the stage with Matt Kearney's band sets up for the show that night. It was so fun and different to be in there when it was closed and empty. We headed back to the hotel to relax for about 30 minutes before having to go into a room and "hide" until the ceremony started.

Ceremony:

At 6 pm, the ceremony started. I was the 2nd bridesmaid down the aisle with my lovely groomsman escort, Michael. The ceremony itself was nice and brief and intimate. And I only cried once after Tanya started crying. Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Zenner!

Drink:

The bar was open for about an hour before the dinner started. The hardest parts of the day for everyone were over and now it was about kicking back and having a good time. Instead of a guest book, Tanya and Chris had a drum head with a picture of them on it for everyone to sign. Chris is a drummer and it was such a great idea and I wish I would have gotten a picture of it.

My honey!

Best Man, Kelley

Groomsman Wil

Chris, Jason, Wil

Me, my sister Jamie and BIL Tom

The cake


In lieu of a wedding favor, Tanya and Chris made a donation to the American Cancer Society. Chris's mom passed away from cancer when he was 17 years old.



Eat:

Dinner started in a different room about an hour later. The dinner was steak, chicken or some vegetarian choice. The cake was delicious! At the head table, there was a beautiful vase for each of the bridesmaid's to put their flowers in and to take home at the end of the night.

Kristi, the matron of honor giving her speech






Dance:

The reception was held in the same room as the ceremony and another room conjoined room that was opened up. Instead of a DJ, they had the band Big John Dickerson play throughout the night. Our friend Jamela shares the singing spotlight with Big John.









Me and Big John singing, "Mustang Sally"

I have no idea what dance move I am doing here! Looks pretty outdated to me.







The Honeymoon Suite:

We took a peek at the honeymoon suite that Tanya and Chris had at the hotel. It was two levels on the highest floor, the 31st. There was barely a wall, only tall windows that had remote control curtains that had to be 2o feet tall.

View from above. Michael looks like a banker behind the desk



I had a great time altogether this day. It was a little surreal for me to watch Chris get married, because at one point in my life, I wanted to marry Chris. Chris and I met on January 6th, 1995, ironically Tanya's birthday. We started dating each other and decided to be exclusive with each other on my birthday, January 21st. Chris was my first true love. Him and I dated until October 22nd, 1999, months shy of 5 years. While we were together that long, we probably shouldn't have been as we didn't always get along the greatest at times but always had a connection to each other. Chris and I remained friends, as long as the girls he was dating would allow it, which wasn't very often. He got sick of that and if a girl he was dating didn't like the fact that I was in his life as a friend, then she usually didn't stick around for too long. I am pretty protective of Chris as he means a lot to me and I didn't want him to get hurt in relationships. I was very good at knowing what girls he was dating would and wouldn't work out and none of them ever did long-term. Actually I was never wrong. Chris finally met the girl in January 2006. I knew that Tanya was a good girl and I knew that it would be a long-term relationship. Tanya is also the first girl in Chris's life to accept me as Chris's friend, a best friend, and not have a problem with it. She was also a girl that I was able to get along with and I knew she would treat Chris well. And here we are, years later and you two are married to each other. MANY girls in Chris's life always told him that he would never get married and would be a bachelor forever. Tanya, you out shined all of those girls and ended up with the prize. I love you, Tanya and I love you, Chris. Tanya, you have become a great friend and Chris, you have remained a best friend to me for so many years. Michael and I love you as individuals and as a couple and wish nothing but the best for you both. Congratulations, Tanya and Chris Zenner.