The tour was short and sweet and afterwards you could purchase beer and merchandise. Michael left with a growler of Winter Warlock and another growler of Cygnus X-1 and I left with a t-shirt and a slight buzz.
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| Michael and co-founder, Jeff Williamson |
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Flat Earth Brewery
M and I went to Flat Earth Brewing Co. for a beer brewery tour last Saturday. Flat Earth is located in St. Paul and is a stone's throw from Summit Brewery. The brewery was founded in 2007 by a husband and wife team and they're celebrating their five year anniversary this year. It's a very small operation with just a handful of employees. Even the co-founder, Jeff Williamson was our tour guide. We walked down a set of stairs into a room with all the beer vats and the tour guide said, "You've now completed the walking portion of the tour." That's how small it is. After hearing about the beer and allowing questions, we were able to try and few beers. Some of the beer we had was just in the vat two days prior so that's probably the freshest beer I've ever had. They have a beer called Red Cape Ale, which has a Vulcan on the label. I've always had a love/hate relationship with the Vulcans. I was scared of them as a kid but fascinated with them at the same time. We also tried Cygnus X-1 Porter and Angry Planet Pale Ale. After being there and knowing they bottle everything by hand and especially after watching the documentary Beer Wars recently, it definitely makes me want to support the Minnesota local breweries. Jeff said that the Minnesota breweries help each other out and are not in competition with each other but with other craft breweries in other states. Summit Brewery tests all their beers for them for alcohol content and IBU's for free. We had a great time and I'd definitely recommend scheduling a free tour which are held every other Saturday. They even have delicious root beer on tap.
The tour was short and sweet and afterwards you could purchase beer and merchandise. Michael left with a growler of Winter Warlock and another growler of Cygnus X-1 and I left with a t-shirt and a slight buzz.
The tour was short and sweet and afterwards you could purchase beer and merchandise. Michael left with a growler of Winter Warlock and another growler of Cygnus X-1 and I left with a t-shirt and a slight buzz.
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Ten Years Ago Today
Imagine you are vacation in Florida with your best friend. You head to the beach in the morning and soak up some sun and have some beers. You're both drunk by noon but since you drove the beach, you spend the entire afternoon sobering up. Your buddy continues to drink all day long. You both grab some dinner later that night. You haven't been drinking for close to 8 hours now. You stop at a bar for one beer. After an hour, you stop at another bar for one more beer. You are driving in an area you only have limited familiarity with. All of a sudden, BAM! Your life changes forever. This is not a TV show or a movie. This is my boyfriend Michael's life. Read on for the very true story of what has happened in the last ten years since that day.
Some of you know bits and pieces of what happened. Most of you do not. I've been very weary to bring up this subject but being that today is the ten year anniversary, I feel today is the right day to say something. I cannot give every single detail of the last ten years but I'll do my best give you an idea of what has transpired with obviously having to cut corners. Here's a warning...this will be a long post.
The accident:
It was bad. It was really bad. So bad in fact that the homicide unit shut down the road to reconstruct the accident and deem it a crime scene as there was no way two people should have survived this crash.
Michael had over 100 cuts to his entire body. A broken sternum. Cracked and chipped vertebrae in his neck. Bruised organs. He suffered a concussion and was unconscious.
Best friend was reported dead on one of the reports. He had all ribs broken on one side, broke his hip and shattered his pelvis. He had a punctured lung and both of his lungs would collapse at separate times after the accident. Both his liver and pancreas were lacerated. He also suffered a concussion and was unconscious in a coma. He would come out of the coma, only for the doctor's to induce it again later at the hospital.
Michael went to one hospital and his passenger to another as best friend had to go to a hospital with better specialists.
Best friend spent weeks in the hospital.
To the best reconstruction, an SUV ran a red light and smashed into Michael's and his best friend's rental car, pushing them into a palm tree. A palm tree that when hit, is like concrete.
The Legal:
Remember, I'm cutting corners here with the story.
Michael finds out that he is being sued by the rental car company.
Michael finds out that he is being sued by the driver of the SUV that hit him. She is suing him for $25,000 because after the accident she claims she has "lost the ability to have fun". She wins. I suppose I should mention that her husband at the time was an NFL player...who had signed for over $100 million in contracts during this era.
Michael finds out that he is being sued by his best friend...for $1 million dollars. Best friend is no longer Michael's best friend.
Michael finds out that attorney for rental car company is also representing Michael together. Rental car company offers ex-best friend $600,000 to settle. Ex-best friend's attorney says no. After years of anguish, ex-best friend ends up with $79,000 in his pocket in 2007, paid by rental car company. Friendship remains a thing of the past.
September 12, 2010:
Michael is driving home from his cabin on a sunny, Sunday morning. He is in a hurry to rush home to me and to watch the start the Vikings in the start of the football season. He gets pulled over by the state patrol for speeding. He gets handcuffed, arrested and is taken to the Chisago County Jail as he has a warrant out for his arrest stemming from the accident in 2002. He is not worried as this is a mistake.
It's not a mistake. He was charged with DUI- seriously bodily harm in May 2002, five months after the accident and no one bothers to tell him. He's had the same address and phone number for 38 years and no one has ever once tried to contact him. Since he's been "fleeing" all these years, he is considered a "Fugitive of Justice". We didn't know this at the time but this charge equaled the following...a felony and a minimum of 4 years in prison with a maximum of 5 years.
Michael is not allowed to be bailed out per the charge but the judge he sees after spending one day in jail, the high security area, mind you, agrees to set bail at $75,000. Do me one favor. Next time you read a story or listen to the news, pay attention to the amount of bail that is set. Crimes of the worst kind get less than that. This bail is outrageous but what other choice does one have other than to post bail. It's that or lose your job and Michael would have had to stay for two weeks when they may have had him extradited to Florida. I spend the most amount of energy I have ever spent in my life finding the original attorney in the case, calling Michael's boss to explain what has happened, getting his car out of impound 50 miles away, finding a bondsman and coming up with $7500 to bail Michael out. All of this comes with gracious help on Michael's side of the family as well as my side of the family. Family matters.
Michael was released from jail late Tuesday night after being booked around 12:30 pm the Sunday before. He was released to the bondsman and myself. I had never been so happy to see him.
The Legal...Again:
This is the part that is the hardest to summarize.
Michael hired a wonderful lawyer who is also his friend. This business relationship started in September 2010. Michael fly to Florida for court dates in October, November 2010 and February, March, April, May and June 2011.
Remember all those Florida vacations Michael and I went on during February, March, April and May of last year? Yeah, not really on our terms. They were for court dates. There, I said it. That's the part that has been eating at me for so long. I never wanted to disguise the court dates as Florida vacations but I had to at the time. Now my conscience is free.
Due to Florida law, Michael had to hire a Florida lawyer too as it's necessary to establish local legal counsel. These two lawyers would end up being Michael's dream team. There is so much to tell about the actual details and how the legal system works. The amount of time that had passed since the accident was a good thing and lack of evidence helped. We were told unexpectedly after court in May 2011 by Michael's Florida lawyer that the state would be dropping the case. It was unbelievable and surreal. Michael would still have another court date on June 14, 2011, and that is the day it became official. The State of Florida dropped the case against Michael. That is the day he was officially free, forever.
The Present:
Michael is now friends with his passenger again. They've been friends for awhile now.
Michael is in debt up to his eyeballs due to legal bills and repeated travel expenses.
Our relationship has been affected by this whole situation. We were together during much of the first round of legal and of course this past year. There's been times when our relationship didn't feel like it was going to make it. Michael had to do a lot of administrative stuff to prepare me to have the house alone for potentially five years. Would I even want to stay and "wait" for him? It's easy to say yes but putting yourself in the situation. Then there were times when all we had was love and that's all we needed. It just depended on the day and news that was received from that month's court hearing. But this isn't about our relationship. It's about an anniversary.
We're happy that all of this is truly now, a thing of the past. We're happy to have moved forward with life. I'm happy that Michael and his friend are alive today.
I've saved the pictures for last. I don't think it needs to be said but Michael and his friend's car was the brown car.
Some of you know bits and pieces of what happened. Most of you do not. I've been very weary to bring up this subject but being that today is the ten year anniversary, I feel today is the right day to say something. I cannot give every single detail of the last ten years but I'll do my best give you an idea of what has transpired with obviously having to cut corners. Here's a warning...this will be a long post.
The accident:
It was bad. It was really bad. So bad in fact that the homicide unit shut down the road to reconstruct the accident and deem it a crime scene as there was no way two people should have survived this crash.
Michael had over 100 cuts to his entire body. A broken sternum. Cracked and chipped vertebrae in his neck. Bruised organs. He suffered a concussion and was unconscious.
Best friend was reported dead on one of the reports. He had all ribs broken on one side, broke his hip and shattered his pelvis. He had a punctured lung and both of his lungs would collapse at separate times after the accident. Both his liver and pancreas were lacerated. He also suffered a concussion and was unconscious in a coma. He would come out of the coma, only for the doctor's to induce it again later at the hospital.
Michael went to one hospital and his passenger to another as best friend had to go to a hospital with better specialists.
Best friend spent weeks in the hospital.
To the best reconstruction, an SUV ran a red light and smashed into Michael's and his best friend's rental car, pushing them into a palm tree. A palm tree that when hit, is like concrete.
The Legal:
Remember, I'm cutting corners here with the story.
Michael finds out that he is being sued by the rental car company.
Michael finds out that he is being sued by the driver of the SUV that hit him. She is suing him for $25,000 because after the accident she claims she has "lost the ability to have fun". She wins. I suppose I should mention that her husband at the time was an NFL player...who had signed for over $100 million in contracts during this era.
Michael finds out that he is being sued by his best friend...for $1 million dollars. Best friend is no longer Michael's best friend.
Michael finds out that attorney for rental car company is also representing Michael together. Rental car company offers ex-best friend $600,000 to settle. Ex-best friend's attorney says no. After years of anguish, ex-best friend ends up with $79,000 in his pocket in 2007, paid by rental car company. Friendship remains a thing of the past.
September 12, 2010:
Michael is driving home from his cabin on a sunny, Sunday morning. He is in a hurry to rush home to me and to watch the start the Vikings in the start of the football season. He gets pulled over by the state patrol for speeding. He gets handcuffed, arrested and is taken to the Chisago County Jail as he has a warrant out for his arrest stemming from the accident in 2002. He is not worried as this is a mistake.
It's not a mistake. He was charged with DUI- seriously bodily harm in May 2002, five months after the accident and no one bothers to tell him. He's had the same address and phone number for 38 years and no one has ever once tried to contact him. Since he's been "fleeing" all these years, he is considered a "Fugitive of Justice". We didn't know this at the time but this charge equaled the following...a felony and a minimum of 4 years in prison with a maximum of 5 years.
Michael is not allowed to be bailed out per the charge but the judge he sees after spending one day in jail, the high security area, mind you, agrees to set bail at $75,000. Do me one favor. Next time you read a story or listen to the news, pay attention to the amount of bail that is set. Crimes of the worst kind get less than that. This bail is outrageous but what other choice does one have other than to post bail. It's that or lose your job and Michael would have had to stay for two weeks when they may have had him extradited to Florida. I spend the most amount of energy I have ever spent in my life finding the original attorney in the case, calling Michael's boss to explain what has happened, getting his car out of impound 50 miles away, finding a bondsman and coming up with $7500 to bail Michael out. All of this comes with gracious help on Michael's side of the family as well as my side of the family. Family matters.
Michael was released from jail late Tuesday night after being booked around 12:30 pm the Sunday before. He was released to the bondsman and myself. I had never been so happy to see him.
The Legal...Again:
This is the part that is the hardest to summarize.
Michael hired a wonderful lawyer who is also his friend. This business relationship started in September 2010. Michael fly to Florida for court dates in October, November 2010 and February, March, April, May and June 2011.
Remember all those Florida vacations Michael and I went on during February, March, April and May of last year? Yeah, not really on our terms. They were for court dates. There, I said it. That's the part that has been eating at me for so long. I never wanted to disguise the court dates as Florida vacations but I had to at the time. Now my conscience is free.
Due to Florida law, Michael had to hire a Florida lawyer too as it's necessary to establish local legal counsel. These two lawyers would end up being Michael's dream team. There is so much to tell about the actual details and how the legal system works. The amount of time that had passed since the accident was a good thing and lack of evidence helped. We were told unexpectedly after court in May 2011 by Michael's Florida lawyer that the state would be dropping the case. It was unbelievable and surreal. Michael would still have another court date on June 14, 2011, and that is the day it became official. The State of Florida dropped the case against Michael. That is the day he was officially free, forever.
The Present:
Michael is now friends with his passenger again. They've been friends for awhile now.
Michael is in debt up to his eyeballs due to legal bills and repeated travel expenses.
Our relationship has been affected by this whole situation. We were together during much of the first round of legal and of course this past year. There's been times when our relationship didn't feel like it was going to make it. Michael had to do a lot of administrative stuff to prepare me to have the house alone for potentially five years. Would I even want to stay and "wait" for him? It's easy to say yes but putting yourself in the situation. Then there were times when all we had was love and that's all we needed. It just depended on the day and news that was received from that month's court hearing. But this isn't about our relationship. It's about an anniversary.
We're happy that all of this is truly now, a thing of the past. We're happy to have moved forward with life. I'm happy that Michael and his friend are alive today.
I've saved the pictures for last. I don't think it needs to be said but Michael and his friend's car was the brown car.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Birthday Dinner and Shopping
My sister and I didn't get a chance to hang out for my birthday until this past Wednesday. We met at our favorite AYCE sushi place, Akita. We ate lots of sushi but I didn't feel like we overdid it. We still had plenty of energy left to go to Gordman's and shop for 2+ hours afterwards.
I bought a handful of items which all was on clearance except for the tan purse. I don't know why but I just had to have it. I didn't get any photos of my sister and I because she didn't want to (boo!) but I did take some pics of my finds for the night...makeup, jewelry and purses. Go figure.
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I bought a handful of items which all was on clearance except for the tan purse. I don't know why but I just had to have it. I didn't get any photos of my sister and I because she didn't want to (boo!) but I did take some pics of my finds for the night...makeup, jewelry and purses. Go figure.
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Friday, January 27, 2012
We're Baaaaacccckkkk!
It's been awhile but the Alphabet Gang got together this past Tuesday after a hiatus since October. Instead of meeting for dinner and drinks at restaurant or bar as usual, we got together at Tiffany and Aaron's house. We lost our "B" for the night as Beth bailed on us but we gained another "C" and Carrie joined us. We also gained an "E" as in Tiffany's last name starts with an E. That brings out Alphabet Gang to single A, single B, double C's, double D's (!) and a single E. Our goal is to find F-Z for 2012, in alphabetical order.
We hung out T&E's awesome basement bar which also had the computer command center. We had some appetizers and drinks and we partied like it wasn't Tuesday at all. I even decided to come over twice that night. I left the first time, got home and realized I left my phone there. Good thing we only live 4 miles away from each other. We had lots of fun as always and I can't wait for the next one.
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We hung out T&E's awesome basement bar which also had the computer command center. We had some appetizers and drinks and we partied like it wasn't Tuesday at all. I even decided to come over twice that night. I left the first time, got home and realized I left my phone there. Good thing we only live 4 miles away from each other. We had lots of fun as always and I can't wait for the next one.
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| Nerd Station |
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| Testing the self timer and camera |
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| All real laughs! |
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| Aaron taking a picture with my phone as I come over for the 2nd time |
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Perfect Cookies
How many times have you made cookies only to have them be too hard or crispy despite following the directions? Below is a guide to the perfect cookie. I can't remember where I found this but it's a guide to create that perfect, soft chewy cookie that we love. Happy baking!
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| Click to enlarge! |
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Thirty Five
Thirty Five. Effective Saturday, January twenty-first, that's my age for 2012. Weird.
I had a very low-key birthday but before it's all said and done, I'll have had a lot of activity. I went out to dinner with my girlfriends on Thursday, had a birthday lunch with my team at work at Big Bowl on Friday, going out for sushi with my sister on Wednesday and a finale of game night with my family at my sister's next Saturday.
As for this past Saturday, I woke up at 7 am to a chilly -2 degrees and watched the sun rise 45 minutes or so later. Having a birthday in January, I know I'll never have a warm one so the best I can hope for is a sunny birthday. The sun was beautiful on the ice crystals built up on our energy inefficient windows. I know it sounds cheesy, but I teared up because I was happy to be alive.
M woke up hours later and greeted me with the following:
I don't have a Jared Allen jersey and I've always wanted one but I didn't want a home jersey but an away jersey. I have searched for them in person and online for two years and I came to the conclusion that a women's Jared Allen away jersey did not exist. M has proven to me that it does. While I can't do much with the jersey now, I'll definitely be excited to put it on in seven short months. He also gave me a Sephora gift card so I can get some girly-girl stuff!
My mom called me in the morning and sang to me the entire Casey Jones birthday song.
I lazed around all day blogging, watching Portlandia and the Red Bull Crashed Ice competition on NBC that was held on January 13th in St. Paul. My parents stopped over for a quick minute to give me a card and a wonderful gift card that will be used in conjunction with a coupon and another gift card I have to buy a blender I've been wanting.
I finally mustered up enough energy to get in the shower and get ready for dinner. We went to French Meadow in Uptown and I had a fabulous dinner. I started out with a hot mulled cider and a mixed greens salad and then my entree:
I even got a free dessert because it was my birthday, a piece of vegan Decadent Turtle Cake, which I was too full to eat and didn't get around to eating it until last night. Yum!
After dinner, we went to The Four Firkins in St. Louis Park for some beer and to Target for a couple of necessities. I paid for my items and it came to an even $21.00, which waskind of nerdy for me to have noticed neat since it was my birthday, January 21.
We went home and watched some more TV before calling it a night at a little before midnight for me.
I took advantage of some birthday perks earlier in the week that I received from both Kohl's and JC Penney's. Kohl's sent me a $10 coupon so I got this for $9.99:
I saw this cute little guy and wanted him too. He's a Valentine owl but I almost wished he didn't have a heart on his cheek. He currently resides on my desk at home.
As for JC Penney, I got $15 from them so I bought two scarves. I need more scarves like a hole in my head but I just love them so much.
I also picked up my free Sephora birthday gift of some tinted lip balm. I also took advantage of a free bowl of noodles from Noodles & Company last Tuesday. M took this picture of me which is kind of funny because I had my t-shirt scarf on which looks like noodles.
Thank you to everyone who made my day special. Thank you to everyone for the gifts as well as the cards I received in the mail from Kris and Jim, Dennis and Pat, Kim and Greg and Jim and Lorrie. Thank you to Jamie and my grandpa who called me and thank you for all the texts and Facebook messages. I'm looking forward to the second half of my 30's!
I had a very low-key birthday but before it's all said and done, I'll have had a lot of activity. I went out to dinner with my girlfriends on Thursday, had a birthday lunch with my team at work at Big Bowl on Friday, going out for sushi with my sister on Wednesday and a finale of game night with my family at my sister's next Saturday.
As for this past Saturday, I woke up at 7 am to a chilly -2 degrees and watched the sun rise 45 minutes or so later. Having a birthday in January, I know I'll never have a warm one so the best I can hope for is a sunny birthday. The sun was beautiful on the ice crystals built up on our energy inefficient windows. I know it sounds cheesy, but I teared up because I was happy to be alive.
M woke up hours later and greeted me with the following:
My mom called me in the morning and sang to me the entire Casey Jones birthday song.
I lazed around all day blogging, watching Portlandia and the Red Bull Crashed Ice competition on NBC that was held on January 13th in St. Paul. My parents stopped over for a quick minute to give me a card and a wonderful gift card that will be used in conjunction with a coupon and another gift card I have to buy a blender I've been wanting.
I finally mustered up enough energy to get in the shower and get ready for dinner. We went to French Meadow in Uptown and I had a fabulous dinner. I started out with a hot mulled cider and a mixed greens salad and then my entree:
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| sage scented tempeh cutlet, organic sautéed greens, mushroom gravy, pickled red cabbage, brown rice, garbanzo beans, sweet potato puree |
I even got a free dessert because it was my birthday, a piece of vegan Decadent Turtle Cake, which I was too full to eat and didn't get around to eating it until last night. Yum!
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| This is what 35 looks like in my world. |
After dinner, we went to The Four Firkins in St. Louis Park for some beer and to Target for a couple of necessities. I paid for my items and it came to an even $21.00, which was
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| Goofing around in the tampon aisle nonetheless |
We went home and watched some more TV before calling it a night at a little before midnight for me.
I took advantage of some birthday perks earlier in the week that I received from both Kohl's and JC Penney's. Kohl's sent me a $10 coupon so I got this for $9.99:
I saw this cute little guy and wanted him too. He's a Valentine owl but I almost wished he didn't have a heart on his cheek. He currently resides on my desk at home.
I also picked up my free Sephora birthday gift of some tinted lip balm. I also took advantage of a free bowl of noodles from Noodles & Company last Tuesday. M took this picture of me which is kind of funny because I had my t-shirt scarf on which looks like noodles.
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