Once Last Chance to Vote!

Just a quick reminder that the contest to name Mankato Brewery's new beer ends tomorrow!  If you haven't voted, I'd appreciate you voting for my name, HopKato, for their next IPA.

VOTE HERE!

For details, please refer to my original post from last week HERE.

Thank you!!!!

Valentine's Day Conscious Box

I ordered the limited edition Valentine's Day Conscious Box for guaranteed delivery by Valentine's Day.  It arrived on V-Day and I was really excited to see what was in there.

They marketed the box as adults only, talking about chocolates, adult items and love tonics.  I wasn't looking for a box full of porn or sex toys or anything but I wasn't very excited when I opened the box.  There wasn't that much that really reminded me of Valentine's Day and it left me disappointed.  

Yes, there was chocolate, coconut cream body butter, massage oil called Aphrodisian Fire, natural lubricant and even natural and Eco-friendly Swipes Lovin Wipes that state, "...designed with the intent of cleaning up before or after intimate moments..." but there were so many things that were unsexy about the box including tea, facial cleansing oil, a chia bar, energy drink, etc.  While I like what I received, I wouldn't have purchased this box based on the way they described and marketed it.  It was just like a regular monthly Conscious Box but wasn't worth the $20 to me.  As you know by my reviews, I'm a big lover of Conscious Box but it just didn't work for me this time.

Charity Challenge - February

For my monthly charity contribution for February, I donated to Fractured Atlas, which is a non-profit arts service organization for a sponsored project called Midway.

After watching the trailer for the upcoming documentary Midway, I had to donate to this cause.  I was extremely sad and upset when I watched the video and you will be too.  It's terribly sad and it angers you at the same time.  We as humans are destroying this planet and even in the most remote areas our negative impact is being felt.  This tiny glimpse shows just how much our every day decisions makes a difference, for better or for worse.

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE watch this video.  I would embed it right here into my post however I can't find this same version to do so and I think it's important to watch this almost 4 minute video.

Please click here to watch the trailer to Midway

If you have time, please tell me your thoughts after you've watched the trailer.

V-Day Part II

M and I went out for our "real" Valentine's dinner on Friday the 15th.  I take him to White Castle on the 14th and he takes me to a nice place on the 15th.  It's not necessary he do this but he wants to.

We went to Pittsburgh Blue in Maple Grove.  We were there for a special occasion last June and prior to that, it had been many years.

Whenever we go to a steak place, we always get the filet mignon.  I mixed it up a bit this time and got it Oscar style, with asparagus, a crab cake and Bearnaise sauce.  It was delicious.  

I always take pictures of my food, pretty much wherever we go.  

M's hash browns did not come out with the rest of the meal and so the server had to put an order in for them and it was going to take a little while.  M didn't mind but at the end of the meal, our server brought out a red velvet cupcake with a strawberry puree on the plate to say sorry for the hash browns.  It was a nice gesture and despite how full we were, we still managed to eat it.  Ok, well I ate the majority of it.  I am still thinking of the cupcake and the strawberries today.  So.good.

The meal and everything was totally fabulous.  Pittsburgh Blue has become a favorite place of ours now due to the great food and the outstanding customer service.  Everyone is completely friendly and if you haven't been there, I'd highly suggest going.  

After dinner, we stopped at Tanya and Chris's house for a few hours to hang out since we were kind of in their neighborhood and then went home for the night.

Thank you M for the wonderful dinner you planned for us.  I love you!

V-Day Part I

I haven't really blogged lately and I typically like blogging in order.  I have yet to talk about Valentine's Day yet and that's partial because I've been waiting for some pictures.  I'll talk about that later.

My Valentine's Day started off with the introduction of these wonderful preservative-free truffles!  I ate one each day for the following four days. They were very big.  M handpicked these and he did a yummy job!

Pictures from M and where he got them on Grand Ave. in St. Paul. 

Valentine's Day was on a Thursday this year and we had the exact same plans as last year with the exact same people, except in a different location.  This year, we went to White Castle again and with again with my grandpa but we went to one of the St. Paul locations instead.

Work was crazy, but the poem that M sent me at work did help to brighten my day. I wasn't able to get out of there on time so I had to call M to pick up my grandpa and I'd meet them at our destination.  I did get there before they did and I went to wash my hands in the bathroom.  They had this sign posted:

This sign did not make me feel good.  It doesn't explicitly say that team members are required to wash their hands, but only that your hands are clean.  This statement sounds very subjective to me!  And concerning, says me, the germ freak.

When I walked out of the bathroom, M and my grandpa were already there at a table and my cute grandpa gave me this box of candy.  It's just so adorable he would do something like that.  

For those that aren't aware, which there are still many of you that aren't, White Castle opens up it's restaurant to reservation only on V-Day.  You have a server, in candlelight.  You order off a personal menu and you feel kinda silly.

This was our 6th year going to White Castle on V-day and the 2nd year with my grandpa.  He loved every single minute of it.  He just looked around saying, "This is so cool.  THIS is so cool."  The place was packed.

We ordered a bunch of different items to share and I classed it up this year and had the new fish taco.  It wasn't bad but it wasn't the best either.  But, not bad for .99 cents.

I always pay for White Castle and I gave our server, who was this cute little 16 year old (or so) Asian boy an almost $11 tip.  I love giving a big chunk of change (in relation to the bill) on this day.  I didn't see his reaction but M said his eyes got all big and he had a huge smile on his face.  Yay!

I was waiting to post this until we received our official White Castle picture which would be on their website however I just saw they won't be on there until March 1st!  White Castle isn't the fastest at ANYTHING, but M, being their biggest advocate would say that "Quality food takes quality time."  (You don't know how many times I've heard that from him in my life referencing White Castle.)  He would say the same in the defense about the pictures.  "Quality photos take quality time."  So we'll wait.

Here's what we do have from that night.  M doctored this up to make it look all vintage-y so this is all I have. I love our White Castle tradition!

M dropped my grandpa off and I ran over to my mom's house to say hi quickly and drop off a little gift package for her after her super long day.  She works at a flower shop so V-Day has always been a long and hectic day for her.  She appreciated her stuff and I went back home and M came home shortly thereafter.  We exchanged a couple of items and here's what M got me:

Romantic, no.  Practical, yes.  If you recall, I had a TFT about toothbrushes back in January.  I was on the fence about whether or not I wanted one and M took the effort out of that debate and got me one.  After my 2nd time trying out an electric toothbrush, I love it this time!  The vibration bothered me for a few days in some areas of my mouth but I've already gone accustomed to it and I can't believe how clean my teeth feel.  They truly feel polished. I'm still working on not drooling all over the place but I'm getting the hang of it.  I have a dentist appointment in March and it probably won't be enough time to make a huge difference but I hope they say good things about my oral hygiene.  Thank you M!

100 Candles

Today would have been my Grandma S.'s 100th birthday.

I don't remember the exact circumstances but I remember it was snowing pretty good and not everyone could make it to my grandma's 95th birthday party five years ago.  I know my mom didn't go and my cousin John and I were the only cousins to make it.  Every birthday is important, especially at that age, so I'm very glad that I was able to attend her last birthday party. She would pass away less than 5 months later on July 10, 2008.

Dennis, Pat, John, Kris, Jim, Michael...aren't you so glad that you were able to celebrate this day with her?

Happy 100th birthday grandma!  I hope you, grandpa and my dad are eating cake together today!

Thank you to Kris for all the pictures you took that day.

Vote for Me!

Last week, M told me of Mankato Brewery having a contest to name one of their beers, an India Pale Ale.  A name came to mind right away for me and I submitted it along with another name. 

The brewery chose six finalists today and my name made the cut!  Voting will go through Thursday, February 28th and will be announced in March.

Please vote for me!!!  Below are the finalists:

So which one is mine?  HopKato!  Please vote for HopKato at the link below!  Thank you!!!

Vote for HopKato here!

Should HopKato be chosen as the new name of their IPA, I will win the following:

WINNER
Here's what you get if your suggested beer name wins:
- Legendary status with world-renowned fame.
- Two cases of this beer when it is released.
- Tap the first firkin we do of this beer under the new name.
- Private tour with you and 9 friends of the brewery with lots of sampling!

Kohl's Discount

I'd have to say, Kohl's is one of my favorite places to shop, mostly for clothes and kitchen stuff.  Remember when I told you about how my sister and I went shopping and bought a bunch of work clothes on clearance?

Kohl's contacted me after that post and offered my readers a 10% discount.  That 10% discount CAN be stacked and used in conjunction with another online promo code.  I'm going to provide you with the link to the women's clearance page but happy shopping around to anywhere on the site!

Oh, you can earn Kohl's cash right now too and can get free shipping if you qualify!

https://www.kohls.com/catalog/women-clearance.jsp?CN=3000000103+4294736457 

Blogger promo code for an additional 10% off:  TENFORBLOG

****This promo code expires March 9th****

Happy Shopping!

M.I.A.

I've been missing!  Work has taken a hold of me during and after work hours.  I've been crazy busy and stressed this week in particular but I wanted to peek in and say hi and hopefully I'll have more to share about my work life and what's been going on after next week.

Otherwise, I'll be back blogging really soon!

Have a great weekend!


Dana Leigh

Eco Dinner

Despite Ecopolitan being closed the day I showed up last month, I knew it wouldn't be long until I made it there again.  

I met my friend Justin there on Wednesday, February 6th for an early dinner.  Justin had been to Ecopolitan once before and that was the day it opened, in 2001, with his parents. 

As a reminder, Ecopolitan is an all vegan, raw, organic and gluten-free restaurant.  We were the only people there when we arrived.

Here's what we had:

Justin ordered the surprise meal, which is a chef's choice. He received the "Spaghetti and Meatballs", which was zucchini noodles in some type of sauce with walnut "meatballs" on a bed of spinach and some flax crackers on the side.  He loved it and I also had a taste and it was very good and I wished I would have ordered it as well but I was too scared to see what the "surprise" would be. 

I had the flaxseed tostadas, which consisted of lentil "meat" and a mix of veggies on flaxseed-sunflower seed tostadas and drizzled with cashew "sour cream".  It was good but a little too many olives for my taste.  I also had an apple pie smoothie, which was super delicious.

I had to get a dessert to go so I got a macaroon and ate it later that night.  It was huge.

New Piece

The iron is out.

The cat is in.  MEOW!

http://www.hasbro.com/monopoly/en_us/

Have you played Monopoly lately?  Me neither but I heard recently and it doesn't come with money anymore?  It uses debit cards now?!  I loved the money part.  I've never finished an entire game either.  Once houses and hotels got into the mix, we had already been playing for what seemed like 4 hours and we'd quit.  I'm not even sure how the houses and hotels work.

Winterfest

M and I went to the highly anticipated and elite Winterfest sponsored by the MN Craft Brewer's Guild at the Minnesota History Center last Friday night. Winterfest is an indoor beer festival that boasts many different Minnesota breweries.

We went last year and the event and setup itself seemed to have improved since then.  The event sold out back in December in like 10 seconds (I think for real) and last year I said I probably wouldn't go again but my honey wanted me back and I wanted to go back.

I saw one of my friends when we were waiting in line to get in.  At the door, they give you a booklet and a souvenir tasting glass and then you're free to roam.

M wore the most ridiculous and awesome shirt.  This is the only place he would ever wear it and it was big hit with a lot of people there.  Oh, I can't forget his pretzel necklace either.  (It's way common to see them there.  You  have to cleanse your palate between beers of course!)

We started on our own and then met up with one of the owners of M's company and his wife and spent the rest of the evening with them.

I enjoyed myself more than I did last year and M took full advantage of the tastings.  We had plans of taking a cab home but no need, I was ok to drive home at the end of the night.

This would be the last picture M's glass would ever be in.  Minutes later, M slips in the parking lot and smashes his glass.  RIP, Winterfest glass.  It just wasn't meant to be. 

An accident we saw on the way home.  It was slippery. 

Super Bowl Ads

Did you watch the Super Bowl?  Did you at least watch the commercials?  After watching last night, I didn't think there were that many great commercials but after thinking about it today and remembering some of the ones I forgot already, there were some good ones.  Here are my favorites:

This was a serious one but I liked the Paul Harvey message/story and the photography of this one.

This one was one of the funniest to me.  

This one didn't start out that funny but ended up getting funnier and funnier.

Outrunning a cheetah is funny.

I typically like anything with animals in it.  

I'm not really an Amy Poehler fan but I thought this one was entertaining.

I like to look at The Rock so I liked this commercial but I'm pretty sure I had seen it before.  Maybe before a movie in the theater?

This one was cute.  (It was rated as one of the worst commercials on the site I found it on.)

I think that's all of the ones that stick out in my mind.  What commercials did you enjoy?  Am I missing any big ones?  

Finally, I think we can all agree that this one was definitely the grossest!  It wasn't fun to look at and the smacking sound was unbearable!

20 Years Ago Today

Something happened twenty years ago today that changed my life.  I was a freshly turned 16 year old so I wonder what it could be?  I got my driver's license on February 1, 1993.

It wasn't the first time I took my driver's test but the second.  From what I understand, they don't let you pass your test when you take a left onto a one-way street, when it's really a two-way street.  Automatic fail.  (They still made me continue through the test though!)  Boy, did that driving instructor feel bad for me as I sat there bawling my eyes out in the driver's seat parked on the side of the street (within 12 inches from the curb I'm sure!) as he told me I had failed.  I could see it in his eyes as he told me there would be another time for me to take the test soon.  My friend took me to Subway at the mall that night to help ease my pain.  A six inch Cold Cut Combo probably helped a little.

Twenty plus years on the road.  I've never been in an accident and I have had one speeding ticket.  Not too bad.

I would have loved to show you my driver's license from when I was a brace face 16 year old girl but I can't.  Why?  Because my sister took my driver's license and burned it.  We were mad at each other a lot back then.

What I can show you is my driver's life in pictures. Well, since 21 years old at least. (Thanks, pyro-sister!)