Another Benefit

We went to a benefit for a friend/family member of M's on Saturday, April 6th.  It was held at Champps in Maplewood and it was a small space but it was packed.  David, the person who the benefit was for, has some form of cancer affecting his bones and is terminal.  He's in his lower 50's.

They had raffles and silent auctions.  M won a basket through a raffle containing $100 in restaurant gift cards, shirts, candles, diffusers and lotions.  This was also the first time we saw M's mom and dad since coming back to MN from Florida.  They had just gotten back the day before.  (I think they thought it was safe to come back at that time and it wouldn't snow anymore.  Ha!)

I forgot to take pictures but thank you to Kim for the picture below.

Greg, M, Me, Chad, Megan

We love to support causes but no more cancer, please!  Since and including my dad's funeral, I have been to 4 funerals in 6 months...all cancer. 

Conscious Box- April and Special Box

April's Conscious Box was, meh and the special box they offered this month in addition to the regular box was even more meh.  No more buying special boxes.  I mean it this time!

Here's April's regular box.  Being that it is Earth Day month, I thought it would be a great box.

Instead, I got a few items I've already had before.  I want new stuff!  The natural almond dish washing liquid is pretty good though.

April's special box was filled with stuff they had left over from other month's boxes so I knew I'd be expecting duplicates in this box.  Unfortunately, multiple items were from April's regular subscription so that wasn't too exciting considering that the boxes were only a week apart.  I did get the vegan macaroons that some people got back in the fall but I didn't get.  I was very excited to try them but I really had to hurry up and eat them because they were expiring in two days from the day I received the box.  (I still ate them after expiration.  Expired raw, vegan food never hurt anyone, right?)  The one thing I was not excited to see again was the Freekeh.  Freekeh is roasted green wheat and I just didn't care for it BUT I will give it another chance and find a better way to eat it this time.

Ward 6

For our monthly dinner with my mom and sister this month, we went to Ward 6 in St. Paul on April 10th.  It was my mom's turn to choose a place and she chose Ward 6 based on a review she read.  Being that I'm so trendy and progressive, I had already been there in January.

We got there just before 5 pm and good thing we did.  It was a Wednesday and the place was packed by the time we left.  I'm pretty sure that's the way it is there always, which is a good thing.

What I really wanted to try was the fish and chips.  Both my mom and sister ordered this and it looked fab.  They both said it was really good.  

What I did end up ordering was the only vegan option on the menu, Cicero Stew.  To me, it was ok. I only ate about half of it when the server asked if I wanted a box.  I told her no and she asked if I liked it.  I told her the truth...it was ok.  She apologized profusely and I said it was fine and nothing to apologize about.  She asked me what about it I didn't like and I told her it just didn't "wow" me.  No biggie for me.  I'm sure the stew is great for someone else but I just didn't prefer it.  

When the server was dropping off the bill, she asked if she could make it up to me/us and bring out beignets for us.  Well, ok, if you insist.  She brought out 3 of them for us to enjoy.  She really didn't have to do that but we appreciated it for sure!  Finally, I told her that the food had no negative reflection upon my experience and that I'd be back again. 

Believe it or not, I am getting better at taking self-portraits

Charity Challenge- April

This month's charity challenge is a no-brainer.  April's charity is the Animal Humane Society.  Why?  Because I'm doing the Walk for Animals in a week!  Oh, I might just happen to love animals too.  

Because I appreciate all of you that read my blog, I've made a donation in your name, Dana's Readers.  Thank you, readers.  ♥

If you are interested in helping me reach my goal of $750 (I'm 78% of the way there!), please consider donating.  If you have already made a donation, thank you!!!

My Donation Page

And for those that donated between April 15-18, an extra special thank you to you.  I was notified by the Animal Humane Society that I raised the most amount of money during that time frame. (I didn't even know there was a challenge going on.)  Because of that, AHS is sending me 3 t-shirts as a thank you gift.  I could choose between cat or dog shirts or a mix of both. What do you think I chose?  Meow!

I was featured in the weekly newsletter!

Help animals just like us!

Twins Home Opener

The Twins home and season opener was on Monday, April 1st AKA April Fool's Day.  We got our share of April Fool's that day.

When the season opener starts on April 1st and in Minnesota, there is a delicate balance that needs to be figured out when it comes to the weather (especially when the temperature is in the low 30's) and how early you arrive to the game. Fail. April Fool's!

We got down to the area of Target Field about 30 minutes before game time.  We couldn't find a place to park...anywhere.  We drove around and around and around and around and around and around and around, seriously.  We were so frustrated to not be able to find a spot, due to A) It's the home opener and there's an expected crowd of 38,000 and B) Oh yeah, it's downtown Minneapolis in the middle of the day where everyone's working and is taking up all the places to park. We tried parking ramps and lots that were a mile away with no success.  Fail.  April Fool's!

All this frustration of driving around with no success get on your nerves and in turn gets on your partner's nerves.  Attitudes in the car are not ideal and one can become mad at the other.  So mad that we are almost ready to turn around and go home and forfeit our tickets. So mad that we start laughing because this is so ridiculous. This happens when you are literally driving around for an hour!  We are way late to the game at this point.  Fail.  April Fool's!

We FINALLY find a parking spot about a mile from the stadium.  A-ha!...it's only $5 to park here!  That is, until we meet the parking lot attendants who say it's $20, despite the sign outside of the parking lot.  April Fool's!  I lose my cool a little bit and proceed to tell them we have been driving around for over an hour looking for parking and please give us a break.  Reluctantly, they do.  $5 parking.  This is the first thing that goes right during this whole fiasco.

The second thing that goes right is a bike taxi comes up and asks if we want a ride to the stadium for $5.  Yes, please!  We hop on and we're there in a handful of minutes on this cold day.  We give him $10 because we're super thankful, because we're already late and because after spending $5 on parking, $10 on the bike still equals $5 "extra" dollars in our pocket considering we were supposed to have paid $20 or more on parking.   April Fool's!

We walk into the door at 4 pm.  Game started at 3:10 pm.  We missed any pre-game/season opener/home opener activities.  I found out later that Nicholas David from The Voice sang the National Anthem but that's ok because he's the very first person I see when coming into Target Field and I just stare at him, trying to get M's attention but he's not paying attention. (P.S. We saw him sing the National Anthem at a Vikings Game last season.)

We get to our seats and there are people sitting in them.  April Fool's!  After an attendant gets involved, the people leave because, well, those are our seats.  April Fool's on them!

FINALLY, we are allowed to enjoy the couple hours left in the game in the warm, April weather.  April Fool's!  It got up to 34 degrees at the highest.  Despite that, we were in the sun the entire time and it was slightly cold but it really wasn't that bad.  We're hard-core Minnesotans for Pete's sake. Glad I wore my long underwear though.  I also wore my Twins shirt that was my dad's.  My mom gave it to me after he passed away.  He was at the game with us too.  

The Twins were behind when we walked in and they would stay behind the whole game.  Twins lose the opener to the Detroit Tigers, 4-2.  Despite all that went "wrong", we had lots of fun and really enjoyed ourselves.  Oh, and we did get to see Nicholas David sing "Take me out to the ballgame" for the 7th inning stretch.

Me and Nicholas David, er, I mean, Michael

Andrew Zimmern's new food stand-serves cabrito (young goat) burgers.  No!

Finally, here's a couple of new fragrances that Sephora wanted people to vote on their Facebook page for which one they liked better.  Which one would you have voted for?  April Fool's!

A Different Kind of Easter

Easter this year was different.  Well, it was different for obvious reasons but it was different because we didn't get together at my aunt's house like we normally do.  No one got together as a large group this year and I can't remember that happening, ever.  But that's ok.

We didn't have a plan in place up until Wednesday of that week and then my mom decided to have Easter at her house for M and I and my sister's family so we started a new tradition this year...at least for this year.

It was a brunch and we had lots of yummy food including almond orange french toast casserole, egg bake, cheesy potatoes, fruit salad and of course, bacon. 

My sister's family just got back from Florida so they talked about their trip and showed us pictures.  My little nephew Colton picked out a canister of toy cats all by himself while he was in a gift shop in Florida.  He couldn't have made his auntie more proud.

My mom had some goodies for the kids...and the adults too.  (My nephew Keith told my sister a secret while they were in Florida.  He said he knew the Easter Bunny didn't exist anymore.  Well, he's almost 10 but I want him to be innocent and believe in everything forever!)

It was a cold and windy day on Easter but now looking back, it was pretty nice!  I think it was close to 40 degrees and it didn't snow that day! 

The Easter Bunny made a stop to my house too.  I got WAY TOO MUCH candy and some fun other stuff, including Poli Grip for my dentures!  Yep, the Easter bunny doesn't know me very well or had an odd sense of humor.  The Easter Bunny knows I hate Peeps too but he gives them to me every.single.year.

R&R Weekend

M and I went to northern Wisconsin for relaxation the long weekend of March 22-24.  I bought a Travelzoo voucher for a 2 night stay in Cable, Wisconsin that also came with a $50 food credit to the restaurant attached to the lodge.  I bought this as a gift to Michael for Valentine's Day and while we could have used it anytime until June, we felt the need to get away soon, regardless of what the weather was like.  Turns out the weather was probably better a month ago when we went versus now or anytime in between then. 

We left on Friday morning and got up to Hayward in about 2 hours.  We stopped there and I thought I would see the huge fish like I remember seeing the only time I ever was there as a kid.  We didn't see it though and we didn't go searching for it.  Instead, we stopped at the grocery store in town to pick up some snacks and something to drink.  Here are the chips we found that we couldn't pass up.

All of the chips weren't very good but the Chicken & Waffles were horrible.  

We drove up the 16 miles or so to Cable, Wisconsin (population 836 according to the 2000 census) where our destination would be.  We stopped at the visitor center to pick up some brochures for the area.  There really isn't much to do around there unless you are doing some winter outdoor activity.  We figured as much as we just wanted to relax and get away.  We were about an hour early from checking into the lodge but we decided to stop anyway and see if they could get us in.  With the Travelzoo voucher,  you don't get to pick what room you want.  We saw a specific room we wanted online and we were hoping by getting there early we'd be able to choose it.  We drove the additional 7 miles or so east, entering into the Chequamegon-Nicolet Forest until hitting our destination. Once arrived, they weren't ready for us yet and said maybe another hour.  The place didn't have anyone there except for the woman we talked to but we were able to pick out the room we wanted. 

I checked my Facebook messages and had a message from my cousin's wife Tonia who said if possible, try not to miss going to the Angry Minnow, which is back in Hayward.  With at least an hour to kill, we drove back to Hayward to go there.

Tonia, thank you for suggestion!  We loved this place.  It's a brewpub that serves food.  The beer and food were perfect.  M bought some beer to bring back and share in MN.  

Black bean dip and pita chips for me

Burger and cheese curds for Michael

After the Angry Minnow, we went back to check in officially.  We had a joke that it's always cloudy in Cable because we would drive away a bit and it would be sunny.  

Here was our room.  It was called the Namakagon and it looked just like the picture online.  While checking in, we also got the $50 food credit to the restaurant that was attached and down the stairs.  They asked us if we were interested in using it that night or the next night.  They said that it was slow and just wanted to prepare for us depending on when we used it.  We would later find out that it was just us and another couple who was staying there for the weekend.  There are only 7 rooms anyways and having only 2 rooms occupied makes for a very quiet place to be, especially when the owner and all staff leave at the end of the night.  It truly was just the four occupants there through the night.  

We didn't leave for the rest of the night.  Since we ate around the 3 pm hour, we decided we would still eat at the Rookery Pub Fine Dining just out the door and down the stairs from our room later in the evening.  Besides the other couple staying there, we were the only ones there.  The restaurant was cozy with lots of art on the wall for purchase.

We had our $50 credit which allowed for the majority of our meal to be paid for.  The menu wasn't huge but there were a lot of interesting items to choose from.  We took advantage of that.  I couldn't decide on a single entree so I ordered a salad and three small plates.  Sounds like a lot and it was but I was so curious to try everything.

Here's what M ordered:

Wisconsin Cheese Fondue-Specialty blend of Wisconsin cheeses with fresh herbs and crusty rosemary olive oil bread

Fettucini Alfredo-House made herb style Alfredo with fettucini, grilled chicken & grated parmesan

 Here's what I ordered:

Spinach Citrus-Fresh baby spinach, pieces of orange and grapefruit and candied pecans with a citrus vinaigrette

Seared Scallops-Jumbo sea scallops, fennel and marinated grapes with a lemon tarragon vinaigrette

Thai Barbeque Tostadas-Coffee rubbed barbeque pulled pork, tomatillo salsa and sharp cheddar cheese with a sweet Thai chili sauce on a crispy tostada shell

Baked Crab Cakes-Zesty baked crab perfectly seasoned with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, secret herbs & a pinch of cayenne pepper, topped with orange dill aioli

The food was fantastic.  With great food at the Angry Minnow and great food at Rookery, it was shaping up to be a foodie weekend and the trend would continue. 

After dinner, we went back to our room, listened to music, lit candles, cracked a bottle of homemade wine from a co-worker of M's and watched the NCAA basketball tournament like any romantic couple would do. We also brought the telescope with us.  We brought it outside and set it up to see the almost full moon and we saw Jupiter too.  Being outside in the middle of the nowhere, where's it's quiet and it's completely dark and away from any city lights we're so used to was awesome.  This sounds so weird but it was so quiet that my ears started to hurt from the silence.  I don't know if I have ever experienced such silence before.  

We woke on Saturday morning with plans for exploring for the day.  We were very excited to head to a diner in the middle of nowhere.  Delta, Wisconsin is the site of Delta Diner and I'm not sure much more exists there.  We had a beautiful drive around windy roads that would be perfect for a motorcycle.  I think the diner was 45 minutes away but with beautiful scenery, it didn't seem like it at all.

We had heard of Delta Diner through one of M's friend years ago.  What's so special about this diner?  It's hard to describe this place.  Just know it probably has the best food, service and cleanliness of any type of diner you may know of.  You have this ultimate sense that they truly care about you as a customer.  It seems so rare these days.  They don't have a paper menu, only a board so when you are a Delta Diner Virgin, as they called us, they take the time to explain the entire menu to you.  It sounds like it would be annoying but it's not.  There's not that much to choose from.  M ordered a breakfast sandwich with a Norwegian pancake on the side.  She asked if he wanted the jalapeno one or the plain one.  While he likes jalapenos, he was reluctant to have it in a pancake so he ordered the plain one.  The server then brings out a jalapeno one for him to try, for free.  It's served with powdered sugar on top and a wedge of lemon.  You can eat it plain, with lemon or with syrup.  We tried it all three ways.  The best was plain to us.  It was so nice for her to do. I had hashbrowns with eggs, peppers and onions. Our experience was so pleasant that we left an almost 50% tip.  

I never see biodegradable containers in the Twin Cities!

Just leaving the diner, we saw over 25 deer in a 10-20 minute period.  I don't care how many deer I've seen in my life.  I will NEVER get tired on seeing them or looking for them.

We headed towards Ashland next.  We had no real plans but wanted to go see the south shore of Lake Superior.  Both of us had never seen it from that perspective and only the north shore from Minnesota.  Well, it wasn't that interesting.  I thought we'd be able to see more but with the time of year, everything was still frozen and snowy and gray.  I'm sure the area is just gorgeous in the summer and we hope to experience that as well some day.  

We stopped at South Shore Brewery for a beer.

There's wasn't too much to do, other than drive around the town.  They have lots of murals.

After Ashland, we headed north to Washburn.  My cousin Mike lives there and we stopped to visit with him for the afternoon. We hung out and talked and sipped on beer. We had good conversations about my dad and his dad.  Unfortunately, his wife Tonia wasn't there but it turns out we just missed her after we left.  They've lived up there for almost three years as homesteaders and this was our first chance to see their place. Sorry we missed you Tonia!  Mike, it was fun to see you! THANK YOU for the wonderful goodies you gave us!  They are definitely being used in our household.

We headed about 12 miles north to Bayfield to just go and see the place.  This is where you can take the ferry to the Apostle Islands.  With it being the off-season, there wasn't much to look at and it appeared that many shops were closed due for the season. They do have an ice "highway" that you can take across Lake Superior to the islands.  Drive at your own risk!

We made our long way back to Cable in the early evening.  We were surprised to see close to 10 cars in the parking area for the restaurant.  I was glad to see they were getting business because they really are great.  We hung out for a little bit before going into "town" and getting a bite to eat.  We ate at the Rivers Eatery in the Ideal Market building.  It was a cute place. I started with a salad and the spread on the bread was wonderful.  I still don't know what it was but it was delicious. Possibly something with honey.  I wanted to try something a little different so I went with The Najmadi pizza, which is has a Thai sauce, roasted red peppers, carrots, peas and feta.  It was just ok for me.  M stayed a little more safe in his eating choices as he normally does.  

We got back to our nature lodge and it was dark and no one around except for some restaurant patrons just leaving otherwise it was back to us and the other couple for the evening.  We did the same thing as the night before; music, candles, drinks, basketball and it was perfect.   

We're a single couple with no kids so we have time to ourselves any time we want it but there's nothing like getting away for a couple of days, relaxing from the rest of the world and enjoying yourself.  We had a great time.

We ended up seeing 34 deer on our trip, two turkeys and a fox.  The fox was trotting right down the street!  Success.  And yes, I still count how many deer I see and probably always will.  

Lastly, I just wanted to mention that prior to this weekend in Cable, I had only dreamed of my dad on two occasions.  He was sick in one of them and in the other, I couldn't see him very well because he was far away and in the shadows.  I dreamed of my dad both nights in Cable.  Both times he was healthy.  Both nights the dream had a different scenario but it was the same message.  A message for my mom, which I gave her.  I feel as though I was visited by my dad while in Cable.  Even he wanted to experience the beauty and nature of the area.