I'm Innocent

What me?  I didn't do that, said the cute little white cat.

Tom Petty

M and I went to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at the Target Center on Saturday, June 29th.  We saw him when he came about three years ago and while I do not listen to Tom Petty very frequently, it was one of my favorite concerts.

The Smithereens opened up and while we were both kind of excited to see them, we didn't enjoy them.  In my opinion, they were boring and just gave off this vibe that they had super egos.  I didn't like it. 

Tom Petty on the other hand, did not.  He was graceful and appreciative and the crowd was so into him. I thought the show was good but I preferred the last time he was here.  Thank you, M for the ticket!

Good and Bad Day

Friday, June 28th had mixed emotions for me.

The bad:

I'm Rainman-ish when it comes to dates and numbers in general and I wish I didn't automatically remember this one. It was the one year anniversary of my dad being diagnosed with cancer.  I remember that day like it truly was yesterday and it is unbelievable that it has been a year.  I found out on a conference room phone at work that my dad had cancer.  I begged him to tell me as he didn't want to give me the bad news while I was at work.

Fast forward to this June 28th and it started out somber for me and got even more sad as I went to work.  I thought I would have been able to keep it together but I couldn't.  I had a good conversation with a manager, the same manager that helped me along one year ago on that day.  I felt better.

My sister Jamie brought up an interesting perspective to me that day, one that I hadn't thought about quite like this. While it was sad that we were thinking about the news we had learned one year earlier, she said at least he was alive then.  Even though my memories of what my dad was going through last summer are dark and sad, he was alive. Jamie brought up that after October 15th of this year, we won't have any "last year" memories of my dad and never will again. So even though he was diagnosed on this day, I treasure it because he was still alive.


The good:

I was offered a position at work that I had interviewed for earlier in the month.  I am now a Loan Portfolio Analyst and I feel like it had meaning that it was offered to me on this day.  My dad was so proud of me when it came to my work and career and I know he is looking down with a smile on his face.

M took me out for dinner that night.  He said I could go wherever and I picked The Nook.  That greasy burger was the best of my life.  Seriously.  Even this girl who mostly eats vegan needs a good burger every once in a while.

M also got me a gift for my promotion, which was completely unnecessary but super appreciated.  My honey bought me a Coach purse.  Wow.  I love it and gift or not, I am lucky to have a supportive partner in life. Love you, M.

Japanese Night

We already know I'm way behind on my blog posts so it will be no surprise to you that I'm still talking about June.  On Wednesday, June 26th, my mom, sister and I went to Osaka Sushi and Hibachi for our monthly dinner.  We went to the Maplewood location.  While both my sister and I hadn't been to this location, we both have been to these types of restaurants before where my mom hadn't.  I don't think she was that comfortable going into it but she ended up really liking the show and the interaction as well as the food.  We tried to get her to do a sake shot but she wouldn't.  Ha ha. :)

Afterwards, we went to the mall right across the street for a little 30% off Kohl's shopping trip.  A pair of sunglasses, a couple of bracelets and a pair of flip flops later, I was set.

I forgot to get a picture of us three!

Lordy, Lordy...

My oldest and closest guy friend, Chris (aka ex-boyfriend) turned 40 on June 18th.  Chris knew I would be coming out to meet him and his wife Tanya out for food and drinks on Friday, June 21st but he didn't know M was coming as M was planning to go on a weekend motorcycle ride.

The weather in the evening turned really severe so there was a delay in us meeting them out in Maple Grove. We ended up leaving our house in the 8 pm hour but it took well over an hour to get there just trying to get out of the neighborhood with downed trees and power lines and flooding in the streets. We even had to drive over a live wire.  We were also stuck in road construction on the freeway while the whole area was without power so it was completely dark.

Downed tree and powerlines across the entire street and car in ditches on both sides

Chris was very surprised to see M when we walked into the door of Friday's.  We were starving at this point so we ordered lots of apps and drinks.  We went to Wild Bill's afterwards and realized before even walking into the door that we were WAY too old to be there.  After listening to a couple of songs, the guys downing a drink and all of us doing a shot, we were on our way out.  Chris and Tanya rented a hotel so we went back to there and hung out before leaving around 2 am to go home.  I had my first facial in the morning so I needed to go home and get to bed. :)

Unfortunately, the picture of the apps is the only picture I took that evening.  Happy birthday Chris.  I've known you for 18 of those birthday and I'm sure they'll be at least 18 more together.

Shiny and Brand New

I had the day off on Friday, June 21st.  I wanted to accomplish one thing.  It happened.  I finally gave in and purchased a new car.

There were a few signs during the week leading up to that Friday that made me think that it was now time to buy a car.  I wanted to get by for as long as I could without a car payment but with reliable transportation.  That day had expired.  I didn't have a car payment for over 5 years and that's pretty good.  It was time to start paying for surefire transportation again.

I've known what brand of car I've wanted for well over a year now.  I wanted a Hyundai.  I thought I wanted a Sonata but wasn't sure how I could afford one based on what I wanted to pay.  I thought the Elantra might be more for me but wasn't sure I could afford that either.  I saw an Accent hatchback in Duluth weeks before and that intrigued me and I knew that I could afford that but I wasn't completely sold.

I did some research online and drove through the local Hyundai dealership that Thursday night.  I was getting ready to see what was there before heading in there all by my lonesome-girl-self on Friday morning.

I woke up on Friday morning and while in bed, something dawned on me.  I COMPLETELY FORGOT that I get a deal on new and used cars with certain dealerships through my employer since I am under the same umbrella of companies as the Twin Cities Automotive Group.  I signed into my work desktop from home and saw one of the dealerships was Inver Grove Hyundai.  Score.

I started looking at their website and comparing prices to the local Hyundai dealership I was going to go to.  The difference was thousands of dollars cheaper on the cars I was looking at before.  Even better.

I went to the dealership and parked my car.  I put on some Valor on my wrists which is an essential oil blend that calms you, gives you courage and eliminates anxiety. I didn't have much anxiety to tell you the truth but as a woman walking into a dealership by herself, I needed all the ammo I could get. I stopped a guy in the car lot (he ended up being my salesman) and asked if I could speak to the general manager as I was instructed by my employer to do.  The GM came out and introduced himself while I told him the deal about the pricing.  He was familiar with the program and told me they would take care of me.

He hooked me up with Mike, my salesman and we perused the lot for the car I wanted.  I told him my dilemma between models and after asking me some questions, decided the Elantra was a good place to start.   I had a specific car in mind based on their website but I didn't see it there.  Instead, we test drove a different Elantra.  It wasn't until we were coming back from the ride that I saw the car I saw on the website.  That's the one I wanted.  And it had never been test driven, only shuttled to and around the dealership.  It had a mere 6 miles on it.

After some paperwork and credit check, I was good to go to the financing guy to sign the papers.  This is the boring part so I'll keep this part brief.  I signed the papers, they cleaned up the car and got it ready for me while I went to my sister's and dropped off my car and she drove me back to the dealership to pick it up.

I got way more car than I ever expected to that day.  By me remembering the employee pricing just that morning, I was able to shave off almost $2,000 off the price of the car on top of a $500 rebate and financing of 0.9%.  I walked away with the high-end trim level and a payment less than what I had budgeted for.

I invested in some Weather Tech floor liners as well as one for my trunk. With a driveway made of dirt and with snowy winters, let's start things off right.

Goodbye 2003 Nissan Sentra SE-R in the color Sunburst.  I had this car for almost 10.5 years to the day.  I never expected to have it that long (otherwise I probably wouldn't have chosen yellow).  I can't say you were a good car throughout this time but you lasted way longer than I thought you would.  We had an alright time together for the last 143,xxx miles.

Hello 2013 Hyundai Elantra Limited in the color Sparkling Ruby. Bluetooth technology, leather seats, heated seats front and back, XM radio...I think we're going to be friends for a long time.  And if you don't cooperate, at least I have a 10 year, 100,000 mile powertrain warranty.

My old car is hiding in the bushes in the background, jealous.

Conscious Box- June

I really liked my Conscious Box for June.  Lots of good bars and naturally flavored waters to try!  

Double Digits

My nephew Keith turned 10 on Thursday, June 13th and my sister had a party for him on the following Saturday.  She had a taco bar and cake for us.  She made "better than sex" cake which was converted to "better than 9" cake for the newly turned 10 year old.

Keith got a lot of nice presents including a big money gift from grandma, a pogo stick from his other siblings, a Joe Mauer jersey, baseball target swing trainer, baseball and football cards, DVD's, PJ's, etc.

10 - $10 bills

Keith with his new Mauer jersey posing in front of the Twins on TV

Happy Birthday Keith!

  

North Shore Part III

This part of the trip doesn't really take place on the North Shore but it's the whole reason we are up there at this time of year.

On Saturday, June 8th, M and I woke up in the early 5 am hour.  We laid in bed for a little bit before I got up and looked out the window.  Perfect timing...5:18 am to be exact.  The sun was just coming up and we got a glimpse of the sunrise.

M showered, ate breakfast and then it was off to the start line for his ride. We got there just before 6:30 am and it was already chaotic on the streets.  M once again was the captain of his team.  Last year, there was a team of 7 people.  This year, he had a team of 19 people!  Collectively, they raised over $11,500!  

I went back to the hotel, ate breakfast, got ready and headed to the mall.  I bought some clothes and then met M down in Hinckley at around late 2 pm hour.  The weather was perfect for riding with the wind picking up towards the latter part of the ride.  We went to his parent's house and hung out for the afternoon before going to the casino grounds to meet up with some of his team and hang out with them before heading back to M's parent's house and turning in for the night.

M complete with Day 1

Some of M's team

Up at it early again the next day for M.  We left his parent's house around 6 am right when it started to rain.  The weather outlook wasn't good for riding.  There was lots of rain in the forecast but they stayed somewhat dry until a little later in their ride.  Still, he came into the finish line around 2 pm.  He was soaked and covered in sand and mud.  M said it was one of his worst rides (weather-wise) in the 12 years he's done this ride.  

Congratulations to Michael on yet another MS150 ride in the books.  They were all successful in raising funds and staying safe.  

North Shore Part II

Guys, I am so behind on blogging about my life adventures.  Here I am blogging about something that happened almost a month ago.  Whoa.  I better start blogging a little more consistently to catch up.

North Shore Part II starts with us waking up in Duluth on Friday, June 7th.  We started out with the hotel breakfast, got ready and headed north up the shore like we always do.  We do a lot of the same things each time we come here but this time we added a new thing here and there.  The weather was perfect.  We woke up and it was about 48 degrees, which sounds cold for June but it felt really great.  The sun would come out and it would get to about 64 degrees in the afternoon and it felt very warm and the sun felt perfect on your skin. 

We stopped at Stony Point, went to the candy store, stopped and walked the 1/3 mile to the overlook at Silver Creek Cliff, went to Gooseberry Falls, pulled over to relax in the sun while looking at Split Rock Lighthouse, stopped at Second Hand Rose, a flea market we always want to stop at but never do, went to Palisade Head, visited M's Auntie Carol  in Silver Bay and went to Illgen Falls before heading back to Duluth.  Once back in Duluth, I took M out for his usual pre-ride steak dinner at Timberlodge and went back to the hotel to relax for the evening.

Canal Park/Boardwalk:

Stony Point:

Pat, this picture is for you

Click to enlarge.  Do you see the ship way out there on the horizon?

Click to enlarge.  A doe and a fawn walking down the street.

Great! Lakes Candy Co.:

Silver Creek Cliff Overlook:

Gooseberry Falls:

Split Rock Lighthouse:

Flea Market:

Palisade Head:

Cute little chipmunk

Do you see the guy in black?

M and Auntie Carol:

Illgen Falls:

Timberlodge Steakhouse: