Friend Time » Mi Vida Ocupada

Happy Hour {Just before the BIG snowstorm}

College Friends, Friend Time 3 Responses »

Dec 162010

Last Friday after work I met up with some of my friends from college for a delicious Happy Hour at Flame Rotisserie Grill & Bar (review to come!). Our HH date was somewhat short notice so many of our girls couldn’t make it, but those of us who were there had a good time. I didn’t take photos (of people!) until the end of the night (just before we parted, actually) so I didn’t get any pics with Jessica or Cathy before they had to leave but I did get some of Me, Heidi (her son) and Janet!

Janet and I happen to work together this year which is very cool

I had planned to go shopping in the mall after Happy Hour but Heidi and Janet both came later so I stayed to hang out with them until the staff practically kicked us out for hanging out too long when other customers were waiting for our booth. Only slightly kidding. Since the big snow storm was due to arrive within just a few hours, I stopped at the grocery store on my way home to stock up on food for the weekend. Good thing, I didn’t really leave for days since they canceled school (which rumor has it will have to be made up. boo)

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

A Rockin Friday Night

Concerts, Friend Time 3 Responses »

Nov 142010

Despite feeling extremely exhausted and overworked, I mustered up a bit of energy this past Friday night to go see a rock show at Station 4 in St Paul. Filter was headlining and Whither the Tide was opening for them (my friends Rich & Jeremy’s band).

This may be the first show I brought my D-SLR to, but I didn’t get very good photos…

Mr. Jeremy Montoya of Whither the Tide

Richie Z of Whither the Tide

One of the best parts about going to the show was getting to see Heather, my dear friend who I get to see only rarely.

Filter was pretty good too, but extremely LOUD. I had a good time but honestly should have just stayed home because I was tired and crabby and wasn’t my usual cheery self. I stayed up way too late and ended up sleeping until the next afternoon (whoa, unheard of!)

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Girls Night Out {Gina’s Bday}

Birthday Parties, Friend Time, Neighborhood 3 Responses »

Nov 112010

Last Saturday night I headed out with my neighbor girls and some friends to celebrate our girl Gina’s birthday. Instead of a standard limo to chauffeur us around, the 12 of us made our way around town in an RV. No kidding! We had a ton of fun, here are just a few photos of the night (taken by at least three cameras)

Fun times! Glad I decided to go out :)

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Vikings Football Gatherings in my ‘Hood

Food and Drink, Friend Time, Neighbors, Sports 2 Responses »

Nov 072010

Just about every Sunday you will find a nice gathering of my neighbors (give or take a few friends and family!) hanging out in one garage or another, watching Vikings and other NFL games throughout the day and night. We try to potluck when possible so that everyone is contributing something or another.

The Vikings haven’t done too well this year, as of today we have a 3-5 record on the season (thank goodness for a win vs the Az Cardinals!) It is always more fun when they’re winning, but we all seem to have a good time whether they win or lose.

A few weeks ago when the Vikings played the Packers, a few of our neighbors who happen to be Packers fans came out in their cheese-head gear to throw a little green and yellow into the purple mix. The youngest fans seen here……

And the lovely ladies in Purple (of course!) Please excuse our appearance. Purple is mandatory but showering is optional on Sundays!

On that particular Sunday I made Wild Rice Soup with Ham and Banana Bread

Wild Rice Soup with Ham

Shannon made pumpkin bread and Jess made Chocolate and Caramel Apple Galette. OMG YUM!

Caramel Apple Pies

We are really lucky to have so many great neighbors who love to get together :)

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Robot-Themed Costume Party

Friend Time, Holidays 9 Responses »

Nov 032010

Some friends of ours host a Halloween Party every year or at least several years out of the past 10! The past three parties have been at their “new” house and all have had a theme: 2008 it was “Musicians“, 2009 it was “Superheroes” and in 2010 it was “Robots”.

The robot theme was more than a little intimidating for me, but I went along with it and put a costume together the day of the party. I had something much more grandiose in mind but this is what my attempts came up with. I was only able to keep the head on long enough to make my entrance and pose for a few photos. I hate having my face/head covered and a big box is more than a little uncomfortable! Oh well, all in good fun.

All of our robots made their own costumes which was pretty cool but I suspect that some others were intimidated by the theme as well. The party wasn’t as wild as in years past….. many of the usual crowd didn’t make it this year (which made me sad)

Our hosts

Robots

Hope everyone had a great Halloween!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Fun Adventures in Minneapolis {with Bradie & her girls}

Babies & Kids, Friend Time, Great Outdoors & Weather, Photography 3 Responses »

Oct 312010

A few weeks ago when I had the day off of work I spent the day with my oldest girlfriend and her three little girls. It was a beautiful, warm October day so we hung out at their house, went out for lunch at Jakeeno’s Pizza and Pasta, hiked around Minnehaha Falls, took a bunch of photos, watched airplanes coming in for landing, and hung out some more. I love these girly days when we get ‘em :)

Minnehaha Falls in Afternoon

Neven 5

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

A Special Visit {from Linda!}

Friend Time 3 Responses »

Oct 042010

I was on my way up to my parents place last Sunday when Linda, my dear friend from Texas, called me and told me she was driving into the Twin Cities that night and wanted to get together the next day. Well, if you had read any of my posts from last summer when I was in Austin, you would know I spent a lot of time with Linda. I was thrilled to have her in town for a visit! I wasn’t feeling that great to be honest (it was the eve of my miserable flu) but met Linda and her friend Bobby down in Minneapolis by the Stone Arch Bridge. Would you believe that was my first time ever at the SAB? It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun walking over the bridge to St Anthony Main. We even had an impromptu mini photo-shoot! After goofing around down by the River, we went into the Village of St Anthony for dinner at a place called Taj Indian Grill. We loved it! I am posting my review of Taj in a few days, will link back here when I do.

Pics from our night:

These old mill ruins look like an ancient civilization

It was great hanging out with Linda in my neck of the woods, I am so happy she called me and that I was available!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

A Special Celebration {K & B}

BFF, Friend Time 1 Response »

Sep 292010

A few weeks ago Brent & Kim had an engagement/housewarming party at their beautiful new house.

It was a special time to get family and close friends together. They got engaged this past August and plan to get married October, 2011. This journey that they are on together has had more than a few bumps in the road, with Jake’s special needs and Brent’s recent diagnosis of Cancer, but they are a great couple and will get through it and grow together. I look forward to being a part of their Big Day. We are all praying that Brent’s treatments are a success and that he will be on the Road to Recovery very soon.

Can you believe how big Jake has gotten? He is such a sweetie and is now officially walking!

Congrats again, Kim & Brent!!

xoxoxoxooxxoxoxox

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

The Reunion of Peanut Butter & Jelly

Friend Time 3 Responses »

Sep 212010

I am sure that not many of us can say we are still friends with our oldest friends (oldest meaning we have known them the longest), yet I am still close with my two oldest friends, Bradie and Leslie. I have known both of these ladies since I was three. I saw Bradie a few weeks ago when we went out for her birthday and this past week I got to spend some time with Leslie, who was in town visiting from AZ (she has lived in AZ for two years now). Leslie and I went to preschool together at Oak Hill Montessori and our moms carpooled, so we spent a lot of time together as kids. Our favorite was eating Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches for lunch….. we loved it so much that I always called her Peanut Butter and she called me Jelly. We still use these terms of endearment for each other!

Leslie with her daughter Eva

Hoping I get to visit these ladies in AZ sometime later this Fall!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Friday Night Fun with the Girls

Food and Drink, Friend Time 7 Responses »

Sep 152010

Last Friday night I went to dinner at Aster Cafe with some of my HS friends (+ a few others!) to celebrate Bradie’s birthday. Bradie is one of my oldest and dearest friends, we have known each other for 30+ years.

I plan to write a review when I can get to it so I will leave you a teaser until then ;)

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

End of Summer Lunch

Babies & Kids, Food and Drink, Friend Time 2 Responses »

Sep 112010

It had been way {way} too long since my friend Kara and I had seen each other, despite multiple attempts that just never worked out. A few weeks ago I was finally able to meet Kara and her little girl Olivia, along with our friend Angie, for lunch at the Green Mill in St Paul.

Olivia is so big since I last saw her! Not to mention SO CUTE, so smart and so talkative! She turns three in October.

I had so badly wanted to go to the Pow-Wow in Shakopee last month, where Olivia made her debut as a Tiny Tot. Unfortunately I didn’t make it down there this year, but Kara sent me a bunch of photos of Olivia in her hand-beaded outfit (photo below by Kara)

Anyway, back to our lunch. I had the yummy deep-dish pizza. I’ll be writing a review shortly :)

Deep Dish Pizza @ Green Mill

I look forward to more lunches and dinners with my friends this school year. I haven’t done it enough in the past couple years but I always enjoy it when it works out ;)

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Hanging at Becky’s

Friend Time, Random Thoughts & Updates 2 Responses »

Sep 112010

I told ya I was behind on posting and I nearly forgot to blog about the night a few weeks ago that I drove out to my friend Becky’s beautiful new house. She had me, Melissa, Angi and Stella up for dinner and {and a bottle of wine or two!}. I brought my laptop up with me to show Melissa photos from her wedding. We had a great time! The five of us had worked together for the past 3 years but now we all have new positions at other schools . We are now just one week into the new school year and I miss working with these fun ladies already.

Stella, Melissa, Me, Becky and Angi.
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Ms. Melissa and Ms. Stella

Becky fed us very well and of course I took photos of all the food. That’s just how I roll, you should know that by now ;)

Strawberry Spinach Salad (with candied walnuts. omg)

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Rice Crispie Treats

Hungry yet? My photos tend to have that effect on people!

Thanks again for the fun night, Becky!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Long Awaited Girls Dinner at Chino Latino

BFF, College Friends, Friend Time 3 Responses »

Aug 282010

I had made future dinner plans with some of my college girlfriends at our last dinner together and unfortunately needed to change the date twice to accommodate my travel schedule this past summer. We were finally able to get together the week after I came home from Texas and had a fabulous dinner at Chino Latino (click to read my review). Many of the college girls weren’t able to make our dinner, but it was great the my bffs could join us. Kim, Mary and Sonja spent so much time at my apartment during college that they are honorary alum. Here we are:

Planning another dinner for early October sometime, should be fun!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Day Trip to San Antonio….

Friend Time, Travel, Video Blogs, Videos 2 Responses »

Aug 152010

A few weeks ago while still in Texas, I took a drive down to San Antonio with Chaitra and Linda one weekend. I had been to San Antonio once before (11 years ago) but really wanted to see the Riverwalk and Alamo once again. I am kind of bummed that I didn’t take any video footage at all while spending the whole summer in Texas, but I finally remembered to take some while in San Antonio. With the help of Animoto, I created this little video with some of my video footage and photos from that day. Hope you like!

PS The song is San Antonio Rose by Willie Nelson. A little too twangy for my taste but goes perfectly with the video!

PPS Click the smaller play button on the left side, as the big play button in the center will play the video in full screen and totally distort it

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Sunset at the Oasis {2010 Version}

Friend Time, Great Outdoors & Weather, Travel 11 Responses »

Aug 052010

One of the coolest things to do in Austin is to head out to The Oasis on Lake Travis to see the sunset. Last year I made the trek all by myself but this year I had Carolyn and Chaitra to keep me company. We went together after dinner with the big group of work friends. It was such a beautiful night! The first in many that it was clear and not raining (it has been a very rainy summer down here in TX) although it was HOT…..

Enjoying the sunset (and the Frozen Margarita- which had a floater of Chambord)

The Oasis is Ginormous, with seating to fit over 1000. They are building a new addition right now as well, so I am sure it is going to be even more magnificent when it is done. Hopefully I will see it for myself next summer ;)

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Last Big Hurrah with Work Friends……

Friend Time, Travel No Responses »

Aug 052010

Last week several of the people who have been working on the projects down here in Texas went out for a Mexican dinner at Casa Chapala. Great food and great company! Many of these people either finished the project that they were working on last Friday or had plans to go out of town this week. So this was it, our last big group time. Chaitra also came along even though she didn’t work with us this summer (she is a teacher however!). I introduced her to Linda, Kiyana, and Ted weeks ago and she has been hanging with all of us ever since.

Teachers rock!! Especially those who teach math and career/technical education!

Yes, that is me with the sombrero! Of course I had to steal it off the wall for this photo but you only live once and I had to do it ;)

I will miss this group but hope to see them all again next summer!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Brunch at Trudy’s North Star

Food and Drink, Friend Time, Travel No Responses »

Aug 052010

Got a group together one Sunday a few weeks ago for brunch at Trudy’s North Star. Trudy’s is a very popular Tex-Mex restaurant in Austin and the brunch was delicious! Read my review here.

Ted, Kiyana, Erik, Doris, me, Carolyn, Linda and Samantha

This is my buddy Erik and his girlfriend Doris who was visiting for the weekend from their home in Miami. We all loved her! Thank goodness for Facebook so we can stay in touch ;)

Later that night me, Carolyn, Erik and Doris went to Home Slice for NY Style Pizza. MMMMmmm! Very good (but not as good as Cossetta’s back home!)
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Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Dinner at the Clay Pit….

Friend Time, Travel 1 Response »

Aug 052010

One night last week I went with Kiyana, Linda, Ted and Chaitra to the Clay Pit, a fabulous Indian restaurant located in downtown Austin. This was my first experience eating Indian food and I really enjoyed it! Read my review here.

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Night on the Town….

Friend Time 4 Responses »

Aug 032010

A few weekends ago I went out with my new girlfriends, Kiyana and Linda. We had dinner at a fabulous Brazilian restaurant called Sao Paolo (Read my review) and then went for drinks at the Brown Bar, downtown Austin…..

It was a lot of fun, as it has been the many times we have gone out together. Kiyana flew back home to North Carolina last weekend, we already miss her!

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)

Last Nights in Austin (so sad!)

Friend Time, Travel 1 Response »

Jul 132010

The project that I was hired for in Austin was brought to a halt (mid-way) due to a legal issue. We got word toward the end of the third week that the project could not continue until things were worked out and that they were sending me and the other two who traveled back home that weekend (everyone else lives in Austin). I was very upset to hear this news, on many different levels. Fortunately I got to spend the last few nights in Austin with some friends, and eating at restaurants that I had on my list that I had not yet visited.

Thursday night at East Side Cafe with Linda, Charnay and Chaitra (Read my review here)

Friday night at Chuy’s with Summer and Chaitra

Later Friday night I drove out to Samantha’s place where she was having a Rock Band party. I had only tried Rock Band briefly once prior, but it was a lot of fun! On Saturday Samantha took me to Trudy’s for Brunch. Heavenly Mexican and Best brunch I have had all for $9.95. Review to come on that as well……

Thanks for reading, have a great day ;)