Book Worm

This summer I was terrible about reading, and I hardly finished the number of books I typically tackle in a summer.  But here's my opinion on a few books I did leaf through over the summer months.  

Remember the world's WORST trailer for Great Gatsby?  I was so happy when Leonardo DiCaprio's production company bought the script 3 or 4 years ago, but really he picked the wrong director.  Gatsby is not suppose to be anything close to Moulin Rouge; personally, it should be a Cohen Brothers interpretation, but my pick of movies is very different than most.  Either way, Leo (yes, we're on a first name basis) has two movies coming out on Christmas Day, and Django Unchained will be the best movie of 2012. I literally cannot wait to see it.  I love my family, but this movie may take precedence to Christmas.  Either way, I couldn't remember over half of the book, so I started off my summer wishing I was Daisy, living on the Atlantic Coast and galavanting through New York in the '20s.  

Flash forward nearly a decade and I was swept up into the life of Lisabeth Salander.  The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Series was one of the best book series I've read in a while (since last summer when I polished through the Hunger Games in a matter of days).  Many may say it's predictable, but I loved it.  I was so swept up in the book and the suspense that while reading outside Starbucks one day a car back fired, and I JUMPED out of my skin with freight.  The second book was my favorite, third book was second, and the first book was OK, but I prefer how the story line/setting traveled around rather than one setting as the premise of the book like in the first.  I also think that Larsson's fourth and unpublished book would have been one of his best works, but we'll never know.

The movie "Lawless" came out this weekend, and I've just finished the book for which the film was based.  The book is entitled The Wettest County in the World.  I enjoyed the book, historical piece focused around Prohibition and bootlegging, but it was a slow read (like 2 - 5 pages a night read).  The fictional biographical novel was captivating by the end, but to get to that point took a lot of character building and story development.  I'm sure once I see the movie, the book will amount to about 25% of the whole script.  Hollywood liberties have to be taken to make this movie more than an hour long.  


The book was an interesting perspective on bootlegging that you don't hear about.  It expands on the moonshine made in the mountains of Virginia.  The perspective is unique, and it provides a vivid description on the potency of moonshine without killing off a whole town from lead poisoning.  It was much more elaborate than my personal idea of bath tub gin, and one thing I found to be emphasized in great detail was the importance of the water source/their use of the fresh water springs filtered through the mountain.  

I had enough of the serious books for a while, so I took a break for a quick beach read Where We Belong the latest Emily Giffin book.  I've been reading her books since high school, so whether it seems trivial or juvenile to read, I like her writing so I'm happy to invest my time to read her latest.  It's a cute, girly book that if you have a long weekend it's worth picking up for a good story.  

Now I'm just finishing Wife 22.  My mom passed off the book to me saying "It's Predictable".  Either way, I've enjoyed it. The book really puts on display how much you have to work at a relationship.  It makes a vivid point to say you may live with someone you love, but you can become roommates if you don't work at it.  I think that is a strong lesson for any relationship - whether it's dating, married, or family. 

So there you have it - 7 books in a summer is a rather small dent considering the number of evenings I curl up in bed to read.  

I'm melting

Thank goodness I'm not the wicked witch of the west or Saturday's rain would have really put a damper on things!  This weekend didn't start off too great - I had to take my car into the car dealership for them to figure out why it was making a weird "humming" noise.  

24 hours without a car should seem like no big deal, and really I didn't need it.  I really don't like the feeling of being without my own method of transportation.  It's an internal battle between asking for help and self reliance.  I have always aired on the side of self reliance.  

Saturday, we headed down to Mankato to visit my cousin after her first 72 hours in college. It was the first time Adam and I have visited a city in Minnesota outside the Twin Cities.  I rather enjoyed the drive especially when we passed Minnesota's largest candy store. That is way more exciting to me than any fair or festival.  We didn't stop more so because I didn't think I would contain myself and I would need a lot of dental work and or a third job to cover the costs.  

Mankato was a beautiful campus with the world's largest hill to climb to get there.  I personally would not want to hike up it everyday to class. Then again, it's a good way to keep off the pounds through college.  The trip really made me miss moving into college and starting a new experience - it was such an exciting time in my life!  Graduating college does not have the same anxiously excited quality as going to college.  

After a nice visit complete with lunch and a tour of Ashley's dorm, we were back on the road heading home.  We had to back in Minneapolis in time to pick up my car - which turns out to have needed a wheel barring replaced on the driver's side.  I'm quite confused as to how this can happen and thankfully it was covered under warranty so it can't all be from user error.  

Now once all of that was finished, we should have cleaned our apartment and prepared for this busy week.  We went to Dixie's for happy hour.  It was a much better decision than cleaning/organizing/chores in general.  We really enjoyed the Southern style wings and a few drinks, including the best drink on earth: The Bootlegger

Fresh Mint
Lemon concentrate
Soda Water
With Vodka, White Rum, or Gin 

It's a dangerous drink, since you cannot taste the alcohol.  It has a flavorful punch of mint and lemonade.  I'm sure it'd be just as delicious as a virgin drink for any summer picnic or barbecue.  

A little while later, we caught up with Scott and Cynthia who we hadn't seen in quite some time ...literally opposite schedules for the past two months.  It was so great seeing them! And a perfect way to end our Saturday.  Thankfully the Saturday rain didn't rain on our parade, and we had SUCH a fun weekend!

*Side note, I have still yet to clean - shocking, right mom?

Happy Birthday!

This post should be about how wonderful Adam is because it was his birthday yesterday, but from my perspective, this blog is dedicated to how I pulled off a sweet birthday week!

He didn't really want his picture taken

Monday - Errands GALORE trying to everything ready for the week.  Weeks worth of grocery store, picked up Adam's birthday present, and stopped at Walgreen's for wrapping paper and a card (I have a huge appreciation for cards for any and no occasion what-so-ever; it's very important to always have a card to go with your gift).  

I actually told my mom when I was little that I was going to write cards for Hallmark when I grew up.  I have since taken a total different approach with my career choices.  I still make custom cards as a hobby, but needless to say, there wasn't enough time for that on Monday. 

After a quick run and take out for dinner, I impatiently waited to head off to the airport to pick up Adam from his latest NASCAR trip to Michigan.  (no comment on the NASCAR portion).  AND all that waiting and I was still late to pick him up, only by like 5 - 10 minutes aka he landed in Minneapolis when I left our apartment.  

We came home to a nice array of presents for him to open before wearily dragging himself off to bed.  My mom and I went in on a themed birthday present - Cheese making set from my family and a Northern Brewer home beer making set from me!  I'm still giving myself a pat on the back for the idea.  

Tuesday - Thanks to 365 Twin Cities I was able to get us movie passes to a free screening of Hit & Run.  A movie with Tom Arnold, Kristen Bell, and Bradley Cooper is a very entertaining cast, especially since Bradley Cooper has disgusting dreads.  The movie itself was horrible, but TOTALLY worth seeing for FREE!  The dialogue has hilarious one liners that won't necessary work in the whole big picture of the plot or lack of plot.  Dax Sheppard and Kristen Bell are SOOOO good together with really good comedic pros - it was really natural like witty banter you have with your friends loaded with sarcasm.  

Wednesday - Adam's official birthday.  We decided against going out to eat since we have had limited time to hang out together at our apartment this summer.  I took it upon myself to make a full week's worth of birthday dinner's.  Tuesday - per Adam's cravings last week we had sloppy joe's with tator tots, but today the dinner had-to-be amazing and delicious.  Since he's been on a kick about sweet corn lately, the idea for dinner started with corn bread.  Since my number one reference for all recipes is Bon Appetit, I went with their choice of Basil and Fresh Corn Cornbread.  Then I had an epiphany that I needed to embrace my LOVE of Southern Food.  This turned into: Fried Chicken, Mash potatoes and gravy, and corn bread.  For dessert - pictured above - pudding cake.  It is IMPOSSIBLE to cut pudding cake so it was more of a mystery cake since you weren't sure what was going to slop onto your plate.  The pudding cake wasn't exactly set when I served it.   The pudding cake consisted of:

Pecan crust
First Layer: Cream cheese with powder sugar and heavy cream
Second Layer: Vanilla Pudding
Third Layer: Chocolate Pudding
Top Layer: Cool Whip

All of the recipes can be found on my Pinterest page.  

DELICIOUS!!!!  The best part of the meal turned out to be the gravy - total surprise that I pulled out of my butt hat.  Now after dinner - we ate too much - we rolled ourselves onto the couch to watch Paul - another terrible movie that turned out to be quite entertaining.  

All in all I think I pulled off an excellent 3 day birthday extravaganza!  I'm quite proud of myself, but now tonight I have to clean up all the dishes (not so fun).  

Celebrating Morgan

And again, I'm back in Milwaukee only this time it's to PARRTY!!!!  Remember the wedding I've been talking about?  Well this weekend I attended the bridal shower and bachelorette party.  Is there a don't tell policy on bachelorette parties?  If so, I'm totally breaking it! 

It was a perfect Saturday!  Lunch and gift opening at Town Club in Fox Point, WI.  Followed up getting ready and piling into Morgan's mom's car to be driven downtown for the bachelorette party!!  We started off at a condo downtown that overlooks the lake front - it is an AH-MAZ-ING view!  10th floor of the Kilbourn Towers is a pretty nice place.  

 

Even the Ian's pizza delivery guy thought so as he paraded in four large pizzas for us to enjoy!  We played a number of games, all of which resulted in Morgan drinking (perfect way to start off the night).  My favorite game was where we all bought a pair of underwear that we thought represented Morgan or reminded us of her, and she had to guess who they were from.  Thankfully for her husband to be, there were only one pair of used but clean underwear (they were returned to the owner).  

Finally, we made our way out on the town.  For her big night out, Morgan was given a list of things she had to do because she was the bride - all harmless and quite humorous.  Here are my favorites: Kiss a bald man's head, Get a pair of men's underwear, Ask a guy to marry her.  In true Morgan fashion she was determined to complete her list, and she was very successful.  She collected two pairs of underwear not just one!  Our group had a fantastic time minus the creepy men lingering around the Milwaukee bar scene.  Thankfully none of us had any interest or paid any mind to them as we continued to bust a move to the country music!  

This weekend was just the beginning of what is going to be a beautiful and really fun wedding! I'm sooooo happy for Morgan and Eddie.  I CANNOT WAIT for their wedding!!!

Oops, almost forgot!

Wow, Thursday really caught up with me today!  Every Wednesday I think I should pre-write some of my blog post so I don't forget and Thursday afternoon rolls around with no blog post written.  This week has been very relaxing.  I had almost nothing on the calendar, for once. 

The week didn't start off very great....migraine and sick at work; at least my co-workers knew I was really sick.  Tuesday, I started the day on the right side of the bed -- well rested (I took a 4.5 hour nap on Monday and still went to bed by 11:00 pm) and quickly tackling all of my projects at work.  A quick stop at the mall on my way home from work for a few essentials - new mascara to replace my 2 year old one, black top, and browsing the clearance rack for a steal on a pair or sandals or two (no luck).  After all of that I even cooked dinner for Adam and I - a feast of corn (bought too many last Saturday and we're still eating it) and pancakes!  Yes, that's right I made the most gourmet meal I could think of - Buttermilk pancakes from a pancake mix.  Did anyone know the syrup expires?  A found a bottle of Mrs. Buttersworth that expired April 2011 stashed in our cabinet.  Adam thought it was probably from the last time we decided that breakfast food for dinner was THE-BEST-IDEA-EVER... it really is delicious.  Thankfully we had picked up a new bottle over the weekend when we questioned if we even have syrup in our apartment.  

Yesterday was way more fun than my Tuesday miscellaneous errands and Monday's coma like sleeping state. Amsterdam Bar in downtown Saint Paul was holding a documentary screening ....movie at a bar (that has my name written all over it).  The documentary was "Big Easy Express". Here's the trailer.  It was featuring all of these talented musicians and bands, like Mumford and Sons, as they travel by train car across the country performing and genuinely jamming out like the rock stars they are.  I've been pining to see it since I first watched the trailer several months back.   

The sad news is for as excited as I was, I wasn't the only person anticipating a few movie hosted by a local radio station, 89.3 The Current, with a more than one person viewership.  Imagine 100+ people parading into an area set-up cafe style for maybe 25 - 30 people to watch this documentary on a projection screen.  Every chair that wasn't nailed down in the bar was brought into the viewing area, so before the rush commenced Adam and I backed out and grabbed the last two chairs at the bar to contemplate our next move.  

Naturally we ordered a beer to at least make the trip worth it.  From our seats we could actually see the screen, but it wasn't that comfortable.  We decided to wait for the documentary to come out on Netflix.  The bar wasn't exactly the silent movie theater audience and the audio for the dialogue wasn't loud enough where we were sitting to want to stay.  The parts we did see were intriguing and I cannot wait to see it now more than before.  All in all, we were out of the apartment for a while and enjoying each other's company.  A bonus since we won't see each other over the weekend (thank God, right Adam?).  

Anyone seen an early release of a good movie lately?  Any movies to recommend I should see as we reach my least favorite time of the year - cold, dark, and nothing to do outside.  

Marco, POLO!

We did it - in a game of music chairs, we found a suit for Adam on Friday!  That kicked off a jam-packed weekend!  

Saturday was a very early morning - we were both wide awake by 6:40 am.  I'm the type of person that once I'm up, I'm awake and I'm not going back to bed.  After about 15 minutes of checking email, update iPad games, and teeth brushing we set-out on a two hour walk.  Quick stop at Starbucks and we were on our way down Summit Avenue to the Mississippi River and back.  Unaware at the time, we were decked out in border battle sweatshirts - me in Minnesota and Adam in Wisconsin - that one runner kindly pointed out to us as he approached saying something to the comment of "I don't know how you two can stand next to each other"...Oh, if he only knew. 

After our walk it was still only 9:30 am....again, most people are not awake yet, and we made a quick stop at the grocery store to prepare for Adam's work party later that day.  I chopped, sliced and mixed together the corn salad we had had at Katie's Fourth of July barbecue.  I think it turned out quick nicely.  We definitely over did it on how many corn we bought to the number we actually needed.  We've been eating corn ever since - it's OK because it's delicious!  

Finally the time rolled around the head off the Adam's company Summer Party.  It was a reggae theme complete with a Caribbean band.  We were entertained with great covers from Bob Marley and Jimmy Buffet.  Here's a shot of Max and I enjoying the Pinewood Derby. I swear he isn't giving me a look like "oh, who is this crazy woman? I don't think I like her":

After a few hours of work on Sunday, Adam and I headed west to the Polo Classic is Maple Pine, MN.  We actually crossed the river to go to Minneapolis (Can you believe it?).  

If anyone understands the rules or strategy of polo, please send me a comment. I'm still really confused.  One thing I really enjoyed was the terminology - A period is called a chukker (random?).  We stayed for 4 of the 6 chukkers, since it started to rain.  A very special thank you goes out to Sarah and her friends for welcoming us to join their tent for the event.  Here are some great group shots:

Something blue

It's wedding season and it's literally on my mind constantly of what to wear, what to buy, what Adam should wear, etc.  One of my best girlfriends is getting married in September, and I've been kinda obsessing over my outfit choices for about the last month.  Now I've turned my attention to Adam's outfit choices.  Whether he likes the idea or not, suit styles change and the black suit he has hanging in his closest (the one night at Macy's 12 hours before an interview suit purchase) doesn't sit well with me on how it fits him.  Seeing that he thinks it's fine, we have this uphill battle of essentially fashion "who's on first".  My ideal look:

Navy, 2-button, slim fit suit; namely the J.Crew Ludlow Suit - which he is open to but not necessarily the price tag - Understandably so.  

I've spent the last week or so scrolling through men's wear searches trying to find a reasonably priced men's suit.  For some reason - and I've been through this before looking for clothes for him - the idea of "affordable" and "well fitting, high quality men's clothes" don't mix.  You can either have --- ugly, ill-fitting and cheap OR EXPENSIVE, quality fabric and fits well.  

I do understand why - Most men (Adam included) can pull of the same jeans/pants/shorts/shirt for about 10,000 wash cycles before it becomes a rag or donated clothing.  I'm pretty sure I remember a Supply and Demand chart in Econ 1001 that taught me that too - even though it should be common sense.  So the search will continue this weekend, and we will be scavenging around the Twin Cities to find the perfect/affordable suit.  If we're not successful at least there is a backup plan hanging in the closet - it takes some of the stress off.

I would love to hear any suggestions - places to go, websites, maybe a lucky coin or two?  

S'more!

Starting the weekend off right with a happy hour at The Liffey in downtown Saint Paul...AMAZING patio with the river cityscape to the east and the Saint Paul Cathedral to the west - it's the perfect view of the city.  Adam and I can never agree as to who will drive and I usually give in and drive - it's a fruitless argument.  Instead we decided it was a better idea to walk, and I'm glad we did.  It's nice when both of us can enjoy a cocktail or two and maybe a bottle of wine?  without having to sit in and drink or cab.  

Over 5 hours - 4 drinks doesn't seem like a lot - in writing I'm having trouble coming to terms with it.  Later Friday night we hiked back to the apartment from The Liffey, and I almost killed Adam climbing up a few stairs.  Steep grade and 100+ steps later, we made it up the hill.  There are a few less extreme ways to get home, but this was the most direct.  Realizing that it was only 9:00 pm, and deciding that we can't go to bed that early we settled in to watch "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (US Version).  To our surprise the Netflix video came out looking like this: Bootlegged? or so we thought.  Turns out it's a real Sony DVD or at least whatever they set up worked in our DVD player.  

Hand Model - Adam

I lasted all of 15 minutes before my head hit the pillow, and I was sound asleep.  Sleep talking through various parts of the movie to tell Adam it's too loud or something close to this that may or may not sound like gibberish.

Saturday morning we met up with Adam's relative's for the The Miracle of Mitch Foundation Youth Triathlon on Lake Nokomis.  Adam's two second cousins wer participating in the Age 11 and Age 7 groups --- talk about making me feel lazy.  What's even better is the were joining a wonderful cause.  The inspiration behind the triathlon is a little boy named Mitch with the biggest heart!  I've included the link for you to reach Mitch's Pinky Swear.  It's an emotional and moving story, and it has a really powerful message.  

After our good deed for the day, we spent the evening at Katie and Ryan's.  You know what that means, Katie out did herself with the food - chicken pesto burgers with grilled tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.  Hillary from Brunch & Cupcakes made probably my most favorite of favorite pasta salads - peppers, artichoke hearts, and tortellini! And after eating wayyy too much at dinner, Ryan started up the bonfire for us (me) to eat s'mores!  It was a united front between Katie, Hillary, and I about how you roast a s'more.  IT NEEDS TO BE CHARD to roast the inside perfectly.  To much complaint of the non-s'more eating peanut gallery who preferred the non-blacken-not-done s'mores.

All in all the weekend was a delicious-friend filled-relaxing affair to wrap up a busy week and roll into another one.  Hopefully, I'll have something exciting updates from the week to talk about on Thursday (and on time, unlike last week)!  

Summer Social

I'm part of a women's volunteer organization called the Junior League of Saint Paul. It is a truly amazing organization, and the women are some of the most remarkable women with noteworthy accomplishments.  My benefit from the organization is two-fold.  It is both a great resume booster since it provides leadership opportunities and roles or responsibility I don't have in my job, and I volunteer to improve my community.    


Needless to say, when they organized their summer social after our last two month hiatus from meetings for the year I jumped at the chance to go.  


The past two years, my involvement in the league has focused on fundraising.  It meant a lot of time management, event planning, and asking people for money.  Our budget operates based on what we can bring in through fundraising and an endowment, so it is a vital component of what sustains us as a non-profit like most 501(c)3 non-profits.  Here's a great group shot from our spring fundraiser!!

This year I'm helping with our community projects committee which means I'm working towards planning our community volunteerism.  Talk about a pat on my back for selflessly or trying to selflessly help others!  Our committee leader is fantastic, and there is such an energy and life in our league that our active membership of 70-ish women really makes an impact.  


I could go on and on about the league.  I would really encourage anyone to become involved in volunteering - small efforts have a large grass roots movement and lasting effect.  Case and Point - The pre-5K vision and hearing testing was started by the Junior League of Saint Paul.  


Women in the Twin Cities that would like more information on Junior League of Saint Paul.  Here is a link to their Facebook page.  The link to their main website it above.  Junior League's are found in other cities, so it may be worth checking out your local chapter as well!!!