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Sunday, April 18, 2010

Spring Fling 2010



Last night, Paul and I headed out to the Wayzata Country Club to attend the Junior League of Minneapolis first annual Spring Fling fundraiser. It was a terrific time and we had so much fun seeing so many friends, meeting a few great new people and supporting all of the wonderful Junior League projects. The night just flew by. I am already looking forward to next year! Unfortunately we were having so much fun we forgot to take many pictures! (Sorry mom, I know you wanted to see my dress!) At least we got one good one of the two of us.

I Gotta Feelin'....Black Eyed Peas Rock St. Paul






A few weeks back, Paul and I had a date night with dinner and Pop!! St. Paul followed by an absolutely rockin' concert at the Excel Center. Ludicrous opened for the Black Eyed Peas and it was an awesome show!!! We also were pleasantly surprised at how some of our pics turned out given we were pretty far back from the stage! Next concert on the horizon, U2 in June...we can't wait...

Easter Sunday Brunch with the Brown Family




This Easter Sunday we hosted Paul's family for brunch like last year! Paul out did himself this year with an awesome egg casserole--a recipe we will definitely use again--and many other yummy treats!! Thanks to Heather and Pat for bringing the tasty coffee cake, cupcake and banana cream pie! This will be our last holiday celebration in our current home! We look forward to hopefully hosting again next year in our new home...

Third Annual Bunny Brunch




The Saturday before Easter we took Spenser and Abbie to the Junior League's annual Bunny Brunch! As always a good time was had by all! Spenser and Abbie enjoyed all of the games and prizes even though they were geared toward younger kids. Abbie also made a craft necklace and colorful puzzel with our little friend Bea Bassi. It was also fun to see many of our good friends and their kiddos! (Pictured Geri Datus-Ward and Brody)

Happy 4th Anniversary!





When April 8th rolled around this year Paul and I could hardly believe we have been married for 4 years and have known each other for nearly 8!!! We celebrated with our first visit to Manny's Steakhouse downtown in the swank Foshay tower. The restaurant has a great vibe and we loved it, but as I mentioned in my prior post if you aren't looking for an obscenely huge piece of meat (see the infamous Manny's bludgeon of beef pictured) and don't mind driving a bit further, we discovered you get the same quality at Pittsburgh Blue for about 25-30% less money. For example, the exact same filet I had at Pittsburgh Blue was $10 more at Manny's...the same fab hash browns and asparagus each several dollars more, etc....shocking, I know! Who would have thought? We knew both were Parasole restaurants of which we are big fans, but had no idea the menus would be so similar. The downtown location and fast passed vibe at Manny's along with the nearby W Library Bar are still worth the trip downtown, however! Cheers to many, many more anniversary celebrations in the future!

Celebrating 75 Years!



In celebration of Marv's (Paul's dad) 75th Birthday (and also to thank Pat and Marv for all of their help while we were on vacation in February (dog sitting for Ace and SHOVELING the mother load of snow we received while we were gone), we went to Pittsburgh Blue and had a way-too-big, but fabulous meal. If you have not been to Pittsburgh Blue or Manny's you MUST try the hash browned potatoes and the asparagus. On a related note, if you aren't aware, Pittsburgh Blue might as well be called Manny's West as the menu is remarkably similar! Not realizing this, we got a double dose of excellent red meat with a trip to Manny's one week later to celebrate our anniversary! Not necessarily heart smart or wallet friendly but yummy!

Busy Spring!



So far, we are lovin' the fabulous Spring here in Minneapolis, but boy is it going fast!!! Once again I am way behind on my blog posts, so am going to try to get up to speed this afternoon. Pictured here, Ace our nearly 12 year old "baby," is basking in the sun on one of our 70+ degree days. Ahhhh, to have a dog's life...

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Our Next Home!!


Finally, after literally looking at 100s of houses over a long period of time, we have sealed the deal and signed a purchase agreement tonight!!! Closing is set for July 1st! We are keeping our fingers crossed that we will actually be able to take possession on the same day, but if the current owners can't find a home in time to close by then we have agreed to rent back to them for a few weeks if absolutely necessary. They are very ready to move to a bigger home in the same neighborhood with their three boys, so we will be thinking positive thoughts for them as well over these next weeks as they search for their perfect next home!

After all this looking, it is logical to ask why this house over all the others? It is a good question and one that we can hardly even answer. We have asked ourselves this several times over the past few weeks as we are almost surprised at the decision ourselves after some of the wild scenarios we've considered such as huge (massive even) rehabs, building new, unique homes in random locations, etc.! This cozy cottage just feels right for us "right now." I guess it really was a combination of things, but once I got out of the mode of thinking our next house had to be forever the two main deciding factors were: 1) it is smack dab in our favorite area, walking distance to all of the conveniences and shopping of 50th and France, parks, Edina schools (just in case!), close to friends (Can't wait to be able to walk over Rachel and Anna Lee), city lakes and downtown, plus easy access to many other areas of the cities and 2) extremely particular current owners who have lovingly cared for the home since they moved in in 2004. We decided it was worth compromising on size as we can always move up to a bigger house in a few years if we find the perfect one or we've had a builder look at the home with us and the builder felt that it is better candidate than many homes in the Brucewood/Country Club area for an addition off the back if we want to do it because it has good access to the lot. Of course, now we need to get ours ready to sell and my mind is already churning on decorating ideas, etc. ;-)

We can't wait to get settled and have friends and family over!

A Little Bit About Me.

In an effort to stay better connected with friends and family near and far I have decided to begin this blog to share the happenings and highlights which make up the days of our lives...I hope you enjoy!