The unbeatable Minnesotan summer weekend.

You guys. 

This weekend.

There are just no words that will do it justice. It was a quintessential summer weekend, especially Sunday, and I firmly intend on riding this high straight through to the 4th of July (HOLLA for a short week!) 

Lets back up to Thursday. 

Thursday I got off work a bit early and headed over to the Federal Courthouse here in Minneapolis to celebrate M's mom's retirement from the U.S. Attorney's Office. She's been a gov't employee for something like 35 years. No college education, but worked her way up from entry level to the administrative officer for the USAO. Pretty impressive!  I, for one, am jealous as hell that she gets to retire. Alas.

 

Thursday night we had happy hour with some of M's NSAC friends at their mentor/faculty advisor's house. That's code for the National Student Advertising Competition that M did in undergrad. It's big in the advertising/marketing areas. When M participated, the campaign they mocked up was for Coca Cola.. and they ended up winning nationals. Needless to say, all of them have pretty sweet jobs right now and I enjoy listening to them talk about agency politics. M's mentor is the biggest sweetheart ever, too... is SO generous.

Friday I met up with Jess and Lo for lunch downtown. 

I ate myself stupid and wanted to nap my way to 4:00. 

That night, I was offered Twins tickets 9 rows up from behind home plate (HOLLA, firm's seats. :P), so M and I headed downtown to split an appetizer before the game. As we were sitting in the restaurant it started to POUR. Which led to M checking the radar and seeing two huge cells over the metro. We walked to the game during a break in the rain but before the first pitch, wound up seeking refuge up in the concourse. There was a 30 minute rain delay and it rained off and on through the 5th inning, so we never even got to go down and enjoy those sweet seats. M asked if I'd be okay if we left in the 5th... since we'd been standing the whole time, so we headed home to cocktail on the couch. It was perfect.

Saturday M went to kayak and I did some laundry and hung out with TJ.

My handsome bitty. 
He was perched on top of a bookshelf upstairs staring out the window.
The day ended up being beautiful so I headed out back to paint my nails on the deck.
Some of you may have seen this on IG (kellybea14), but I finished ALL my nails and noticed a huge bug on my leg. I spasmed, smacked it, and in turn- smacked my hand on the patio chair.... which resulted in this:

Womp.
Saturday night we had tried to get a big group of M's friends together for a going away party for a few of his friends who are moving to North Carolina for grad school for 2 years. It ended up not working out so a smaller group of us got together and went to our friends' parents place on the lake out in Excelsior, MN. They have an awesome setup by the water, that includes an electronic gondola that you have to take down to the deck/lakefront area. We had appetizers and went on a boat cruise for an hour before the car picked us up. 

Before I continue- let me tell you: If you live within 30 minutes of Spasso restaurant in Excelsior, MN, you HAVE to try this place. They have a car they'll send to pick you up for your dinner reservation (you just have to tip). And by car, I mean dude in a suit picks you up in an Escalade. I was geeking out the entire drive. Then, they have a liquor store next door to the restaurant, and they let you go over and buy bottles of beer and wine at cost, bring it back to the restaurant, and cork it there (NO FEE), and then let you take it home. It's frickin' fabulous. The driver then brings you home at the end of the night. Talk about the classiest sober cab ever. Oh and the food is ridiculously good and not too expensive. I was having so much fun I took no photos. Woops.

Sunday morning we had our cake tasting in Minnetonka and what turned out to be the best day I've had in a long, long time.
First of all, how is cake for breakfast not the beginning of the best day ever?
We're using Buttercream Cakes (who I swear have a Godfather-like monopoly on the metro wedding scene). The guy who ran our tasting, who I think owns the company, was HYSTERICAL. He was telling us all sorts of great stories of the people who live in the area and who come to the shop. (the guy who invented breathe right nose strips, the Mann Theater heiress, Denny Hecker...-- some of these may not mean anything to you non Minnesotans. Also, this area of Minnetonka, surrounding Lake Minnetonka, is arguably the most affluent area in Minnesota. It's home to all the rich and famous (i.e. athletes, CEO's, etc.).

 

I'll be honest about the dessert: I'd rather skip it and pocket the $900 that it would cost us to have a sheet cake. (Our venue charges for any other dessert people besides Buttercream, and it was $4something per slice of cake. Heck no). BUT I realize it's faux pas to not have any kind of dessert at a wedding. So, I was thrilled when we settled on a compromise- we are doing half "normal" sized cupcakes, and half "mini" cupcakes. M and I aren't doing a cake cutting (or a garter toss, bouquet toss, dollar dance.. none of that. Most of it makes me wildly uncomfortable..and M couldn't care less)... so we'll just maybe take a photo of us with a cupcake, and split one. :)

After the tasting, we decided to drive by my uncle's new lake place. 

They live 15 minutes from said lake place already, but, wanted a little cottage closer to Lake Minnetonka... and after seeing the place and the community- I understand why. It is an UNREAL investment  (..more on that below).

He wasn't home but the place looked like someone had been there recently. 

It looked super cute from the outside but since he wasn't home apparently, we kept going.

From there we took a short drive over to downtown Wayzata. 

Guys, another unreal little gem in Minnesota: Wayzata Bay in Wayzata is SO freaking cute. M and I have had brunch, ice cream, and done boat cruises out of this bay. It's one of my absolute favorite places in the twin cities. We actually really want to live out there someday, and this weekend further confirmed that. 

We were sitting on the park bench when I told M I was going to text my uncle to tell him we'd driven by the new place and that it looked super cute. I told M, if he got it he'd call immediately to ask us where we were. Sure enough, 3 minutes later, my phone rang. My uncle was actually just at the hardware store, but otherwise was at the cabin working... so we decided to head back over and check it out more. We ended up having such a blast talking with him for over an hour.

It's tucked into this small community that used to be a Methodist church camp in the 1800s. Most of the homes are 100 years old, and the same families, and their kids and grandkids, have lived there the entire time. There's a church on the property, which means that the 500 feet of pristine, finely groomed shoreline on the lake (absolutely unheard of anywhere else on the lake) is tax free. They pay dues to use the common area, and have a set of slips that the homeowners can buy, and everybody tools around in golf carts. The houses are SO adorable and brightly colored, you honestly feel like you're in an east coast beach community. M and I were so blown away that we drove home and googled homes for sale in the area. Needless to say they were a bit out of our price range still (some of them not by much though- my uncle said it's this strange time warp effect where nobody in the community seems to comprehend their home values... so they're wildly underpried), but... OMG. Definitely something we'll be keeping an eye on.

From there, we drove out to Lake Independence.
It's a really beautiful lake about 30 minutes west of where we live with pavilions, boat launches, and canoe rentals. I mentioned before M  got a kayak he's been fishing out of, so I downloaded a book on his gidget and hung out by the lake while he fished. It was so perfect out, weather wise. We've either been super busy on the weekends or the weather has sucked on the weekends, so I haven't enjoyed one of these true "Minnesota summer" days yet. It was perfect. (Have I said that a few times?)

M outfitted this plain small kayak for fishing- he put in the pole and paddle holders himself! 

 

It was the absolute perfect combination of fun events, spontaneous get togethers, and relaxation.
I haven't felt this at peace with an impending Monday in a long time.
It also doesn't hurt that we only have a 3 day week, followed by a 5 day weekend 4th of July celebration. Woop woop!

Hope you all had a great weekend, too!