PIGGY WEEKEND

Bonus about getting a new phone is that it's actually feasible to upload photos straight to blogger, and then continue to edit a post on the computer. Not that this function didn't exist on my android, it's just that the camera was awful and the chances of the upload attempt working on any given day were about 1 in 10. 

I'm drinking the iPhone kool-aid pretty hard, guys. I love it. 

This weekend was a relatively lazy one, but a good one nonetheless. 

It started with a slow wake up Saturday... due to our absolutely out of control cat, we sleep later on the weekends now. We'd probably wake up around 8:30 or 9 except by that point TJ has been howling and pacing back and forth outside our bedroom for an hour.. which means little actual sleep. We crack, let him in, and then pass back out from mental exhaustion until about 9:30 or 10. 

It's worth it though because-- that FACE.

                               

This particular Saturday involved frittatas.  I even went out and bought a special pan (that we discovered stained our sink slightly from it's maiden voyage earlier in the week: pro tip, do NOT let a cast iron skillet soak in the sink for an extended period of time. Womp.) The frittatas were good though and the ring of grime is now so faint that we've deemed it tolerable. (We being me, I still hear M scrubbing it sometimes in the kitchen). 

This was also my attempt at being sort of artsy with my food photo but it's quite clear I put my frittata on the floor..which I realize is incredibly weird. (So weird that before I did it I told M, "you can't make fun of me for this." -- he did. 

{Paranoid TJ hears the mailman- firmly believes death is imminent.}

Friday night M and I went to a place called Pig and Fiddle- sort of a modern take on scandanavian comfort food. It was delicious.

Saturday my streak of bad luck (scum ring, included) continued when in less than 5 minutes I managed to crack the side mirror of our new-ish car, and then crack the bumper. I realize how incompetent this makes me sound and I'm livid it happened, but the bumper was solely a result of the overcorrection after realizing what happened to the mirror. OH and lest I forget to mention, earlier in the week a rock flew up and hit the windshield and left a small nick. 

I came back in the house (after making a barely-composed trip to the post office after doing the damage to the car) SOBBING to which M of course responded very panicked.. lord knows what he thought happened.. and I proceeded to curl into a ball in his lap and cry "don't be made at me!" .... I'm such a grown up, guys. 

After sitting perfectly still for a few hours (lest I break anything else) and being emo a good majority of the afternoon, M and I went out to eat again- this time to Pig Ate My Pizza (notice a  theme? Piggy weekend? GET IT!?)

This is kind of a hipster bar/restaurant (very tiny, no reservations, but SO worth the wait) with some gourmet artisan pizzas. The owners of this also own a spot called Travail -- which is a way more high end restaurant. The food was delicious and the company wasn't so bad either. :)

                               

{philly cheese steak pizza.. to die for.}

Sunday I went to a barre class after reading Lisa's post about it and realizing my Liftime offers barre classes for free that a lot of people pay a lot of money at a special studio to attend, so I figured I should make the most of my gym membership.

Holy. crap. I. hurt.-- muscles are burning that I wasn't sure existed before (so cliche) but it was such a great work out. It's something I hope to keep up since it's on a Sunday, and not TOO early..and maybe if I make my way over there every week I'll be more consistent with grocery shopping on a set day too since they're right next to each other- which is what I did today and it was fantastic.

I may post more about it later this week but basically it's a bunch of small, tight movements (ballet centered) that you repeat over and over. My thought process each rep went something like this "oh, holding these itty bitty weights and pulsing my arms up and down? I got this... 2-3-4..okay this is starting to hurt a little... 5-6-7-.. it's embarrassing how much pain I'm in.. 8-9-10.. AAGHHHHH"... hurts so good.

Tonight we went to my dad's.. two of my mom's high school friends brought over dinner and visited for a while, which was nice.  I got home, prepped lunch for the week, and am hoping to squeeze in a nail-paint session (BADLY needed) and some reading before bed.

Anyway, that's about it. Hope you all had a good weekend! I took some bedroom photos, that I'll post this week. It's not finished, but it's as finished as it's going to be for a little while now (need to decide about a paint color.. you'll see..and a little bit more more art, a new rug eventually.. but otherwise it's pretty much done). I've never been so in love with a room.. our bedroom upstairs went from a place I'd only go when it was time for bed- it was cold, darker, and so not cozy... to now my absolute favorite room in the house. :) Can't wait to share it. 

THE EXACT MOMENT YOU REALIZE THE PERSON YOU MARRIED IS A BETTER PERSON THAN YOU

It just happened.
Like, literally 30 seconds ago.

I mean, I had a sneaking suspicion all along this was the case but if any one moment in time confirmed it, it would be this one. I'm sure this isn't how Matt imagined being a "newlywed" would go.. nobody could foresee my healthy-as-a-horse dad having a heart attack less than a month after our wedding. But it happened. There's 2 ways you could choose to deal with that if you're Matt- be there for your spouse but eventually let your fatigue show, maybe complain a little or get short with your spouse (a.k.a. how I imagine I'd handle things).. or you can do what Matt actually has been doing.

Last night he drove to my parents with me at 7:30 while battling a wicked sore throat and a cold, and feeling like self-professed garbage, to clean out the fridge and set up my dad's room.

My moment happened today though.. He called me to let me know he's getting off work early to go to my parents, feeling worse than he did yesterday, in an impending snow storm, to hook up cable to my dad's room with my brother. He then said he'd wait for me to get off at 4:30 or so to unload and assemble a recliner we're loaning my dad, and then he offered to sit with my mom after all of that- so I can go to the hospital tonight to visit my dad for a little while.

He is more patient and more understanding and more compassionate than I could hope to be on my best day. Isn't that the type of person you're supposed to marry, anyway?

Half marathon, wedding shower, birthdays, and more

Oofta. Labor day is already over!? How is it already September? 

This weekend was random, but peppered with fun events! 

Friday night, I got home from work and found M on the back deck shaking his head. He holds up his hand and I see it's wrapped up. Immediately I ask him wtf he did, and I was shown this: 

 

That'd be a fishing hook. In his hand. After a trip to urgent care, in which they didn't have the proper tools and had to slice it out of his hand, he was home. Disgruntled, and okay, but home. 

Saturday morning M and I got up bright and early to meet some other friends of mine to cheer on my bridesmaid, Dana, in her first half marathon in St. Paul. It was a beautiful morning to watch, and a bit cooler than it had been earlier int he week, and she did phenomenal!

 

 

Dana is a One Direction fan, so in a rare moment of creativity, I crafted up this (which made me laugh pretty hard): 

(above) law school ladies.
(below) Dana's parents flew up for the long weekend from Missouri

Dana's college friends, one of whom also ran the race: 

Saturday afternoon was traumatic, for me. I had went shopping to see if I couldn't find a last minute dress for our couples shower Saturday night. I came home empty handed, was walking out of the garage minding my own business, when BAM- it happened: I got stung by a F&#^@ BEE. I haven't been stung by a bee in probably 7-10 years, and I swear the older I get, the more of a baby I become for this type of pain. I screamed, and grabbed my right thigh, where it happened, and started to hobble/jog/whimper to the back door. M heard the commotion and met me in the kitchen, where I proceeded to lay down on the floor and SOB hysterically for about 30 minutes. We put some ice on it and Jess suggested I make a paste out of baking soda to help with pain, which I did, and which helped. But still, how freaking stupid. Who gets stung by a bee?!?! ugh. It's still sore today, since he got me right on the muscle. I hope that stupid little asshole died a slow and painful death afterwards.

Saturday night was our couples shower, which I was determined to bounce back from the bee sting and enjoy. There were 5 people who had said they'd come, and couldn't make it, so we had a slightly smaller turnout, but it was the perfect group. Everybody knew at least one other person it seemed like, so people could all mingle. My aunt and uncle just went over the top, per usual, and catered it in from Lunds & Byerly's. Their house is obscenely beautiful as well, and it was just a really fun night. 

FLOGGERS, and their husbands! I was so happy they could make it, and we definitely missed Lo. But she was at home with an almost-emergency with her puppy child, Apple. 

 
M and his best man, Brady.

Love these two. :)

 

My fabulous aunt and uncle. I can't thank them enough for hosting such a fabulous party! 

 

Sunday was Dana's birthday, so M and I headed over to her friend's apartment for tacos and drinks. We had planned to sit out by the pool, but the cooler weather kept us inside. 

D with her 1D birthday sash, naturally: 

Afterwards on Sunday, M and I went to help his sister set up her internet at her new apartment before she starts law school tomorrow.

Sunday night we were hanging out at the house, debating whether to play Guesstures with the cat (a game we were gifted Saturday night!) and killing time until Breaking Bad re-aired at 10:30 that night (we somehow spaced it was Sunday and new, so we missed it at 8:00) when my co-worker attorney/neighbor's wife facebooked us to ask if we were home, and invited us over for a bonfire! So, we happily grabbed some wine for the both of us, and made the quick walk down the alley to their house. We ended up sitting out back by the fire for 4 hours, chatting. It was an absolute blast!  So glad we did that instead of just sitting on our butts at home.

Monday so far has been super lazy. I got a frame from M's mom, and have plans to spray paint that in a bit.... but right now? I have a blanket on (DYING, I LOVE THIS) and there's a cool breeze coming in the window, and oh.. my favorite movie ever- the Negotiator, is on TV.

I have a few posts lined up this week about wedding stuffs, so stay tuned for that!  Hope you all had a fabulous long weekend!

weddings and birthdays: a weekend recap

This past weekend M and I had the wedding of my MOH's sister, Elizabeth. My family has known their whole family since before I was born, so it's always fun getting together and catching up, especially when their 6 kids are all back in the same spot- which is rare these days. This meant my MOH Tori was home for the first time in about 8 months, which I was also super jazzed about.

 

Friday night we headed over to their house after the rehearsal dinner for some post-party drinks. It was a lot of fun catching up with old neighbors, and meeting Tori's family. I was honestly surprised everybody was functioning Saturday when we saw them because holy cow were they going hard Friday night. There was moonshine being passed around, lots of beer and wine, and shots of tequila.

 

One person in particular who did not hold back, who maayyybeee should've, was the priest. This is of note because it's the same priest who is performing our ceremony. He had SUCH a good time, Tori's dad had to cut him off at 11:00 and walk him home. O_O. So, M and I decided since we're having a late rehearsal dinner anyway (7:30, while theirs ended at 7:30) we'll not be having an after party to make sure everyone is functioning. I'm not uptight about people getting hammered at the wedding, but I need everyone to MAKE it to the wedding, and look respectable.

 

Onto some photos!

 

The wedding was SO beautiful.
There were so many similarities to ours (their prelude song is the song I'm walking down the aisle too, our readings were IDENTICAL, and some other things) that I was a hot weepy mess. I nearly lost it during the PRELUDE music for gosh sake.

Elizabeth was also a DIY bride after my own heart.
Her sister Catherine made all the paper products (programs, escort cards, etc.), and their aunts made ALL the floral arrangements. They only spent about $400 at the farmer's market on Thursday and then pulled greenery from Elizabeth's parents' backyard (GENIUS) to fill them out some more. They also had these awesome foam ball holders that they built the bouquets around (that I was super impressed with, and purchased some of my own yesterday!).

Each table represented a city they visited together.
M and I could do something like this, but it'd be a smattering of random Minneapolis suburbs. Besides Naples, FL and Malta we haven't been a lot of noteworthy places together. We're working on it though :)

my dad and brother

my brother and Tori's brother, who have also been really good friends since birth

Father of the bride

co-MOH's and the bride, note the ridiculously huge and beautiful flowers.

My MOH and I :)
 

Sunday M and I had my cousin Mitch's 3rd birthday party. He wanted a garbage truck cake, so my ridiculously talented aunt obliged. (Those are crushed up blonde and normal Oreos, gummy worms and bottles, and jus ta few shreds of newspaper. Hilarious.)

 

I love this shot.. while Marie was getting ready to cut the cake, Mitch kept dipping one finger into the corner very sneakily.

Here he is being a true Minnesotan with his "cake on a stick."

This one is also hilarious, it was called the "too much ice cream, too cold, brain freeze" face. haha.

Help from his cousin's opening his gifts.

Overall it was a great weekend! I loved getting to talk to some old neighbors for quite a while at the wedding, loved getting to see my family, and got some VERY big wedding items taken care of this weekend.

Stay tuned tomorrow for that, as well as a rant on "cabins." #emoforeshadowing

For my favorite.

Tomorrow, July 13th, is M's birthday.
He will be 29.

I'll be honest, I kind of freeze when it comes to writing posts like these because there's so much to say and I always see these perfect and mushy posts people write about their significant others and we're really not too mushy ourselves... sooooo I'll do my best to do the guy justice.

Dear M,

You're my favorite. How do I know this? Well, I couldn't spend this much time with one other person and not want to kill them. I'm sure you're thinking, "she sure seems like she wants to kill me a lot.." but trust, it's really very minimal in comparison.

I love waking up next to you, even if you're breathing hot smelly morning breath on me.
I love watching Dateline in bed with you and analyzing the cases ourselves.
I love the way you light up when Randy Hauser's "Running out of Moonlight" comes on the radio, and the way you belt it out so loud you can't even hear Randy-- I also love the accompanying steering wheel drumming and head bopping. (and I love that now when I hear it in the car alone I giggle because I imagine you doing all of the aforementioned).

I love watching you interact with our bitty... and it makes me excited to watch you interact with our kids. I can already tell you'll be the firm one.. which will be necessary, and is currently necessary, when I try to convince you bitty should sleep with us during the week, only to wake up at 3:00 a.m. to whiskers up our nose and paws in our faces. :)

I love being WEIRD with you. A lot of people say that but I truly believe we're the weirdest ever. I love our "language" and the noises you make and... ok.. sometimes I love your schticks. BUT I WILL DENY IT IF YOU EVER TRY TO BRING THIS UP AGAIN. hear me? Mostly I love how funny you find them/yourself when you're doing it.

Most of all, I love that I get to spend the rest of my life with you, because oh my god are we going to have FUN. Seriously.

You're my best friend, the love of my life, and I can't wait to see what the next 29+ years bring!

Happy birthday ya old fart.
Hope you enjoy your day of 'prizes. :)

Love,

Pickles.

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!