In 2010 I ... lavished in deep-fried indulgences

The title of this post is in total avoidance of having to use "In 2010 I ... attended The Great Minnesota Get-Together." I really hate that phrase. And honestly, let's call it like it is - I'm not going to the Minnesota State Fair to "get together" with anyone. Everyone I'm "getting together" with rode the bus there with me. I'm attending the "get together" for a much higher purpose: to eat deep-fried craziness and moan about how terrible I feel afterward. (Which consequently tends to discourage others from wanting to get together with me.)

Having missed thousands of calories by not attending the 2009 MN State Fair, it seems that my teaming up with Morgan and Jake for this year's deep-fried tribute became an attempt to compensate, as is evidenced by this photo review of ingested items:

(image from The Hot Dish)
Deep-fried cheddar bacon mashed potatoes

(image from The Hot Dish)
Deep-fried french toast

(image from The Heavy Table)
Wine ice cream

Chocolate-covered bacon

Cheese curds

Scarily, that doesn't even cover it all. M & J shared a turkey sandwich, we all chowed on French Meadow's delicious fried risotto balls (so good), there were Sweet Martha's cookies in the mix and, of course, lots of beer and a bit of wine.

The icing on this coma-inducing fat fest? None other than Boyz II Men. We managed to take a face-stuffing break long enough to hear quite a few classics and covers by a group that was certainly a huge deal my youth. Starting their set with my fave, Motown Philly, among literally thousands and thousands of people clustered at the fair's free stage, I have to admit that I actually enjoyed the get-together part of this Minnesota tradition just a little bit, too. (Thousands who remember the same 20-year-old lyrics I do - and belt 'em out loud - will do that to me, I guess.)

In 2010 I ... had an epic 24 hours

It was a Saturday night that started simply enough. Text from Jason: "Any plans for the evening? Drinks?"

Twenty-four hours later we had over-indulged at The Bulldog with Morgan and a friend, gone tubing w/M and friend at Canon River (Agaaaain, I know. But it was on the summer must-repeat list!), continued the evening with 2 games of bowling and 4 rounds of pop culture trivia all fueled by countless beverages, of course.

I should have a lot to say about this, like how much fun we had, how beautiful the weather was, how I've begun to suddenly nod-off at work struck by flashbacks of this ridiculous day ... but frankly, I'm still too tired.

In 2010 I ... rocked Friday the 13th at First Ave.

Thirteen is actually my lucky number. Screen-printed on my favorite t-shirt, 13 is a number I prefer ... as much as anyone can prefer a number, I suppose. So while I've never gone so far as to celebrate Friday the 13th, I don't mind it either. And this year was notably fun as Jess and I headed off to dinner at The Depot followed by the Rogue Valley CD release show with openers Total Babe and Communist Daughter.

I can't say enough good things about the downright delicious Guinness Cheese Soup at The Depot, and while I didn't grab any snaps there will likely be some surfacing soon, as Mpls. St. Paul Magazine just happened to have a photog on site shooting for the mag. We also discovered that Depot is the perfect place to band stalk pre-show - multiple members of all three bands made appearances while we enjoyed numerous bacon dishes (me: grilled cheese w/bacon, J: inside-out burger stuffed with cheese and bacon).

The show was really enjoyable, too. I had yet to see Total Babe live and the lead singer is just so sweet and likable, Communist Daughter sounded great (significantly better than their show at Music & Movies in Loring Park a few weeks earlier) and Rogue Valley played until almost 1 a.m.

As the first night of a music-filled weekend, the show was a great lead-in to the Pizza Luce block party which consumed my entire Saturday with an awesome line-up including Caroline Smith (been dying to see them outdoors all summer!), Dessa, and Lookbook.

A pretty fantastic musical two days! Thankfully there's no shortage of block parties in Minneapolis - let the countdown to the Red Stag Block Party (next weekend) begin.

In 2010 I ... went for wedding invite Round 2

When it rains, it pours. And apparently this year's pour comes in the form of not just babies, but also weddings. After wrapping up Lisa & Jason's invites, I got right back to work finishing invites for my coworker Beth's commitment ceremony. Like L, B had a very precise handle on how she wanted these to look, so designing them was pretty much a cinch. This set, however, required an electronic save-the-date, pre-party invite, ceremony invite, custom mailing labels and thank you notes.

Electronic save-the-date sent via email (saves trees and $$!)

White (A6) cards adhered to black (A7) cards from Paper Source

With black envelope for ceremony invite (scored cheeeap online)

B mixed it up by using a bright green envelope to match the large ampersand for the pre-party invites (photo pending), and will be adding a green ribbon to the ceremony invites (100 yards scored for about $2 on eBay!).

To add even more flare, we're working through the finishing touches on a wrap-around mailing label, where B will hand-address the label:

Paper mock-up of area to hand-address invitations

Mock-up of wrap-around

Mock-up of mailing label return address area

These types of labels are a snap. And as one complete piece, they're easy to assemble and keep the envelope from looking cluttered, especially with the addition of a stamp.

Last up for B was a thank you note template, which she'll be able to easily print at home, likely again on the white A6 note card used for the invite. This logo mirroring the invites will adorn the top:
With that, B's wedding paper products are a wrap! Now I'm on the hunt for the next project to keep the creativity flowing ... perhaps one of the 15 things on my growing to-do list?

In 2010 I ... savored Restaurant Week

Restaurant Week is a delicious thing. Lunches and dinners at some very fine dining establishments for a fraction of the price = right up my alley. Not surprisingly, I knew a couple other foodies (Diana, Alex and Morgan) who'd be interested in taking advantage of the deals.

We settled on Meritage, a daring venture seeing as the restaurant is set in ... ST. PAUL. (We almost never cross the border.)

Yet another stolen image. I was so enthralled by my food that even though I packed a serious camera for dinner, I didn't manage to take a single shot.

The Restaurant Week dinner menu choices were fantastic, so we all managed to find 3 delicious courses for just $30 each. I truly did savor the chilled lime and tomato soup, shrimp and crab risotto, and chocolate mousse. Yum! (D, M, A and I enjoyed some pretty delicious cocktails, too.)

Meritage chefs

The service was also lovely, with a table-side visit from the chef - I can't recall the last time I experienced that at dinner. Overall the trip to St. Paul was a smart one, and I would highly recommend dinner, or even just swinging in for a drink at Meritage's quaint bar.

Sneaking out for a dinner like this during the week was a double treat ... somehow it just feels even more indulgent to do it on a random Tuesday.

In 2010 I ... won!

$56.50! Serious money, people. While I don't have a picture of my winning ticket because I had to turn it over to the automatic money dispenser (plus, I think casinos frown on photo taking ...) I would like to pay homage to Mystic Lake Casino as a thank you for my triumph last night:

Uh, this place is ridiculously huge.

Last night marked just the second time I've ever been the successful winner of anything at a casino. (The first was a $70 or so win on my 18th birthday.) Not that I'm a frequent casino go-er, but the Finleys have been known to make semi-regular appearances at Mystic's late-night bingo, and each of us owns several bingo daubers like these:

Traditional dauber

and these:

Fancy, sparkly dauber

Note: For those who have never had the great fortune of purchasing a bingo dauber, they are dispensed via a bingo hall vending machine. It's quite fantastic.

But I digress, as this has nothing to do with winning money at bingo and everything to do with winning money at nickel slots. This was the easiest winning ever, as I had to push a few buttons perhaps three or four times, landed on some set of bonus spins, and let the machine rack up nearly 1,000 credits all on its own. That's my kind of gambling.

So thanks, Dad, for having a birthday and for choosing to celebrate it at Mystic. And now I will forever onward expect to be paid to attend your annual celebration, ok?

In 2010 I ... met Felix Samuel

Oh babies. Seriously, scarily, rapidly taking over the world. However, I believe (wish/hope/pray) this is the last new addition for at least a little while. And while he may have been last, Felix is certainly not least, as his mom, Jessie, is a life-long friend. I'm fairly certain I've known J longer than any other friend - we grew up just blocks apart. We might have first joined forces around 5 years old, and it's been a whirlwind of chaos and ridiculous behavior ever since. Teenage angst, obsessive movie watching, learning to drive, terrorizing our parents, moving to college (glamorous NY/antithesis of glamor Winona), moving back home, moving out again, getting jobs. And those few milestones don't even begin to cover all the little details collected over 20+ years. (J had a terrible tie-dye stage. Honestly, I'm not sure she's been fully cured.)

J's husband Mike, J, and me at Brother's in Winona many, many years ago.

But this isn't about her. It's about Mr. Felix:



(Unfortunately I had to steal these pictures, because even though I've managed not to lose my camera (again) I have yet to locate the battery charger. Ugh.)

Anyway, Felix is an adorable little bundle of cuteness ... that I'm incredibly thankful went home with J instead of me. I have a feeling she's pretty happy about that, too.