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?