In 2010 I ... journeyed to Rochester for the Indigo Girls

On a Tuesday. Seriously. That's a lot of love. But my sister and I have loved the Indigo Girls for a very, very long time.

Drinks were a mere $3. Amazing! Seriously, southern MN has it figured out.

We had great seats, on the middle aisle somewhere around the 5th row. Which were honestly better than our "front row" seats several years ago at the State. (Although those tickets were free, so maybe Rochester and Mpls are even here.)

Amy and Emily. Kind of like Amanda and Emily, no?

So the girls have a new album out, hence the tour to the epicenter of music and culture, but I couldn't really care less about that. A and I just wanted to hear our songs. Granted there are probably 15+ of those, but they did a decent job of ticking off our list. Missing, however, were some of my absolute faves like Devotion and Leaving. (In linking these I just discovered they are from 1992. '92! I was 9.)

We had a great time - especially during the sing-alongs - and basically all of Rochester being in attendance made for a very engaged crowd, too. After a bleary-eyed drive home, though, I'm not sure we'll be making another mid-week road trip anytime soon.

In 2010 I ... was a bouncer

Well, sort of. Okay, kind of just a little bit. But I'm counting it. (It feels one step closer to my bartending aspirations.)

This past week many of my friends, the founders/organizers/leaders of Uptown Market, hosted a great fundraiser at Intermedia Arts to kick-off its second year of providing the Uptown neighborhood with access to local produce, local art and more. So when Megan asked me to help out at the door for some of the night, I couldn't say no.

Me and Cathy regulating at the door. We obviously struck fear in underagers everywhere.

The entire event was a huge success and the UM team raised a ton of money for a cool cause. There was also a silent auction, so I walked away with this beauty at the end of the night:

Spoon poster donated by Flora Fauna

Uptown Market is hoping to be a weekly event this summer, and based on the fun I had bouncing I'm certain I'll be volunteering again soon.

In 2010 I ... had a jam-packed spring weekend.

This has to be hands-down the nicest spring on record in Minnesota. Ever. The snow has been gone for more than a month, and because of my well-timed spring getaway, this means I haven't seen a single cold white pile since February!

It also means that summer activities are in full-swing much earlier than usual, as evidenced by this past weekend's flurry of parties and outdoor time.

FRIDAY:
Lyndale Pub Crawl / Wing Fest Farewell for Steve & Sheila (including stops at Rudolph's, Red Dragon, CC Club, Lyndale Tap House and Country Bar)

Sheils with the first round of wings at Rudolph's

S & Lindsey with Wondrous Punch at Red Dragon

Steve at Country Bar

SATURDAY:
Baby shower for Emily / Golfing with Diana and Nicki / Bulldog with Morgan / Anne's birthday party

Spring-y baby shower wrapping

After an early start at E's brunch baby shower, I hustled back to Mpls to meet D and Nicki for my first golf outing of the season at Gross National. (Of course I managed to get lost on the way, damn Google Maps directions, and ran onto the course midway into the first hole.) It was a gorgeous day for golf, and the beverages we had along the way helped ease the pain of my very rusty golf game.

Next up a quick drink and appetizer extravaganza at Bulldog with Morgan before I ran home to change for Anne's birthday party. The big 2-7 for this girl, but I failed to take a single photo! Maybe it was the Strongbow?

SUNDAY:
Lunch with Mom / Bench Building with Dad / Shopping & HH with Jess

My parents came by today with two very separate goals. My dad's was to build a bench on my patio, and my mom's was to sit (and eat) on a patio. And everybody won. My mom and I hopped across the street to one of my local faves she's been wanting to try, Common Roots, while my dad dutifully built a bench in one hour for $30. The great bench project deserves its own post, soon to follow, complete with photos.

Then I ran off to meet up with Jess for a trunk show at I Like You in Northeast, followed by an indulgent happy hour at Red Stag, complete with cheese curds, popcorn, french fries and wine. Yum.

New vintage lace earrings, complete with popcorn shopping bag, from I Like You

I'm honestly not sure if I could have fit in another activity. And since I feel strongly about taking advantage of every available weekend moment (especially outside!), I consider this quite an accomplishment.

In 2010 I ... road tripped to Winona

My college roommate and surname-sharing non-relative, Sheila, is moving to Boston. From Minneapolis, it might as well be Guam. We've been mourning the loss of Sheils for awhile now, but felt a few send-off celebrations were in order, starting with a road trip to the alma mater, Winona Sate. So Lisa, Em, Sheils and I hopped in the car for an epic weekend of nostalgia ...

L & S with recovery Jamba Juice on the drive

The goal was pretty simple - cram everything we love about Winona into a 36-hour visit. This included lunch at Acoustic Cafe,


with an immediate follow-up for ice cream at The Penguin Zesto.

L & E at The Penguin Zesto

S & Me with a delicious flurry

For old times' sake, we also drove past everywhere any of us ever lived. And because it's Winona, that took approximately 8 minutes.

My first Winona home, and the prettiest dorm on campus

Although once we got to campus, S did make us walk inside our old dorm. I was honestly afraid. It's amazing how memory can blur how we actually lived. The rooms seemed minuscule, and I had absolutely no recollection of how wretched the bathrooms were. (Apparently I can actually repress an entire year's living situation ... all the more reason for this blog!)

After all this rehashing and running around, we spent two luxurious, relaxing hours in the AmericInn hot tub. (Note: this is probably one of the nicest hotel in Winona, second only to the former Holiday Inn.)


This was critical prep for our full Winona bar crawl, with pit stops at every old favorite:

L & Me at Mulligan's

The whole gang at Gabby's

$8 round at Bullseye (or whatever it is they call it these days)

L & S getting down at Brother's

Rockin' out at Schyde's

After-bar food fiesta at Erbs & Gerbs

A historic night. (Plus S & L stayed awake past 1 a.m.!) The trip wrapped up with a reminiscent breakfast stop at Perkins and a trip up Garvin Heights.

View of campus from the bluffs

We had amazing weather the entire trip, and it really ended up being the perfect way to start Sheila's send-off. The only downfall is the part where she actually leaves.

In 2010 I ... fell in love with the Varsity, again.

Just when I think I can't have any more love for the Varsity, they go and make it even better! It had been a few months since my last Varsity trip, and I knew construction was in the works, but it wasn't like they clued me in to how fantastic they were planning to make it. A huge balcony overlooking this area:

is now open for show viewing. While not the best show-going experience - the mood is just really mellow up there - it's perfect if you aren't up for being in the thick of the crowd, which wasn't really an option before. (The bathrooms are also pretty amazing, which sounds creepy until you see them for yourself.)

Diana, Laura, Niki, Ryan and I saw this renovation on Friday at the xx show.

Diana and Laura at the show

I've become pretty obsessed with this band over the past few months, and the show was great, although we all agreed we were waiting for the rock-out moment that just never came. (I think our hopes were a bit naive, however, since the xx doesn't really rock out, per se.) They did end with a pretty stellar light show:



After the show I ran quick like a bunny to an equally exciting event across town: a party at Jennie and Eli's Naughty Pine. Plus, at the stroke of midnight it became an early b-day celebration for Jess.

Birthday girl love meets party host love

Nothing beats the first NP party of the season. It's a sure sign spring has sprung!

Justin with my doggy boyfriend, Boe

C displaying the aftermath

A busy start to a beautiful weekend. And with spring in full swing, a toast to many gorgeous weekends to follow.

In 2010 I ... met Eliana Lynn

Baby season is in full swing! Among the piles of baby shower invites in my mail basket, I suppose it was inevitable that a few of those babies would actually be born. Such is the case with Eliana Lynn Rasmusson, born late Easter evening. Jenny and Toby kindly let Stacia and I meet her in the hospital today:

Stac & Ellie

Ellie & Me

It was a pleasure, Ellie. (And just the beginning of many more spring/summer baby greetings ... after all, Stac is up next!)

In 2010 I ... rocked out on Easter

In keeping with 2010's shows-on-holidays tradition, Passion Pit rocked First Ave on Easter ... and my camera was at the ready:

Not so into having my sweaty picture taken

It was a seriously fantastic show. The crowd was so into it! (Well, except for the guy who never once looked at the stage right next to us.) Since our group was having such a great time, we stuck around for the extremely smokey after-show DJ set with Passion Pit's drummer Nate Donmoyer at the helm:

Hayley, Jess, Megan & Patty

And because apparently 2 a.m. isn't late enough, H, J & I couldn't resist a last late-night stop at Little T's on the way home. At that hour, the remnants of a great show, nachos and cheap beer look like this:

What a hot mess. A really fun, really late, really great hot mess.