Last Twins Game of the Year

Well, last night was the last Twins game of the year. It hasn't exactly been a great season, but they managed to avoid the 100 loss mark by winning last night.

Standing at the rail below the Minnie and Paul sign

Eating our food at the rail by Minnie & Paul

 Our seats weren't great, but they weren't as bad as I thought they would be. We were in the front row of the Home Run Porch. We've never sat in the home run porch before, and I like to watch the game from different angles or else I get bored going to games. That's why I would be a bad season ticket holder...

View from our seats

It was a absolutely gorgeous evening for outdoor baseball. I couldn't believe how nice it was. It was still 70F when we left at 9:30. It was a pretty short game with great pitching - 2:07. Twins had a walk off win which was fun to see.

Twins win!

 One of the highlights of our evening was winning the USBank $10 gift cards. Half of our row in the Home Run Porch won. When we were told in the third inning, I got really nervous about being on the big screen. It's one of my greatest fears at Twins games. Luckily, the camera man was pretty far away so we weren't super up close on the big screen. You could still see us though...

US Bank Twins gift cards

Free $10 gift cards! Yay!

Upside down, but you get the idea.

Adam is excited for the baseball playoffs, but I'm kind of sad there won't be any Twins games to watch until next year.

Twins Game

We're at the Twins game so I can't post a full blog until tomorrow.

It's a gorgeous fall night for a game. We're hoping the Twins don't lose because it would be their 100th loss. Rather pathetic.

Tonight is the last game of the year.

InDesign Class at Science Museum

Today was kind of like a day off for me. I got to take a class at the Science Museum of Minnesota on Adobe InDesign. I took part 1 and 2 back in the spring, so this was part 3 and 4. I use InDesign almost every day to create ads, coupons, mailers, invites, brochures, etc. It's a really cool layout program with extra features.

I really like the classes at the Science Museum because they go beyond the basics and teach you little tricks you probably wouldn't learn on your own. I would LOVE to go back to school for Graphic Design, but in the mean time (like it will ever happen), I'll settle for a one day class here and there. I want to take the Photoshop classes next. Hopefully later this fall.

For lunch, I walked in the rain to Cosetta's. YUM! Luckily, I had an umbrella with in my car so I didn't really get wet. The commute was awesome - about 10 minutes each way. I wish I worked in downtown St. Paul!

The Science Museum

The Mississippi as viewed from behind the Science Museum

Weekend Recap: Oktoberfest

This past weekend we went down to La Crescent and La Crosse for Oktoberfest weekend. Adam's parents came down too. They went to the second weekend of Oktoberfest last year, so this was their first opening weekend and Maple Leaf Parade experience. I think they enjoyed it.

Friday night was a low key evening at home. Dad was gone for Aquinas Fest, so we enjoyed Pizza King pizza and just hung out.

Saturday, we got up relatively early for the parade. Dad and I went down to the bank in La Crescent and finally closed out my accounts from when I got married and switched to Adam's bank. It was kind of alarming that I didn't have to show any form of I.D. or give my account numbers. A signature should not be enough...

Then we all piled in my mom's old car (my parent's have had incidents getting hit at the parade) and drove down to our usual parade spot. It was PERFECT weather for the parade. Just gorgeous.

We had the usual spot - in front of the Lighting Design by Wettstein's building

Enjoying Bloody Mary's at 10:30 in the morning!

Christine in the Aquinas Band

Kelly on the far left and Christine on the right

This float amused me - Leon Gator Days

Adam with his drinking glove

Laura came and sat by us

Watching the parade with Robin and Mary

We got to meet Laura's new boyfriend too!

After the parade, we went down to the festgrounds for an hour or so. There we got some snacks like cheese curds, deep fried pickles and brats. Adam loved the brat. Oh, and of course, beer.

Cheese curds and deep fried pickles.

Adam's dream meal - beer and brats

We just had to!

Then, we went home for a few hours for a nap and dinner. We had a great meal together of steaks with chimichurri sauce, corn, potatoes, and cheese biscuits. So. much. food.

Later, we went down to the festgrounds for a few hours. We listened to the polka band and met up with Laura and Ethan again. It had been a long day though, so we didn't stay out very late.

Adam in the Beer Hall

On Sunday, the guys got up early and went fishing. Adam was really excited to catch a monster bass.

19" bass caught with his Texas Rig method

I'm glad I made him take the camera with.

Back at home, the girls slept in and enjoyed a leisurely day. We went to Bauer's and got some apples and other items. I was excited for apple cider and caramel apples.

My deluxe pecan caramel apple. It was huge. Adam ate like half of it.

When the guys got home, we had chili and watched the train wreck that was the Vikings game. We headed home around 3:30. It was a great weekend for Oktoberfest with perfect weather, great friends and family. We'll have to go again next year!

Naughty Puppy Thursday: A new toy - old water bottles

Besides the usual climbing from the couch onto the side tables, Chester has been good this week.

"What's that mom?"

I have discovered though a new cheap form of entertainment for him - old water bottles! I took off the label and cap, and gave him one to play with. He had a great time kicking it around the house, chasing after it and crushing it. Of course this was all supervised and I took it away once he ripped it open. Too bad we don't really drink bottled water much because this kept him entertained for 20 minutes or so before being put into the recycling bin.

"Give me"

I've seen covers they make for them. I'd probably get one if we ever used water bottles, but we really don't.

Moving Furniture Around

After trying a lot of different combinations, we've finally found an arrangement we like for the furniture. We switched the end tables, kept the couch in it's normal spot but put the love seat where Adam's "man chair" normally is. The man chair is now next to the tv. It's a little cozy, but I like it for now going into winter.

As viewed from the dining room

As viewed from the front entry

The love seat. The rugs are under it for sliding it around easily. It was quite heavy after trying it in many different spots.

 The old couch in the dining room is a little odd, but I'm liking it as my reading couch. Chester likes it there too as he can be found sitting there by himself sometimes.

The baby gates are for Chester proofing the house

Call me crazy, but I kind of like the couch there!

Weekend Recap: Twins Game, Savoy's, New Couches

Friday night, Adam and I went to the Twins game. Even though they lost, they kept it close and it was at least a fun game. They would have tied it up if it hadn't been for Jim Thome's home run. Ugh. We still had a good time though.

It was a little chilly, but I came prepared with mittens and a blanket. It was perfect weather for hot chocolate!

Yes, that's a guy in a Mauer shirt with "GEN SORENESS" written on it instead of Mauer. It amused us.

On Saturday morning, we headed over to the St. Paul Farmer's Market. There we got some onions, sweet corn, Brussels sprouts (for me) and a watermelon. I love going there.

Next, we went to Dock 86 to look at furniture. As we walked in, Adam commented on how we've been there 5 or 6 times and have yet to buy anything. He jinxed us again.

We walked around looking at their leather furniture. We saw a lot of ugly items and super expensive items (like $5000 for one couch...). Then I saw it. A gorgeous leather love seat. I sat down, and it was so comfy. Adam tried it and liked it as well. There was also a matching couch. It was a bit more than we wanted to spend, but we've done a lot of looking and have never found anything we've liked.

After some discussion, we decided to get them both. They're top grain leather, so they should last a while. The construction is very nice as well and they were made in the USA! Impressive. I like that you can sit on the seam between two cushions and not even tell.

The loveseat

The couch.

They also have nail head, which I love, but Adam wasn't so sure of at first.

I felt kind of bad getting a different couch being that ours is only 3 1/2 years old, but it has some stains on it that just won't come off (like pen...). Note to self- never buy a light color upholstered item again.

Then we grabbed a few items at Target, before going home to hang out with the pug for a few hours. At home, we suddenly felt motivated. I baked some cookies - Oatmeal Scotchies, while Adam made some hot sauce. He used jalepenos and tomatillos from our garden. It turned out really well!

My Project:

All the ingredients

I LOVE the stand mixer!

Adam's favorite - Oatmeal Scotchies

Adam's Project:

Slicing up the jalepenos from our garden

Cooking the tomatillos and jalepenos with vinegar

Using the Immersion Blender - worked perfectly and made it a really smooth consistency

Putting the sauce into bottles

 That evening, we met some of my friends at Savoy's Pizza. I had never been inside before, and was actually pleasantly surprised. It wasn't as scary as it sounded, just dark. The pizza was great. We went to the Bulldog in Lowertown after, which was also a lot of fun. It was nice to see everyone.

Back at home, we moved the old couch into the dining room to accommodate the new couch. We're still not sure what we're going to do with it, but I like it in there for now. It gives me a cozy little reading spot.

The old couch before vacating it's living room spot

On Sunday, Adam was supposed to go fishing with a friend, but it rained all day. I didn't feel well, so I was glad he was home. Our new couches arrived around 11, which was really exciting. Chester wasn't sure what to think and really did not like the delivery guys in his house! Bark!

The new couch!

The new love seat!

We still need to move stuff around a bit, I'll post pictures of the new reconfiguration soon.

Foodie Friday: 2 for 1 - Chicken tacos with tomatillo salsa and surf & turf

This week we made quite a few really good meals, so I'll be sharing two of them.

1. Chicken Tacos with Tomatillo Salsa

This has become one of our favorite dishes. First, we marinate the chicken for about an hour in lime juice, diced garlic, and crushed oregano. Then, grill or fry (in a pan) the chicken. When it's close to done, cover it in a mixture of sugar and chili powder. This creates a nice glaze. If you do it inside, it's essential that you have a hood vent or the whole house will get smoky and the fire alarms will go off. We know this from past experience...

Once the chicken is done, we dice it up and put it in a taco shell with sour cream, cheese and the tomatillo salsa. It's so good!

Glazed chicken

 The tomatillo salsa just consists of raw tomatillos, onions, jalepenos and cilantro. Just throw them in the food processor and it's done.

Super easy fresh Tomatillo salsa

2. Surf & Turf with Caprese Salad and Garlic Bread

Caprese salad, steak with shrimp and grilled garlic bread

Our next wonderful meal was surf and turf - grilled steak and shrimp. Adam grilled them perfectly, especially the shrimp. We also had grilled garlic bread. There's no better way to prepare garlic bread than on the grill. It gets this great smoky flavor. It was just French bread, cut in half and topped with melted butter and crushed garlic.

On the side, we had a little Caprese Salad consisting of fresh oregano and tomatoes from our garden.I alternated the basil and tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and topped them with fresh ground pepper and olive oil.