Skirt Poll

This coming Saturday I will be attending a wedding of a coworkers....and I want your help.

I've asked some of the other girls that are going what they plan on wearing and all but one has said a summer dress/skirt.  I decided that I would wear a skirt too.  I don't do full-on dresses unless I am a bridesmaid.

I raided my closet and found a skirt (and top) that I thought would be just fine.  Then today I happened to be shopping with my bestie (after our pedicure) and found a cute little cotton skirt.  I bought it so I could take it home and see if I had a tank top that matched the colors in the print, which I do.

I want your guys' input on which one looks better for a summer wedding.  I think I know which one I want to wear but haven't made a final decision yet.

These are the heels I plan on wearing as they show off my fresh pedicure.

To set the seen:  It's a country garden wedding in Hugo.  It's at her parent's place.  It'll been a Christian ceremony followed by a dinner and reception with an orchestra band.  No dance.  No booze. 

Your choices are:

The Closet Find

The New Find

So is it going to be pink or purple?

Movie Monday

Here's a treat.  A double Movie Monday addition.  I guess I had a busy week.

X-Men: First Class

                 Date of Viewing: Saturday, June 11, 2011

                    Method of Viewing: Andover Cinemas

     Big Names: James McAvoy; Kevin Bacon; Oliver Platt; 

January Jones

   Cameos: Hugh Jackman; Rebecca Romijn

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Again, this was a movie that I was dragged to and in the end I was glad that I saw it.  I liked the first two (X-Men and X2) and thought the third (X-Men: Last Stand) was overkill.  I skipped Wolverine.  And this one was starting to feel like Batman.  Just let it die people.  Get over it.  Move on.

I found it intriguing to get a glimpse on how Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr become Professor X and Magneto. The story showed how the two came to know each other and how the became friends AND enemies.  And I also found it odd that Charles and Raven (aka Mystique) were friends first before she became Magnetos right hand man (or should I say mutant).

Spoiler Alert:  And I never really gave a thought to seeing Charles walking around throughout the movie.  It wasn't until the very end in a scene that I gasped... so that's how he got to be in a wheel-chair.  Thinking back, it was really quite sad because it wasn't necessary and couldn't have been averted.

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The Social Network

Date of Viewing: Sunday, June 12, 2011

Method of Viewing: Netflix DVD

Big Names: Jesse Eisenberg, Justin Timberlake, Brenda Song (for all you Zach and Cody watchers....you'll know her!)

Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars

This is the opposite of X-Men.  I was looking forward to seeing this movie because it got Oscar and Golden Globe nods, but it was a major disappointment. 

Now I can't say that I thought all that much of Mark Zuckerberg before the movie came out but now I think of him as a douche-bag, a prick, a back-stabber, an awful boyfriend and friend in general.   The movie may be all Hollywood but I would think that the real Mark Zuckerberg would be suing Columbia Pictures for libel.  They didn't depict him in a positive light.  But why would he sue?  He's already a billionaire.

And don't get me started on Justin Timberlake's character, Sean Parker.  The movie displays him as a co-founder of Napster, but in reality he was just an employee.  He looks so smooth on-screen but in reality he's an alleged coke-head and jail bird.  Ironically, Jesse Eisenberg looks more like Sean Parker than JT.

I shouldn't have wasted my time on this movie.  And it's gotten me thinking...do I want to be associated with Facebook anymore if this is how he treats his friends?

Stonearch Arts Festival

This weekend was the Stone Arch Arts Festival.  I had planned on going Saturday but then the weather was icky and Povlitski's had their event.

I have never been and I didn't know what to expect.  I've been to Craft Shows before and Art Crawls but not an Arts Festival.  I would describe it as a warm up to the State Fair but with tons of photography, jewelry and pottery.  And don't forget the Lemonade, Mini Donuts and Cheese Curds.  Lots of "arts" people; that can also be read as weird and freaky but I'm trying to be politically correct.

We headed to the St. Anthony Falls first.  This was a sight.  I just wish I remembered to bring my camera.

                               {Insert imaginary photo here.}

I have only been to the Stone Arch bridge one other time (for wedding  pictures so I wasn't able to go far) and I would love to go back again and explore the river's edge; possibly even a Segway tour. {This link is of someone's blog.  I thought this explained the overall experience better than the official website.}  I saw 4 sets of Segway tours throughout the Stone Arch Park (aka.  Father Hennepin Bluffs Park)....they looked like little ducks in a row following its mother.

I also would like to go back to visit the St. Anthony Main movie theater and have a burger at Vic's or Tugg's Tavern.

The only thing that I would view as a negative was parking, but that's more my fault than anything else.  I turned off of Hennepin Ave too early and parked in the wrong ramp.  I ended up paying an extra dollar there than at the lot I had originally planned on.  Oh well.

Povlitski's 1st Annual

Last night I went out for Povlitski's 1st Annual.
1st Annual what?  I don't know exactly.
On-line it said BBQ and Blues and a Bike Show.

Well....bike show was canceled due to the rain.  I could care less about motorcycles.  The guys have to much hair (beards and ponytails) and the gals wear leather vests to show off their cleavage and tramp stamps.

BBQ was good, but not great.  I had a pulled pork sandwich.  It was moist, but would have liked to add a little more flavor by putting some BBQ sauce on top of the pork too.

Blues??  More like Hard Rock.  Three bands played, but we only stuck around for the first two.
The first was a band made up of young guys (they looked 16 but they probably haven't hit puberty yet).  Didn't know any of their songs except for one, which was a song by Everclear.

The second band was Knight Crawler.  I've never heard of them but the two friends I went with saw them many times when they would play at Sharky's.  These guys were awesome.  They were old, ugly and wrinkly but knew their stuff.  The drummer was only wearing shorts, so when he was sitting behind his kick drum it looked like he was wearing his birthday suit.  And he totally had the Tommy Lee thing down.  At one point, he was playing the drums with his feet.  He was so sweaty I was afraid he was going to have a heart attack.  And count on someone else giving him CPR...gross!

I didn't know many songs either, but did recognize a Black Sabbath, along with Born To Be Wild and Rebel Yell.  Thank goodness otherwise there would have been no dancing.

Next Friday, there's going to be a country singer by the name of Jacob Martin.  As my loyal readers know, I am still in my search to find a country band to replace High Noon and I haven't had any luck.  But this guy's got potential.  He's a Minnesota native that has been noticed by Nashville.  He tours the Midwest and Texas and has many Summer dates set in Minnesota.

My two friends won't be able to go with me and my sister will be Up North.  Anybody wanna join me for a ladies night?  Music starts at 9:30 and we don't have to stay out late late; just a drink or two and listen to some tunes.  Let me know. 

Oh, and there's NO COVER CHARGE!

Sunday Night Softball

I was not in the mood to play Softball tonight.
It is the last night of my vacation and Monday is lurking around the corner.
But I went anyhow because I know they need girls and I'd hate for them to have to forfeit.  I'd rather lose than forfeit. I'll break it down even further.

Con #1: The ballpark is down by the frickin' airport off of Hwy. 62.
Pro #1:  I get to see all the pretty big planes land and take off.

Con #2: I suck because I'm rusty. (Sidenote:  I missed two pop-flies but I did have a GREAT hit even though I had many not so great hits.)
Pro #2: It's a teams sport, so my suckiness doesn't always stand out. (Only when all eyes are on me.)

Con #3: Tomorrow and the day after that and the day after that, I'm going to be sore.
Pro #3: I get to hang out with some friendly, cool people which includes some handsome guys!!


I'm in a league with a girl I work with at the dental office and her hometown friends (and their friends too). We play double-headers every other Sunday.  And our opposing team tonight was a bunch of 35+ players.  I don't want to call them old people because sooner rather than later I will be in that age category.  Many had gray hair whether it be on the top of their head or under it (beards).  But don't let their age or their hair color fool you.  They gave us a run for our money.  I hope I can play that good when I'm their age.
We lost our first game 8-9, but won our second.  The score...I didn't catch the final, but it was another close one. 

My next game is June 26th.  Hopefully I can hit the batting cages between now and then.

A Week's Vacation

This last week I had vacation and I wanted to get away for a while so I spent some time at my parents Up North.  It was mainly Mom and I as my dad was gone for a couple of days fishing with the guys.  We did many things, both fun and work.  I helped with some yard work and on Wednesday we took a road trip to Longville, MN.  Turtle Racing Capital of the World!  I've been to Longville a couple of times before but only on weekends.  Turtle Races are only run on Wednesdays so this was my first.

Even though temperature were in the 100's on Monday and Tuesday, it was mighty chilly in Longville.  It even rained while we were watching.  The locals say that it's always 25 degrees cooler there by the water than what the meteorologists estimate.  Despite the goosebumps, it was a fun experience.  If ever you go, stop by Frosty's Ice Cream Parlor for a cone.  It's the best ice cream I've ever had!

During the rest of the week, Mom and I had a project we wanted to start on.  An old dresser my grandma inherited.  When she was younger, she worked at a house on Summit Ave.  I believe she was a housekeeper but don't quote me on that.  When she moved out, the lady of the house said that she could have the furniture in her room.  Some years later, my grandma's sister (Aunt Luella) had it and thought it would be a great idea to paint it pink.  Not just any pink, but FLAMINGO PINK!   So Mom bought some Zip Strip and we went to work.  We did two applications; the first for the paint, and the second for the underlying varnish.  Once we were done with that, it was time for the new stain and varnish. 

It took all of Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and all of Friday morning to finish it.  My next duty is to shop for vintage hardware for the drawer pulls.  I'll start with Menards, Lowe's and Home Depot and maybe do some online browsing.  Here are some pics of our Martha Stewart skills.  When the final product is sitting in my dining/living room, I'll post it's final picture.

The lovely pink drawers and plastic black knobs which disintegrated when we removed them.

This is one drawer after removal of paint and varnish.

The pink dresser

My mom's applying the Zip Strip.  The paint turned the Zip Strip from clear to orange.  We are both SO over orange.

The dresser after the first two coats of of stain and varnish.

The drawers after the first two applications of stain and varnish.  Wanted: drawer pulls.

Gorgeous Day

So I guess we completely missed Spring and went straight to Summer.
And I'm not going to complain about how hot and humid it was yesterday because at least we don't have snow anymore.  I'll take the heat for the little amount that it's here.

Yesterday I got off of work early so I hit a couple of garage sales on the way home.  Well, more that a couple.  I got off at 1:30 and didn't actually get home until 4.  Some of my finds:

Christmas Jingle Bells wreath for the front door for $5.  It's silver, lilac and soft pink...and boy, does it jingle ♪. 
A Glorianna CD for $2.  Wild At Heart is the only song on know from this country band.
A black and silver Coach purse for $13.  It was $20 but I only had $15.  And this was the same place where I had found the CD.  A little dirty on the inside but after some cleaning, it'll be good as new.
Five Debbie Macomber books and four Cheryl Woods books for $2.  They were marked $1 a book, but the owner (retired lady) came over to me while I was looking at them.  I told her I was a Debbie Macomber fan.  She told me that if I love her, that I'd like Cheryl Woods so she gave them to me for $.25 each....and one was free.

I've got some vacation time coming up so I guess I'll be doing some reading!!

Today had a much better breeze, so I called the BFF to see if she wanted to go have a walk.  I got to her house and we headed out for the park.  We decided to do something other than our usual loop and actually crossed a street.  We followed the walking path around a lake with the help of  "You Are Here" signs.  We finished with 3 loops around the park and then headed back to her house.  By the end, we probably did about 3 miles and our ice water was ICE water no more.  It was a gorgeous day for such a walk.