Return of the Drunk Guy - Episode III

You were waiting for another update on dude, weren't you? Well, here it is.

I was walking Bear a couple days ago and we came to the intersection by DG's house. We could take a left and avoid it altogether, or we could hang a right and take our chances. It had been a very long time since I had seen him or his dog outside. Plus there was a little kids' baseball game going on in the park just past DG's house and I wanted to check it out. And it was a beautiful night, so I figured both Bear and I could use the little extra loop added to our walk. The minute I rounded the corner I saw him and Elle sitting on the stoop. I swore in my head and considered turning back for about 1/2 a second, but figured that would look weird. So we forged ahead. Immediately I could tell something was different. He didn't say anything to me, he didn't call us up to meet his dog. But as we walked past, Elle came out toward the street and Bear was pulling to go see her. So I let them say hi. Of course, dude did NOT remember me again, although we had meet 2x previously! Anyway, the dogs are playing and I notice some differences in our drunk friend:

1) No beer or drink of any kind in his hand
2) No slurred speech
3) No stumbling around on the lawn
4) Clean shaven, hair combed

I'm thinking to myself - Aren't you supposed to be drunk? We chat for a minute about the dogs - he talks about what a hunk Bear is and how Elle would like to have a sleepover with him, but I notice that he has somehow found a filter for his mouth (no doubt due to the soberness) and although he alluded to it, he managed to avoid talking directly about dog humping and the like. And that was it. He didn't say much more. I say goodbye and head down the driveway, half expecting him to start rambling about Bloomington kids being our future, but nothing. Not a word as I walk away. Honestly, it felt a bit strange but believe me it was great.

So that's about it. Yes, anti-climatic, but I thought you all deserved a little update. Chances are he won't stay sober for long - his neighbor said it's kind of a cycle for him. Drunk - rehab - sober - drunk again. But I bet he'll remember meeting me next time, since he wasn't 3 sheets to the wind this time. I suppose we'll see. Stay tuned...

Lion's Tap vs. Five Guys

Ok, so you know I love me some Five Guys. Their burgers are delish and reminiscent of the Woodhouse. But everybody had been telling me I need to try the Lion's Tap burgers, that they are far superior to Five Guys and I didn't know what I was missing. So last night Justin and I made a trip out to Eden Prairie so I could try these famous burgers.

Those of you who have known me for awhile know that I've never really been a burger girl. That was about the last thing I would order when going out to eat. I don't know what it is, old age or something, but burgers have become more and more tasty to me over the last year or so (see Juicy Lucy post from 9/22/09). So I figured it was only right to do another taste test post; here it is.

Five Guys Burgers and Fries

France Ave, Edina

The burger: 'Little' cheeseburger (believe me, you don't need the regular size)

Fixin's: The cool thing about Five Guys is that you can add any of the toppings for free. The list is extensive. My usual includes: lettuce, tomato, raw onions, mushrooms, mayo. I don't get ketchup and mustard, I add those myself later because I have a certain ratio that I follow. It goes a little something like this 3:2:1 (mayo, ketchup, mustard).

This burger is juicy goodness and it is mess. No real noticeable seasoning to the patty but that's ok with me because the flavor of the toppings in combination with the beef really stand out. As I said before, if you have eaten a burger from the Woodhouse, the taste and texture are very similar. Which makes my mouth and belly happy. The bun is a standard bun, Justin doesn't care for it but I like it. It doesn't overwhelm the burger. The juice/grease from this burger cause some blowouts about half way through eating it. I find myself rebuilding it several times during consumption. I love the taste of this burger and always finish the whole thing.

Fries: Fresh, thick-cut fries. You can tell that they just cut the potatoes that day. But they are very thick, mushy in the middle. You have the option of getting cajun fries; we tried it and don't care for them. Overall, I don't really care too much for these fries. Yes they are fresh and I know a lot of people who like thick fries, but I am not one of them. I mostly just eat them because they are there. Too much potato and not enough crunch. However, you get an enormous serving with one order. If you're going with just one other person, DO NOT get the large size, regular will suit you just fine. So in my opinion, these fries leave something to be desired.

I should also mention they have in-the-shell peanuts available to eat while you're waiting for your order. I'm not a big peanut person, but I'm sure this appeals to a lot of people.

Drink: I always get orange soda. They have your typical fountain soda, plus some teas. They also have Mello Yello (which gets points from me) but I generally stick with the orange. No alcohol offered.

Atmosphere: Fast-foodish. Small place, you order at the counter, no server. An in-and-out type of place. Always hoppin'.

Price: Right around $15 for the two of us to eat. Pretty reasonable.

Lion's Tap

Flying Cloud Dr., Eden Prairie

The burger: I got the California cheeseburger (single).

Fixin's: California means lettuce and tomato, then I added mushrooms and raw onions. Extra $.80 for the 'shrooms.

The patty was seasoned and that was noticeable on the first bite. Very flavorful. Pefect juiciness, not a mess but just the right amount of juice. The mushrooms were very fresh with a strong flavor, which I really liked. This burger was much richer than 5 Guys due to the seasoned patty. So I would say I would be much more likely (if my belly could handle it) to eat 2 5G's burgers vs. 2 LT burgers. Bun was comparable to 5G's in my opinion, Justin think Lion's buns are better. The burger stayed together very well while eating, no major blowouts. I ate every bite of it.

Fries: Crinkle-cut, Justin told me to ask for them crispy. Perfect portion size for me, but I'm sure others may wish they had more. Perfect ratio of crisp to potato. Good flavor. I really liked these fries. Dipped them in a ketchup/mayo mixture. Far superior to 5G's fries. I ate them cuz I liked them, not because they were there.

Drink: We ordered a pitcher of their premium draft root beer. Very good. I'm not a huge root beer fan, so I can't say it was better than the orange I get from 5G's. But Lion's Tap also has orange soda among others. Another bonus here - you can order beer!

Atmosphere: Bar atmosphere. This is a sit-down restaurant with that homey, local feeling. Servers who were busy but attentive and friendly. Busy in there, loud, but I felt like I could hang out there longer. Definitely not a fast-food feeling.

Price: We spent over $30 (including tip) for our meal. A little on the pricey side.

And the winner is.....................

Lion's Tap!

But this was a very, VERY close race. If the two restaurants were right next to each other, I would probably wind up going to Lion's Tap more. But Five Guy's is about 10 mins away, Lion's Tap a good 20 mins. The burgers themselves were almost a tie, but there was no competition in the fry dept. Although pricier, the atmosphere of the Lion's Tap is more ideal. I felt like this was more of a 'dinner' than Five Guys. And, any place where you can get a beer is going to be a plus in my book!

So if any of you are in the cities, I recommend you check out both and make the decision for yourself! And call me, because I would love having an excuse to eat either.

Happy Burger Season!

He Loves His Pillows

Bear loves to sleep with a 'pillow' of some sort - here are some examples.

Oh, he's so handsome. This is what happens when you don't have kids - you blog about your dog. :)

Drunk Guy Update

So I was out rollerblading with Bear on this glorious 60 degree day and I passed by Drunk Guy's house again. Lo and behold, I see him and his pup, Elle, sitting in their front yard. He sees us coming and says, "Come on up here!" What's the first thing I notice? He's got a Budweiser in his hand. Big shocker there. He's slurring his speech and kinda stumbling around. So the dogs greet each other (they love each other) and he proceeds to talk my ear off for the next 15 minutes. Here are a few things I learned about good ol' Bob:

He's 62 years old.
He fought in Vietnam.
He's retired.
He is divorced but was married to his wife for 30 years.
He didn't want the divorce, but she did.
He has three kids, 2 girls and a boy. The boy is a civil engineer. One of his girls is a teacher in the Scottsdale School district in Arizona. The other is an art student.
His wife is a very smart lady and graduated magna cum laude from St. Scholastica (a "very prestigious college").
He got Elle from his son and daughter-in-law when they moved to Hawaii. You see, it would have cost them $2000 to fly here to HI, so he took her instead. They paid $20 for her at the shelter.
He has no idea what kind of dog she is.
She is very gun shy so he can't take her hunting.
4th of July is really hard for her because of the noise from the fireworks. She hides downstairs under the bench and although she's really sweet, she'll try to bite him if he tries to pull her out.
Elle loves big dogs, the bigger the better.
One of his daughters has a jack russell that he took care of for 2 years because it was too wild for his dtr to handle. He did all sorts of training with it, took it for walks everyday, but it never really calmed down because those jack russells are just so "headstrong".
Elle is fixed, but if she wasn't, and if Bear wasn't, those two would go at it and he'd "bust her bones" like crazy. *He then spent about 5 minutes talking about dog sex. Apparently he has a friend that breeds some kind of dog and charges $1000 for the pups, but he was going to be able to get one for about $600.
Since Elle is too afraid to go hunting, he wants to get another dog. He can get a "pointer lab" for about $400. It would be the runt of the litter but that's ok.
He delivered two babies when he was in Vietnam. Apparently two Vietnamese women went into labor during an explosion and he had to deliver the babies. But he said he didn't have to do much work, the women did most of it. This conversation led to another about having kids. He said it's the greatest thing ever and watching a baby being born is amazing. He asked me if I had kids, and when I said no, he told me I should get going on that. "Bloomington needs more kids. They are our future. This old guy isn't." First he said I should have 5, I said no, that's too many. He said a couple would be fine. He told me that there's a lot of guys out there that are no good, but if my husband is a good guy, then we should have kids because he'd take responsibility and help me raise them. He proceeded to tell me about 6 times that I need to get going on having kids. Then he said I should have 20. He gave me his permission to start trying.
He also told me about 15 times how sweet his dog is. "Have you ever met a dog this sweet?" He also told me how handsome Bear is (well, he really is).
So all this time I'm slowly trying to work my way to the street to continue our rollerblading. This dude was completely oblivious to my body language and continued to talk to me as I'm wheeling away.
So there's your update. Aren't you glad you know so much about Bob too? He had absolutely no idea that we met a couple summers ago or that I came into his house a few months ago and woke his drunk ass up. Life sure is entertaining sometimes, isn't it?

Happy Spring, everyone!

My Thoughts About UNC

Bad Things:

1. Turnovers - seriously dudes, you're killing me! I can take better care of the ball than you can and I'm a girl.

2. Lack of fast breaks - I guess I was spoiled last year, but that was one thing that always sparked the team and set them apart from so many other teams. And if we do get fast breaks, they are just out of control, which leads me to my next point...

3. Chickens with their heads cut off - The guards are fast, but completely out of control and can't manage the ball (see #1) or the game.

4. Defense - You don't have to be very smart to realize that there's more to winning a game than just offense. Not to toot my own horn, but I was a pretty good defensive player in HS, so to see the lack of effort in running down the court or getting out to defend the perimeter shots (especially with a team like Duke) kills me. And boxing out - isn't that one of the fundamentals of basketball?!? Way too many offensive rebounds for the opposing teams.

5. Free throws - These are gimmes!! It's a free (hence the name), wide open shot. You should be hitting AT LEAST 70%. I don't care if you're a big man or not. Point in case: Tyler Hansbrough broke the NCAA free throw record in '09.

6. Losing at home - This isn't due to a lack of support from the crowd. The Dean Dome will always deliver. No one should have as terrible a record at home as the 'heels do. There's no excuse for it.

7. Poor shooting - I don't know what to say about this. Not one single person on the team is reliable. For being a 'seasoned' vet, Ginyard has really let me down. I don't buy the injury excuse. And Davis is like 12 feet tall and is still hit or miss, literally. Graves has hit some big 3's, but I don't have a lot of confidence in him, yet.

Ok, time for some good things:

1. Speed - Yeah, this is a good thing and a bad thing (see #3). But this bodes well for the future. Once they get more experienced, this will hopefully help with the fast breaks and get us more points in transition.

2. Height - Davis (soph), Zeller (soph), Henson (fresh), the Wear brothers (fresh). All this height and a lot of diaper dandies. Again, looking ahead here.

3. Recruits - The #1 small forward, the #2 shooting guard, and the #6 point guard in the nation have all committed to UNC.

4. Roy Williams - Dean Smith was the man, but good ol' Roy is a damn fine coach. You can only do so much as a coach to motivate the players. He has more class than most coaches in the NCAA. He's an excellent leader and his win percentage is undeniable. Any team would be lucky to have him as a coach and would benefit from his skill and experience.

5. Well, peeps, I'm grasping at straws here. I can't think of many more positives about this team. But, it's North Carolina. We may have an off year, but we'll rebound. We'll always have talent, good recruits, and a great name. There's no team that's going to have a good showing the year after losing so much talent.

So, I will always have faith in my team. I will always be a supporter. And I will always hate Duke! It's tough to be a UNC fan this year, but it'll get better. There's always next year!
Go 'heels!!

Interesting Saturday Dog Walk

So I was taking Bear for a walk today on one of our usual routes. We passed by the house where his puppy girlfriend lives (one of the many!). Her name is Elle, she's about 4 or 5, some kind of mutt, but she's gorgeous. From the minute they met a couple years ago, they loved each other. We walk by and she comes bolting out to the street to see Bear. She's off leash and just running around the yard. We say hi and 'visit' for a bit. Then we try to keep walking, but she wants to play and she's following us down the block. No owner in sight. So we take her back to the house and knock on the screen door. The front door is open and I can hear the TV blasting. I knock on the door several times - no answer. There isn't a doorbell. So I pound louder and louder, still no answer. So I look in through the screen door and I can see someone laying on the couch. I open the door a little and call out to the guy and knock really hard on the inside door. Nothing. I'm starting to get a little worried, but I can see him breathing. So I yell out to him, "Excuse me sir!" I'm literally like a foot from his head. He stirs a little but that's about it. I bring Elle inside and notice an open bag of dog food by the door. Well, now I know he's alive, so I decide to continue on my walk. I get Bear home and get showered up cuz I was running some errands. I decided to go back and check on the guy, make sure everything was kosher. I was also concerned that Elle was going to eat all that dog food since the bag was open. I know Bear would probably eat himself to death in that situation! So I go back and when I pull up I see Elle at the door, licking her lips. She was probably munching away on that food. Anyway, I knock on the door really loud again. I can see him still laying on the couch. So this time I go in. I'm about 6 inches from his face, practically yelling at him. Finally I shake him, he wakes up a little and looks at me. I ask him if he's alright and he mutters 'yeah' but then rolls right back over. I shake him again and ask him if he's a diabetic (thinking maybe his blood sugars are too low and he's in a diabetic coma). I think he said 'no'. He's still not getting up, so I close the bag of dog food and decide to go talk to his neighbors. So his neighbor tells me the guy is a huge drunk and has done this several times. Apparently, there's been many occasions when they've had to let Elle in so she doesn't freeze to death outside. I guess he's been taken to the hospital a bunch and tried rehab but it didn't work. The neighbor said there's a lady that comes and checks on him sometimes, and he called her earlier but said he was going to call her again. So, that's my interesting Saturday Dog Walk. You know, it's funny because you walk by all these houses when you're out walking the dog, and you never know people's stories until something like this happens. Well, I'll let you know if I find out anything more about what happened. Poor Elle, I want to adopt her. I think she'd have a better life with us.

Get Your Drank On

Hello all! A gloomy Saturday it is. Rain, freezing rain, sleet, and wind - all day long. Managed to get the dog walked in the hour window that it wasn't doing any of the above. So apparently my blog posting theory was proven wrong. Oh well. All I can say is I'll do my best.

I have to say that I absolutely LOVE Saturdays. I love the weekend. I love not working. I love sleeping in (yeah, sometimes till 11:30 and I'm not ashamed). I love making big breakfasts. I love drinking coffee and relaxing on the couch. I love couch time in the evening and drinking adult beverages. I love staying up late.

So, tonight I made a little trip to a liquor store down in Burnsville, about 20 mins SE of us, called Blue Max Liquors. They have something like 1200 different kinds of beer. Justin had been there awhile ago and got me this delicious strawberry beer, so I decided to go get me some more. Here she is:

While I was there, I also picked up a bottle of Samuel Smith's Organic Cider. Thought that would be yummy too. Take a looksy:

Well, I'm ready to crack open a bottle and go get my drank on. Have a wonderful night. GO VIKES!

I'll leave you with (yeah, you guessed it) a pic of my precious, handsome, dingleberry of a dog.

Doggie Post

Let's start out by addressing the poll question from last week. A whopping ONE of you got it right. It was......a big fat juicy rabbit! Judging by the timing of that vote, I think it was Brenda. Am I right? Yeah, my goober of a dog sat at the patio door low growling at a rabbit for nearly a half hour the other day. The funny part is it wasn't even in our yard, so if I would have let him out, he wouldn't have even been able to get it. The pup's been pretty good lately. I think it's been an adjustment not being able to go for his normal twice-daily walks because of the cold, but he's been really good considering. The old fart is going to be 3 in Feb! I can't believe it. He's growing up so fast :'(

On the dog subject, Mr. Sighsy McGrumbles got a new neighbor dog! We miss Scout for sure, but he's probably happier now with his mom and brother on a farm. The new pup's name is Charlie and he is a sweet, calm, handsome guy. I think he's around 3 years old or so. He and Bear have very similar energy levels, so they are good together. They play together when they want and chill together too. I think they're a good match for each other. Sometimes Scout would just be too much, all up in Bear's face all the time wanting to play and Bear would get annoyed by that. Here are a couple pics of the lil rascal:

I would like to hear your thoughts on what kind of mix you think Mr. Charliepants is. Oh, that looks terrible ending that sentence with 'is'. And as an SLP, I know it's wrong grammatically. But, you know what, I'm not gonna change it. So deal with it.

I have a new philosophy for my blogs. I think I don't update as much cuz I feel it's so daunting to have to tell all that's going on in my life. So, instead, I'm going to try to update more often with less info. Kinda like today's post. Focus on a few things, make them short and sweet, and hopefully that way I will be more likely to update more often. No promises, but I'll do my best! POB. Happy 2010!

An Update - Yep, that's right, An Update

Alright, so time I finally update the ol' blog. I knew it had to be done, but my brother's rude comment on Facebook sparked the initiative.

So, 2 months have gone by. November was gorgeous with many days in the 50s, which made up for our rotten October. We had our girls' weekend the first weekend in Nov and it was the best one yet! I had such a blast and the weather was damn near 60 everyday! Last year when I flew home for girls' weekend, there was a nasty blizzard, so quite the change.
Justin turned 30 on Nov. 27th, so we threw a party. Had a great time but found out that I have some kind of allergy to dark beer. I spent the entire next day on the couch, unable to eat or drink anything (I just threw it all up). It was miserable. Now you all are probably thinking I just got really drunk and was super hungover. I have drank waaay more than that before and never once been that sick. And I didn't mix anything, I drank straight beer all night. Well, now I know to never do it again. At least we had a good time!
I had to work the day after Thanksgiving, so Justin and I just spent Turkey Day here. We made the whole works: turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, green beans, rolls, and chocolate cream pie. It was all very delicious. We bought a new roaster pan and the turkey turned out way better this year than last. Bear even got to sample all the goods (minus the pie). He, of course, loved it all!
On to December. The month flew by. I can't even think of what I did. Had 3 lia sophia shows (the business is going quite well). Christmas shopped. Went back to Bis for the holiday - was there from Tuesday before to the following Sunday. Had a great time hanging out and playing games with my family. I love Christmas time. And got to see my BFF and had a wonderful time with her too. We exchanged gifts and played some interactive Mario Party on DS. I miss everyone already. I got back to the cities Sunday evening and Justin and I exchanged gifts. I got him a Slanket and a ps3 headset. From him I got a Vikings moshi, a cute-ass Favre/Vikes shirt, and a beautiful gold watch. Yay for Christmas!
Back to work and reality, but lucky for me it's pretty slow at work, so I'll have some short days this week. Have to work Friday but I probably only have to see one person, so no biggie. No big plans for New Year's. Justin and I usually just like to sit on the couch, watch a movie, and have drinks.
Then it's January. No offense to my peeps who have b-days in Jan (Talia, Josiah, Jamie, and Sam), but this is generally my least favorite month of the year. It's cold, there's nothing going on, football is almost over, and there's still months till spring. Speaking of spring, Justin and I are planning on taking a vacay to Florida in April (hopefully). We're going to use Justin's parents' timeshare and stay someplace on the beach. I've never been to Florida, so I'm looking forward to it.
I'll post some pics of Christmas and whatnot on Facebook. But that's it for now! Hope everyone had a fantastic '09 and here's to an even better 2010!

Happy Halloween!

Hello folks! Happy Halloween to all! We had a pretty uneventful one here. Not many trick-or-treaters, definitely less than last year. And if you're friends with Justin on Facebook, then I'm sure you've seen how we felt about this year's turnout. Anyway, I'm gonna post a few pics from our holiday at home.

This lasted about 3 seconds...

...just long enough for me to take pics.

2/3 of a family

Tuckered out after a long night of action at the front door.

Okay, so now what I want you to do is when you post a comment, I want you to tell me what your favorite scary/horror movie is and your favorite scene from that show. I'll start.

My favorite horror movie is The Shining. It's hard though, cuz I really love The Exorcist too. But I'd have to say my favorite scene from The Shining is, well I have two. The first is when Danny meets the twin girls in the hallway and the blood comes pouring in. And the second is the classic scene when Jack Nicholson hacks his way into the bathroom after Danny, sticks his head in and says, "Here's Johnny!" Pretty predictable, but hey, how can you not love those scenes?

Ok, go. I wanna hear your stories, peeps. I know I can count on two people to comment for sure - B-dog and E-dog. They both loooove scary movies like I do!

Happy Halloween/Daylight Savings Time!

And to me, November means winter, so I guess, Hello Winter!

Long Time No Bloggie

Hello everyone! We've had a crappy October, I have to say. It's been unseasonably cold and a lot of the trees lost their leaves before they changed colors. Just now we are finally starting to see the color change, and it's beautiful! Today was nice, 50 degrees. Justin raked, I bagged, and he mowed the lawn, so it's nice to have that done.

I've done one Lia Sophia show and am in the middle of a catalog show. Things are going well so far. I'm really close to meeting my first goal for my Excellent Beginnings. It's fun and I absolutely love all the jewelry. If anybody wants anything, just let me know! ;)

Can't wait for girls weekend! I'll be flying home so that'll save me lots to time driving. I just can't wait to see all my favorite ladies in Bismarck. I'd have to say it's my 2nd favorite special event of the year. #1 is Christmas. Turkey day used to be up there, but I haven't been able to go home for it for a few years. I still love my birthday, but they've gotten less exciting each year, unfortunately.

I'm bummed about my elimination from King of the Hill. A PTA I work with invited me to this pool last year and this year. Basically you choose just one team that you think will win each week. If that team wins, then you move on to the next week. But you can't pick the same team twice. The last person to be in it wins the pot. Then we start all over, even if it's the middle of the season. Anyway, we had 30 people in it, $10 each, so the pot was $300! by week 5 it was cut to 13 peeps. Well, then in week 6 I picked Philly. Damn Eagles lost. So I'm out. But I hope it starts over soon. On a brighter note, I won the week 6 family football pool! Tiebreaker, baby! Melissa and I also have our own little bet. We pick one game each week to put $5 on. We try to pick a game that we think could go either way. Well, unforunately for Melissa, I'm up $20 so far. But there's still a lot of season left! Don't worry bff!

So Halloween is coming up. Don't think I'll dress up. We aren't gonna do much, just hang out and have some beers. Our typical weekend night routine. That's what we really enjoy. We're pretty mellow people. Last weekend our friends Sam and Ben came over. Sam and I carved pumpkins. We made slow cooker beef stroganoff and baklava bars - both very yummy. But now the damn squirrels are eating my pumpkin! Little bastards.

Before

After

Oh well, what can you do! I looked online about how to stop squirrels from eating them, but I was too lazy to actually do what they said, so I didn't. I'd like to catch those little guys on tape eating it, I think it would be entertaining.

Well, have a great end of October everyone! POB.

Juicy Lucy Taste Test

So here in the cities there are 3 places that are known for their 'Juicy Lucys'. For those of you who don't know, a juicy lucy is a burger with cheese inside of it. So they take a patty, split it in two, press them out, put a mound of cheese on one, then cover it with the other half, seal, and grill. The classic juicy lucy has American cheese, but some restaurants have variations, like bleu cheese, pepperjack, etc. It's also important to note that there are variations of the name as well. My friend Sam and I decided to do a taste test from the 3 different locations, and here are the results.

Location #1:

The Nook
Hamline Ave, St. Paul

Burger: Juicy Nookie with American cheese

With all of these burgers, the key is the wait time. If you bite in the moment it hits your table, the molten lava cheese will scald the inside of your mouth like a motherlicker and you won't be able to enjoy it after that. So, as hard as it is, you must wait at least 5 minutes before digging in. My first bite of this burger was juicy and full of gooey cheesy goodness. The flavor of the patty itself was great, seasoned just enough and not too much to take away from the whole experience. The cheese was melted completely through and had the perfect consistency, not too runny or thick. Every bite I took had cheese in it, but it was not overwhelming in the least. Overall, the burger was fantastic in every way and I can't say a single bad thing about it. I have wanted to go back and get another in the worst way ever since.

Fries: Fresh-cut fries, seasoned with garlic cracked-pepper and served with chipotle ranch dipping sauce. Anyone who knows me knows that I don't care a lot about fries. Generally, if the option is there, I would take mashed potatoes over fries any day. But these fries were really good. The garlic cracked pepper seasoning was not too strong and the chipotle ranch added just the right amount of flavor to compliment. Crispy, not too thick, not too thin.

Drinkage: Sam and I like to share pitchers of beer and our go-to is Blue Moon. They had this, so we did too.

Atmosphere: Dive bar, very small but comfy. Our server was fairly nice and reasonably fast. The place was as clean as a dive bar can be.

Benjamins: The burger comes with the fries - $7.95. Don't know how much the pitcher cost.

Location #2:

5-8 Club

Cedar Ave, Minneapolis

Burger: Juicy Lucy with American cheese

First bite of the burger, no cheese. Second bite, no cheese. Dry patty, not much flavor. I think in the whole burger I maybe got two bites with cheese. It all had squirted out somewhere before it got to our table, apparently, because there was minimal cheese on my plate too. Absolutely nothing special about this burger. Didn't finish it. And my friend Sam didn't finish it either, which is unheard of in her world of burger-eating.

Fries: Well, no fries. They didn't come with the burger, so Sam and I decided to get an order of nachos as an app. Beef nachos with all the fixin's. They were ok, beef was a little greasy and you could taste it. Sam liked them better than I did. I wasn't too impressed.

Booze: I believe Sam and I shared a pitcher of New Castle. Can't go wrong with that either.

Atmosphere: Dive bar, but a little bigger than the Nook. Our server was super friendly and very attentive. She was better quality than the food, which is not necessarily something you want in a restaurant. Clean. Overall I liked the atmosphere of this place.

Moolah: Nachos: $7.50 Burger: $4.95 Pitcher of New Castle: $10.25

Location #3:

Matt's Bar

Cedar Ave, Minneapolis

Burger: Jucy (that's how they spell it) Lucy with American cheese

Hit the cheese on the first bite. Good flavor, but runnier cheese than the Nook which I didn't prefer. Cheese throughout the whole burger. Got raw onions on this one (not sure what I got on the others cuz it was too long ago). They were like little McDonald's onions and there were a ton of 'em. The flavor of the onions was a little too strong, and not a real natural onion taste. I had to scrape about 1/2 of them off. But the burger was juicy and very good. Ate the whole thing.

Fries: The burger didn't come with fries, but Sam and I ordered a regular side of them. They were shoestring fries. Good crisp, not too thin. Very good flavor. However, I am not a ketchup dipper with my fries. So we asked for a side of ranch - NO RANCH! That's a huge deal for me. What restaurant doesn't have ranch? I don't care how small it is. So I had to resort to dipping in ketchup. For a regular size order, it was a little on the small side. We polished off the whole basket, which is really saying something, as I've mentioned previously, I'm not a huge fry fan.

Drank: Pitcher of Blue Moon. With tiny little glasses.

Atmosphere: Dive bar, very small. Not too clean. Kinda noisy, with some turd burglars being loud at the bar. And the women's bathroom had two toilets in it, not stalls, just toilets. I guess they support double peeing (not the kind you're thinking of, you dirty bird). It took a long time for our server to get to our table after I got there to get me a glass so I could share in the pitcher. If there is anything a server needs to be prompt about, it's getting me my damn glass so I can get my drink on! She was more or less friendly, kinda slow.

Ca$h: Fries: $3.95 Burger: $4.95 Pitcher: No idea.

Soooo, as you probably were able to tell from my reviews, the winner is:

The Nook!!!

For the value, the fries, but most importantly....for the burger! I highly suggest you visit this place if you live here, or even if you don't!

The End :)

Just Some Things

My first Lia Sophia party is tomorrow (as an advisor), but I'm just playing the hostess role for this one. All the rest will be my own!

Kanye West is a huge douche-canoe, as if we didn't already know this.

RIP P-Swayze.

I am sick with a cold.

Football is perhaps the greatest sport ever invented and just one more thing I love about the coming of fall.

We made chili yesterday and it was delicious.

We are leaving for Tennessee on Wednesday to visit Justin's parents. The puppah is heading to Dog Day Getaway. Thank goodness for wonderful places like TN and DDG.

I hate packing, most likely because I am a chronic overpacker and it takes me forever.

This is the first time I've ever really been nervous about flying. Just so much plane stuff going on lately. And don't give me the statistics, I know it's "safer" to fly than drive, but could there be anything scarier than falling out of the sky in a huge metal death box?

We lost our playoff match tonight for volleyball. Season's over. Boo.

And a permanent boo to laundry.

I wonder if Community will be a good show? Sidenote: Do I need a '?' there? I feel like it shouldn't be there, but it looked weird with a period.

I don't like when football games are played on the same field as baseball and you can see the dirt.

Adrian Peterson has an open invitation to my bed every night. Justin understands.


Ok, guess I'm done cuz my brain just ran out of thinks. :)

Om Nom Kittahs

Justin introduced me to this first video and I just loved it. Now keep in mind this is coming from someone who is not a cat person. Anyway, I found another and I think they are the cutest vids ever.

Summer Fun

It's been awhile I know. Busy summer times, especially July and August. Since my last post, we had our Price Family reunion at Lake Sakakawea. It was beautiful weather and we had a great time. Justin and I realized that weekend that we need an air mattress as we are getting too old for car camping without one. A lot of the family was there and it was good times visiting. Played some bolo and bocce ball on the sandbar, and of course rode the waverunners. Haha, I just typed wavefunners by accident. That would be appropriate too.

The following week was my birthday and Justin and I went to a place called 'The Melting Pot'. It's a fondue place and it's actually pretty cool. You have a burner on your table and they bring out pots for all the fondues. We had a cheese fondue with veggies, chips, bread, and apples. Next course was a salad. Next was our main fondue with coq au vin broth that came with sirloin, pork, chicken, shrimp, lobster, and filet. It actually wasn't that good. We didn't like the coq au vin flavoring and of course everything you cook in there tastes like it. So we weren't that impressed with the dinner part.

We had a chocolate fondue for dessert. It was milk chocolate with crunchy peanut butter melted in it. It was served with strawberries, pineapple, brownies, cheesecake, poundcake, and bananas. That was delicious!

Overall, we didn't think it was worth the price ($150!). But we were glad we tried it; it was a cool experience. We think we woulda liked it had we ordered just oil to cook it in. For my b-day present, Justin got me a sweet ass watch!

The day after was my actual birthday and the 1st day of 10KLF. Well, I got on the road at a decent time, but an hour and a half into my drive I realized I forgot the tickets and my money! Brian already had to wait for me, and now I had added another 3 hours to the wait! I was so pissed, so was Bri, but what can you do at that point? There's nothing worse than getting outta town, then having to drive back, and then back outta town, this time at rush hour. Awful experience. Then when I finally got to Fergus Falls to meet up with Brian, his phone didn't have reception, so we spent another 45 mins trying to get ahold of each other. We made it to 10k at about 9pm and had to miss Widespread Panic (on my birthday!) to set up our campsite before it got too dark. But the weekend was great; we heard some great music, the weather was perfect, and we had a great time. Unfortunately for Bri, his car broke down in J-town on the way back home! What a crazy adventure.

Our campsite at 10k - everybody kept telling us how sweet it was
Gorgeous sunset (taken from our campsite)

The following weekend I went to my friend Sam's house in Blaine and we had a Daiquiri Day with our friend Jenn (we all used to work together at Morgan Place in GF). We were supposed to go tubing down Welch River, but it was only 70 degrees that day (at the end of July!) and we didn't wanna freeze. But we had so much fun and plan to do it again soon!

And on to August! Well, the first weekend we didn't do much. The following weekend I met up with Melissa in Fargo for a BFF weekend. The weather was crappy, but that didn't matter! We had an awesome time just hanging out, playing cards, and going out to eat. We need those more often!

Last weekend, I went to ValleyFair Friday night with some girls I work with. I heart VF. But this was the first year I actually got sick. No horking (sp?) or anything, but very queasy after round #2 on Wild Thing. I had to take it easy after that, skipped the Power Tower, but made it on Steel Venom - my fave ride! Brenda, Brooklyn, and Josiah came that night to pick up Talia who flew in from NC (she was visiting her dad) on Sat. We picked her up from the airport, got ready, and went to Como Zoo. The girls loved it, especially the butterfly house. After that, we went to Como Town, which is basically like a little amusement park for kids. The girls had a lot of fun on the rides. Sunday we went to Underwater Adventures at the MOA. It was really cool; I loved the turtles! And the sharks were pretty sweet too. The girls liked it too, especially when they got to touch the crabs. It was a fun-filled weekend! It was pretty neat to be able to take the girls to some cool places around here.

Ok, that should bring you up to speed for now! That was a long post, so I'm done now. POB.

Things on my Mind

~ Don't describe triscuits as containing "soft white winter wheat". That doesn't make me wanna eat them.

~ People should not say "irregardless".

~ People should also not say "for all intensive purposes" (right Justin?).

~ If you want to unfreeze meat, you say "thaw", not "unthaw", unless you want to freeze it again.

~ When asked "How are you?", people should answer with something like "Fine, good" etc. They should not answer with the same question. I asked you first.

~ There is no need in the world to make commercials 100x louder than TV programs.

~ The left lane of a highway is for passing/fast drivers. It is not to get a better look at the other side of the field or to see if the cows on that side are the same color.

~ There is very little that is more awkward than walking into a male patient's room while a Vagisil commercial is blaring on the TV.

~ If it's not your own yard, don't play in it.

~ Revving your engine really loud when you see a girl is super cool. Oh wait, I mean it's not. It's not cool at all. I don't think you are cool when you do this. In fact, pretty sure it has the opposite effect on me.

~ If you don't want to wear a helmet when you ride your motorcycle, that's your choice. But I won't feel sorry for you when your splatter your brains on the concrete.

~ Know when to use "too" vs. "to" and "there" vs. "their" vs. "they're"

~ "Save $15.00 off" doesn't make any sense. It's one or the other bitches.

Trust that I will add more to this list as I think of them. So keeping checking back, peeps!

Additions:

~ The word is 'height', there is no 'h' at the end of it. Get it straighth.

~ Do not put your tabs on your license plate in any sort of design. This is silly. They are not for decoration.

~ Use the word 'literally' in the right way. For example: 'She literally charmed the pants off him.' So, she was so charming that he stood there listening to her and decided it was time to depants? I doubt it.

~ I would rather you use no commas instead of too many in the wrong places. An example of a sign I saw in the shower at the lake: 'Please pull curtain, inside ledge when showering.' Same goes for quotations. What does this mean anyway?: Please "only" toilet paper in the toilet (sign in the bathroom at work).

Upcoming Events

We had a good 4th of July weekend, not too exciting but that's ok. Pics can be seen on Facebook. I had to work Friday, Justin had it off and got some stuff done. Saturday was a washout for the first half of the day. I walked Bear, then Justin and I decided to go to Kohl's. It downpoured while we were there and Justin ended up getting a call, so we had to leave. I came home and made dessert - caramel apple pie - and then it cleared up and the sun came out. We got our kabobs going, but since it had rained, it was too wet to sit outside and eat. But it was delish! That night we sat on the deck for a bit to see if we could see some fireworks, but no luck. Plus Bear was a little on edge with all the noise. So we went in and played some Wii. I managed to finish off a bottle of champagne, and Justin did a number on the gin. Fun night.

Today I sunbathed and started to get things together for 10klf. Justin washed and waxed my Accord and washed his Element. I helped a little. ;) We've got some steak stroganoff cookin' up in the crockpot - can't wait for that to be in my belly. It's been just a beautiful day. I'm on the deck right now, drinking a beer and Bear is laying next to me, loving this warm weather.

We've got a busy July coming up. This Thursday is the ProStep (company I work for) picnic at Como Zoo in St. Paul. Should be a good time. Saturday we have a housewarming party to go to at Sam and Ben's in Blaine. The following week we leave Thursday for ND for the Price Family reunion at Lake Sakakawea. We'll head to B-town Thursday night and stay with Erin and Steven (hopefully Justin can get outta work a little early!). Friday we'll head up to the lake; it'll be my first time there this summer, what a shame. Can't wait to get on one of those waverunners! We'll head back to the cities on Sunday. The following Monday night I start volleyball - 4-on-4 coed sand - with Jenny Brummer. I'm super pumped about that. Then my birfday is that next Wednesday!! Which is also the start of 10klf, so Bri and I will be spending my b-day and the next 3 days camping out listening to some great live music. All these things will be good times and this is looking like a pretty super July '09.

I'll get lots of pics and fill you guys in on my good times! Happy July to you!

Phish!!

Hello! It's been awhile. We've been busy as usual. Our biggest event so far this summer is by far our trip to Alpine Valley to see Phish. It was June 20th-21st - our anniversary present to ourselves. We had an amazing time and they were awesome! We heard so many great tunes and it was a wonderful experience for my first time seeing Phish. Here are some pics and video:

This has always been one of my fave songs, so it was amazing to hear!

We also heard "Waste", which was fitting considering that was the first song we danced to at our wedding and we were here celebrating our anniversary. That is all for this post, folks. Check out Justin's facebook page for more vids and pics (a lot of the same) of the Phish shows.

Hope everyone is having a great summer! I've got a lot more going on, so hopefully I'll get better about updating my blog :)

Peace out.

May Updates

Hello, folks! I know it's been awhile - it's been a busy May. The first weekend in May we painted our bedroom. We also decided that's the last time we try to paint anything by ourselves. We suck at it. But it's done and it looks better than it used to. What we need now is some artwork to tie it all together. Here are some pics:

Before

After

The weekend after that we had dinner with our friends Sam and Ben. They just moved into a house in Blaine, which is about 9000 miles from here. Ok, it just seems like so far away - takes us a good 45 mins to get there. That sucks, cuz we have a good time together, so it would be nice to live closer. But they made us country fried venison, cheesy potatoes, and asparagus. I was a little concerned about the venison, but it was really good! It all was. Sam made some crazy cucumber gin that Justin tried but I didn't. I made banana cream pie with homemade whip cream for dessert. Good times with good friends.

The next weekend was Mel's wedding! It was an awesome time, minus the losing my keys part. But the wedding went off without a hitch. I didn't get many pics (I was the maid of honor!), but here are a few. Now Josh and Melissa are in Jamaica, probably laying on the beach drinking a Miami Vice. Oh, I am jealous. Justin, I think we are in need of a tropical vacation!

Mel and I at the Rehearsal Dinner

Mel, Josh, and Dawn pre-wedding

Josh trying to laugh away his fears ;)

Sunday the fam went to Golden Corral for Mom and Dad's anniversary. It was good to get everyone together and hang for a little bit before I came back to MN. And it was good to stuff my face too. That's what Americans do best, right?

Then it was back to work this week. And so far it's been a busy one. My brain is pretty much fried from the wedding weekend and this week of work. I can't tell you how excited I am to sleep in this weekend! I think a BBQ should also be in the plans, supposed to be 80 on Sunday! We are in the process of remodeling our kitchen, so I will post some pics of that soon. It's lookin really good so far! And I suppose I should put up some pics of our bathroom that's finally done.
I'll leave you with a few pics of Jack and Kaya I got when I stopped over at Steven and Erin's on my way outta town. Good pups - Jack is a monster!




Peace out.