IMG_0636

Originally uploaded by phampants

At the start of 2009, I knew that meeting some of the bloggers on the 20sb network was in my cards. There was this weekend-in-planning called the 20sb Ultimate Meetup, and people like Maxie, Jenn, Ben, AshleyD and Derek (whose [fake] tatted neck is pictured here) were being all superhero event planners. I’d joined 20sb back in May of 2008, but by the end of the year decided I wanted to meet in real life some of these other 20-something folks doing this same thing I was. Are they cool? Nerdy? Any good-looking ones? (Turns out yes, yes, and all of them)

(And Maxie, Ben, and Ashley? I hate that you couldn’t make it, and decided officially that we MUST meet in the NEAR future. Whew, now that that’s settled.)

By the time this actual meet-up rolled around, my life had pretty much unexpectedly and awesomely exploded in terms of meeting other bloggers.

I attended a Minneapolis Tweetup back in the late winter where I met a few of my local faves including Conner, Kaeti and Art. (Well, Art and I had met previously in a parking lot once sorting through some crazy mafia stuff. Or I sold him my Sopranos DVDs, and he happened to pick them up at my office. That other story just sounds cooler).

Also early this year, I met Nicole and found a kindred spirit, fellow wannabe nomad, and adventure-seeker. Within weeks of lovey and crazy and life-planning emails, she booked a flight to Minneapolis. A few weeks after that, we were reunited in Vegas with 26 other AMAZING 20-something bloggers.

And then this past weekend, I went to Chicago to see some of the Vegas girls again and meet other masterminds behind the 20sb network, meetup, and testament to its success.

(It should be noted that while she couldn’t be AT the meetup in Chicago because she’s off doing cool things in Kenya, Lisa is the 21-year old TRUE mastermind, creator, and all-around visionary and genius behind what is now a 7k+ member network of 20-something bloggers. I can’t WAIT to meet her. Lisa, you’re effing amazing.)

After Vegas, I tweeted that meeting other bloggers was my favorite new hobby. Max pointed out how many of his friends were found because this way, and I realized it’s really true.

I have met some fantastically amazing people spanning the continent (and a couple overseas) and this whole 20sb thing has sent my life in a new direction (or at least has sent me to a different city every other weekend…).

I can’t believe that I’ve flown to Vegas and Chicago to do this. I return to Chicago in three weeks to join Nintendo for some fun at the BlogHer ‘09 conference. In mid-August I’m going to NYC to finally meet Ashley, a long-time major blog crush of mine.

So yeah. I heart blogging.

Wrigley Field

Originally uploaded by doniree.com

Celebrities are cool and all, but to be honest – and fine, with a couple of exceptions – I don’t have grand hopes or expectations to meet any and I don’t know that I’d be particularly blown away if I did.

(Jon Stewart, Zach Braff, Zoey Deschanel and Dave Matthews – you are the exceptions.)

This stadium on the other hand? I’m not gonna lie, I got goosebumps. Butterflies. Absolutely giddy. I walked along the side of it touching the old, concrete walls. Looking up in awe pretending just for a moment that I was actualy there to see a game from the bleachers – not just walking past on the way to a bar on the other side.

One of these days – this summer? – I’ll see a game here, but for now – this is as close as I’ve come.

That didn’t change the fact that I giggled as I threw my arms up in pure joy that I am actually standing in front of Wrigley-freakin’-Field.

You can take a girl out of the National League, but you can’t take the inherent I’m-truly-a-baseball-fan-FIRST out of the girl.

serenDIPity

Originally uploaded by doniree.com

If you know me, you’ve heard me say at least a half a dozen times that I believe that people are not accidents and that – as cliche as I know this is – events in our lives are rarely, if ever, coincidental.

My mom’s told me almost yearly for as long as I’ve remembered that I’ve lived a “charmed” life… and so far, that’s true. As for serendipity, it blows my mind the sequence of and common threads in the events in my life, especially over the past couple of years.

So… this picture? Yeah. Story of my life.

*i also have this thing for pictures of random signs like this, so this photo in and of itself is just awesome*

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Originally uploaded by rach.eliza

This is the face of a very happy girl who got her pancakes TWO weekend mornings in a row in Chicago this past weekend.

These particularly delicious blueberry pancakes were enjoyed at Clark’s on Belmont just before the Gay Pride Parade in Chicago.

While it may LOOK like phampants is helping me eat these, let it be known that I did NOT share.

More Chicago pictures to follow…

First of all, an admin note: yesterday’s post on signature drinks is now officially my favorite post. If you haven’t weighed in yet, hop over there and do so, and if you have – your suggestions were AWESOME. And I have a lot of drinking to do.

Ok… onward, to your regularly scheduled programming:

[Maude Armatage] was a guiding light and driving force in helping Minneapolis to come of age in the 20th century. She was born in 1870 to a family who owned a farm on what is now the entire Armatage neighborhood. Her grandparents founded Harmony, MN, later to become Richfield, then annexed by Minneapolis in the mid 20th century. They were civic leaders, founding the library, school, church and parks. Maude continued that tradition, living by the motto of “civilized leisure”. Maude was a lifetime member of the Board at large, elected to the Park Board in 1920, just one year after women got the vote. With leaders such as Theodore Wirth, she founded our fabulous park system and fostered the “greening” of our city. (via)

We (myself and my three awesome roommates) moved into our place in Minneapolis’s Armatage neighborhood last November. Since then, Sasha and I have been trying to Cafe Maude, a small restaurant that at 54th and Penn is just about a stone’s throw from our backyard. I’d only heard good things about this place, so the positive reviews, the proximity, and my insatiable curiosity for all things culinary made me extremely excited to try it.

We FINALLY got to it this past Monday night, joined by Allison, one of our other roomies. I immediately fell in love with the decor and the light fixtures and the art on the wall as it is an absolutely gorgeous place.

More importantly, the food was incredible. First of all, they have a CHEESE PLATE, which I didn’t order this time but will go back specifically FOR that soon because we all know how much I love a good cheese orgy.

Really though, I wanted to order just about EVERYTHING on the menu, but instead just made it a point to pick a few different things so I could try some variety of what they had to offer. Here’s what we ended up with between the three of us:

- Maude’s Mac and Cheese: a delicious grown up version that included cheddar, parm, and fontina cheeses
- Grilled Asparagus: perfectly cooked and with SO much flavor
- French Fries: came with a “truffle fontina fondue” which was rich and creamy and TO DIE FOR. And the fries themselves? I’d put ‘em up there pretty high on the Twin Cities Best Fry list.
- Roasted Corn Chowder: perfect blend of sweet and savory
- Tuscan Rice and Parmesan Croquettes: deep fried rice and cheese? Yes, please!

Is your mouth watering yet? Mine is just remembering all of this. I had a 2007 Pinotage from South Africa with it, and while I’m no expert in wine pairings and such (yet), I thought it was just right for the variety of flavors I tasted.

The best part? They bring you the check in old children’s books – CUTEST THING EVER.

Because I need to basically eat everything on this menu, I plan to return ASAP and often. Anyone want to join me?

No, not like rightthissecond (though I wouldn’t fight you on it if you offered me one).   I need like “a” drink, “my” drink.  I’m 26 years old and ordering a drink at a bar literally sends me into frazzled mode when I think I want something other than a beer or wine.  Granted, that ever happening is rare, but here’s why:

I’ve never really been the kind of person to have “the usual” anywhere I go.  Every time I stare up at the menu boards at my favorite local delis and cafes, it’s as if I expect that they’ve changed since the last time I’ve been there.  Up until recently, I could never make up my mind when it came to what kind of coffee drink I wanted in the mornings (cold press, half a shot of hazelnut syrup, soy milk, if you want to buy me coffee soon).

So, lately as I’ve watched my (classier? cooler?) friends saddle up to the bar and confidently order their Grey Goose and sodas or their Jameson on the rocks or their vodka cranberries, I take my sweet time perusing the beer and wine menus and typically opt for something that falls into some combination of these categories:

• It’s Minnesota made
• I’ve never heard of it
• It’s a Pinot Noir or a Sauv Blanc (depends on the season), or again, something I’ve never heard of

While I’m perfectly happy with a Premo or a Pinot, I’d like to expand my horizons a bit, but I don’t know where to start.  So this is where I’m asking you to weigh in.

What’s YOUR cocktail?

And more importantly, what should mine be?

Some guidelines for your suggestions to me:

• I veto Captain Morgan.  No, not because of some bad night in college.  Because I seriously can’t stand that shit.
• Let’s not get too froofy about it.  I love me some Colorado Bulldogs, but ordering what’s really a glorified Grown Up Chocolate Milk in a place like the CC Club just doesn’t seem right (then again, ordering anything there thats not a pitcher of Premium just doesn’t seem right).
• Scratch that.  Anything’s fair game.

That’s about it for rules.  Now, HELP!

Champagne and games and parties?  YES, PLEASE.

I don’t have the time (or resources) for a proper post today, so I will shower you with love inspiration This Week in Bulleted Highlights:

• Monday was fantastic and included checking out my bestie and her fiance’s new digs that’s only FOUR MILES from my house.  Happiness ensued.
• On Tuesday, our weekly softball games and subsequent Herkimer patronizing was canceled due to monsoons a little bit of rain.  I used this free night to successfully make vegetable manicotti for the first time ever without destroying the shells during the stuffing process.  We consider this a WIN.
• Wednesday marked my last night in the financial planning class I’m taking with my parents.  As a result of this class and the skillz I have mastered started applying, for the first time in my adult life a financial “emergency” did not require a loan from my parents.  I did NOT have to ask my parents for help to fix my car when it expensively broke THE WEEK BEFORE MY VEGAS VACATION.  I did however ask them for gas money last night because hello – my car broke and then I went to Vegas.  My parents are rockstars.  Hugs and kisses, Ma and Pops.
• After class, I caught up with Ash.  She’s like, one of my oldest friends and by far one of the COOLEST people I know.  She also keeps me updated on the drama that unfolds in her life, and I do my best to keep her sane and remind her that we are NOT the crazy people; we only gossip about them.
• Tonight?  I have NO PLANS.  Except I think I’m going to go hibernate somewhere where I can borrow a computer from someone since my iBook DIED this week.  And then I cried.  Visitation and burial services will be held this weekend.  Details to be announced soon.
• Tomorrow?  FINALLY attending my first Twins’ game of the season.  I KNOW, I fail as a Twins fan, but I’ll make up for it by being the loudest and most enthusiastic one there.  Or just by buying lots of beer and nachos.
• Weekend plans include: a haircut by the most awesome NattieP at Salon Intrigue (that’s my official plug for her; her experience includes fancy-pants NYC work, and she’s the most adorable hair-cutter you’ll ever encounter), some potential MUCH-NEEDED catch-up time with my girlfriends, and hopefully a round of golf hitting range balls on Sunday with my dad.

Crap.  That last one was supposed to be a surprise.  So… whatcha doin’ Sunday afternoon, Pops?  Shall we golf?  Awesome.  See you then.

So that’s my week in bullets.  I’d say it’s kicked ass thus far.  Carry on.

Me and the Road Trip Girls

Originally uploaded by rach.eliza

I had a number of favorite moments while in Vegas this past weekend. As I’ve already mentioned, this includes a cheese orgy, a bathroom photo shoot, and playing in fountains.

Additionally, GETTING to Vegas was an adventure in and of itself. Rachel and I flew into Burbank to meet Nicole and Andrea, had a sleepover on the floor/couch of Nicole’s place, and then got up at the crack of dawn on Friday morning to make the drive from LA to Vegas.

The adventure truly started here, making friends on the highway, overdosing on Trader Joe’s Chocolate-Covered Pretzels with Peanut Butter (NOM), shooting some LOUD and hilarious videos, simultaneously loving and laughing at Primm, NV, and super awesome girl talk that took us all the way from Cali to Vegas.

These girls are truly amazing women and I am fortunate to call them my friends-turned-sisters. They’re also stellar bloggers and are part of the reason that I can say that blogging truly changed my life.

If there’s ever been a word I’ve used to describe my life and the way its events seem to unfold, it has been “serendipity.”

So… finding an ice cream sundae on the strip with that word plastered across the front of it, while we happily roamed in our wine-induced haze, in the company of three of many women who would impact my life in a very huge way this weekend… well, serendipity: WIN.

As I believe about all relationships in my life, these relationships are NOT accidents and I am so excited to see where serendipity takes us from here

More of my favorite Vegas moments still yet to come, so stay tuned!

Originally uploaded by wishcake

No, this was not taken at the Bellagio. I’m not that stupid.

Instead, I think this was at Caesar’s Palace, and was the result of working our way through a photo scavenger hunt after copious amounts of wine in the Venetian.

CLEARLY, we get bonus points for creativity because this item on the hunt was in absolutely no way “Jump in a fountain and play,” but was simply “water.”

Tell a bunch of wine/margarita-hazed girls to take a picture of/with water when you’re surrounded by fountains everywhere you go and someone’s bound to get the idea to get IN the water. I’m not pointing fingers, Nicole.

Anyway, that’s basically what happened here.

~

photo credit: photo taken by Katelin425; edited by wishcake