Saturday, June 28, 2008

60 Magical Years


Last weekend was spent with my family in celebration of my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary. Can you even believe it!?!?

The weekend was filled with B-I-N-G-O, a trip to the Red Carpet, Up & Down the River, fireworks, Cold Spring Brewery Tour, a fish fry, too many stories to count, too many beers to count, a round of Scooby Snacks for the entire family, lots of laughter (and a little crying - Mary Kay), hundreds of mosquito bites, a few burns and bruises, a couple of cheers, and two wonderful people looking at the family they have made over the past 60 years.

Congratulations Grandpa and Grandma!! Hugs and Kisses!!
And Up Yours!




Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Celebrations

While I'm sitting here with my bottle of wine watching the Celtics clinch the NBA Championship (fingers crossed), there are some other celebrations that have occurred over the past few months.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my cousin Johnny, cousin Eli and cousin Bjorn. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Jen, Nora, Kris, Joe, Rea, Izabela, Matt, Sarah, Pam, Scott, Zoe and Kerry!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Colleen and Peter, Kerry and Arturo, Shannon and Kent and Kerry and Dave!! Whether it was your 1st year anniversary or 9th year anniversary - congrats to you for your commitment to each other!

I hope you all enjoyed your special days and have a wonderful year ahead!

My MN Fix

It really was so wonderful to be back in MN a couple of weekends ago. It was great to see all my favorite neighborhoods, and more importantly, to see some best friends. The weekend started out interestingly enough. My flight was supposed to leave at 2:30pm, and I was finally in the air at 6:45pm . Just a slight delay. But then, maybe it was supposed to happen that way so I could run into Shannon at O'hare. Maybe next time I will actually be on your flight, Shannon!!

A HUGE shout-out to the crew -- Dawn, Helge, Kris, Craig, Lorrie, Chad, Jessica and Scotty -- for starting without me and making the sacrifice to hang out at Town Hall on a Friday night. I know it was tough! I miss you all alot, and am glad we had even a few hours to catch up over a few beers. I'm looking forward to BluesFest in August! Kris and Craig - thanks for letting me crash at your place.

Saturday brought a beautiful summer day to Minneapolis and I was so blessed to have the time to catch up with friends. Christine and Cara - I'm glad we could catch up over juice and "puppy dog tails". I miss working with you both, but am so proud of what you've accomplished in the year since we parted.

And then I ended the day with my college crew and all of us celebrating Nora and Chris' wedding! I am so happy I could make it back for this event, as it was fabulous to see each and every one of you. Nora, you looked so radiant!! And your wedding was exactly how I pictured it would be, and that is so special.


Kerry - we missed you and your family. Hopefully you can get back to MN to see all of us soon! Erin and George - thanks for letting me crash at your place.

Could it even be possible that Sunday was another beautiful summer day in MN? I was able to enjoy breakfast with my godson Quinton, and then visit with Leila, Aaron and Gabe who took me to a "new" part of town for lunch. Really? I haven't covered every area of the Twin Cities? Apparently!!! My visit to MN ended with my time with my 2nd family - Renee, Armand and The Girls. I'm living how many miles away and you still spoil me!?! Are you perhaps trying to lure me back to MN?!?!

To all of you that I saw a couple of weekends ago, you don't know how much the visit meant to me. It was SO wonderful to spend time with you...even if it was an hour or two. I love Chicago, but I still miss my "family" in MN. To all of those that I missed visiting, I hope to see you soon!

Happy Father's Day!!

When am I ever up to date on this blog? So I'm late in wishing all dad's a Happy Father's Day. Most importantly a Happy Father's Day to my dad. I'm bummed I couldn't see you, but a phone call is a good 2nd choice. Can't wait to give you a hug this weekend!
And of course a Happy Father's Day to my brother. I STILL can't believe you're a dad!!! And then there is a Happy Father's Day to all my friends/family that are fathers, uncles and godfathers.
I hope you enjoyed your day and realize how special you are!