Traveling Tuesdays - B and B Showers in ND

Last weekend, I headed back to ND for two showers: Kristen and I hosted a bridal shower for Steph on Saturday, and then there was a baby shower for Kristen (and Caleb - cute name, huh?!) on Sunday. It was a whirlwind weekend, but it was a lot of fun.

Steph, Kristen and I all joined our sorority at the same time (our 10 year anniversary is coming up) and have remained great friends during all those years. Despite me leaving all over the Midwest, these two, along with Michelle and Brooke, are my very best friends from college, and I am so glad that we all - i.e., ME - live closer now.

Kristen is the honorary maid of honor is Steph's wedding, but since her due date is just a week after the wedding, she is unsure if she'll make the wedding. We are all hoping she does! So she and I threw Steph a shower with friends and family. Here are some pics from the day (thanks K for letting me steal some from you):

Drinks and favors table

Cupcakes - Kristen made the toppers

Food table. Tea sandwiches, caprese salad, and cupcakes.

Kristi (bridesmaid) and Michelle working hard on Bridal Scattergories.

The bride!

College besties. Brookee, me, Steph, M and Kris. This is our first picture of the five of us in years.



Bridesmaids and the bride. Kris, me, Kristi (old coworker) and Kari (sister in law).

 After the shower, Brookee drove me to Fargo (thanks Brookee) so I could spend the night with Jessi. We had a lot of fun, just hanging out and watching HP 7 Part 1.

On Sunday, we went to Kristen's BFF Jen's for a baby shower, hosted by Jen and Kristen's sister Michaela. Everyone there for the most part was at Kristen's bachelorette party and/or wedding so that fun. Of course, we forgot to take a group picture that day but I did get a few fun photos.

Super adorable book cake.

People decorating onesies.

Steph working on her "peanut" onesie.

Jen and Kris. Loved that dress.

Gift opening.

I gave her a whale bathtub. So did Steph. Good job Target on updating her registery :-(

Cute little book box for Caleb, mad by Jen's husband Quinn.

Diaper bag.

It is really nice to live within driving distance of everyone for the first time in 6 years. It was a very fun weekend and I am so glad I was able to see my friends.

Sunshines and Creeps

Woop woop! It's finally Friday! And that means Sunshines and Creeps!

Sunshine to seeing my GPhiB besties this weekend.

Sunshine to my weekend of showers: Kristen and I throwing Steph's tomorrow, and then it's Kristen's baby shower on Sunday.

Sunshine to the weather forecast for tomorrow.When you plan an outdoor shower, you take a big chance. And I think it's going to work out just fine for us. Whew!!!

Sunshine to seeing Jessi this weekend. I haven't hung out with her in forever!

Creep to not feeling great this week. Maybe I need more sleep or something...

Creep to Toby being a little devil this week. You can read about our dog sitting experience here.

Creep to not packing for my weekend trip yet - oops!

Sunshine to quality time with Michael last weekend and this week.

Creep to the Twins for trading Jim Thome. I love that guy...

Sunshine to ordering the pictures for our room. Now if we can just get rid of the fluorescent lights...

Sunshine to my parents LOVING their anniversary gift for me and my sisters. We made them a family cookbook with pictures, recipes, and stories. It was a lot of work but totally worth it. I can't wait to see it in person!

Sunshine to M and I planning a fall weekend getaway trip that doesn't revolve around a wedding, seeing family, going to the lake, etc. Don't get me wrong - I love doing all those things. But sometimes you just need a trip that doesn't involve those things.

Creep to missing Chicago this week. I kept seeing all these commercials and talking about the city with others, and it made me realize just how much I loved living there. Don't get me wrong - I am THRILLED to be in MSP, but I will always have a fond place in my heart for Chicago.

Sunshine to having a couch. Finally!

Sunshine to my GF Johanne. Love you GF and cannot wait to see you in November, if not sooner :-)

Adventures in Dog Sitting

M and I are currently dog sitting for his family, as they are all gone for the week. Though Toby (a puggle) isn't the smartest dog in the world, I do typically enjoy being around him.

Molly (Michael's sister) and Toby.

Last night, we picked up Toby and while, he got in the way a few times as made dinner, for the most part, he was a good boy. Flash forward 30 minutes to bedtime when we put him in his kennel and all hell broke loose. He went absolutely crazy! M is sort of allergic to him so we didn’t want him in our room, nor did we want him to ruin our new rug (pictures coming soon, I promise!) so we put him in the guest room. Again, hell broke loose. He whined, clawed at the door, barked, etc for 20 minutes. He even stopped for a few, then started up again. At that point, M and I had had it, so we put him in the basement. It’s finished and huge so he has have lots of run around down there. Again, he goes crazy but he’s far enough away and we have enough fans going that we can ignore him and fall asleep.

I felt bad for doing that b/c I know he’s in a new location (and without his buddy Corkie, M’s family’s other dog, who is at Grandma and Grandpa B’s), but I needed sleep.

Well, that “bad feeling” went away REALLY fast this morning when he decided to retaliate by doing exactly what M and I DID NOT want him to do: poop on our rug! UGH! It was even after M let him outside! I couldn’t believe it.

M and I want to get a dog next spring, and we plan to make our dog an outside dog, but I hope this dog sitting experience doesn’t ruin it for me. Usually I love Toby, but today, Toby is literally on my s***list.

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to a weekend with just Michael at the lake, and no projecting. I am SO looking forward to relaxing with him and having no distractions.

Creep to not being home in ND this weekend with the rest of my family. At least we have Skype!

Sunshine to my parents for celebrating their 30th anniversary this weekend. High school sweethearts who love each other more and more every day. Such amazing role models - LOVE YOU BOTH!

Sunshine to our Chicago skyline picture arriving on Wednesday. Definitely will be a talking point when people come in our house - love it!

Sunshine to stopping in Albertville on our way to the lake. I'm hoping to find a new purse at the Michael Kors store.

Sunshine to working out this week. Keep it up, Jenni!

Sunshine to figuring out pics for our new frames. Now I just need to order them. Our bedroom is almost complete!

Creep to still not having a couch - hopefully we'll have it by early next week.

Sunshine to setting up a girls night with my Chicago/MSP friends in September.

Creep to my lingering headache. It's been three days - please go away soon!

Sunshine to seeing my GPhi friends in a week.

Creep to work starting to get really busy.

Creep to a really busy week next week - so much to do!

What a weekend!

Why oh why do weekends go by so quickly!? I wish they were at least one day longer. By the time I cram in errands, house stuff, exercise, etc., it’s 9pm on Sunday night and I still have a list of things to do!
As with all weekends, this one went by quickly but was a good one. Here’s a recap.
Friday – M and I went for walk around the lake and made dinner. We made homemade onion rings and bugers. YUM! We ended the night with a few episodes of Covert Affairs (love this show!).

Saturday – M and I made breakfast burritos, ran some errands, and then projected all day. I finally unpacked the bathroom, and several other boxes. M and his grandpa changed the lighting in the guest room (no more florescents!) and his dad helped with yard work. We primed the hallway wall for painting and hung some shelves in our room. M and I made steak, potatoes, and goat cheese biscuits for dinner but we hit a few snags. M didn’t know what medium well meant so my steak was a little overcooked, but still good. He also locked the oven door and our old thing decided it was in cleaning mode and wouldn’t reopen. So the goat cheese biscuits were an after meal snack. At 10:30. When we finally got the thing working again. We won’t be ever locking that door again!
Sunday – M and I made some French toast and ham steak, then went to IKEA for the second weekend in a row. I was impressed with our efficiency however – 25 minutes total from pulling into the parking lot to pulling out of the parking lot. We bought some picture frames (thank you for being cheap IKEA!) and a light fixture. Then it was off to Dicks because Michael desperately needed new running shoes. Then home again for more projecting – this time we painted the ceiling in the guest room and hallway and painted the hallway. Still need some touch ups but I am happy with the color. I also made some frozen corn, which I am so excited about. It was my first time doing it but my grandma’s recipe was pretty easy to follow and Jessi was also super helpful. I can’t wait for Thanksgiving so we can eat some! We had planned to go on our bike ride that day but all the projecting got in the way :-(

Dinner that night was pulled pork sandwiches and cornbread. The cornbread was a last minute addition but I found a recipe online and had everything for it so I threw in some fresh corn too. It was easy and quite delicious. And I don’t even like cornbread so that says a lot if I liked it. We ended the night with the last episode of Covert Affairs and hit the sack.

Next weekend, we are going to the lake, just the two of us. I am excited to have a weekend off from projecting and instead, relaxing with the love of my life.

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to Friday and the weekend. What a long week!!!

Sunshine to a yummy menu for the weekend (burgers and homemade onion rings, filets and goat cheese biscuits, and pulled pork sandwiches).

Creep to all the work Michael and I have to do this weekend. Our project list is long!!! At least we'll relax when we cook.

Sunshine to a long bike ride some time this weekend.

Sunshine to the amazing weather we've had this week. Absolutely perfect.

Creep to 5 day work weeks. That whole Fridays off thing in the summer spoiled me.

Sunshine to my one year anniversary since my eye surgery. I can see wonderfully, and while some times were tough, I don't regret it for a second. I'm finally used to waking up and seeing 20/20.

Sunshine to yoga in the park (but creep to doing it in grass that had just been cut - I was COVERED in grass by the end).

Sunshine to talking to Kristen this week and working our more details of Steph's wedding shower in a few weeks. Can't wait to see my friends!

Sunshine and Creep to my new bed. It's amazing, but makes me wish I could stay there all day!

Happy weekend everyone!

An open letter to a crazy lady

Dear random lady behind me at Starbucks this morning,

While I appreciate your energy and kindness at 7am, I'm sorry to tell you that I have many great friends, and I don't need another "BFF" as you called me during our 10 minute interaction at Starbucks this morning. I am all about chit chat with peoeple, but I think you need a lesson in what constitutes appropriate chit chat.

Just because you thought my drink (green tea lemonade) sounded "unique" doesn't mean it is (it's really not), nor do your compliments to me on my selection make us new "BFFs." It made me really uncomfortable when you asked me for a "straw full" of it so you can see what it tasted like. Thank you Starbucks barista for hearing this and offering to make her one for free. Finally, I think it would be best if you kept your stories about how rough menopause is to your actual BFFs and not me. The men standing around us were  uncomfortable than me, and I was pretty darn uncomfortable at that point. I hope that you enjoyed your free green tea lemonade, and I also hope that you take my advice and don't try to make any more BFFs at Starbucks.

Sincerely,

Jenni

P.S. Starbucks - please put a drive thru in so I don't have to deal with Ms Crazytown USA anymore. Thanks!

Projecting

As you know, Michael and I moved into our house at the beginning of the month. Michael and his dad bought the house in December of 2009 with the plan of Michael living in it and doing the renovations himself. Now he has me as his assistant and we have a house that, while certainly liveable, is in need of some major upgrades.


Last week, Michael put together a project list for us, just so we know the things we want to do, and when we hope to achieve them by. Most of the things on this require us to have some decent cash on hand so who knows if the timeline is all that accurate, but it’s nice to have a general idea.

Project Name                                                                     Timeline

I. Interior – 1st Floor
      1. Paint walls, ceiling and trim in each room                  ASAP
      2. Hardwood floor refinishing – master bed                Summer 2011
              i. Pick out floor finish type and rug
      3. Closet expansion – master bed                              Summers 2011-12
              i. Window move
      4. Sliding/French door installation – master bed      Summers 2011-12

      5. Screened-in porch addition                                    Summers 2011-12
             i. Connection to existing deck, stain to match
      6. Bathroom tile replacement – master bath                Fall 2011
             i. Replace shower tile and dual head locations
             ii. Heated floor installation
      7. Kitchen fixture replacement                                  Summer 2011
             i. Sink faucet
             ii. Stovetop/oven
      8. Front/master bedroom lighting replacement    Summer – Fall 2011
             i. Install sconces and new overhead can lighting with dimmers
      9. Front bedroom closet door replacement              Fall 2011
     10. Guest bath remodel                                              TBD

II. Interior – Basement

      1. Guest room egress window installation               Summer 2012
      2. Guest room bath/closet conversion                Winter - Spring 2012
            i. Plumbing to code/match
      3. Move furnace to maximize basement space       Summer 2013
            i. Shift interior wall to fit
      4. Change lighting scheme – power lead locations   Summer 2011

III. Exterior – Front/garage

      1. Epoxy coat garage floor                                   Fall 2012
      2. Remove rear garage doors and cover         Fall 2011-Summer 2012
      3. Build work area in garage rear                        Winter 2012

IV. Exterior – Back

       1. Flower bed/planter box replacement            Summer 2011
       2. Tree/hasta removal                                       Summer 2011
       3. Misc. landscaping and edging                        Summer 2011

V. Large Projects
       1. Main floor expansion                                 Summers 2012-2013
             i. Kitchen build-out and remodel
             ii. Dining room build-out and remodel
             iii. Mud room build-out
             iv. Family room interior insulation and build-out
                      • 2-way fireplace installation
        2. Roof remodel                                              Summer 2013

VI. Misc. Projects
        1. Dining room lamp – remove chain links         Fall 2011
        2. Outside dog house                                       Spring 2012
        3. Dog door                                                     Spring 2012

As you can see, this is quite the list. But we've already accomplished some of them so I crossed them off. I'll give updates every few months. We certainly have our work cut out for us! This weekend will entail:

1. Painting the hallway
2. Yard Work
3. Finish unpacking

Happy Projecting!!!!

Traveling Tuesdays - Vegas

I promise that I will one day finish blogging about my trip to Belgium. But for today, I'm going to blog about my recent trip to Vegas for my Girlfriend Johanne's bachelorette party.

I was supposed to arrive on Friday morning at 8am Vegas time, but stupid Delta cancelled my flight (this is my second bad experience with Delta in a row - no more Delta flying for this girl!) so I didn't arrive until 9pm (Vegas time) on Friday night. I was exhausted from waking up at 4am to try to Delta, but I rallied and went out anyways. There were 10 ladies on the trip, and I met about half of them before. We walked around the casino in our hotel, the Monte Carlo, for a bit, and some of the ladies gambled. Not me. I just don't have the desire to gamble. Maybe I will someday but for now, I'm good watching others. So that’s what I did. Once people were done losing money, we went to a club at the Aria. I hadn’t been a club in years and although my feet hurt, we had a good time. My favorite part of the night occurred when I tried to order a Sprite from the bar with my free drink ticket. “$7” said the mean bartender girl. I said “But I have a free drink ticket?” She said “It’s only for drink drinks.” So I got a free rum and diet. Weird! We ended the night with “4th meals” at Sabaro, Subway, and some Mexican place. When I crawled into bed at 2am Vegas time, I had been up for 24 hours.

The blonde in the middle is Andrea, one of Johanne's HS friends. This just shows how many people were in this club. Crazy! (also, please note the SUPER skinny girl to the right of Andrea - yuck! Give that girl a steak)



Sarah (Matron of Honor), Johanne, and me

Saturday we walked around the strip most of morning and went to the big mall. We spent some time at the Bellagio so I took some pics there.

I thought this was neat.

I was hoping to lay by the pool that day but that didn’t happen :-( We met just before dinner to do presents and a champagne toast for Johanne, which was lots of fun. She got some really cute lingerie and panties. Then it was off to dinner at an Italian restaurant in the New York New York hotel. We sort of had our own private room, which was fun, and we had a funny server, which made the meal even more enjoyable. After dinner, we walked just down the hotel to a piano bar, where were settled for the night and had a great time. The pianists even invited Johanne up and sang her a special song (it was dirty but still funny and she was a good sport about it). After 3 hours and several jello shots, we called it a night, but not before another 4th meal at McDonalds and Subway.

Pics from the night

Some of the ladies before we went out

Me and my GF

Me, GF, and Sarah (Matron of Honor)

Trying to do a BJ shot

Failing at the shot

Hilarious!

It's much easier to use your hands.

Girls with some random guy

Me with my roomies, Jenny and Heather

Sunday morning, I had breakfast with my friend Kristie from NU, who just happened to be in Vegas with her parents. It was so fun to see her and since she lives in Nashville, we only get to see each other a few times a year. Then it was a sad goodbye to my GF and new friends before heading to the airport and home to MSP and our house! M and his family had done a ton of painting and moving over the weekend and that night was the first time we slept in our house.

I don’t know if I’ll ever go back to Vegas, but I’m glad that I’ve been and experienced at least once in my life.

Sunshines and Creeps

Sunshine to finally being in our house.

Sunshine to our new bed. King sized bed + new sheets + new comforter + new pillows = happy J&M. WE LOVE IT!

Creep to still having SO MUCH to unpack - I have a feeling I'll be unpacking for the entire month of August.

Creep to all the projects on our to do list (I will share this soon). I feel like we'll be projecting for the next three years.

Creep to all the money we've been spending lately. Moving, projecting, and life in general are expensive :-(

Sunshine to making it to Vegas last weekend for Johanne's bachelorette party. I was 12 hours late, but I made it.

Sunshine to seeing my aunt and her family at my cousin's baptism tomorrow.

Creep to not talking to my friends lately. Friends - I promise I will call you soon. I just need a few more days to settle into our house.

Sunshine to cooking dinner with Michael tonight.

Sunshine to *hopefully* watching some TV this weekend. I have literally watched about 2 hours of TV over the past month, which was a Twins game. I've missed you summertime shows!!!

Creep to feeling overwhelmed at work. I cannot do it all, people!

Creep to not working out once this week. This move is killing my routine.

Sunshine to Skyping with the S family and my parents tonight (all in CO together). I can't wait to see everyone.

First Night in Our House

Sunday night was me and Michael's first night in our house - yay! I thought that day would never arrive! On Monday, we were busy all night, putting away our kitchen stuff and going on the most expensive Target run ever (did I mention I like to spend money the last few weeks?) but we made time to cook dinner. Most everything was in the dishwasher when we made it so we had to settle for paper plates and drinking straight from the milk carton. Classy, I know! But we didn't care because we finally felt like we were at home.

Here's to many more dinners in our house!

August Goals

Did anyone else think July was a long month? Maybe it's just me because I was living in a full house with my stuff in two different rooms and a garage, starting a new job after three weeks of no work, and traveling nearly every weekend. But seriously, July was so long this year! And I usually love that, as July is sort of the last month of summer in my mind. Not this year! I kept saying to myself, "Is it August yet?" Anyways, I hope this mindset doesn't continue because I need some routine back in my life. Surprisingly, I did better on my goals than I thought I would. In fact, better than I ever have. But that's probably because they were more "to dos" than goals. Oh well. Hope August is the beginning of my "no more transition month."

And remember I'm moving into our house this month so most of my personal goals are house projects. I hope I didn't get over excited about my success this month, because I have a lot of personal goals.

Professional Goals - July

Meet with everyone in my department

Meet with the president of the Alumni/ae Council

Come up with a list of to dos - boy did I come up with a list of to dos!

Get a good handle on Reunion Weekend (Sept 16-18)

Wow my boss – I want her to know that I was the right person for this job! - considering there are so many things that need improving, this was not hard

Personal Goals - July

Yoga once a week – this will happen

Cardio three days a week – this will also happen, I swear to you! - I did this! Now I just need to keep it up!

Finish my current book - nope, halfway done. But it is 900+ pages

Buy Michael’s new vehicle - yay for his Toureg

Go to the lake for the weekend - did this three times, including once to DL with my friends

Finalize details of Steph’s wedding shower - we (i.e., Kristen) finalized the date, time, location, and invitations have hit mailboxes. Still more to finalize but we have the important things down. Now time for the fun stuff!

Pick out paint colors - after a few failures (thank God for samples), I am happy with what we picked. Can't wait to post pictures when we're done

Cook dinner once a week – I miss cooking! - I did, but I wish I could have done more.

“Michael and Jenni” time once a week – walk around the lake, dinner, something…

“Jenni” time once a week

Buy new bras – I know that sounds stupid but I really need some! - love them!

Post my August goals by August 1 (yeah, I made it a goal) - Woo hoo!

Professional Goals - August

Try to make the golf event as successful as possible (this is going to be tough considering it's two weeks away and invitations haven't hit mailboxes yet...)

Figure out my budget for the 2012 fiscal year

Figure out my plan for the new Net Community site

Create and publish an alumni newsletter

Personal Goals - August

Paint our bedroom, guest room, and living room

Figure out paint color for kitchen

Install new light fixtures in bedrooms

Refinish our bedroom set and put new hardware on all the pieces

Track our budget

Cardio three days a week - with my new bike, this should be easy. But with my move, it won't be that easy.

Yoga in the park - Need. To. Do. This.

Co-host a fun bridal shower for Steph.

Cook dinner with Michael three nights a week.

Have my Chicago girlfriends (well, now they are my MSP girlfriends) over to our house

Post "before" and "after" pics of our renovations on our house on my blog

Don't spend every weekend "projecting"

Bake a chocolate cake - I've been craving one

Freeze corn to beat eaten later during the year (using my grandma's recipe)

Finish that damn book