And the Winner Is....

.....the Old Fashioned Ice Cream (Cookies and Cream flavor)!!

I did end up eating mostly new foods while I was at the Fair last week, and the best new food was Old Fashioned Ice Cream (at Machinery Hill, churned by antique John Deere tractors). In addition to the ice cream, I had my standard favorites of CHEESE CURDS and THE BEST LEMONADE EVER. I also had a nacho on a stick and white chocolate gelati. Add in a bite or two of my sisters' chocolate covered bacon and deep-fried candy bar, and I was STUFFED. And not a single bite disappointed.

None of us saw anyone we knew (which has never happened) so no one won The State Fair Game. I was disappointed.

We did have some AMAZING people watching (the picture is on my sister's camera, or I would post it here) and I saw a new favorite T-shirt: it said "Imagine a World Without Wisconsin". I WANT THAT SHIRT!

That was about all. Pretty low-key year at the Fair, but it was still wonderful. Love the Fair. Love.

FAIRy Excited!

Tomorrow night my sisters and I will spend our annual 2-3 hours at the Great Minnesota Get-Together. I plan on winning The State Fair Game again this year.

I also plan to stuff my face with every bit of food possible in 2-3 hours. Although, I think I may make a drastic change this year. I have my tried-and-true list of regular things I eat, but after much consideration and many conversations with friends who have already been to the fair this year, I think I need to start my list from scratch and branch out. I will only keep the cheese curds, and everything else I eat will be new to me. Should be fun. And I hope not disappointing. I'm always that person who gets food regret at restaurants after you get your food and everyone else looks like they made better ordering choices than you. I HATE that. So. Fingers crossed.

I'm pretty sure nothing will top my live performance on the radio from last year, but we will definitely manage to have an awesome time.

Wait a Minute...

OY VEY! The last few weeks have flown by! I won't bore you with the details. There are lots of them.

Anyway, I'm so far behind in posting that I still haven't mentioned anything about Aquatennial week. I know I've mentioned how I love the Ten Best Days of Summer before, and this year was no exception. I didn't go to as many events as I normally like to, but I did catch a few.

Once again, I was able to watch my cousin in the tennis tournament downtown. SUCH an awesome atmosphere, and SUCH awesome tennis. He ended up losing in the finals to a great player who has been touring in Europe for two years. It was by far the best tennis I have ever seen live, and very exciting, too: the first set went to a tie-breaker (and one of the games in that set had over 20 deuces...no lie!)

Thanks to the long-lost days when I was a "local queen", I've been to almost every single Aqua event...except the Torchlight 5K. I've seen it happening as I've waited for the parade, but I've never participated. This year I tried to get a group together to do the run, but it ended up being just me and one other friend. IT WAS A BLAST! We both rode a Minneapolis city bus for the first time ever, ran the race on a beautiful night, and laughed a lot. I think I'd like to do it again next year.

I also thought about going to the fireworks (since they are the best fireworks ever!) but I ended up staying home and going to bed early. Can't really remember why, other than it must have been a crazy week and I had reached my breaking point. Oh well. Maybe next year.

News Flash

Not.

CNNMoney released a list of the best places to live a few weeks ago. It's actually a list of the best "small towns" to live in, since one of the criteria was a population of 8,500-50,000. This was news-worthy in MN since the #2 city on the list was Chanhassen (last year a suburb of Minneapolis was #1 on the list....I think it was Hopkins?). The list was then broken down into different categories and, surprise, surprise.......MN had nine of the top 10 coldest cities to live in. No news flash there. Rochester was #1...congrats sis! (?)

In other (somewhat) related news, lately I've been considering relocating (don't worry, Mom, it's not that serious of a thought. Yet). And it wouldn't be only to escape the cold (although explaining how cold it is here to a family moving in from FL last week, as well as getting validation from that coldest cities list, does have me realizing how annoying the cold is). A year ago, I visited a friend who relocated to Seattle for a bit, and ever since then, relocating has been in the back of my mind. There would never be a better time in my life to do so. It's been a more frequent and recent thought thanks to annoyances at work and my BFFs possibly moving to a new city where they would be looking for people to follow. Working on my core values also has the "what am I doing with my life/how am I living these out" thoughts on my mind. Praying for my missionary-sister also gives me the bug to Just Do Something. So. It's a thought, or two.

If I do end up relocating, I think I found a list of top cities to consider. Just sayin'.

That's Different

I’ve lived in Minnesota my whole life and I still don’t think I’ve mastered how to speak Minnesotan.

For Christmas one year, my former employer took us to see the show “How to Speak Minnesotan” at a local playhouse. Of course the play talked about “you betcha”, ending sentences with “then”, our passive-aggressive and indirect nature, and how things get “froze up”. They also mentioned “come here once”, “uff dah”, “ya, ya, ya”, and talking about the weather.

The phrase that I’ve run into the last week a lot is “that’s different”.

Now, “that’s different” can be a simple statement of fact. Something is, indeed, different. Like the way my new car can make call just by pushing a button and speaking through the rear-view mirror. Different. And AWESOME.

Also, “that’s different” can be a way to say you disapprove, or that you have an opinion - but aren’t willing to give it. I ran into “that’s different” a lot this week as I wore a new pair of glasses that I bought (for $10 – my one “fun purchase for me” of the month). I don’t technically wear glasses, so yes, they are fake. And I got some people who told me they loved them, some people who said they did not, and a lot of “that’s different”.

I’m not sure how to interpret all the “that’s different” – it could be just that the glasses actually are different (which they are), that they are interesting (not sure about that), or that someone disapproves. Whichever way it is, I especially like that the glasses give me an entirely new look, so they are keepers in my book. I’ll wear them less often than I don’t wear them, but they are a nice change of pace.

And I needed a change of pace.

Stir It Up, Lord

My philosophy on winter: if it's going to be cold, there might as well be three feet of snow on the ground so at least it's pretty.

One of my favorite songs at this time of year is Real Good Storm by Peter Mayer.

The lyrics are so great. I LOVE winter days where you are stuck inside and forced to spend the whole day in your pajamas playing board games, reading books, watching DVDs, and then ending the day with a romp in the fresh snow followed with a hot cup of cocoa.

I say "Stir it up, Lord! Send us a real good storm!"

Here are the lyrics:

This winter, please, dear Lord

Send us a real good storm

One where we’re all snowed in

That makes people neighbors wave and grin

Stranded in our own yards

We might as well play cards

And get out game boards

So send us a real good storm

We who get so uptight

Need a good snowball fight

And should be forced to ski

To rent a DVD

So heap it up to the window sill

Make the mad world stand still

Bury us Lord

Under a real good storm

We’ll pile onto the old wood sled

Scream when we see a tree ahead

Make a man with a carrot nose

Then come back in and have hot cocoa

We’ll cheer when the radio

Says that our school is closed

We’ll make a big snow pile

Dig it out and crawl inside

Decorate it with Christmas lights

Laugh and sing songs all night

And we’ll stay warm

Inside of that real good storm

So stir it up, Lord

Send us a real good storm

State Fair Review

Mind you, my sisters and I only go to the Fair for 2-3 hours. Certainly you could spend 11 days at the Fair and still not see everything, but we simply don't have that kind of stamina or gumption. There's only so much walking, sweating and strange smells I can tolerate. So we spend a few hours cramming food down our throats and seeing our few standard favorite things. This year we were down one sister, but we still made the most of it.

What I Ate:

• Cheese Curds
• Pinacolada Smoothie
• Soft Pretzel
• Deep Fried Candy Bar
• Lemonade
• Sweet Martha's Cookies
• Unlimited Milk

We have our list of every-year-items (mine are above). We also like to add one food item each year, and this year I was going to add chocolate covered bacon. By the time we got to the booth, I was too sick to eat it. Maybe next year. Problem is that I will probably have to take something off the list of regulars to make room for new food. Not sure I'm willing to do that. Or we could stay at the Fair longer to work up an appetite, but I'm not too willing to do that either.

Things I saw:

• Bethel University Booth (free water bottle)
• 4H Building (Didn't really like how things were organized this year. At least from the part I walked through, I couldn't find a section of just quilts - the quilts were scattered around different displays in the building. I just wanted them all in one place)
• Butter-heads
• Big Pig (1200 lbs. Yuck)
• Miracle of Birth (or, as I call it, the Birthy Booth. A friend of mine was working there, so it was fun to see her and the cute little lambs born 2 hours before that she was taking care of)
• Grand Stand vendors

Again, these are our regulars. This year our new booth to visit was KFAN and it was definitely the HIGHLIGHT! First of all, the people watching was world class. The people watching at the Fair is always amazing, but I have never seen such a collection of people in one place - especially the ones who would approach the microphone to talk on the radio! Definitely some heavy drinking going on at the Fair.

The best part of KFAN was that my sister nominated me to sing on the radio. They were doing a karaoke contest for Micheal Jackson's 50th birthday (I know, can you believe he's 50?!). So after some coaxing, I sang The Way You Make Me Feel. My sister had to buy me Sweet Martha's as a bribe, but it made for a good State Fair memory, so I'm glad I did it. Pretty sure I sounded TERRIBLE since I can hardly sing to start with and the song was way too high for this alto. But oh well. It's a story to tell.

OH YEAH! I almost forgot - I also won The State Fair Game, so my sister also had to purchase my pretzel. All in all, I came out way ahead on the evening and had an enjoyable time.

Transformation

Not theology, just St. Paul.

I have been into St. Paul for work everyday this week, so I’ve been witnessing the transformation of the city as it prepares for the Republican National Convention.

Parking lots have transformed into television studios and staging areas. Billboards have gone up. Fencing has been placed along highways. Massive flags have been spray painted on grassy areas. Signs everywhere. Red, white, and blue everywhere. People in suits everywhere.

It has been fun to watch, but I’m going to save myself the headache and not go anywhere near St. Paul for the next week. It seems like the city will be pretty well barricaded, so I doubt they’d let me in even if I tried.

The State Fair Game

Whenever my sisters and I go to a place with crowds (movie theatres, ball games, malls, etc), we play The State Fair Game. How to play: The winner is the person who sees someone they know first (before the others see someone they know). You have to say hello to that person. Once a winner is confirmed, the losers have to buy the winner a treat. The game is named after the State Fair because it seems like you ALWAYS run into someone you know at the Fair, and of course, the treats are the best prize ever (and the most expensive treats around).

I explain the game to you because it is my number one goal to win The State Fair Game when I go later this week.

I also CAN’T WAIT to eat cheese curds and a soft pretzel. I know my sister will be craving corn dogs and corn on the cob. We’ll also definitely share a tub of Sweet Martha’s.

So pretty much, that is why I go to the Fair: to eat. Even winning the Game involves eating.

Actually, today I was thinking about going to the Fair and I thought of a few other things I am looking forward to: the Miracle of Birth booth, the 4H exhibits, the chintzy freebies, and of course the people watching.

Should be a good time. I’ll be sure to give you a full rundown of what I ate when all is said and done.

Lost Post

Not the show (although I will have posts about it when fall TV arrives). Just a blog post.

I just wrote a post about how I love tennis and I love the Aquatennial, so I really loved watching my cousin play in the Aquatennial Plaza Tennis Tournament last week. But when I hit publish, the post disappeared into the deep internet abyss, never to be seen again. So, lesson learned: type posts in Word and then just copy and paste when I am ready to publish. Okay.

In my post, I talked about why I love the tourney (mostly about the setting of having a court set up on a plaza downtown by a light rail stop with all kinds of crazy distractions) and the Ten Best Days of Summer (mostly for the fun events like milk carton boat races, ski shows, Torch Light Parade, especially the fireworks) but I really don’t feel like recreating the post now, so this is it. Probably a good lesson in being more concise anyway.

In other news, I haven’t been in the cities for a weekend yet this summer (except for one where I had back-to-back weddings – including playing piano in one – so I don’t really count that), so it was nice to be around here and enjoy my friends this weekend. It was filled with some relaxation, cleaning, a one-year-old bday party (complete with water balloon games – fun), and a third baby shower in three weeks (lots of Preggers around here, y'all). Overall, good. Except for the insomnia thing I’ve been fighting for a few months. I’ve encountered insomnia in the past, but never to this level. But I haven’t felt tired during the day, which is an answer to prayer, so things are good.

Also – why don’t “lost” and “post” rhyme? After all, they have the same spelling. Strange.