Summer is...bacon wrapped, fried gold

Long Time, No Blog

Sorry...I've thought of you often...wanting to share my birthday, 4th of July (and beyond) adventures with you. It's just that well...I am actually pretty lazy and often uninspired and therefore unmotivated...well not necessarily in the conventional sense. I mean...o'course me and my life are spectacular and you certainly should be interested in what I'm doing, what I think about...everything and well...to be perfectly honest...me in general. But I do occasionally feel pressure to make sure that my thoughts are complete with (non-fuzzy) details and if applicable...photos...and so, without further ado...

Birthday Eve

My favorite day of the year is...the day before my birthday. Probably because I'm a spoiled rotten child on the inside and I love to shout...'tomorrow's my birthday!!!' It's not about the presents...I mean...don't be silly...I love a good birthday present...but...it does not have to be your birthday to get a present.

This year my birthday fell on a Thursday...which meant either an Okoboji birthday or a hungover car ride to Okoboji in Friday before the 4th of July traffic. I opted for a Boji birthday...even though that also meant that I didn't get to celebrate with all of the usual suspects. *sad face* You know who you are, you were missed.

the husband bought me this 'new' table for my birthday...the wood is over 100 years old...it is exactly what I wanted

a crop duster in the sky (trust me)

a field of soybeans

sleeping Fergie (and the directions to the lake)

more soybeans

a hog farm

more farm scenery

Never a Dull Moment

The husband had some work to finish before we left...we began our 200 mile journey to Lake Okoboji at around 5 pm on Wednesday the 1st. The route we take is not conducive to bathroom stops...unless you can pee in a ditch or a cornfield. We were about 45 minutes away from the lake when my hubby *needed* 'to stop'. We took a ten minute (one way) detour to Albert City, IA for a toilet. We stopped at the Cenex gas station/convenience store in Albert City where they have one unisex bathroom. We got out of the car...Fergie (my beloved Chihuahua) stayed in the car...the following convo took place as we were walking into the store:

me: 'did you lock the car'
the husband: 'no, I left the keys inside...it's Albert City, IA, Fergie will be fine'
me: 'if anyone steals my dog, I am divorcing you'
the husband: 'I can live with that'

We made our way into the store...he went to the bathroom...I perused the snacks. I realized the husband was gonna be a while as I decided on a push-pop. I hadn't brought my purse in to the store so I went out to the car to get some money for my chosen frozen treat. There was Fergie standing up at the window, looking adorable, scratching at the window...that's when I saw that the doors were locked...Fergie hit the power lock button with his tiny paw...ARGHHHHHHH!!! Keys: locked in the car, purse: locked in the car, husband's phone: locked in the car, my phone: locked in the car, my precious baby Chihuahua: locked in the car. I was immediately hysterical as I tried to get Fergie to unlock the doors. A few moments later, the husband comes outside to a very frazzled (bordering on straight-jacket worthy) Rebecca. He being the calmer one...went inside to call for help. The dispatch said the local sheriff 'for an emergency' would be there in about 20 minutes. My husband could tell by the dispatcher's tone that a Chihuahua locked inside of a car was not an emergency, according to the Storm Lake Sheriff (even though it was about 80 degrees out). Meanwhile, I was still trying to instruct Fergie on how to unlock the doors...his little nose making fog on the window and then scratching it away with his little nails...I was now officially an emotional wreck.

The husband was trying to get the Cenex clerk to give him a coat hanger off of some dry-cleaning that hadn't been picked up yet. Apparently in Albert City, you drop your dry-cleaning off at the gas station. Anyway...the lady was reluctant. Which turned out to be a good thing...because she gave him a fly swatter instead...you know the old kind with the metal looped end. The husband had the locks popped 30 seconds later...Fergie and I were reunited and I didn't have to get divorced. Side note: Volvos are very easy to break into.

Fergie after the incident (looking a bit stressed)

Myyyyy Birthday

I started the day with a Bloody Mary with a side of bacon. The weather was perfect out on the lake. We had a low maintenance, no fuss, drama free celebration.We boated all day and bar hopped all night...Thank YOU to everyone for all of the birthday well wishes. You guys made my day even bettah *smoooooch*

toasted after boating all day with Grey Goose

a wild turkey taking a stroll at the lake

4th of July Fireworks, Okoboji style @ Maxwells

July 7th full moon...Oooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

Minneapolis

My consort travels, for work, up to Minneapolis at least twice a month. Personally, I'm a big fan of having the whole bed to myself for a few nights a month...albeit, I do miss using his razor when he's gone (shhhh, don't tell him). Once in a while I will make the trip up there with him, usually for a specific occasion or event...but this time I went along...just because.

The Lions Club International was in town for their annual convention and the Yankees were playing the Twins...the only hotel available was the 601 Graves...which doesn't suck. I booked the room online and we were on our way. The Graves is located directly across the street from the Target Center. Upon arrival, it was evident that not only was there a concert that night, but it was one that I didn't want to be within a two block radius of...let alone right across the street from it. It turned out to be...the Jonas Brothers. *barf*

As we were checking in, I noticed that the front desk associate was having trouble finding our reservation. He was quietly speaking to another person behind the desk, who seemed to have more authority than he did. It turns out...the Graves was overbooked. I became nervous, imagining myself staying at a Super 8 in mega-mall hell, Bloomington. The clerk explained that they were totally booked, accept for the penthouse level. I thought...Super 8, here I come...and then, I heard angels as she smiled and said it was a hotel error, so we would not be charged for the upgrade. I peed my pants (just a little) and almost forgot the Jonas Brothers were across the street.

It was about 10 pm...I was hungry...after a quick freshen up we headed to the 112 Eatery which serves food until midnight. We walked the three and a half blocks through the Jonas faithful (mostly tweens and their psychotic parents) as they lined First Avenue hoping to get a glimpse of the virginal trio. The 112 Eatery is one of those trendy places with a slightly obscure menu...I had a bacon and egg sandwich with something called harissa (a spicy condiment) on it...it was de.li.cious...the fries were pretty terrific too.

The next day I hung out in the room, took a bath in the jacuzzi tub (while watching TV on the bathroom wall flat screen), drank a $10 beer from the mini-bar. The husband was due back around 6ish. I headed to the hotel bar around 5:30 where I drank Grey Goose and tweeted while I waited for him. After a couple of bar drinks we headed for Zelo for dinner...we shared a pizza....it was very good. The bartender informed us that a few of the Yankees were supposed to come in...I was ready to express my hatred in a nice enough way to still get a picture...alas, they never showed up. After dinner we headed to Barrio Tequila Bar for a nightcap...which for me was the old standby Goose and soda...I dunno what the husband had...but I'm sure there was tequila in it.

a peek at the new Twins Stadium and the top of the Target Center (where apparently they grow sod???)

the most comfortable bed in the history of hotels

The Basilica was having a block party...Rock out with your...Bible out

a watchtower on the way to uptown for lunch

my lunch at Figlio's...a delightful BLT

back on the road heading to Okoboji on a beautiful day

Minnesota corn

me in the car, on the wayyy to the lake

The People of Iowa Welcome You...Fields of Opportunities

a windfarm

another windfarm

this is the only 'lake pic' I took (just before we left)
so...imagine these:
1. me moaning while eating warm, cheesy crab dip at Yesterday's
2. a fat, bald guy singing Sweet Caroline at Cocktail's
3. an old, drunk dude half asleep, nodding off to the beat of some crappy Billy Joel song
4. me rolling my eyes as I wonder why karaoke exists
5. me wishing I had a gong
6. a competitive game of midnight Pictionary after drinking all day

the corn is getting tall

a big ole farm thingie

a rainbow halfway home

I'm Sorry, We Party

The Wedding

I went to a fabulous wedding in Scottsdale last weekend at the Intercontinental Montelucia Resort. Usually I hate weddings, but this’un was goooood. A longtime family friend got married; the fun loving guests were all familiar faces. Friday pool day, Friday night rehearsal dinner and bar hopping, Saturday pool day, Saturday evening wedding and reception that carried over into an afterhours situation until dawn…the flight home on Sunday was painful but worth it.

I’m a PC *sadface*

After arriving home on Sunday night from AZ, I unpacked (threw my clothes in a pile) and switched on my infant laptop (it’s only a month old), which is a PC because I would rather spend money on shoes than a Mac. Instead of the normal…blah, blah, welcome to Windows, blah…my 17” monitor gave me the blue screen of death. There was a message about Windows not being able to load and some directions about the F8 key…I was very tired, hungover and planning on driving to Chicago the next day to see a concert.

Computer issues in my house are a man-job. O’course my man was busy and couldn’t help me. So me and my small girl brain called Dell. It was about 1 am. Samir at Dell helped me. He was polite, easy enough to understand and didn’t ask me any silly questions that would offend my girly intelligence. An hour and a half later, I was back up and running albeit I had to go back to the original settings, losing my life’s work (translation: a bunch of stupid pix).

The Melvins in Chicago

The husband had some work to finish up on Monday morning and he has been fighting the flu (non-swine) so I did most of the driving to Chicago, which is fine since he has a speeding problem…or rather a getting caught speeding problem. We arrived at the Chicago Hilton at 7:15 pm, left the car with the valet, checked in, found our room, hurriedly changed and made our way down to the hotel bar for a quick bite to eat and our first dranks of the evening.

After an $85 snack we hopped in a cab for the Double Door where we had tickets to see The Melvins. The Melvins are a sludge metal band that I listened to in my past life (my teenage years) and began re-appreciating in my current life (my thirties).

I’m a bit of a girly girl but I’ve definitely got a dark side. So there I was in a stylish top, 7 for all Mankind jeans and 5 inch designer sandals with my son of a doctor husband in his plaid collared shirt amidst the rock band t-shirted dingy denim crowd. Two grungy guys in front of us in line were smoking a joint, I later found out they were both dads, one was a married professional. The Melvins rocked it out; talent in that band is aplenty. We left the show about 11:30 for a late dinner at Bistro Bijan and then over to Division Street.

We went to a place with peanut shells on the floor, I think it was called The Lodge, it was busy with a bunch of drunk(er) people…we headed across the street to an Irish pub-y sort of place…it wasn’t as busy and the jukebox took credit cards (at the time that seemed really exciting to me). I played a couple hours worth of songs and sang to them all loudly. The bartender’s name was George, he looked more like a Glenn and he had a twitch. The more I sang the twitchier he got, this amused my husband greatly.

We left in a cab sometime before closing… I was really hoping to make it over to the Hollywood Grill for early morning bacon and eggs…but I was overserved and in need of a bed before I remembered I wanted breakfast.

I got up sometime around 11 am…the husband was working. I mumbled something about being hungry, rolled out of bed threw on some clothes, a hat and sunglasses. We packed our things, checked our bags at the luggage check counter, grabbed a cab, headed over to The Grill on the Alley for lunch, where I had a pretty amazing Caesar salad. After lunch we walked the two miles back to the hotel, it was a gorgeous day in Chicago and my hangover had faded. I tried to beguile the hubby into staying another night, but he had work to do, so we headed home.

Tomorrow begins the Memorial Day weekend…we’re heading to Lake Okoboji for what’s looking to be a rainy weekend. Oh well…when it rains it pours and by pours I mean cocktails. I’m not sure if my liver is up for it…let the summer begin!!!