Old School

Tommy and I got to spend day two of vacation enjoying some old school favorites.  We of course started another day with a little walk to enjoy downtown Minneapolis and to pick up a little bit of Caribou Coffee of course.  (I am pretty sure I will get all of Tommy's Christmas presents from here...)  After a little hot chocolate, we met up with the boys from College.  It was great to catch up and have a few laughs.  After some time with the boys we headed to my parents favorite eating spot, The Italian Pie Shoppe.  As my Dad said Tommy and I were hoping to catch some good dating karma, since this restaurant use to be my Mom and Dad's date spot.  Italian fries...pepperoni pizza...cherry coke...fantastic company, what could be better???

After lunch we somehow found our way to a few more of my favorite spots and on the way we ran into some of my favorite Minnesota scenery, gorgeous leaves and colors!!!

Our last spots were in Eagan, MN where I grew up before we headed to Lynette and Tory's house for dinner!  We had a personal request from my mom for seal salt caramels, so we headed to Kowalski's by my old neighborhood.

And finally we stopped and saw were all the little Baileys grew up.  Not to much has change in a few short years.  Mallard Drive seemed quiet and calm for a Friday at 4pm that has definitely changed since we lived there...

Thursday... ON VACATION!!!

We spent our first day on vacation doing the typical vacation routine...

sleep in

wake up/shower

scrap ice off your car ;-)

hop into your cute rental car

get caribou

grab lunch (with Emmy and Pino)

shop for Minnesota gear

check out Indeed Brewery

quick nap

meet up for dinner with Aunt Cindy and Uncle Dan

vikes game (AMAZING tickets)

head home late 

brush teeth 

cuddle up in bed (because it was freezing)

Great first day on vacation, can't wait to get up and do it again!!

Cadder time

(Sung to the tune of MC Hammers Hammer time). Finally I got some quality time with Cade and his mommy last night. My last client cancelled so i was able to sneak out of work at 5pm instead of 6pm, woohoo. I stopped by my condo quick to get my favorite person in their furry pajamas (aka Lucy) and kept on driving to Gilbert. Ali and I caught up and Cade and I got a few giggles in (we might have been singing ASUs fight song). 

 When Tommy and I were shopping in Minnesota, we picked up some Gopher gear. Here is Cade rocking his hat....

He isn't too sure about being a Gopher, but then again who is??

Already showing signs of a true Sun Devil

Book Review

The studying has finally ended and I couldn't have been happier to get my hands on a few books.  Or I guess I should say I was more than excited to get my hands on my kindle.  (Which sadly broke on vacation---darn it)  The first book I checked off my list was Jeannette Walls story called The Glass Castle.  I highly recommend it!!  While there were times that the book made me a little angry, I definitely had a hard time putting it down.  Sundays have become complete football madness at my place, but I can actually say that football is helping me enjoy my personal time (reading time) and I am being more productive with cleaning and getting organized for the week.  So my book list is thankful for football Thursday- Monday....

Rating: B+

We made it

Flew in last night and luckily we didn't have to deal with any crazy Minnesota weather.  We landed around 9pm due to the time change and headed right to Caribou Coffee (Tommy's favorite).  After navigating through the airport to pick up our rental car, we headed to Em's place and then off to the Bull Frog.  The boys (Tommy and Jeremy) had a great time enjoying the pickle and whiskey shots, while Em and I enjoyed the waters and caught up.  We headed back home running in the windy weather (can't say I miss Minnesota just yet).  All and all a great first night, can't wait to see what this morning brings.

Tommy and I's only plans are...

Caribou Coffee
LeeAnne Chin for lunch
Indeed Brewery
maybe some shopping

Who knows??

Waiting at the airport 

I don't know how this ugly neck pillow made the trip, but somehow Tommy snuck it on.

First stop off the plane was Caribou of course (Dark Hot Chocolate)

Nothing better than jumping in your rental car and the first thing you see is an ice scrapper.  Thats when you know you're in Minnesota :-)

Someone learned a new trick

Cade is acting like a big kid now and he is loving sucking his thumb. What a stud!

Dreaming about Saturday

where I would love to be....

instead I will be here.

The things you do for a good friend right.  Tommy and I are headed to Rochester, MN for Kate's wedding on Saturday.  While I might be being a little over dramatic with the picture, needless to say it will be a little bit colder than we are use too.  I can not wait for some time away from work and I can't wait to show Tommy around MN more.  Better get packing... 

Rough Sunday

She didn't know who to cheer for....

Vikings or Cardinals?

My dinner date...

for Saturday night.

 He is pretty cute but he seemed a little quiet since he had spent the day at the farm taking pictures.  He was one tired guy. I definitely still got to enjoy dinner with the best looking guy in town (under 1 year old--- don't worry Tommy).  Ali, Adrian, Cade and I enjoyed dinner at PF Changs in Chandler, I always forget how yummy there food is.  It was the perfect reason to get out of my pajamas on a Saturday night.... here are some more pictures of Cade's fun day.

The Mannnnn has got style

No pun intended.  Tommy and I hit up Nordstrom Rack today and BAM we hit the jackpot, Yahtzee! We could not have been luckier with all the fall clothes.  Tommy was looking specifically for a dress shirt and tie for Kate and Mikes wedding next weekend.  He of course has plenty of dress shirts but wanted to look for something special since my dress is a little bright.  As soon as we walked over to the ties I spotted it.  For the first time ever I was excited to get home to see if it matched my outfit, such a nerd!  Looks good though...my dress on the left, Tommy's shirt and tie on the right.

I would say we are set for next weekend!

CAN NOT WAIT!!!

We leave for Minnesota in 4 days and it can not come soon enough.  As always we have a jam packed schedule while we are there and I am so lucky to be able to see all my great girlfriends (Becky, Jess, Amy, Em, Lynetter and Rach).  In case you didn't remember Lynette and Rach had baby girls in April and after Lynette posted these pictures on Facebook this week, I mean how can we not be excited to spend time with them and the babes!!!  Counting down the hours...

Sophia Noelle is getting soooo big!!

Pumpkin craving/carving

We had some friends over last night for a family dinner.  Since we all have been CRAVING pumpkin, we mixed it up this time by making our food selections fall inspired and in a crock pot.  The food was amazinggg!!!  Definitely our best work yet!!  We picked out our pumpkin carvings and stuffed our faces (with salad, chicken and pork sandwiches, chili, cornbread, mac and cheese, cupcakes and carmel apples, yum yum!).  After a little grub, the carving began and things got competitive.  Everyones pumpkins looked great and I was sooo surprised how into carving everyone was, another family dinner success.  While eating we realized that we have been having family dinners for one year and we were amazed at everything that has changed in one year! We are so lucky and blessed!!

Getting started

Guts!!

Sammy and Tommy's pumpkins

 B working...Tug relaxing

Happy Almost Halloween!!!

Love, love, love...

all the new fall clothes and I have always enjoyed seeing Lauren Conrad's latest collections.  This winter was definitely not a disappointment.  Here are just a few of my favorites... (and the best news is they are reasonably priced)

Buy them here.