Monday, 22 June 2009

  • Goodbye, Xanga!

    Yes, it's true. I have finally given in to the pull of Google's much superior blogging platform. Plus, my entire family is blogging over there so it just makes more sense. From now on, you can find all new blogs posts at this link:


    I'm sure I'll leave this page up for archival purposes, but it was time for a change. Plus I migrated my most recent post over to blogger for anyone who wants to be super cool and comment on both. See you over there!

Sunday, 21 June 2009

  • June so far...

    As mentioned elsewhere, today is indeed a holiday made up by the greeting card companies. But it's one of my top three, so here goes:

    HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

    I'm blogging from my mom and dad's and we're about to enjoy the requested pizza dinner. Yum, Davanni's. Too bad there isn't one near me in Minneapolis.

    Other items of note in June:
    • I had a birthday. There are lots of photos on Flickr, but I think this is my favorite:

    • One of my good friends is getting married this Friday (...wow). Last weekend was her bachelorette party. At the party we were divided up into teams and each given a list of tasks. Whichever team finished the tasks first would be declared the winner. Here I am with the nice man who bought us a Finnegan's to win the contest. We had to go to a bar not on the scheduled itinerary to do this as none of the scheduled bars actually served Finnegan's. We're sneaky like that.

    • My beloved father has retired from the world of work. He seems to be enjoying it so far. However, there was some question as to what would happen to the collection of dried fruit and other oddities that he had assembled on his bookcase at work. I am happy to say that they have found a new home:
     

              None of my coworkers have noticed yet, which I find a bit strange. I have a story all ready, too.
    • On a not so happy note, my company has declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. My job seems safe so far so the current plan is to weather the storm. I'll let you know how that goes.
    • I have been biking quite a lot - Andy and I took this ride last weekend and I have also been doing the 3 lake tour. It's super fun so far. I love that my apartment puts me right there in prime biking territory.
    Ok, time for some Father's Day food. I hope all is well with all of you!

    Later,
    Emily
    Currently
    Fallout 3
    By Bethesda
    see related

Sunday, 24 May 2009

  • The 4 Lake Tour

    As mentioned elsewhere, it has been spectacularly nice in Minnesota these last few days. Just in time for a holiday weekend. As such, today was my second consecutive day of biking, yay! I've discovered that it does not additionally aggravate my already aggravated knee, so off I went. Yesterday was the three lake tour - Harriet, Calhoun, Lake of the Isles. It's about a 12 mile loop and I never get too far from home - I wanted to make sure my knee was ok. Today, however, was a different story.

    After making my required Indianapolis 500 picks (what's not to like about a guy named Will Power?), Andy and I did some grocery shopping, then came back for lunch. At that point we both agreed that since it was OOTNDITHOD, a bike ride was called for. Today was the 4 Lake Tour, plus a lot of riding on the Midtown Greenway, various other excellent Hennepin County trails, and the Three Rivers park system (at least I think I saw a sign). Total: 24 miles and the knee is still good. Yay! Here are some photo highlights (apologies for the quality - I took them with the camera on my cell phone since I forgot my regular camera AGAIN):

     
    Lake Calhoun

      
    Lake Harriet


    Our turn-around spot.


    Some other bikers looking lost with the Twins Stadium in the background. And my finger up there in the corner, I think.

    Not pictured: Lake of the Isles or Cedar Lake, both of which made appearances, although we didn't go aroud Cedar. Well I was out, I understand none of my chosen Indy drivers won the race. Oh well, so much for Will Power... Maybe if his name was Max? Now I'm pretty knackered so I think I'm going to have a shower and then a sit-down on the couch. I'll probably be posting more biking adventures soon, especially if it's this nice tomorrow.

    Later,
    Emily

    Currently
    21st Century Breakdown
    By Green Day
    see related

Wednesday, 15 April 2009

  • Montreal!

    Ok, I don't really have time or the patience right now to do a step by step account of my trip to Montreal. But here are a few highlights, in bullet point form:

    • Our hotel was RIGHT downtown, within walking distance of all there was to see in that part of town and two metro stations to get anywhere else. And it was a super good deal. Awesome.
    • Did you know they speak French in Montreal? Because they do, and I got to practice. Apparently I was very helpful.
    • We went to a sports bar and both the Men's Curling World Championships and the Women's Hockey World Championships were on TV. Neither are televised in the US, or really even mentioned. I watched a little of both.
    • Lots and lots and lots of walking. My knee hurt, but it was worth it.
    • The view from the top of Mont Royal, overlooking the city. Amazing and totally worth the walk up all of those stairs.
    You can find pictures at my Flickr site as usual. I am SO glad we went - it was a wonderful trip. But it is good to be home.

    Later,
    Emily

Wednesday, 08 April 2009

Monday, 06 April 2009

Sunday, 29 March 2009

  • Ugly Dress Party

    I'll be getting to the photos requested in my previous entry this week sometime, I promise. In the meantime, let me tell you about the "Ugly Dress" party I went to this weekend. My friend Shauna's birthday was this weekend and she decided it would be great fun for all of us to find the ugliest dress possible, then wear them out in downtown Minneapolis for some drinks and dancing. So, that's what we did. Here's a photo, as requested by many:



    And yes, I picked one that sort of obscures my dress on purpose. More photos can be found on my Flickr site (link to the right of my page). Anyway, a good time was had by all and there was a consensus that my dress was, in fact, the worst one. It was the tights that did it. Enjoy!

    Later,
    Emily

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