festivals

This weekend was crazy!  I kicked it off grilling burgers and asparagus for Nathan, then we headed to a birthday party for an old friend, a co-worker who I hadn't seen in ages.  Getting to catch up with her again was wonderful, and it wrapped up a fantastic Friday and started the weekend.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the Twin Cities area, it's important to note that we truly love festivals here. Irish, Beer, Pride, Children, Art, Nations, Neighborhoods, Cheese... If more than five people love it, there's a festival for it.  Saturday morning, we made our way down to the Stone Arch Bridge Festival, which is only a few blocks' walk from my apartment.  It was raining the entire day, yet there was a great turn out for the 10am festival start time!  So many great artists and vendors were there for the two-day festival and it was a pleasure to see what was offered.  I tried some fantastic rootbeer, won a prize from the Blick booth (where I spend too much time and money on supplies for Dankbar!), and just had a blast walking around and seeing so many people and their dogs out and about.  

It took a few hours to warm up and dry off, but after a quick nap, Nathan and I took the long way to one of our favorite dinner spots to join in with the Green Line Opening Day festival/celebration.  Having the Green Line open is wonderful - I can't wait to utilize it more!  Having a light-rail run through Minneapolis and St. Paul is much needed and has been eagerly anticipated.  It was fantastic getting to check it out!

After a delicious dinner we meandered over to the Weisman Art Museum to kick off Northern Spark 2014.  When it had been in Minneapolis two years ago, I was working the overnight shift of the event at the Weisman and couldn't have been happier to kick it off there.  Getting to see the new exhibit, partaking in art with one of my favorite local artists, Anne Labovitz, and seeing some of my former co-workers was a blast - so was sheltering from the rain for a little bit!  However, when we made our way to West River Parkway, the downpour had started. We toughed it out for awhile, but finally decided to call it quits when the insides of my rainboots became soaked and Nathan's toes were numb from walking through puddles.  I wish we could've seen more, but it was fun to be there regardless!

Father's Day was spent catching up on sleep, working on some things for Dankbar, and reviewing German in preparation for class starting this week.  How was your weekend?