In Minneapolis to Ring In 2009!

I flew into Minneapolis around noon on New Year's Eve. Mark picked me up at the airport after an uneventful flight and we headed back to the apartment to see Jerri and Zoe and to start playing board games! Zoe has gotten so big since the last time I saw her when she was less than 2 weeks old. And she's really curious and alert. She and Jerri were both a little under the weather, but you wouldn't know it, both were full of energy the whole time I was there.

Trinity came over around 9pm and we got this cute photo of us ladies before Zoe fell asleep. Zoe's dress was one of my Christmas presents to her. Having 5 nephews, it's really fun for me to get to shop for little girl clothes, and I thought this dress was especially cute.

We played board games, yes, including Bananagrams which I got for Jerri and Mark for Christmas, ate wonderful food, drank cocktails made by bartender Mark and had a champagne toast at Midnight!

One of my family's traditions is to have the youngest, dark-haired male be the first person to cross the threshold in the New Year, carrying bread and wine in order to ensure a prosperous and healthy New Year. Mark was so kind to oblige:

And here is a photo that sums up New Year's Eve: Games, drinks, food and fun! I think we stayed up until about 4am, which means I'd been awake for about 22 hours. Totally worth it!

On New Year's Day we had a lovely, low-key day at home with more board games and good food. Here you see me hanging out with Zoe while we play Dominion:

She really enjoyed looking at the cards. I told you she was curious.

And yes, one of my other gifts to her was a set of bows. If I was going to go "girly" I had to pick up some bows!

For dinner that night we ordered pizza from Galactic Pizza which is an amazing independent pizza place that offers great vegetarian options. We got a Minnesota pizza with fake sausage, wild rice, morel mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. It was really delicious, and yes, all of their deliveries are made by superheroes. We were lucky enough to have Captain Awesome deliver our pizza!


On Friday we went on a big excursion and yes, Zoe got to wear another bow with her lovely track suit.

Our first stop was to Axman. Trinity had recently blogged about it and I had heard about it from Jerri and Mark, but had never been there myself. It was pretty amazing. They just have tons of surplus goods. Everything ranging from left over doll-baby arms to engraved beer steins where the engraving got screwed up. I picked up an enormous magnifying glass for less than $4.

After Axman we headed to a bar and restaurant called The Happy Gnome. I'm a big fan of gnomes in general, and the only disappointment was that they didn't have a pint glass that said Happy Gnome. The food was wonderful, I had a great roasted asparagus dish with an egg on top and Hawaiian sea salt and a side salad that was also delicious. And I sat and played with Zoe while Jerri and Mark got to eat their veggie meatloaf sandwiches. I had a really delicious brown ale while I was there, and I don't remember what it was called (but I bet Mark would know, feel free to comment!).

From there we headed out to the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. It was a cold day, but Mark mentioned that the polar bears really like the cold weather. Unfortunately, the polar bear habitat is being re-done, so the polar bears are at the Detroit Zoo right now, but we went into the Primate House and then headed over to the Conservatory. It was fun to be in a hot, humid, tropical climate when it was really cold outside. Here is the sunken garden with tons of poinsettias for the holidays:

Here's a cute shot of Mark, Jerri and Zoe at the Conservatory:

And on our way out to the car, Zoe looked too cute peeking out of Mark's coat:

That night we headed over to Paul and Trinity's house for a wonderful dinner! They just moved from Somerville, MA back to MN where they both grew up. There apartment is HUGE with 12 foot ceilings and a big open area. It was so good to see them and to see their new space. Here is Trinity, Paul, Mark, Zoe and Jerri all around the table:

Paul and Zoe making faces at each other:

Trinity and a rare photo of Paul not making a silly face and actually looking at the camera. This is in their kitchen:


On Saturday Jerri and Mark had a gathering to celebrate Zoe turning 6 months, Mark having only one semester of law school and me being in town. It was great to get to meet some of their friends and to see some folks I haven't seen in a while. It was held and this really cute Thai restaurant that is owned by one of Jerri's friends. Here is a photo of Zoe in her party dress, and if you look closely, you can see her first little tooth coming in!

After the party Trinity and I headed over to the Walker to see an exhibit I was interested in called Text/Messages. It was a collection of artist's books and art about books. I really enjoyed it and I'm glad I got to hang out with Trinity again.

That evening, back at Jerri and Mark's apartment, we had a wonderful pasta dinner put together by Mark. And then Joey came over to play games and hang out. Joey, Jerri, Mark and I all went to Syracuse together. Joey recently moved to Minneapolis from NYC. It was great to catch up with him. It's been quite a while since we've gotten to hang out. Here he is learning how to play Nerts. It's a fast-paced card game that can be a little overwhelming when someone new plays with old veterans like Jerri and Mark and I. But he hung in there and did well for a first-timer.

Here's a cute photo of he and I under less stressful conditions:


And already it's Sunday morning and my time in Minneapolis had to come to an end! After a wonderful brunch at the Birchwood Cafe, Jerri and Mark and I headed back to the apartment for one last quick game of Nerts and then Mark took me to the airport, but before I said one last good-bye to the Zoester:

It was awesome to get to ring in the New Year with Jerri and Mark for the 3rd year in a row. Here's to a great 2009!