One Lucky Lady

It is not lost on me that I’m one lucky lady. I have a great husband, very supportive parents and in-laws, and a rather steady job. I was reminded of this when we got home from our Minnesota trip last Sunday. I gradually got very sick and on Monday had a fever of 101.3 an hour after taking motrin.

Everything hurt. Even my teeth. I’m pretty sure I was hallucinating at some points. I remember trying to watch my back-logged episodes of Gossip Girl (I can’t help myself with that show) until I couldn’t take the pain of laying on the couch anymore and went back to bed.

I’m lucky because my parents were here. And everyone needs their Mommy (and Dad!) when they are sick. My Dad made me jello, hubs got me my diet Vernor’s and Ritz Crackers (these are my “I don’t feel good” foods for some reason) and my Mom placed a cold towel on my forehead. And they let me whine about feeling yucky without making fun of me (to my face at least). My family is silly and sarcastic until somebody gets sick. Then we rally around the “sicky” with sugar free jello and diet soda and offer to help in any way. That’s just how we roll.

But I’m getting way ahead of myself. Last Thursday we flew to Minneapolis to meet up with hubs’ fam to celebrate my b.i.l.’s cool new CSI job. I gotta say, Minneapolis: I am impressed. Of course the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes is beautiful. But there is quite a foodie/cultural scene sprouting up there as well. Because it will make this post too long, I’ll separate out one of our crazing dining experiences for my next post. It was quite a doozy, though. In a good way.

When we got in Thursday evening, we walked around downtown and came upon an asian-fusion restaurant with an enormous menu. We ordered drinks and 2 salads to split among the six of us (my s.i.l. was not there yet).

My flight of sake. I still don't love unfiltered sake.

Crab and mango salad. Unfortunately, too much dressing.

Deliciously spicy green papaya salad. The "noodles" are really strips of papaya.

But I gotta say, the best entree of the night goes to my m.i.l.’s pick. The sea bass with kabocha-filled ravioli was outstanding.

M.I.L.'s dish: sea bass with kabocha filled raviolis and steamed edamame.

Everyone elses were good but nothing unexpectedly outstanding.

Hubs' entree: A midwest-size portion of jungle green curry.

My dish: Rainbow roll. I also had a side of steamed aspargus with stir-fried 'shrooms.

Our hotel was in the heart of downtown Minneapolis and offered a nightly milk and cookies for guests at 10pm. Of course, I thought 10pm was way too late for something like that (that is my bed time!) but we trekked down for some anyway. It’s so fascinating to see how people freak out and hoard the “free food” in these situations. They grab and grab like the cookies (or whatever) will suddenly disappear leaving them with nothing. I digress.

My s.i.l. flew in the next morning and we had a great day that I will share on my next post. Saturday morning, my m.i.l. had to run 18 miles (training for another marathon) so we all ended up at Lake Harriet either walking or running. I ended up going about 8 and, including walking to and from lunch, probably walked at least another 3. By the time we all got to lunch, we were dehydrated and famished. Lunch was light but good.

Salad with beets, avocado, queso fresco split with hubs.

Hubs' sandwich: baguette with artichoke, cheese and greens. Chips on the side.

Mine: Fruit plate with ciabatta toast coated in honey.

And, because I can’t help myself in silly situations, I had to take this picture.

I know, I'm in my 30s and act like a child. But look--leap frog!

I can’t wait to tell you about our multi-course meal at Piccolo and our jaunt through the Walker Art Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Until then, Yogi says:

Do not live by emotions; instead live by intuition and consciousness.

I get that, but I also think emotions are so important to embrace and are a huge part of the living experience. What do you think?