Living Young, Wild and Free

IHO of being 32 today -- I'm happy to report that I can still sing along to this song quite happily! Except the illegal stuff...yeah no...none of that!

So what we get drunk,
we're just having fun,
we don't care who sees,
living young, wild and free



Two weeks ago I lived this song to reality. Dusty and I decided to tag along with Beth and Kent to visit Natalie in New Orleans -- except we didn't tell Natalie we were coming! SURPRISE! Our plans entailed a full-blown nursery decor weekend, Project Nursery. Which didn't exactly come full circle but we did have a great weekend and made some progress on the nursery for Baby Joe.

Our first and only roadblock to "Project Nursery" was a stop on Bourbon Street. Dusty and I strolled into the restaurant to surprise Nat, needless to say -- she was SURPRISED! From there we headed out to experience what NOLA at night has to offer. You'd think two girls from the midwest could handle it....turns out.....not so much!

Crappy cell pic from the restaurant right after we walked in! I was so anxious and excited!


Natalie's husband Joe is an honorary member of our group -- such a fun guy!




I love this picture -- so much randomness going on! Kent texting, Dusty laughing, Joe wearing my scarf and buying Nat a rose (awwwww!)


I have no words. Priceless.


Oh boy, I'm going to send this to my dentist instead of going in for an exam. Cracks me up because you can see the strap still twisted on my neck!


LOVE these girls. From the tips of my toes to the top of my head.


Rockstars I tell ya!


Dusty -- always game!




Natalie was such a good sport! Two surprise guests and Bourbon street, sober, until 3:00am. My hero.


Love this girl!


Wow, look how HAPPY I am to see this girl.....


And look how HAPPY I made her! (this photo signifies the end of the night for me......)


These two kept going....like Rockstars!


PSA!

So the next afternoon morning we start Project Nursery.....first up: stripes! And...that's about all we got accomplished. But wow do they look good! Kent also sewed some amazingly perfect orange chevron curtains -- I can't wait to see it all put together!


This picture is very misleading, with me painting and Aly napping. I had napped and stayed very still until about 3:00pm while the more-responsible girls worked on taping perfect lines!




Sunday (still nursing a hangover I might add) - we headed back to Bourbon Street for some tourist action. Crack is whack. Sugar Coma.
















All in all -- it was a fabulous weekend with my best friends. Bourbon street kicked my ass but thats all part of the experience right?

As they say, laissez les bons temps rouler!

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Minneapolis Highlights & Chi-town

Vinny's sister, Andrea, and her boyfriend, Jason came to visit for a long weekend in early October. We decided to take the ultra-touristy route and head to Chicago for the weekend. Neither Jason nor Andrea had ever been to the windy city. We took them on a short, sweet trip of Minneapolis (downtown MSP, Juicy Luicy and the MoA) -- before heading to Chi-town!

Overall the trip was a success....freezing....but beautiful! Andrea and Jason have a thirst for travel and Vinny and I are always happy to oblige.






Living in Minneapolis for 6 years I had never heard of the 5*8 Club (fo' shame). Andrea had seen this local hot spot on the Food Network and requested we make a stop.


Juiciest Lucy I have ever seen! I had the veggie burger but wow did those ooey-gooey-cheese-filled patties look delicious!


Squiiiiish


A quick trip to the Mall of America...






On our way to Chicago -- a giant orange moose overlooking a lake.


Only in Wisconsin people...only in Wisconsin


We finally made it to Chi-town! We stayed at the perfectly located and beautiful Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile.


My favorite spot in Chicago -- The Bean!




A nasty storm started rolling in so we did what all people should do....PIZZA.





The storm lasted about as long as it takes to devour a pizza. We headed to the SearsWillis Tower for some views of the city at night. On the way we ran across a Occupy Wall Street protest parade. It was pretty neat to see! Their "Banks got bailed out, we got sold out" chant was in our head for hours.


Is it just me or is the Willis Tower entrance in the exist opposite location of however you approach it?


The night view was ah-mazing. Twinkling lights reaching as far as the eye could see.




The clear-bottom sky box was a new addition since our last trip -- it was pretty trippy! The boys had a really hard time standing up there!


Don't look down!


Chicago theater...


A cute sign I noticed on our architectural boat tour:


Those were the skyboxes we stood on the night before! Eeek!

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