labor day weekend in the twin cities

Woohoo for long weekends and for the return of capital letters to my blog! (Really, who did I think I was? e.e. cummings?)

Kevin and I had and awesome Labor Day weekend. It started on Friday afternoon when Kev came home from work a couple of hours early and we took advantage by heading down to the happy hour at  Masa. I had a delicious cucumber margarita and Kev ordered a drink called a Michelada (beer with a spicy lime, tabasco, and bouillon mixture), and we devoured a tasty dinner of tacos and guacamole. After dinner we strolled around downtown, and then we drove to the Lake Harriet Bandshell to listen to some live music. We finished off the night with beers with friends at Brit's Pub, a great local British bar complete with lawn bowling courts on the rooftop.

On Satruday we went to a barbecue at the home of some new friends, Jen and Jon, and we had a great time meeting some more Twin Cities folks, eating good food, and doing a little karaoke at the end of the night (Kevin's rendition of Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit was a crowd favorite).

Sunday morning we went to mass at St. Mark's Espicopal Cathedral. So far, we are loving St. Mark's and we have been blown away by the people we've met there. St. Mark's is a loving, accepting, and welcoming community (proving that churches can be progressive and focused on social justice), and we are looking forward to growing in our faith in a spiritual home that aligns with our social values.

After church we headed over the Minnesota State Fair with some friends, and I am proud to say that Kevin and I had only one fried thing - and it wasn't even on a stick! I will say though, those fried cheese curds were worth the trip to the fair alone. 

On Monday night Kevin and I went to see one of our favorite bands, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, play at the beautiful Orpheum Theatre in downtown Minneapolis. IT WAS AWESOME. The band played a great show, and treated the locals with a great rendition of Prince's Purple Rain. After the show ended we waited outside the Orpheum by the tour busses,  and after three hours (thank you, thank you, thank you, Kev) we finally got to meet the whole band! Kevin was such a trooper staying up until 2:30 am on a work night. 

Here are some pictures from our long weekend:

Okay, here it is - the picture of me with Ben Harper. I look terrible (like a crazed suburban mom on her first night out since having a baby), and he looks ridiculously serious, but I still love this picture.