Girls Weekend 2013 | Twin Cities

I feel like I am way too tired to write coherently tonight, but I want to share a few photos from my completely fabulous girls’ weekend. I’ve been getting together with my cousin, Christine, every November for the past 15 years – she lives in Iowa and this is our one time each year that we know we will see each other.

In recent years, my sister (Jodi) and sister-in-law (Dana) have been able to join us, as well. This year, we made sure my Mom (Marilyn) could also attend, which made it that much more special.

There are some traditions that are specific to our girls’ weekend – some more recent than others:

•  I am the acting travel agent – meaning I am typically in charge of the destination, hotel reservations, restaurant ideas and general planning – with input, of course, from everyone else. I am totally geeky about travel planning, actually – it’s almost as much fun for me as the actual trip.

• We use our own private Facebook group to toss around ideas, keep everyone updated on the schedule and post cheesy statements every other day about how excited we are for the weekend.

• We always meet the weekend of the deer hunting opener in Minnesota – although not all of our husbands actually deer hunt. However, it’s been the best way to keep it on the calendar consistently from year to year.

•  Cookies are very important, and we always request that my mom makes the very same batch of specific cookies each year for us – a totally simple yet completely brilliant pairing of Town House (or Ritz) crackers, peanut butter and chocolate almond bark.

• It is also key to bring chips and salsa for late afternoon sustenance. And wine. We must have wine.

• We do a variety of shopping, but there is always, always, always some serious time spent shoe shopping. Even Teacher Man was not at all surprised to learn I came home this year with a new pair of boots. It’s pretty much expected at this point.

Our travel destinations vary, depending on the year and have included Chicago, Kansas City and Des Moines. This year, though, we stayed in the Twin Cities and hit a couple of shopping destinations, including the Edina area and the Mall of America. If you read my blog often, then you know my sister is pregnant and due in early January, so we thought keeping the trip close to home made the most sense this year.

Christine and I often stay up too late the last night of the get together, catching up on life and what’s going on in our lives. She and I are about six months apart in age, and although we have never lived near each other, we have always been close. We may not see each other for months – or even an entire year – but when we get together, none of that matters. And the truth is, all of us get along so well – there is no drama, only friendships shared and a lot of laughter.

And so … I’m feeling tired but happy about yet another amazing time spent with all my best girls and a little bittersweet that the weekend is over. And I’m also feeling lucky. Very lucky.

These cookies are the ultimate in deliciousness … peanut butter sandwiched between two Town House crackers (Ritz would work too!) and dipped in melted chocolate almond bark. The combination is perfection and, speaking from experience, you can’t stop with just one. (In fact, I may or may not be eating one right now as I’m writing this.) But peanut butter is a great source of protein, so there is zero guilt involved, which is important to note, especially for a girls’ weekend.

Girls’ weekend is all about the celebration of sisterhood – and wine. Definitely wine.

Here I am with my cousin, Christine, and my Mom at Mozza Mia, a totally cute (although quite noisy!) restaurant in the 50th and France area of Edina. We had the best meatball pizza and chopped Italian salad.

Okay, we noticed a rather strange new trend while out shopping: apparently it is becoming a popular thing to dress up your wine or champagne bottle for the holidays. We saw several different “outfits” available – but the one I couldn’t resist, of course, was the Thanksgiving turkey. Gobble on!

Saturday morning we  toured Bachman’s Idea House in south Minneapolis. It’s an entire house that Bachman’s staff (experts in gardening and home decor) reinvent each year for the holidays by repainting, refurnishing, and redecorating  with a mix of new, repurposed and vintage items. It’s really quite amazing and a fun place to pick up new ideas for holiday decorating. If you have the chance to go through it (it’s a self-guided tour), I would highly recommend it. (The next two photos below show you more.) You can learn more (and purchase tickets) here.

Saturday night, we stayed at the Radisson Blu Hotel, which is connected quite handily and directly to the Mall of America, and we ate at the hotel’s restaurant, FireLake Grill House and Cocktail Bar. Look at this gorgeous view as you walk into the restaurant!

The food paid homage in many ways to Minnesota and we all especially loved the pumpkin soup with creme fraiche, although my sister and I decided maybe that’s because we just love saying creme fraiche!  4

All our food was quite fantastic and it was fun to sample several desserts (we tried the white chocolate banana cream pie, the Amish malted chocolate peanut butter pie and a seasonal maple bread pudding). I chose one of the evening specials for my main entree – a turkey osso bucco over risotto that was outstanding. (And I was pleased to see several unique turkey items on the menu!)

I don’t think I’ve been to a restaurant that served lefse as part of its bread plate, which made the Norwegian in most of us very curious. This was potato lefse, as we expected, and quite good. (My mom’s traditional Norwegian lefse recipe from her family uses flour but not potatoes, which I am going to blog about some day!)

And while all good girls’ weekends must eventually come to an end, my cousin and I made the most of it and stayed up way past our usual bedtime to catch up on life, which is exactly why I am happily exhausted tonight.

Have a good week!