Minneapolis, MN

Another great weekend in Minneapolis. This warm summer weather in October is throwing me off, but no complaints, even from this colder weather lover. On Friday, Brian and drove to Minneapolis and hit up some stores I've been wanting to check out. Umei is a Japanese home good shop, The Foundry Home Goods is a beautiful space and unique items, and we were lucky enough to be able to take advantage of the Mini Print machine featuring State Fair pictures when we stopped by Madge. Good stuff. Next, we drove to Cole's place, picked him up, and checked into our hotel. We all wanted a mellow evening, so decided to go to Cossettas. Funny story. On our way out of the hotel, the Houston Dynamo was coming in. Of course Cole and Brian wanted to hang out and see if they recognized anyone. We didn't know any of the players, but when the coaches arrived, all of a sudden they realized they know Preston, the goalie coach. Both were at the World Cup game with him. Brian's also met him in LA when he played for Chivas and in Salzburg when he went to watch the Red Bulls play a number of years ago. Now Minneapolis. So random and very fun. I love small world stories like that. 

The next morning, Brian and I got up and walked along Mill Ruins Park. We weren't staying at our normal hotel, and it was really nice to get to explore a different area. One that was super cool, to be honest. A little later that morning, Hudson flew in to join us! To say I was excited to have us all reunited is an understatement. The last time we were all together was Mexico in March. Too long. We stopped by Cole's place again so Hudson could see it, then left Cole and the three of us went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art for the Paris Couture exhibit. It really is such a gem of a museum, and the exhibit was very interesting. Even Hudson did not hate it. Next up was lunch at Dumpling Eatery before heading over to Augsburg for the soccer game! Hudson likes to catch at least one, so I'm glad this weekend worked out. The game ended up 0-0. Yet another tie for th Auggies. Cole had a great game. It was fun to watch. 

That night, we had dinner reservations at Indigena by Owamni, a restaurant that highlights products indigenous to the Americas. No beef, pork, chicken, dairy, wheat flour or cane sugar. A very interesting concept, for sure and such a special treat. We shared a bunch of delicious plates:

Tepary Bean + Smoked Whitefish

Game Thalo (Venison)

Bison Bone Marrow

Sweet Potato Gnocchi

Venison with Chocolate and New Mexico Green Chile Relish

Scallops

Rice Pudding with Cocoa

It was such a beautiful night, so we walked around after dinner for a bit, following the sounds of a marching band. Turns out, it was the Youth in Music Marching Band Championship. University of Wisconsin Eau Claire was one of the exhibition bands and were warming up in the park acros from the U.S Bank Stadium.

Hudson had to catch a flight the next morning already. I'm just so thankful he was able to come and made this work. Brian and I had to head back to pick up the dogs, but first, a quick stop by Brits to see Cole at work. We had such a fun, full weekend. It was incredible.