BUTCHER AND THE BOAR

Looking back at photos, I came across these little gems, and boy does it make my mouth water just looking at it (odd, considering there's no food in the photos). Matt and I went to the Butcher and the Boar a while back, and it was delicious! We had stuffed jalapenos (filled with peanut butter!), ribs, brussels sprouts, french fries (spicy!) and sausage (can't remember what kind).

Definitely a must-eat if you're in the Minneapolis area!

>> a perfect day

Spent the day with my best bud Gina, and we hit up the town with some of my favorite activities:

1. Breakfast at Patrick's bakery. It's located in a garden/plant store, and feels like you're outside even though you're not (which was probably good since it was - 2 degrees today). Chocolate croissants were the BEST! I had to go back for more! I'm pretty sure all we talked about the whole time we were eating was how good the croissants were. Seriously, go get one. 
2. Thrift shopping at the Cottage House. I had heard tons about it and never been. It's only open 5 days a month, and this was the perfect time to check it out. So many awesome pieces, but only took home a little gold shelf (probably the smallest thing in the store!). 
3. Shopping at Southdale.
4. Lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. BBQ Chicken pizza was delicious. 

Perfect day with one of my favorite people. What more could I ask for?

{weekend highlights}

Last weekend one of my best friends and Spark! contributor, Jyl, was here from Seattle. It was over 100 degrees here in the Twin Cities, but we didn't let that stop us from exploring all over the city. What did we do? Here's the highlights (oh, and please note that although it may look like all we did was eat (and we did indeed eat alot, we did take time in between to just hang out, i just didn't think it was worth noting ...) :

Saturday

ate lunch at Tavern on France
wandered around the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
cooled off with ice cream from Sebastian Joe's
bought some goodies at Patina gift shop
dinner & drinks at Maynard's on Lake Minnetonka

Sunday

croissants for breakfast at Patrick's (the best chocolate croissants ... next to Le Panier of course)
antique shopping in Stillwater
lunch at the Freight House
dinner at Big Bowl
a bit of gambling at Mystic Lake Casino (Jyl won $600!)

Monday

sushi for lunch at Raku
dinner at Salut
shopping at Anthropologie

Tuesday

jyl hit up the Mall of America solo while i was at work
bbq at my mom's with the whole crew


we also took tons of pictures which i will surely be sharing with you in the next couple of days, but for now this will have to suffice. if anything, it will give you some thoughts on what to do if you're ever in the area!

{weekend snapshots}

A couple shots from last weekend (a bit a lot blurry, I know). We hit up Ginger Hop in the St Anthony Main area downtown ... SO delicious! Not only that, but you're right by the river so after dinner you can walk along and see all the views of the city!

{market}

went to the farmers market last weekend.
it was pretty great.
ash + i wanted to bring those colorful people home.
maybe next time?

{yum}

Macaroons from Patrick's Bakery. So delicious.

{mini road-trip to Stillwater}

Yesterday was Sondra's birthday: one of my best friends, and also the friend that I've had the longest (since I was 3!). She took the day off work and we headed east to a little town called Stillwater. Armed with stripes (un-planned), Caribou (planned), and cameras, we hit the town. Perusing endless antique stores, eating lunch on the river, discovering the most amazing paper/stationary store ever, and stocking up on sweets at the candy store made it one of the best days ever! Oh, and let's not forget that it was 50 degrees and sunny which is a heat wave for MN - woop woop! Here's some snapshots from the day: