Sunday, June 04, 2006

crazy-busy weekend update + more rambling:

What a weekend . . .

It all started Friday night when I left work and headed straight to the co-op for some grocery shopping. I bought a TON of produce to make up for the lack of produce in my house last week. :) Hooray for fresh, organic fruits and veggies! Then, when I was almost all the way back home, I realized I left my bag of clean laundry at work . . . so I wound back 'round through rush hour traffic to collect my clothes. :) Sheesh.

Saturday, I accomplished very little before dinnertime -- unless you count sleeping, going to Target, reading a magazine, and giving myself a pedicure big accomplishments. :) Ann, Christine, Michelle, Tony, and I went out to celebrate my birthday (finally!) We enjoyed drinks and sandwiches at Brit's Pub in DT Minneapolis, then wandered over to Sebastian Joe's for ice cream. Ann went home at this point because she has a bad cold, and the four of us wandered aimlessly through Uptown, only to discover there was a street beer festival going on . . . we decided to hightail it away from the crazy drunks! We stopped at Cheapo and bought CDs (and Christine bought some records,) and then hung out at Christine's and drank red pop and played Atari! (I swear the Atari gave me crazy nightmares last night! That, or the red pop -- or both. Seriously, this one dream could be made into some crazy sci-fi/thriller type thing!)

Today, I went to church, then Michelle picked me up shortly thereafter to head over to the Edina Art Fair. It was okay -- neither one of us bought anything. It was really sunny and really hot, (thank God for SPF 45 sunblock!), and I got run over by a wheelchair. Seriously. Someone who was pushing someone else literally rammed a wheelchair into my leg! (All they had to do was say "excuse me," and I would have happily gotten out of their way! They didn't even apologize!) It hurt quite a bit. I may have a bruise tomorrow. After we pooped out at the art fair, (it only took an hour and a half, and we ducked into Cook's and a couple other stores along the way to browse and for an A/C hit,) we meandered over to the Megamall (also known as "The Black Hole of Death,") to go to H&M. I tried on lots and lots and lots of tank tops that could have been dresses on me; Michelle laughed. I found one (non-dress) style that fit, so I bought two different colors. THEN, Michelle and I stopped off at her house to see if Ann wanted to join us for dinner; she still felt too crummy to go out. So, we came back over to my neighborhood and had dinner at Salsa a la Salsa -- THE BEST VEGGIE TACOS! Their tortillas are so fresh tasting, and the only cheese is a slight sprinkle of queso fresco atop the black beans I ordered as a side. (My other side was grilled vegetables! Yum, yum, yum!) When I got home, I posted my air conditioner for sale on Craig's List. Here's hoping it sells! I'd sure like to free up that space in my entryway it's currently occupying. ;-)

I made a decision yesterday that I'm not going to move after all, so I need to start thinking about selling my car sometime soon. Once I do a "big purge" and take stuff out to Michelle's friend Trudy's house for her summer garage sale, I think it will be time to say bye-bye to my gas-guzzling ghetto cruiser. I need to get an old lady shopping cart on wheels (which will double as laundry-to-work transportation,) and will use the car selling proceeds to buy a great, new bike! I'm looking forward to being freed from my rust-bucket burden. :)

Hope everyone else had great weekends, but I hope you had more time to relax than me!

9 comments:

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

sounds like a fun birthday celebration! what cds did you get? for a period of time, i only had my bicycle ~ harsh weather was the most difficult part.

Eat Peace Please said...

Wow, what a weekend. Thanks for the reminder that I should sleep in on the weekends! I'm curious about your cd choices too. I collecet vinyl.

I vote for one of those bikes that has a big cart on the back, maybe a trike or one of those attachments you can bike your laundry and groceries around. Don't forget streamers, a bell and junk in the spokes!

Anonymous said...

Whoo hoo...ditch the car, get a bike! I am a total bike enthusiast. It's a great way to incorporate exercise into your life without having to "make room" for it. I do groceries on my bike all the time. I like to use paniers so I don't have to carry them on my back. But, when I'm doing a big grocery shop I used a pack sac and 2 paniers. Any more than that and it's cab worthy!

Let us know how the transition goes! So happy for you!

Harmonia said...

Maybe your Monday will be more relaxed!

:)

Hope to "see" you soon!

Catherine Weber said...

Vicki, I got The TV Sound, Tapes 'n Tapes (The Loon,) and The Alarmists (A Detail of Soldiers.) All local bands, but Tapes 'n Tapes was in Rolling Stone a couple of issues ago, maybe you've heard of them?

Leslie, your description was truly bike-a-delic! I'm planning on a road bike, (since I've maybe been mountain biking once in my life, and road bikes are usually lighter and easier to ride,) and I saw someone with the coolest thing yesterday. They had two big pouches that hung on either side of their rear tire, both big enough for a bag of groceries. I want THAT!

Megan, thanks for the encouragement! What are paniers?

Harmonia, I've been over to your blog quite a bit lately, but haven't commented, for whatever reason. :) I'll drop you a comment soon!

Crystal said...

Funny, I looked up paniers and the result which came had the paniers(or Frech for baskets) attached to a dress!

Have a good cooking week with all your fresh groceries!

Ryan

Eat Peace Please said...

I have the baskets that go on both sides of the back tires. They fit a lot. I also have a front detachable basket but it's more for fun than practialness.

Catherine Weber said...

Ryan, that's weird about paniers -- I bet Megan's talking about something similar to what I've seen.

Les, good to know about the front basket -- those always look like lots of fun, but they don't seem terribly practical (like things would tip/bounce out a lot?)

Anonymous said...

Whoops...I guess it's spelled pannier. They are bags that attach to the side of your bike. Normally the rear. Here's a link:
http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_listing.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302693317¤tPage=1&bmUID=1149561866929

What I love about panniers is that you don't have to carry everything on your back while you're biking. I hate getting a sweaty back. The only think I don't like about them is that you have to carry them in your hand when you are walking around ... which can be heavy if they are full. For this reason, I would prefer the baskets that Leslie has, cause then you can use a bag that has a strap on it to swing over your shoulders. Some panniers convert into back-packs, but these suck cause they are often dirty and then you get the dirt all over your back.