NEW Adventures in the Life of Brenda #7: I Won Second Prize in a Contest!

WOW! Ok so this NEVER happens to me! Most of you don't know it, but I entered a contest shortly after Abigail was born. I was on the Explore Minnesota webpage and saw they were letting people post lists of their favorite things to do in Minnesota. You could list your favorite fishing spots, your favorite places to shop, your favorite local festivals, etc. Well, I thought it was such a great idea! I mean how cool to get a Minnesotan's opinion and inside scoop on the best of the best of our state! Since I LOVE our state and everything it has to offer and I love making lists, I thought it would be fun to enter a list of my own!

I had to figure out what I would make a list about. I decided on the topic I know best: inexpensive dates! So I started writing down all the places Jon and I love to go that is either super cheap or free! You can see my list at http://www.exploreminnesota.com/myfavoriteminnesota/ Click on "Romantic Getaways" and pick my list (Brenda's 10 Favorite Twin Cities Dates on a Shoestring).

After I was finished making my list I noticed there was a contest going on for the best list! I kind of shrugged my shoulders and said, "Meh." I mean who wins those things anyway? There were already like a hundred lists up by the time I put mine up and thus I forgot all about it.

Well out of the blue last week I got an email from Explore Minnesota congradulating me for winning Second Prize in the Create-a-List contest! Here's the irony: I wrote a list for cheap dates and the prize was a whole bunch of coupons, gift cards, and free passes to see stuff in the city!!! Let me write down all the neat places Jon and I will get to see/stay at/eat!!!

* 2 FREE admissions to the Mill City Museum (the COOLEST museum in the TC!! Definitely a place to take your kids!)
* $100 certificate for Chambers Hotel or Chambers Kitchen Restaurant (luxury hotel in downtown!)
* $100 certificate for Palomino or Kincaid's Restaurant (SUPER upscale!)
* 2 FREE gallery admissions at teh Walker Art Center & Guide Book
* Graves 601 Hotel Gift Card for a 2-Night stay (another luxury hotel in downtown!)
* $100 Macy's Gift Card
* $125 Gift Certificate for Premier Salon's at Macy's!!!!!!
AND!!
* Certificate for a backstage tour of the new Guthrie Theater and 2 performance tickets to the performance of our choice!!!
* 2 Mall of America Coupons Books

LOOK AT ALL THE FREE DATES JON AND I GET TO ENJOY AT SUPER UPSCALE EXPENSIVE PLACES IN THE CITY!!!!! I can't believe it!! We love going out, and before Abi was born we went on a date as often as we could! When I worked at Our Lady of Grace, God blessed me with a lot of favor from the parents of the kids I taught and I got lots of gifts in the form of gift cards that enabled us to try new restaurants and go out together for free or for cheap! Well, I don't work there anymore, and so I thought we'd be on our own to create inexpensive dates. Here's the best present from God! This will allow us maybe a year's worth of super hot dates! (2 nights in a luxury hotel?! BRING IT ON! Who wants to babysit?!)

I went online to check out what the Grand Prize and 1st Place winners received and they were packaged deals, like a weekend stay at a resort. You know what? I'm so glad we got 2nd place! That would only be one super date! This way we get to enjoy a ton of dates - I'm so excited I just can't hide it! I'm about to lose control and I think I like it! (ok sorry for that lapse into the 90s. I really didn't mean to!) So look up my place in Minnesota tourism history :-) http://exploreminnesota.com/story.aspx?EntityId=21289

OH! I almost forgot! These MOA coupon books are WAY more than we could ever afford to spend. The Christmas season is coming up! Does anyone need some coupons to their favorite MOA store??? Let me know! I can hook you up ;-)