Celebrating the Cotton Year

Jon and I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary last Wednesday, which traditionally means the year of a gift of "cotton." Well, the closest we got to that was maybe the "high-quality white cotton duvets" advertised by the graves|601 hotel where we stayed for the weekend. You might recall a certain contest I won last fall which gave me quite a few complementary tickets and such around the metro area. Well, the big kahuna of those winnings was a 2-night weekend stay in the executive suite at the luxurious graves|601 hotel located in downtown Minneapolis across from the Target Center. We decided to reserve our weekend for our anniversary :-) Abigail stayed with my aunt Friday night and with Jon's mom Saturday night so we even had the weekend baby-free! (which was a lot harder than I thought it would be! Every time I saw a baby, my heart ached for Abi!) We decided to play tourist in our own hometown and see the sights as it were! We even got a few of your typical "tourist" shots!

Here's our room on the 20th floor, complete with 42" plasma flat screen TV!

After walking up and down Nicollet Mall trying to find somewhere to eat, we eventually made our way back to the hotel and ate next door at the Fogo de Chao: a Brazilian Steak House. It was basically an unending buffet of meat! The chefs came by our table with a huge slab of sirloin or pork or filet mignon or lamb etc on a sword and they cut off a hunk for us! And they just kept coming and coming until you're so full of meat you could burst! Good thing I wore a stretchy dress!

We even got a dessert on the house because it was our anniversary!

The view from our room

Breakfast at Key's Cafe

We visited the gnomes in front of one of the government buildings.

The Atlas gnome is so strong...and SO AM I!!!

Takin' a break...

WOW! Look up there! What a big building! Gosh darn!

From the observation deck at the Mill City Museum (which I had free passes for. We didn't pay for much this weekend - well, except for the parade of meat). Minneapolis was once known as the milling capital of the world! This particular mill burned in a fire in 1993.

In front of a dandelion fountain at Loring Park

Then onto something completely crazy! The Walker Art Center was having its Art Inside Out exhibit. Artists from around the globe designed holes for a Mini-Golf Course. I think there was a theme this year of "Saving the Planet" or "Going Green" or something because everything was like, "the whales are awesome!" and "I go dumpster diving to help the sea turtles!" Anyway, we went to this back in 2004 on the day we got engaged :-) It was a nice way to celebrate our anniversary! On this hole here, Jon is pedaling an exercise bike to make his golf ball go where he wants in the penny arcade course.

I'm not doin so hot...

Lookit them skyscrapers! SHUCKS! We don't see them down in podunk South Minneapolis!

We finished the weekend with a bottle of Strawberry wine which we imported back from Italy on our honeymoon. We couldn't drink it last year because I was pregnant, so we opened it up for our 2nd Anniversary. We'll just have to go back and get more!!

It was a marvelous weekend to just enjoy each other. We only teared up once on the lightrail when we saw a baby Abi's age cooing and babbling. If you're married with kids it's important to remember to take some time to just be MARRIED. Jon and I couldn't believe how much we did in one weekend because we didn't have to work around naptimes, fevers, and early bedtimes. Keep the spark alive because the best thing you can do for your kids is maintain a healthy marriage :-)