The anniversary celebration

Well, Year Two of the Marriage began today...but first, we had a wonderful celebration spread out over the last few days. (Pictures will follow soon)

Sunday we enjoyed a lovely (and delicious) brunch at Loring Pasta Bar in Dinkytown (The restaurant is located in what was the Campus Drugstore when I was a U college student. The transformation is unbelieveable). The food was incredible, the people-watching interesting and the interiors of the restaurant are so intriguing you can spend the whole meal looking around. For $15.95 it's a steal.

Unfortunately, Joel came home and wasn't feeling well (not related to the food), so we laid low the remainder of the day.

I took Monday and Tuesday off, so after some discussion, we decided to head off for Red Wing Monday afternoon. Moondance Inn, the bed and breakfast we stayed at for our honeymoon (that I absolutely love) was closed, but we found a beautiful room at the Golden Lantern Inn. The home (7000 square feet) was built in 1932 by the owner of Red Wing shoes. Our room was the original master suite. Joel surprised me with a dozen roses waiting in our room. We slept in a spacious king bed (I could get used to that) and thoroughly enjoyed the two-person whirlpool tub. The weather was quite cool (it's June, right?), so we didn't really enjoy the beautiful gardens at the inn much...but maybe another time.

There's something so restorative about leaving town and spending an evening at a b & b. Sometimes you don't have to travel far to feel like you're on a mini-vacation. I definitely prefer a b & b over a big hotel. This trip made our anniversary special (Thank you honey).

Before leaving Red Wing on Tuesday, we stopped at our favorite antique shop on Main Street and then at the Red Wing Pottery store. At the pottery store, they have good deals on Fiestaware...and we added to our collection--a beautiful plum vase and a light turquoise pitcher.

We headed home, with the plan to stop at the Hom furniture store on the way. Over the past week, we had made a few stops to look at furniture and had decided on a new couch. So...we became the proud owners of the couch pictured in the earlier post (along with 2 recliners). I am deliriously happy about the couch for a number of reasons: 1) it's purple; plum if you prefer. It's a beautiful color. 2) I have never owned a new couch, so it's exciting to make such a purchase and get to pick what I liked; 3) Most importantly, it's the first new furniture that Joel and I have picked out together. It was fun shopping together (we like the same stuff)...and it will be even more fun to get the furniture home and lay out a new furniture arrangement. It is also another step in making this apartment feel more like our home. This is part of building our life together.

We finally arrived home, had a little bit of time to unwind before we headed to the Twins game. The night didn't end with a Twins' win, but we had a great time nonetheless.

And now we're all set to start Year Two. Here we go!