We've done all that we could this month to enjoy the summer days and nights as much as possible as they zip by. Much time was spent outside, eating yummy foods and drinking yummy drinks, as well as having some new experiences around the Twin Cities.
July started with a lovely Sunday spent with my cousin Heather getting coffee and wandering around the Como Zoo and Conservatory. Despite the rainy start to the day, it turned out to be a lovely afternoon. The Conservatory is one of my favorite places to to - I love looking at all the different plants and flowers - so many different colors!
We celebrated the 4th of July with food and drinks at my parents house. Frankie came along and enjoyed the day too!
A couple of our favorite breweries released new beers this month. On a nice afternoon, we stopped by Bad Weather Brewing to try their new Pineapple Wheat beer. Bad Weather is a favorite spot of ours with a nice patio and one that allows dogs! We visited Urban Growler for the release of their Blueberry Wheat beer as well.
I went to the St. Paul Farmers Market with my parents on a gorgeous sunny Saturday morning. Stocked up on all the good things: zuchinni, tomatoes, spinach, and basil. I love walking around the market and admiring all the beautiful flowers and produce. Tip: there's a surface lot parking lot just a block or so away off Kellogg - super easy parking and cheap for the time you're at the market!
On a warm Sunday afternoon, we took Frankie over to Lake Harriet in Minneapolis for a little walk around the lake. I love any opportunity to be around water and we couldn't have picked a better afternoon to go here. While the sun was very hot, we also got a very nice breeze off the water. We had our first experience at Bread and Pickle and fell in love with the food there! Highly recommend the burgers and fries!
As has become tradition, I took Mom's birthday off to celebrate with her. We started the day with coffee at Lake Nokomis Coffee and a walk around Lake Nokomis. We got in our walk around the whole lake before the humidity crept in. After, we did a little shopping and had a yummy lunch! We ended the celebrations at Bad Weather Brewing - even Frankie came to celebrate! It was a great day all around!
I went down to Waseca for work one Friday to visit our Research and Outreach Center and afterwards made it a day adventure with dad on the drive home! We grabbed lunch in Waseca - with really great food! We stopped at Giesenbrau Bier Co. in New Prague - a new brewery for both of us! We ended the day at Summit Brewery in St. Paul on their opening day of the newly remodeled taproom.
This summer has been so fun taking Frankie to lots of different places - including dog events hosted at local restaurants and breweries. In one weekend we went to the Lakes and Legends Dog Days of Summer Event as well as the Dog Days of Summer event at Bent Brewstillery. Frankie enjoyed himself at both events, checking out the VW Bug and the pool to cool down in.
We went back to Bread and Pickle at Lake Harriet with Shawn's parents on a beautiful summer evening. Enjoyed the bright blue skies, warm sunshine and got some very delicious ice cream as an end to a perfect evening.
Shawn and I enjoyed several Finnish Bistro coffee mornings - a coffee shop not too far away from us. I highly recommend their iced lattes and delicious donuts!
After a visit to the St. Paul Farmers Market earlier in the month, I was itching to get back there on a summer morning! This time we brought Frankie, and even though he's not allowed in the actual market area, he enjoyed sitting with us while we enjoyed our lattes and pastries from the Salty Tart. I once again got beautifully colored produce - tomatoes, zucchini, cilantro, green peppers and more!
With the arrival of electric scooters to the Twin Cities, Shawn was extremely excited and curious to try them out! While I'm a little more apprehensive on things like that, I'm so glad that I pushed myself and tried them out. We used the Bird scooters and picked up two of them in the North Loop area. We spent the next hour and a half traveling over 6 miles through Minneapolis - over the Stone Arch Bridge, down Main Street, along the Mississippi River and more! They were extremely fun and a great way to see the city and get around.
We attended the annual Wheels of Italy in downtown St. Paul in front of Pazzaluna. Despite the very spotty rain showers, it turned into a beautiful night and a fun evening walking around.
We got hooked on the electric scooters, so we bopped over the Minneapolis on a cooler weekend morning to pick up two Bird scooters and head around town. This time we picked them up in the North Loop again, but headed over to Loring Park. We enjoyed lattes at the Dunn Brothers Coffee (the one we frequented very often when we first started dating) and buzzed around Nicollet Mall.
Other fun happenings of the month include a great evening at Lake Monster with my friend Anne. The evening was a perfect temp, the beers were great and it was an all around fun night! Shawn and I also went down to the Lake Elmo Airport with a friend who's family has a hanger down there. While we didn't fly in any planes, we had a fun time learning all about them and I even got to sit in one!
Frankie was his silly self yet again this month - taking naps in boxes and looking cute.
And of course, lots of card creations were made and headed out to new homes!
