Mall games

 Recently I saw an article on my phone news feed that the stars of the Hunger Games were coming to the Mall of America for a signing and Q & A session. I stewed it over for a few days. Mentioned it to Gabe a few times. I had to work that night, which meant that I would have to get up early, deal with crazy crowds,  and probably a lot of screaming girls. Then it occured to me that I had an opportunity to actually see them and take pics and I exclaimed to Gabe, "We have to go! When will we ever get a chance like this??" By the way, my husband is a saint. SAINT!!! He really wanted to go at first, then as we approached the mall and saw all the security guards and tons of screaming girls we both kind of squirmed. I said several times, I want to go, this is too much and he kept saying we're here, let's just stay.

(about 2 hours before they came out, I was on an escalator)

The signs were seriously the best, but this was my favorite....

I loaf Peeta.

We ended up in a pretty sweet spot on the floor. Crowd control was ridiculous. They had this whole area sectioned of for VIP's and the whole thing was basically empty. Eventually they would bring in a few people at a time. We were lucky and got escorted in. Otherwise, Gabe would have been behind a pole. I kept saying "you can leave honey and I'll meet you later if it's too much." He said "Forget that, I'm here to represent team katniss." He's pretty much the coolest.

Finally, it started. The preview came on and folks went NUTS!

Including me...

Haha. Everyone started coming out and truth be told it was so loud I didn't even hear everyone's names or who they played in the movie. So, I looked it up later.

Jacklyn Emerson- Foxface, Amandla Stenburg- Rue,  Isabelle Fuhrman-Clove, Alexander Ludwig- Cato

Then Josh and Jennifer got there. It was madness. I was like- uh ok, let's not lose our minds everyone. I felt so bad for any parents there that had no clue who these jokers were. The whole Q and A was very cutesy and Amandla (Rue) was totally adorable.



It was pretty rad. Made me super excited for the movie. I have to work the night of the opening. I'm not all that sad. I think I'll go to a matinee without any screaming girls. I've had my fill.



Very pinteresting- Yum edition

I recently pinned a recipe for soft pretzels that were supposed to be just like Auntie Anne's pretzels at the mall. Anyone who has ever been to a mall with me knows my love for auntie anne's. The BEST! So, I had to put this recipe to the test! The only "unusual" ingredients that I had to purchase were bread flour and yeast. I'm not a bread maker so I didn't have those items in my pantry. I was able to put my mixer to the test and I used my dough hook for the first time. I had a lot of fun making them.

Source: sprinklesofparsley.com via Christina on Pinterest

I made both the original and cinnamon sugar and we liked the original the best. It's not exaclty the same as those pretzels at the mall but they were really good and really similar to the real thing. I even went to the mall the next day and didn't get one. I had been pleased with my homemade ones the night before :)

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Another yuumy recipe I found on pinterest. It was a real winner in  our household!

Confetti Chicken and Veggie Pasta

Source: bakecakery.com via Christina on Pinterest

Ice Skating at The Depot

Gabe and I decided to go ice skating over the weekend. We actually had been looking forward to ice skating on a lake, but the ice has been so thin this winter that it was pretty much out of the question.

The depot is an old train depot turned amazing hotel. The ice rink is behind the hotel in the middle of downtown. Turns out I was happy to skate indoors. No wind.

Gabe and I mutually decided we could not remember the last time either of us skated. Which means, we have never done it together. Seems like a first! I was on the ice for two seconds and felt like leaving. Something about the instability is so scary but we got more comfortable and it was really fun!



Wanna see how graceful I am...

A lion, tiger and bear. Oh my!

A few days ago Gabe and I ventured into St. Paul to see the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. We saw a lot of amazing animals and the conservatory blew my mind. It was definitely my favorite part. Here are some of the pics.

and for the best part...

The Sunken garden

So stunning. My camera died right after I took this picture or you would have been looking at 27 pictures of starburst lilies. The smell was amazing as you walked in the room.

We sat down on the bench and I said to Gabe "If I'm ever having a bad day, I want you to bring me here." Then he said, "It reminds me of sitting in the temple."

Exactly. 

The Guthrie





A few weeks ago Gabe and I attended a famous play called "Cat on a hot tin roof" by Tennessee Williams. It was playing at The Guthrie theater which is a Minneapolis staple for it's modern architecture and amazing shows. The interior has amazing lighting and the exterior has a "neverending" bridge which juts out almost to the Mississippi river. Every window seems to have great views of the city and surrounding areas. We loved the show. We ended up eating a very late dinner at the restaurant on the ground level of the building called, Sea Change. Definitely one of our most favorite restaurants in Minne thus far. Food was so good.

Great show, great food, great date. <3

lovely

Valentine's Day this year was a bit befuddled due to both of our work schedules. Earlier in the week I made and decorated sugar cookies to feel a but more festive. I worked the night before Valentine's so when I got off at 7:30 I came home and made Gabe breakfast in bed. I woke up later that afternoon to some beautiful roses. Mostly white, and two red roses to represent us. So sweet and they still look beautiful and smell so good! (Earlier in the week, while I was sleeping after work Gabe also purchased breaking Dawn for me- what a keeper) Gabe had a chorus rehearsal that night from 7-10 and I luckily was able to stay home from work due to low census at work. Due to the lack of an actual date that evening, we opted for a festive Feb 15th instead.

Since Gabe had a short meeting in the morning we were basically able to spend most of the day together, which is pretty rare. We decided to head to mall of america because we needed to do some shopping and there are literally a million things to do there. We ate some lunch at the Twin Cities Grill and then went miniature golfing (in the mall). Gabe was in heaven. We tied believe it or not, which means I upped my game a little.

We left the mall to catch a movie, The Artist. It was so neat experiencing a silent film. It was super entertaining (even though I dozed off for five seconds-it's the work schedule, I assure you) The movie was great. We highly recommend.

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!!

Werther

Gabe is starring in Werther this weekend with Minnesota Opera. He is playing the role of Albert, a man who is married to a woman who is in love with Werther. It's a pretty large role so Gabe is excited and also nervous. There is actually going to be a live webcast on Feb 5 of the show for free (tomorrow!). So excited for all of our friends and family that won't get to see the show in person. If you've been wanting to see him perform, here's your chance. Here is the direct link to the website.

Live webcast

Here is a link to the MN opera website for more details about the show!

Werther performances

Have you seen his website? Check it out...

http://www.gabrielpreisser.com/

(Thursday night, backstage)

He was awesome, can't wait to see it again tomorrow. I'll be in the audience while you listen to the webcast :)