Kittens From The Dark Side: Minnesota

From the posts on the blog, you'd think all I've been doing lately is travelling!

It's not quite true.

But I did go to Minnesota after we got back from California.

My Dad had back surgery and I wanted to be there in case any extra hands were needed

during the early part of his recovery.

I found this beautiful dress on Amazon

and decided it was the perfect outfit for the travel day!

dress: Annigo (Amazon)

I got it in a burgund color, too.

I got my new suitcase packed up

and it was less than 50 pounds!

I wore all three pairs of shoes.

While I was at the airport, my Mom sent me this photo of HAIL chunks in her hand!
They had just fallen.
Mark & Jillian got some hail damage on their siding and perhaps roof,
but my parents' house looks okay.

I did that jacket tied around waist thing in the airport and it worked well again.

You can see the pretty desert mountains outside.

And you can see the cute airplane carpet inside!

There's my airplane!

Here's me once I arrived!

It was an okay flight, but very bumpy. I was quite queasy.

dress: Annigo (Amazon)
jacket: Guess (TJ Maxx)
sandals: Sketcher's (Amazon)
bag: Target

There was a bit of a delay in our landing,

and it was already an evening flight, so I didn't do much else that day

other than bake a Daiya pizza and eat most of it!

I got in my jammies fairly quickly (after a nice shower).

The next day I had a lunch planned with my Dad, my brother Mark, and Mark's boss.

It turns out that his new boss is a friend of mine from high school!

We went to my junior (his senior) prom together.

Hi, Kent!

I wore this:

top: Beall's
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)
sandals: Sketcher's (Amazon)

Here we are!
It was extremely weird harsh lighting, so everyone is much better looking than you'd think, looking at these photos.

We went to Red Lobster (my Dad loves it!)

so I took this with me.

It's rice and black beans with BBQ sauce.

It was quite good!

Then we got to see my brother's new office.

The building is fancy.

There's a pond outside with walking paths!

And a fountain!

There's a nice little river, too, with ducks.

Here's Mark Reiman, Data Integration Specialist!

After that, my Mom and I went to Target to get groceries so I could
sustain myself well while I was there. As usual, I probably bought too much,
but it all fit back into my box at the end of the trip (except for the chips and diced tomatoes, which my parents will probably eat).

There's my cute Mom!

We bought these things:

And we had fun.

There wasn't really anything we wanted to browse clothing-wise,

but my Mom did buy me a new pair of fall pajamas!

I love these flower baskets that hang on poles in Minnesota.

We don't really do that in Arizona, even in the winter when the weather is nice.

There were clouds rolling in and they had flat bottoms.

I had a lovely snack:

And eventually started cooking up some yums.

I decided on potato corn chowder and banana bread.

With side salads.

Things turned out great!

I used almond flour instead of regular gluten-free blend, so the banana bread sank in the middle, but it was especially brownie-like and chewy on the edges, which was delicious.
We ate almost the whole thing right then and there.

Then I iced my ankle a bit, because it had swelled up.

I watched TV with my Dad (crazy stuff about what's under the ocean!)

and read a bit of online stuff

It was a great day!

jammies: Target (try Stars Above brand for similar)

The next morning extra early, my parents headed to the surgery facility.
I didn't go so that I could be fresh and energetic when they got home so my Mom could nap and rest
but my Dad would still have someone there to take care of him.

t-shirt: Charter Club (Macy's)
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)

Aren't these gingham sleeves adorable?!

We weren't sure what to expect as far as recovery,
but my Dad was up and around in limited capacity that same day.
He was in pain, but he was moving, and moving helps blood flow and everything else.

I went out for a walk once they were in bed.

t-shirt: Minnesota pride (Target)
pants: Betsey Johnson (Ross)
shoes & socks: Target

It was a beautiful cool evening.

I did get a number of mosquito bites.

I had a very Minnesota experience: finding a hockey puck in the middle of the street in the middle of summer.

The leaves are just starting to turn slightly.

This photo turned out weird - I guess a droplet of rain fell on it near the middle?

I got to walk past this beautiful little pond.

And then over the freeway!

Where this field of wildflowers was waiting.

The moon came up.

Don't worry! I made it home just fine!

I'm still getting used to my parents' new neighborhood,

but it's safe and beautiful, and I enjoy all the walking paths.

I liked being out and a bout because soon I will be having surgery and it will be awhile before I can be as active as I'd like to be.

The next day, we planned to pick up Cora and Esme from school,

then have Mark & Jillian come over after work with chalupas.

I was feeling a bit draggy at this point, which I didn't understand

(it turns out I was getting a wicked illness).

I wore this and didn't particularly like it:

top: Charter Club (Macy's)
jeans: JAG (Beall's)
hair bow: J Crew

I don't know why I didn't dig it - I think these jeans need a shorter top, but I didn't have one along, so I made do, but I felt a little frumpy.

I ate this for lunch:

Before we picked the girls up, we needed to get some extra veggies for the chalupas
(which Jillian made and cooked in their slow cooker all day):

It was delightful to have play time with the girls!
We read a little bit.

And then we played!
Here are some clips from our fun time together:

The following day was Friday.
My Mom and I planned a little shopping trip and then pizza and a movie with the whole family!

blouse: CeCe (Dillard's)
camisole: JKY by Jockey (Target)
skirt: Rekucci (Amazon)
sandals: Sketcher's (Amazon)

Pretty dots!

We checked out HomeGoods first,
where I enjoyed this helmet.

I started feeling extremely lousy, headachy, stuffy, and draggy.
I was also extremely COLD. Shiver bumps cold.

But I was happy to be with my sweet Mom!

Our HomeGoods stores don't have specialty Arizona stuff,

but we saw cute Minnesota stuff at this one!

The coasters weren't absorbent; otherwise I would've brought some home.

We don't know what this weird thing was!

This is true for many reasons.
Happiness comes in waves.

I love this wall hanging.

We went home and I immediately fell into a deep sleep for 20 minutes.

After that I got up and we went to pick up the girls for

FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT!

Look how cute they are with their arms around each other!

Esme got this fancy helmet for earning so many jewels.

Clearly, it made her happy.

We ate pizza and then watched, "Mary Poppins Returns".
It was a lovely evening.

Though I did get sicker throughout the day and into the night.
My fever was 101 when we measured it.
Mark let me use his weighted blanket, which helped with the body aches.