Women Rock!

Saturday was spent in the company of some fine women from all over the northland, and of course my gals, Boomer and Sandy.  (They really like the alias thing.)  First we drove up to Spirit Mountain in Duluth to attend "Women Rock".  It's a fundraiser for breast cancer.  Several vendors were set up, lots of drawings and freebies.  We saw part of a marital arts demonstration.  There were some interesting things in the silent auction, and champagne for a dollar!  No booze for me, but I owed Boomer a dollar....

Boomer and I were also able to get a free chair massage, which was divine.  There was also a dude giving $15 massages on a table, which I'm sure were great, but I didn't really feel comfortable lying out there like that in front of the crowd.  I'm thinking that might just be my Christmas present to myself though.  I certainly could use one, in private that is.

The girls and I careened (and I do mean that, Boomer was driving) our way back over to Superior where there was a similar function going on at V.I.P.  although not a fund raiser.  We found our old Party Lite "dealer" Arlene, and Sandy got all set up for a party in a few weeks.  So if any of you need candles, I can hook you up!  I got to see how the Miche bags work, up close and personal.  I think it's a neat idea, but I just can't give up the "feed bag" that I carry around.  I love that purse.  Lets see... I won a pumice stone brush for your feet, and got to see some very, VERY scary belly dancers.  I mean, you go girl, but yikes!  Ah, I almost forgot the free pizza! 

It turns out that Superior was hosting an event this weekend, but I hadn't seen it advertised anywhere.  I think it was called "Girls Day Out."  You got a card and had to go to six area business' and have the card punched.  So we were out and about Superior then for the rest of the afternoon.  I honestly had only been into one of those businesses before (The Rocking Horse) so it really was a good promotional thing!  We also hit a few places not on the list, ending with an estate sale a few blocks from here.  That was gross.  Upscale house on Hammond, but the inside was totally original from the time it was built.  The upstairs smelled like pee, and the basement..... I don't know.  I had to hold my breath. 

All in all it was a good day.  I also had a unique opportunity to remind one woman that she does indeed rock!  I meant what I said.  You are a strong woman, you can do this.  It's the right thing to do........ and I always have your back, even if I'm in the car.  :) 

Kidnapped

I wasn't even going to go out tonight, but was easily persuaded to go to qwazadilla dinner at Lisa's house.  Kerri makes a mean margarita, and Lisa does a nice job with the Quesedillas.  Yes Nikki.  It's Quesedilla. :)  I'm going to tell that story one of these days!

After dinner it got down right boring, so we headed uptown.  I dropped my car at home and jumped into the back of Kerri's.  Off to V.I.P. we go.  There was a band playing........ Hell Puppies.  Oldies music, not bad if you're into that.  Kind of loud so you had to do the scream to talk thing.  Mid life man standing too close to me for comfort at the bar, but nothing happened to report. (thank God)  Christina showed up, so we visited for a bit.  Barry was late for work, so we missed him.  We wait for NO man.  Early night tonight, we're meeting back up in the morning for "Women Rock" up at Spirit Mountain.  Then V.I.P. has something going on around lunch time so we'll stop back in there.

After we left V.I.P. Kerri put an Air Supply cd on.  *sigh*  How many nights I bawled my teen aged eyes out to that stuff.  How many "drape and sway" dances did I snuggle in to whomever (actually it makes me think of Tony.....seventh grade....five million years ago)  while that music was playing.  "Turn it off!"  I yelled.  "Why are you singing if you hate it so much?" came the reply from the front.  "I hate you."

So instead of dropping me at home Kerri just drove by the apartment and around the "hood" with the windows down, blasting Air Supply, singing at the top of our lungs.  Thank God Kerri had to pee, or I'd still be driving around Superior singing "Sweet Dreams"!  As it was the concert continued after I got out of the car.  I stood on my steps, swaying and waving my middle finger in the air at Kerri and Lisa, as if it were in fact a lighter.........

HeeHaw Happy Hour

It has been a few days since Happy Hour, so I'm going to have to think back to the particulars.  It has been a busy weekend, but Happy Hour was pretty tame.

Lisa and I met at five over at Keyport.  The server, who doesn't wear a name tag, actually remembered me from the Friday prior, and even that I had Opulent (vodka) and pink lemonade!  Impressive, since I didn't do anything worthy of remembrance that evening. :)  That is a good sign when we are looking for a home base.  The fact that they carry UV pink lemonade is another!  Which is what I had to drink.  Lisa had Miller Lite (shocking I know) and the deep fried cauliflower.  I had the chicken strips and fries.  We were both pleased with our choices.  Great service, good food, and the prices are perfect. 

I called this blog Hee Haw Happy Hour because of the patrons of the establishment.  I would not be surprised to see my old next door neighbors (The hillbillies) out on the deck.  I am trying to remember one of the lines of conversation that almost made me choke on my drink, but I can't. It is an excellent people watching venue.  The average age of the clientele is probably 55 though.  Definitely not a young crowd.  We seem to say that a lot, and I said to Lisa, "Well, when we stop noticing how old they are it will probably be because WE are that old."

Lisa and I parted ways for about a half hour.  I had to run home and finish cleaning the apartment for my weekend house guests.  We met back up at V.I.P at about seven-thirty to watch the Packer game.  The Lounge Hounds were also playing, and they are a fabulous group!  Kind of old a.m. radio tunes from the seventies, but we like them!  If you have the chance you should definitely check them out.  Christina was also at the bar and we had a good time watching the game and listening to music.  Barry the bartender was in rare form, and that's all I have to say about that.  Well, that, and subtlety is not his strong suit.......  I did learn a new joke, but of course I can't tell you cause it's x rated.  I think I surprised him when I told him one back.  :) 

My evening ended at nine.  I had to scurry home to let the relatives in!  It was good to see Melanie and Les again, even though we didn't have much time to visit.  They were great house guests, and not only did I get a brand new berry bowl, I also got another vase!!  I squished Milkie good-bye and begged her to behave, then went to stay at Kate's with Sky.  Nothing like sleeping with a one hundred pound dog who finds great  joy in bounding into the bed at all hours of the night to wake me up.  Plus they took the good computer.  OH, and the good breakfast sandwiches are NOT in the freezer.  I will be taking it up with the customer service department!

So now it's Sunday evening and I'm spending some time at home before going back up to my sister's for one more night.  I thought maybe Milkie would like to spend some time together, but apparently her nap is more important.  That and the fact that while she was a good girl for company, she bit me.  When I got here it was all lovey dovey for about ten minutes, then she just bit my hand.  Not hard, no marks, just a little shot to express her displeasure I'm sure.  So I expressed my displeasure right back and then she went to bed.  :)  *sigh*  I'll be home after work tomorrow and we can begin again.

Happy hour this week (if it happens) will be on Wednesday or Thursday.  Kerri and I are both heading to the cities this weekend. 

OH I almost forgot.  The girls went and watched the baseball team from "Players" on Thursday night.  We went back to Players for a bit, but it was boring with a capital B.  Then over to Grizzlies in Superior for their late night Happy Hour.  I'm not going to Grizzlies again.  Too expensive, and Lord in Heaven........WHO puts corn in guacamole?????  So much corn that if you took out the corn there would be nothing left.   YUCK   Plus, the regular price of a titanic tea is now $6.00.  No, I'm not kidding.  So at Happy Hour prices they are $4.50.  Which in my opinion are what they should be regularly priced at.  The end.  :)

Happy Hour World Tour

Well, it isn't a world tour exactly.  In reality we will just be trying out many of the local establishments, seeing what they have to offer, how the decks are, and in general just being judgy about the bars/restaurants in the area.  However, when I was actually writing the  blog a minute ago that title popped out at me, and here we are.  New blog, new title.  The old one was called "The Hangover" because that's me today.  Unfortunately it is due to a cold and not to a wild rollicking night of drunkenness and debauchery. Oh, those things were represented all right, just not by me.......mostly.

I've decided that along with my other ramblings I'm going to blog out some of this adventure.  Of course, "What Happens in Solon Springs (or in the car, etc. etc.) STAYS in Solon Springs, so you are going to get the PG version unless it pertains directly to me and it's something I don't mind my employer or family seeing. ;)  I have serious thoughts about writing another anonymous blog where I can just let it all fly.  This censoring shit is for the birds.

So last night we started out the tour at Rapids Riverside, which is located just out of town.  They have a new deck, which is very shady and I'm not a sun seeker, so I liked that.  The weather was gorgeous, high seventies with a light breeze off the big lake.  I had my first strawberry margarita of the season, but it tasted kind of odd, not the usual flavor.  The service was slow with a capital S, and no, they weren't very busy.  The O Luv U burger was absolutely fabulous!  It's a big ol' burger with lots of green olives and their own home made blue cheese dressing.  The fries are good too, nice and crispy.  Kerri and Lisa had the pizza roll up things....damn I can't recall what they are called.  Old Chicago has them too...... Well anyway, they loved them.  They also ordered the garlic knots which were a bit too buttery, but I love garlic, and they were good.  Lets see, what else?  The happy hour at Rapids offers .50 off drinks so if I had ordered my usual whiskey coke it would have been 2.50.  Not bad.

Then we moved on to Solon Springs, a little community about a half hour south of here.  It's very rural, and this town has it's own sub-culture.  We refer to them as "Solon Swingers".  If you follow.  I suppose there's not much else to do in Solon.......   Anyway.   Kerri's hubster, Ben, plays on a softball team and they are having a tournament there this weekend.  The service at Rapids was so slow that we only caught the last part of their game, but they won!  We watched almost all of another game and then walked over to the "Village Pump".  The bar is newer and really nice inside.  The locals didn't seem too amused with us, and our noise, well......I suppose it's harder to "hook up" when all that ruckus is going on.  Had a Bud Light.  Yes, I know.  I hate beer.  However, when a much younger man walks up and hands you a beer that he just bought for you, you smile, say thanks, and drink the damn beer.  Alas dear readers, he is married. *sigh*

Oh, how could I forget the "man rating" at the game???  Kerri at one point asked me if I saw anything to my liking amongst this field of men.  Yeah....... no.  So that encouraged a little game where when a man was "on deck" we gave them a rating of 1-10.  We decided to do this right at the beginning of the second game, and the first guy up was this little stick man......which sent us into gales of laughter.  Mean? Yep.  Fun? You bet.  We did rate one guy a collective 8, but the rest never made it past 4.  "Oh, a tattoo......that's an extra point!"  "Oh, a tattoo.......take away a point."  

So we hung out at the bar for awhile and Lisa, Ben, and Kerri talked to a few other friends who wanted to meet up at V.I.P. in Superior.  I piled four fairly inebriated friends into Kerri's mobile and headed back into town.  Between the road construction, pea soup fog, jiggy music, and the revelry in the back seat (what happens in the car, stays in the car) it was an interesting ride to say the least.  We did kidnap "Rookie" and drag him back to town with us, which was kinda fun.  New friends are always a good thing.

Quin met us at V.I.P. and Shelly made an appearance also.  A few of the ballplayers came back into town too. That seems to be the new "hang out" for our little group, although the bartender wants to date Lisa.........and that's why we had to leave the Shack.  You don't screw around at work, and you don't F... the bartender.  When things end, as they frequently do, it doesn't go well.  It's a shame though, cause Barry the Bartender is a really good guy.  Uh, plus......he tends bar for something to do, doesn't drink, and he has car/boat/home on skyline drive.  Not bad.  Not bad at all. 

So the night ended around 1:30 with Quin taking some and me taking the rest home.  Got a big ol bear hug from the Rookie, and my night was complete.