Mill City Reception

I've looked at one reception site so far, and I really like it and hope I won't have to look at any others. It's the Mill City Museum in downtown Minneapolis. The guys I work with like it because of its industrial quality (there's diamond plate on portions of the floor). I like it for that reason too, plus there's some charm that goes along with something as old as this building. Plus, the reception site is small and intimate, which cozies up a cold, old building.

It's my birthday tomorrow, wahoo! Tom is taking me (well, I suggested it, I'm driving, and I may be paying, but it sounds better this way...) to a play tonight called Bug. It sounds very interesting, although really weird. Then tomorrow night, Ariane, Tom and I are going to the Triple Rock for dinner for Po'Boys big as a large baby. Too bad I'm not in training for anything right now, I'm really packing in the food; Po'Boys, Ariane and I baked 2 pumpkin pies last night, and with the leftover pumpkin, I'm making pumpkin chocolate chip muffins tonight, and I think we still have some leftover pizza. YIKES, good thing I'm not trying on dresses yet...

women, women everywhere. Yuck.

Over the past 4 days, I have been in the presence of copious amounts of women; something I'm not used to, working in a man's field. Last Thursday and Friday I was at a conference for the Society of Women Engineers. For some reason those conferences make me sick. I don't know why; I just have issues with women getting all gussied up and networking with the best of the corporate world. I think I got into a man's career because I like working with men, and now all these women are coming out of the woodwork, and frankly, I don't work as well with them. Call me afraid of having a more even playing field out there; maybe that's it.
Then, on my own accord, I went to the wedding expo yesterday at the Minneapolis Convention Center. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. The women were pretty tame, except the group who came prancing down the escalator wearing pink sweatshirts that read "Carla's Bridesmaid". Gross. Just gross. Anyway, about the expo: I've found that my tastes are simple, but somehow that equates to expensive in the wedding world. I guess the jewel-studded, pink frilly style uses gaudiness to cover up cheapness. My favorite dress, which was pretty plain as far as wedding dresses go, was $3,000. I didn't know I had such an eye for the good stuff; I wish I didn't. Anyway, the best booths were the food/cake booths. I'm definitely going with a Lund's/Byerly's cake. I still need to set a date and find a place for this shindig, so that is the priority for my lunch breaks over the next few weeks.
Tom got some new toys this weekend that most people wouldn't appreciate. They were heavy 20-35 lb balls with handles. They're basically a modified dumbell that gives a lot more versatility to lifting. We squeezed in a playground workout before the expo, and with the balls, did some single arm power lifting. At this rate, my shoulders will never fit into a dress; especially one of my $3,000 picks. I couldn't find my expo picks online, but here's one of the expensive ones I really like.