Shout Out: Wit + Delight

I just wanted to make sure everyone is aware of how much I adore my talented friend, Kate.

Kate, not only do you have amazing taste and style, but you so generously allow us all to enjoy your inspiring spirit through your blog. So thanks for that. And thanks for the new tumblr page… I am adoringly addicted!

If you haven’t seen her stuff yet, check it out. But don’t compare it to the McBlog because that’s just plain not fair.

Xxoo!! Ally

Finally Recovered

Soo… I survived the long weekend last weekend (two weekends ago), and then had another, very pleasant one.

The four days of Independence Day weekend were basically a drunken whirlwind. We couldn’t have asked for better weather though.  The big day on lake was Sunday. We filled up our 18-passenger pontoon to capacity, then piled in coolers of alcohol and food, and topped ‘er off with a dozen or so obnoxious floaty toys.

When the eight hours of brownout madness ended, the whole gang decided to continue the party over at Maynard’s on the lake. Ugh. Twelve hours of drinking never ends well, but a decent number were still able to make it out for breakfast at the Original Pancake House the next morning.

And I’m truly shocked I managed to hang on to all of my belongings. My dignity may have been dinged up a bit. Oh well. Apparently I’ll have a chance for a re-do, seeing as Zeep has already begun planning another voyage. This time with TWO boats. FML.

Anyway, because the weather was so darn amazing, Mr. Iceberg and I decided to get more sun damage by spending Monday on the lake again. Not surprisingly, I fell asleep that night around 6PM.

This past weekend was a whole different story. I filled it up with responsible occasions such as dinner with the fam, a matinee movie, date night with Mr. Iceberg to dinner and a comedy show, and Sunday lunch with Crumb and Beej.  Despite the outdoors resembling a suffocating steam room, it was very lovely indeed (did I mention Crumb and Beej left lunch on Sunday to head over to the Home Depot? So domesticated, those married folk).

I should mention that my sister moved to Dayton, Ohio on Saturday. A fine example of the things you do for love. Good luck out there, B! I will miss you like crazy, but at least we’ll always have our movie quotes. Xxoo!

One final question: Why the F does my car’s A/C smell like a men’s hockey locker room? Who left the dirty sock in the vents? Woof.

Have a lovely week everyone!

Beddy-Bye

When was the last time you used that phrase? Love it.

Oh, hi. You again.  I’m just about to hit the hay, get some shut eye, catch forty winks. Whatevs. Tonight Mr. Iceberg asked me if I was high … I wonder what that means. Probably means that I’m a starvin’ Marvin and going loopy because of this new “Shape Up Challenge” nonsense we’ve got going on at work. Wanna know what the motivational prize is?

Feeling healthier.

SOLD! Sign me right up for those 1200 cals a day and 6 day per week workouts! FML.

The good news is, is that I’m in first place … with myself (it’s an individual challenge) with a whopping 6lbs lost this week.  Suck it Weight Watchers! Whaaaaat?

K, yeah. I do seem high. This is weird.

I might also just be on overload of excitement for this weekend. Independence Day!  Wahoo! I have tomorrow off work, so I am going to treat myself to a mani/pedi in the morning before meeting up with my stylist for lunch. Only kidding; I might just do the pedi. ; )

Though I do need to go shopping to find a really mind-blowingly awesome sundress/romper/nonsense to wear out on the lake on Sunday.  I’m one of 18 people aboard the S.S. pontoon ship, so a girl’s gotta stand out, right?

While I’m out, I should probably also pick up a couple jugs of SPF 100 for the Mister’s sensitive epidermis. Tender angle kisses. (He’s going to kill me for saying that). :-*

Anyway, that’s all I really had to say. If I don’t see you this weekend, I hope you have a very lovely holiday!! Yay for Red, White and Blue!

Neglect.

Word o’ the day: Neglect.

I hope this giant span of neglecting to update you on my thrilling life hasn’t caused any permanent damages or over-priced trips to therapy. I’ve missed you, but needed to take a break to recover from this odd unseasonal seasonal depression and a handful of hangovers.

Since there seems to be sun at the end of this tunnel (the forecast calls for SUN this week, but I won’t be holding my breath), I decided to pop back in to say ‘hello’. Hello.

You basically just missed more of the usual… Humdrum weekdays followed by rowdy weekends. In the past few weeks, June has sneaked by us, leaving quite a sour taste. Blasted weather.

Yesterday we finally made it out on the lake again, first time since we last spoke. There were plenty of clouds and a couple raindrops, but the occasional ray of sun managed to make sure the day wasn’t a total bust.

Saturday night Mr. Iceberg joined the McBlog family at friend’s wedding at Spill the Wine in downtown Minneapolis. The wedding was fun and quirky, just like the gorgeous bride. Not having travel or wait time between the ceremony and the reception was a major bonus, and the homemade red velvet cake balls were to die for.  My sister B managed to drink herself under the table and spent half of Sunday with the toilet. Good work, teammate. Proud of you.

Before that was your basic clownshow Friday happy hour turned Friday night, which landed Iceberg and I in bed at 11:30 eating McDonald’s cheeseburgers. Where’s a trailer park when you need one… ?

And the Thursday before that was a busy day of rollin’ on the Nordeast PedalPub with coworker’s followed by girl’s night at Kitty’s new digs.  Just thinking about that day makes me want a nap. Blegh. Hopefully next time I won’t be hungover for girl’s night. Love you!

Annnd before that we had a couple other weekends, of which I have no recollection. I’m pretty sure there was a Thursday night that included sushi happy hour, late-night after-hours, a shattered dining chair and a very rough Friday for a couple of my friends.

Other than that I’m assuming it was just a few weeks filled with the usual.  This weekend, however, is 4th of July weekend.  We’ve got an 18 person pontoon rented for Sunday, so that should get interesting!

Have a happy Monday and, if you’re lucky, I’ll stop back in sometime this week!

Me Mind on Fire, Me Soul on Fire

Feelin’ hot, hot, hot!!

Okay, Minnesota… You got us! You sure got us good, you silly goose.

I mean, this is a joke, right? Jumping from endless, cold rain, to rampaging tornadoes,  to the kind of heat that would make Hades sweat. Don’t you just love it when you can feel the still air on your skin? Woof. I appreciated the couple of glorious, warm, sunny and non-humid days we enjoyed over the weekend, but what a tease that was! Also, rain this weekend? Bite me.

I am thankful for central air conditioning, though. Remember this post from last year? What a moment of hell that was. However, as horrendous as this 100-degree heat is, it’s a steamy paradise compared to negative temperatures and pounding blizzards.

Speaking of annoying, there is a freakishly large fly, who I swear is purposely trying to irritate me right now. The furry little bastard is not unlike this winged beast:

If you land in my Dr. Pepper, I swear I’ll swat your ass all the way back to to the fourth plague (though I wouldn’t blame you, it’s nice and cool in here and a chilled DP tastes amazeballs on days like today).

Anyway, good luck out there, fellow prisoners of Mother Nature! Until next time!

Strip Clubs and Big Island

Kind of the same thing, no? Well, I had the opportunity to indulge in both this past weekend. Yahoo!

I thought Friday night was going to be rather low-key, since Mr. Iceberg and I were just planning on grabbing a late dinner.  We ended up meeting up with Crumb and Beej at the Local for food and drinks, then more and more drinks on the patio. Iceberg’s married friends took over for Crumb and Beej, who headed home due to an early morning road trip to Duluth.

The four of us experienced some surprisingly gangster beats at Barrio before making the decision to head over to the Seville (or what Iceberg likes to call “The Boom Boom Room”). I’ve only been to the Seville once, but it was when I was on the verge of blackedoutedness with Moon, so I don’t really think that counts.

For being a strip club, it was actually quite enjoyable. Comfortable chairs, friendly cocktail waitress, strong drinks, decent music… and of course hot bodies waving tatas around. I was secretly delighted at the lopsided ratio of brunettes to blonds, we’re makin’ a comeback ladies!!  The four of us ended up closing down the place, with the bouncers sternly requesting us to chug our last drinks.

Saturday, I had to shake a slight hangover. It was easy to do considering the 80 degrees and cloudless sky Mother Nature blessed us with.  I spent the day “supervising” Mom McBlog while she gardened. My heaven is a lawn chair in the hot sun with a cold beverage. I am a simple person. (Ha!)

After hours of soaking in rays, I decided to do something with my day and met up with Buck and Kitty on Tugg’s patio in the NE.  A couple of John Daly’s, some top-of-the-line chili fries, and I bet that was the first time anyone split a bacon cheeseburger three ways.

So the sun was setting and the three of us headed over to CK’s for a few cocktails before meeting up with Mr. Iceberg and his gang on Drink’s patio.  CK and I bid farewell to Buck and Kitty along the way, and then had to wait 20 minutes in a line to get up to the roof. The least they could have done was send over a cocktail waitress!

By the time we found the boys, they were ready for a change of venue. CK and I downed our drinks and we all headed for  (drum rool, please!) … The Lyndale Taphouse. Shocking. We really kicked the party in to gear at this point, everyone trying to one-up each other on rounds of shots. Woof.  I vaguely remember smiling for the camera with one of Icebergs friends in the photobooth. The result being gangster hand signs and drunken, glazed eyes.

On the way home Mr. Iceberg and I stopped at Milo’s for a full-out meal. He ended up giving his cookie to a random girl in line, and then made me give our cab driver twenty bucks for an $8 cab ride because the guy’s credit card machine was “broken” and he only had $4 in change. Total bologna. Unfortunately, for those of you who’ve met her, Agnes (aka Stephanie) came raging out of me and stayed most of the night. Unacceptable.  I thought I uninvited her to the rest of my life…

Fortunately, the sun eventually came up and it was a gorgeous Sunday. Too gorgeous for a hangover.  I stopped at Fresh Seasons for some snacks, packed up the boat and headed for the lake.  My other heaven.  The day is never long enough when cruising around Lake Minnetonka, puttering through the hooligans anchored at Big Island and chillaxing in a quiet part of Maxwell Bay.

One un-sunscreened, crispy back later and I was laying in bed watching The Tourist. Well, the first thirty minutes of The Tourist  anyway.  I did wake up just in time to overhear the big twist ending, so that was awesome… Pfft.

Bedtime – 7:50PM. Rockstar.

A Two-Parter Continued…

Memorial Day weekend.

This is a three-day period that is notorious in Minnesota for totally sucking in the weather department. Some people (me) fear to even make plans anymore because they always seem to be quashed.

Last weekend was no different. Mad tornadoes flying around the country, record heat down south… Here we just got clouds and rain, per usual. At least it was warm. Finally.

On Friday, Mr. Iceberg took me out for a romantic date to the cinema to see The Hangover II. If you’ve seen The Hangover, then you’ve seen The Hangover II. Same movie, different continent. They’re both hilarious, but there’s definitely a few more transgender penis shots in the follow-up.

A crazy thunderstorm blew through on Saturday afternoon, but hightailed it out of there just in time for Iceberg’s roomie Dino to throw himself a rooftop birthday party at their place.  Moon joined us as we enjoyed burgers, brats, beer, and other bbq delights that don’t start with a ‘b’.

After a few hours of drinking and eating ourselves into a slight coma, the group whittled itself down to the true party people, and we headed to the bars in Uptown.

The Uptown Diner was an effective cure for my slight hangover the next day, but I really had to rally after an afternoon nap before going out again on Sunday night.  I wasn’t in the biggest party mood, but after a handful of Redbull vodkas and a round of darts at William’s I was headed for annihilation. Mr. Iceberg, Dino and Iceberg’s sister Madonna and I had a lengthy photoshoot on Drink’s rooftop before I blacked-out. There is a really pretty picture of Iceberg and I in the cab on the way home that night. A classic “holy drunk eyes” shot.

Iceberg and I spent our entire Memorial Day in pajamas watching marathons of Campus PD and Pawn Stars. We ordered Chinese food for dinner. Just your basic festerfest, nbd.

Anyway, it’s already time for yet another weekend. This time, the sun is actually going to be involved and I’m hoping for a day on the lake.

Now I’m off to our first agency Split Weiner BBQ, then it’s out to enjoy the weather!