I love getting the chance to visit my sister in Minneapolis and so I’ve flown from Ohio to Atlanta and then up to MSP in order to do so once again! (The nice thing is that, though I flew AirTran, since I bought the tickets from Southwest, I got to use their rules and so my checked bag was free!)

I got up early yesterday morning (4:30 – blech!) and mom took me to the airport. Both the Ohio leg and Atlanta leg of the trip were uneventful. Amy picked me up at baggage claim and we returned to her place. Sadly, she was unable to get the day off work (though Monday and Tuesday she has off – whee!) but was able to work from home. So while she worked, I looked through the BiteSquad offerings to see what we could have delivered for lunch. We settled on Manny’s Tortas and Amy got a Cuban torta and I got Manny’s Special. The website didn’t say what was all on the sandwich, but we were willing to risk it. Turns out it had steak, ham, mushrooms, and their usual toppings (avocado, jalapeno and chipotle peppers, cheese, grilled onions, etc.) I’d not had a torta before and Amy described it to me as a Mexican “Great Steak and Fry” which described it well enough. Oh, and you get a bag of Lays potato chips with the torta order.

The BiteSquad website is nifty cuz it contiually refreshes the page to tell you where it is in the order. It was a Friday and the peak of the lunch time, so it was about an hour from when we made the order to when the BiteSquad dude dropped off the order. We sat outside on Amy’s patio and enjoyed our tortas and chips.

Amy was done with work by 4pm (she’d started early to get on the network before it got too busy at work) and so we figured out what our evening plans were from then. We both felt that a walk would be good and we might as well walk somewhere for supper. We used another website called WalkScore to find out what restaurants were nearby and how far the walk is. After much discussion and debate, we settled on Quang’s (a Viet Namese place) (with the option that if something along the way changed our minds, we’d go there instead). Turns out Quang’s was our eventual destination.

We started the meal with a steamed bun, which was HUGE and very yummy (and not on the menu, though it used to be). Then we both opted for the beef and egg roll vermicelli salad (bun thit nuong cha gio) for supper. This was a brilliant idea – a very yummy and refreshing salad (though with only a hint of greens. Heh). We both wound up with leftovers which we decided would make for a great breakfast. We also bought a (huge) chocolate chip cookie thinking we’d have it later in the evening.

Before heading home, we wandered back up the street beyond Quang’s to Glam Doll Donuts to see what all they had on offer. It’s a really cute store with some fun places to sit and eat. I picked up a cream filled donut and Amy chose a plain glazed donut. These, we figured, would complement our leftovers. We also popped into a new (to Amy) store called b. but didn’t see anything we could live without.

Since Amy had worked all day, she was too tired to do much else and thought sitting and reading would be a lovely way to finish the evening. I agreed. So once we were home, we sat in her living room and geeked on our laptops and then read until bedtime. A lovely day spent with my sister. (Oh, and we didn’t eat any of the cookie that night.)

This morning, we did as promised and had our leftovers and donuts. We were both a little disappointed in the donuts as, despite being yeast donuts, they were too dense (more like cake donut density). Ah well, now we know better than to waste our WeightWatchers points on Glam Doll donuts. Still, breakfast was yummy and I supplimented mine with a peach.

Our main morning goal was to get some summer fruit for Amy to freeze for the winter months. We stopped at the Midtown Farmer’s market for blueberries (Minnesota grown) and she picked up 6 pints for $20. They have been lovely tasting blueberries, too. Then we went to her local co-op, Seward, and she bought a case of peaches (Michigan and Wisconsin grown). A quick stop at a liquor store allowed dad to buy us some rum and gin and beer and cider. Thanks dad! (I love it when he gives us “bad girl money” to spend on liquor and chocolate!) And then we returned home.

Since we hadn’t yet gotten any real exercise for the day, we decided to go for a walk to our lunch place. This again required some discussion and debate and our eventual choice was Butter. I had a BLT and their pesto pasta salad and both were yummy. We returned home and then headed off on a grand adventure.

Yesterday, Amy and I went across the street to a neighbor of hers who had two old IKEA chairs and a matching ottoman available for anyone to take. Our goal today was to find some fabric and foam rubber to replace the cushions on the chairs. Amy drove us to Crafty Planet for some fun fabric and then onto Jo-Ann’s for some foam rubber. Since the Jo-Ann’s was near a Best Buy, we popped in there for some Cat-5 cable as well. (Not for the chairs, but for another project.)

We have since returned home and our evening plans involve grilling out and having Amy’s friend Kyle around for dinner. Should be some good geeky fun (among other things, he’s a Doctor Who fan).