Test 2 … I am using Blogit by Typepad to make this post through my Facebook account. It is free through Facebook, but so far, it appears that you are not getting the true benefits of the Blogit application.

To get all the benefits, it appears you have to pay the monthly Typepad fee if you want to use the full capabilities.

>>> I am now using WordPress to clean up this post and summarize. Not so good for my first try. It doesn’t allow me to categorize the entry or spellcheck, and it made this same post six times!

This post is a dedication to my new “professional” category. I am using WriteToMyBlog.com as my word processor. This service will allow me to make a single entry on the WriteToMyBlog.com site and then post to multiple blogs. Test, Test, Test 123.

Nearly two years ago, I agreed to join the social media world. At the time, my motivation was my need to understand it for my target audience at work. Life was also simple, and my blog about food and travel was a fascinating new hobby. I knew social media was big and viral, but I had no idea how fast it would capture the attention of the boomer generation or traditionally conservative industries.

My life took a crazy turn, and I’ve barely been able to find a moment to write in the past year. Yet funny, I am back in the same position I was two years ago. It’s time to step up my social media game … for work.

And because I don’t have the time to write as much about food, travel and such (guilty pleasure when I do), I decided I needed to expand my focus for the blog that is a little more on the professional side. So today, I introduce a new professional category that will be my collection of ideas, tips, tools, gadgets and widgets galore.

Oh and why the new name? If you read through my posts, it is a rivalry of the best donuts, neighborhood restaurants, local deals … (a few posts have strayed recently for the worse) … and, now I return with a fresh, professional twist.

The weekend flew by with my family, and we took in a wide variety of activities and covered a lot of land.

I picked up my older brother at MSP on Friday afternoon, and then we had a late patio lunch at Jax’s on University in Northeast. We ate way too much, but it set the pace for the weekend!  I started with a Stella on tap, and together, we enjoyed onion rings, a house salad with creamy peppercorn dressing, and tenderloin with sauteed mushrooms and onions on pumpernickel bread with horseradish sauce. To top it off, we shared a rich serving of bread pudding. As always, Jax’s provided excellent service, a great atmosphere and amazing food.

On Friday night, we were off to the pre-season Vikings game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

On Saturday morning, all eight of us headed to Theo Wirth Park for a morning run and then stopped by the Minneapolis Farmers Market for breakfast and people watching. I also picked up a bouquet of fresh flowers for $5.  Jeff and my brother skipped the farmers market for a more hardy breakfast at Moose and Sadie’s.

We showered and headed out for a tour of the city. We made our way down St. Anthony Parkway, traveled north to visit our office in Shoreview,  toured the North Oaks neighborhood, east to White Bear Lake downtown, south through downtown St. Paul, toured Grand and Summit Streets, and then back west and north by the St. Paul Saints stadium, State Fairgrounds and Como Park.

On Saturday afternoon, we ate an early dinner at Psycho Suzie’s on the patio . We enjoyed happy hour drinks and ordered the famous cheese curds, wings and a couple large pizzas.

After dinner, we went in separate directions. A few headed to Valleyfair for roller-coaster rides and thrills, and the rest of us went to  went to the Mall of America for some shopping!

On Sunday morning, we splurged one more time. We had breakfast on Hennepin at the Krumerkaz Sausage Co. For $9.99, they offer an all-you-can-eat buffet that is spectacular. It runs from 10 am – 2pm. I highly, highly recommend this!

After 6+ months in the city, these are some of my favorite city highlights!

As a family, we celebrated my parent’s 25th wedding anniversary in Minneapolis this weekend.

In the 6+ months that we’ve lived in the apartment, we have not had one guest so I had done very little to make the place seem presentable. So last weekend, I moved into high gear to ensure I felt good by the time they arrived. And fortunately, we also had a new recliner on order from Carroll’s Furniture that arrived Friday morning, just in time.

To keep things on the cheap, I visited Ikea, Target, Wal-mart and an estate sale. Here are the items I purchased to help pull the house together and to help accommodate our guests.

Ikea (Approx. $55)

• 3 magazine box sets - $2.99 each
• Plant – $9.99
• Pot – $14.99
• 2 silver picture frames – $2.99 each
• Stainless steal bowl – $6.99
• 4 Sheets – $1.99 each

Wal-mart (Approx. $60)

• Small potted plant – $7.50
• Black and white canvas wall hanging – $27.00
• 2 10×13 black frames – $12.96 each

Target (Approx $115)

• 2 giraffe print throw pillows – $14.99 each
• Purple silk throw pillow – $17.99
• 2 twin air mattresses – $18.89 each
• Air mattress pump -  $21.14
• Wicker basket – $10.48
• Bathroom rug – $11.98

Estate sale ($9)

• 2 Saturday Evening Posts – $1 each
• Oil painting – $7.00

The house came together nicely for $250 and garnered lots of nice comments from my family!

I find that my focus bounces from topic to topic every few weeks. For instances, only a couple weeks ago I was uber obsessed with restocking my closet with a few new pieces, getting rid of the old and evaluating what still needs a match. This stretched over a two week period, and then – Boom! – that’s it. I am satisfied and on to the next.

My new focus is our housing crisis. Our home in Georgia has yet to sell, and our lease is up on our rental in Minneapolis. So my mind whirls and whirls until I find a solution. And then I want instant gratification. My solution is for us to buy a “starter home”  at a lower price using a FHA loan (to not tie up our cash since we will now have two homes). Here are the advantages I see: 1) our mortgage payment would be equivalent to monthly rent; 2) the property can become rental property when we purchase a larger home; 3) this gives us some time to continue to research where we want to live permanently; and 4) if we need to sell it, homes are more likely to move at this price point.

I formulate this plan on Friday, and then spent the weekend trolling neighborhoods and looking for homes. My conculsion after two days on the hunt and numerous open houses is to stay in Northeast since it is the area of Minneapolis we know best.  And the last open house on Sunday afternoon proved to be my favorite. http://msp.themlsonline.com/search/3676412.html

It has great bones and is immaculate inside.  With a few modern touches, I think it could be a great home for us … considering the circumstances.

And since this is where my mind is, I spent a little time on HGTV online tonight. Here is a link to some inspirational interior design videos. http://www.hgtv.com/100-half-day-designs/package/index.html

I’ll keep you posted.

20 Dates Under $20

Shared via AddThis

Jeff found this link tonight. Love the categories and thought I’d share …

http://www.citypages.com/bestof/2009/section/the-city-gritty-21/

On Wednesday, Jeff and I will set out for Seattle and Whistler for a nice, extra long weekend. And the trip is all because I turn 30 next weekend …

As for 30, I really don’t have an opinion about it (but it makes me wonder how many other blog posts are out there about turning 30 – humm.) And since I never get to the end of long emotional posts (no offense meant to anyone; it’s just my need for short and quick), there will be no post about turn 30 and what it means to me or how I feel.

Instead, I am super pumped about making the trip to Seattle and then driving to Whistler. We arrive in Seattle late on June 3 and then drive to Whistler on June 4. To be honest, I only know a little about Seattle … Pikes Place Market, Space Needle, Seattle Grace Hospital (fictional – I know – from Grey’s Anatomy), and I once read in Runner’s World about its great running trails. And, I want to make sure we take in Seattle’s best on Thursday.

So, my task this weekend is to be an Internet junkie searching for the best of the best for our trip and looking for tips on where the locals go.

My search has only just begun, but it began on the Pikes Place Fish Market Web site. On it, there is a slideshow of the city. Picking up a few clues from it, my next step is to look into the following:

• Dick’s Drive-in
• City Market
• Post Alley

And my questions are …

1. Is it worth seeing the Space Needle if we only have 6 hours of daylight in the city?
2. If you were going to have only three meals in the city – late dinner, breakfast and lunch - where do we go?

This weekend, Jeff and I are also going to buy a little pocket camcorder to capture our trip. Video will be a new adventure for me.

I am pushing my max length on what I am comfortable reading … I’ll keep you posted.

A couple weekends back, Jeff and I ate at the Mill City Cafe in Northeast. Lucky us – the local artists in the building where the cafe is located open their studios to the public on the second Saturday of each month. It was a great morning outing, and here are a few of the artists that caught my attention.

Jennifer Massoll (oil painting)

Marcia McEachron (steel and bronze sculpture)

Kit Wilson (jewelry)