Weeeelp...

Sooo...now that it's this weekend, I should probably get up to speed on what I did last weekend.  Not exactly punctual, but let's face it the weekend is the only part of my life that's interesting, anyways.  My weekdays mostly involve spreadsheets, more spreadsheets, powerpoints, meetings, walking the dog, yoga and/or choir, and sleeping. 

When we last left off, I was chugging coffee in hopes of making it up past 12:30 so I could see my friends' band play a gig at Mayslacks.  Well, I am pleased to report that three cups of coffee more than did the trick.  Coffee may have also been supplemented with tequila.  Oops?

Tequila?

 Anyway, 12:30 ended up being 12:45 but we made it through the whole set, and I'm really glad I we went.  These guys are awesome - I will shamelessly plug them to anyone, anytime.  Did I mention their album comes out THIS FRIDAY May 11?  Also they are having a CD release show on Friday so if you're in the Twin Cities and are looking for something fun to do on Friday I highly recommend checking this out.

The band is basically comprised of three MBA grads and, as my friend Judd describes them, three total hippies.  Somehow this combination = magic. 

Judd and Abby

Keith (the 3rd MBA) and Rocky

Saturday was a bit cloudy, and I basically went to yoga, read books and did laundry all day.  Very exciting.   I even got outside a bit, although the weekends have been kind of cloudy and rainy lately.  Not the weekdays mind you, just the weekends. What's up with that weather?  Get it together.

Cloudy...whyyyyy....

Saturday night I met my friend Amanda for dinner at Ghandi Mahal in Minneapolis.  We'd been planning on a picnic lunch at Lake Calhoun earlier in the day, but what with the cold/rain that clearly wasn't happening so we decided to satisfy our craving for chai and indian food instead.

Boots and sweaters, still necessary.
...just ignore the makeup on the floor...it's fine...

I think Ghandi Mahal may now be my favorite Indian food in the cities.  The atmosphere is really fun, and the food is just perfectly spiced.  I ordered the veg Thali, which came with two small portions of curry (veg curry and saag paneer), rice and pakora.  The pakora was amaaaazing... it had whole fennel seeds.  Yum.

So much delicious

Possibly my favorite thing about Ghandi Mahal was the chai - real, authentic chai poured from...a teapot shaped like an elephant.  I just about died when I saw it, and decided I must own one immediately.  Unfortunately our server informed us that their teapots came from Bangladesh.  Fortunately, I was able to track down a nearly identical teapot at Pier One the very next day for $12.00.  Success!

Just about awesome

AND it only gets better because we now own not only an elephant teapot, but also an elephant teapot COVER that Ben brought home from India.  SO MUCH TEA.  SO MUCH ELEPHANT.

so meta

Sunday we went to church in the AM and sang a concert in the afternoon, and then met my parents and Ben's parents for dinner at the Happy Gnome to celebrate Ben's mom's birthday!

I'm very picky about my burgers so I rarely order them unless I'm fairly confident it's going to be high quality.  The Gnome almost never disappoints, although I think they might have changed their fries recently so...sorry Happy Gnome, your fries are no longer my favorite in St. Paul.  Still a great burger, and a great evening with family :)

parents - drink responsibly

Family!

Anyways, this weekend I'm taking a yoga workshop.  I love these weekends because they give me a chance to really just immerse myself in my practice for two straight days, plus I get to hang out with my yoga buddies who are just awesome people.  Every time, I manage to forget how much these workshops shift my energy, and I tend to make grandiose evening plans only to cancel them later in favor of sitting on the couch with a glass of wine, reflecting on life.  Or um, watching Battlestar Galactica.

Sid has been inspired by my yoga moves and is very committed to his own practice.  His favorite pose is flop-on-couchasana.

This is a very hard pose

He's tried to rope Mini into some Yogaglo podcasts but she's just to spazzy.  Sid tells me that he thinks her vata is imbalanced and she needs to drink some warm tea and chill the fuck out.  I think he is probably right.

Ayurvedic expert

Have a great weekend!