Coffee, cookies, and beer

Sometimes in life you have one of those unexpected great days where everything just seems to fall into place even though you didn't plan any of it...I have to say that yesterday was one of those days. For starters, it was a sunny winter Minnesota day :) Being Saturday, I didn't have any pressure to get up quickly to do anything, so I decided to watch a documentary the DVR had recorded for me on Logo, called "The Celluloid Closet" - a very interesting take on Hollywood and cinema, and something I was waiting to watch for awhile.

At 11, I met up with Erin and one of his study partners at Caribou for some coffee, and reading (I was reading while they studied). The festive atmosphere at Caribou during the holidays is always fun to be around. After a nice large dose of caffeine, Erin and I went to Target and HyVee to pick up some food/ingredients for cookie dough (more on that later) and the 4 cheesecakes Erin was making for his work holiday party (and if you haven't had one of his cheesecakes, they are wonderful!)


The cookie dough was for an annual event that I love going to - my good friends Kris & Roger Harms host a cookie baking party around this time of year where everyone brings their own cookie dough, and we have a pipeline of baking going on all afternoon. Kris has 2 large 3-rack ovens, and even then it takes 3-4 hours to get through everything (we're talking 30-40 people at this party). We then have a large meal topped off with any cookie you can imagine (as well as some wine or beer :) While I always enjoy going and just hanging out with all the people there, this was the first year I brought cookie dough, and a boyfriend :) I think Erin liked it, being surrounded by all that baking. And then at the end you get to take an assortment home with you!


BUT...the day wasn't over! Just as soon as we got home, our friends Paul & Anne called and said that Paul's brother Andy was in town, and that they had a babysitter for LP (their son, "Lukas Paul") and that we needed to go drink and play pool somewhere. So after a dinner at Applebees, we headed down to Paul & Anne's favorite hangout, Shar's Country Palace, where you can relax, listen to mediocre DJs play 80s music, play pool, and drink (and now it's smoke-free so it's much more enjoyable). Erin and I beat Paul and Andy in pool 5 games out of 7 (I think) and we all had a fun time.


Nothing particularly spectacular or out of the ordinary, but just one of those great, unexpected days that come along every so often that make life fun. (I like to call these "Red Letter Days")

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season, and that you have some time to relax, reflect, and be with family and friends. Peace