Buca di Beppo's

We celebrated my cousin's first communion at Buca di Beppo's -- apparently the perfect place for a communion or tax day celebration. Seeing her in her white dress reminded me of mine -- only mine has a nice red stain down the front. I missed my mouth with the first sip of holy wine and it ran down the front of my dress.

flower fundraiser

Each year my work, AccountAbility Minnesota, hosts a fundraiser with Linder's Greenhouse and Gardens. Linder's gives us 15% of purchases from people shopping in connection with us on a chosen weekend. My mom and I never seem to have an issue finding something to buy. This year she got my favorite flower, Bougainvillea.

new homeowners

Tommy and Kristen are homeowners! I'm very happy for them and their adorable new home. I headed there Friday night for a pizza and beer celebration -- and a bit of helping. Let's be honest, my "helping" isn't exactly that helpful so I usually opt for words of encouragement and bossy advice on where things go. I ran into Tommy on the road to his new home so I followed him into the neighborhood. He got lost going to his new house -- so we toured the neighborhood for five minutes until he was able to find his new address. I know houses all look similar in the suburbs but I hope he doesn't get lost every time he tries to go home.

first iced coffee of the year

My girlfriends and I are obsessed with blogger The Pioneer Woman's ice coffee recipe. I made my first batch this weekend and drank my first one today. Summer is here!

spring cleaning

My dad caught spring cleaning fever this weekend. He spent it going through the rafters in the garage finding all of our long lost treasures. For Tommy this one wasn't lost all that long. I believe he got this for Halloween sophomore year of college.

yuca y plátanos

Brasa, famous for its rotisserie has some of the best vegetarian food -- arroz con frijoles, yuca y plátanos. Que rico!

Ingrid Michaelson at the Guthrie

The concert quad -- me, my friend Lindsay (taking the photo), my brother Tommy and his fiance Kristen -- got tickets to Ingrid Michaelson at the Guthrie. Kristen couldn't go so my cousin Brennen filled in. And as you can see in the photo he is clearly ecstatic about it. Ingrid was hilariously fantastic and the Guthrie was a great, intimate venue to see a show. And yes that is my second Dunn's half-decaf hazelnut latte of the day -- don't judge, tomorrow is tax day.

you know you're a tax nerd when...

...this "sale" on tax returns cracks you up. Part of why I'm so committed to my work is that low-income taxpayers (who often get large refunds due to the Earned Income Tax Credit) are charged exorbitant fees for simple tax preparation. This "sale" is bound to be something fishy.

How many men does it take to fly a kite?

We're not sure -- this airplane never got off the ground. Poor Charlie. I'm sure he thinks kites are for untangling knots, not flying.

saturday night dinner date

I went out for Indian and ice cream (two of my favorite things) with a long-time, favorite friend and her family. This little guy could not be any cuter.

Spring!

such a ham

Cup 'n Cone

All of White Bear Lake had the same idea we did on Sunday afternoon.

I'm not sure what's more fun -- an ice cream cone or playing with the ice cream that drips on your sweatpants.

Little Wrigley has met his match.