home...

The excitement of going home for the first time is not lost on me. Frankly I can't wait! I miss my family, I miss my friends, I miss the Twin Cities. I love my home. Growing up I always took the cities for granted. Living in the suburbs was great, but now that I'm living in Texas I realize that I never knew the cities in the proper way.

I think I've come to love Minneapolis/St. Paul more since I've moved. It's the atmosphere, the urban grind, the way people trudge through snow, sleet, hail, and rain just to live in the city they love. It's the respect for all things Twin Cities. Now don't get me wrong, I love living in Austin, but it's not my home. I just live here for the time being. It's got all the wonderful things a city should have, cool funk, fantastic fashion, and amazing food. But it's not where I grew up, it's not where my fondest memories happened.

When I go home in a mere week and four days (HOLY YEA) I'm looking forward to experiencing familiar and new things. I know there will be a Twins game at the new Target Field. This will be my first time seeing my favorite team play outdoor baseball. It will be different not having the roar of the Metrodome, but it will still be wonderfully awesome. There is nothing like sitting in a ballpark drinking beer with your favorite people. Then maybe going out with said favorite people after the game to a bar for an ice cold Summit!

(A beautiful picture of Target Field from thesportsbustrip.com)

My family is a sucker for all things delicious and cultural. So naturally when they built the best restaurant in town a block away from their house, my super cool parents decided we need to frequent this place as much as we could! Thus began our love and fascination for the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe (aka The Cruise). The Cruise is a brightly colored, high energy restaurant that specializes in scrumptious food from the Mediterranean (hence the clever name), delicious drinks (shots of Ouzo), and belly dancing (which you can participate in if you'd like, or you have a few too many shots). The experience is one that I've yet to see in Austin. The restaurant is huge with a nice patio, but it feels small because the staff is so warm and friendly. I know it's not exactly in either "downtown" city, but it's close, and I like it!

(Photo from medcruisecafe.com)

The following is my open ended letter to Starbucks:

Dear Starbucks,

You may try to fulfill my caffeine addicted body with your lattes, but you fall so short it's scary. You are not my friend. The fact that I shell out money to you when I have to be awake at the ass crack of dawn is appalling. If there was a substitute that sucked less than you, I would drink it, however even your burnt espresso is better than no espresso. Also, why do you take so long to have my order ready? Trust me, hand crafted coffee drinks sound intense but are not that challenging to make. What is with your drink sizes? We are in America, here we say small, medium, and large. I don't like having to speak another language to get a damn cup of coffee. And non-fat? It's called skim, dummies. Get this stuff straight! Starbucks you are in no way as close to amazing as Caribou is. You are stupid, really, really stupid. But I will continue to drink you because there is not a Caribou in Texas. However, while I am home I will only drink Caribou, and lots of it! In fact, I will get off the plane at MSP and head straight for Caribou, that's how much I love it! So there!

(I believe the only time I will not have a latte in my hand while I'm home is when I have a beer in my hand)
(Photo by the lovely and delicious cariboucoffee.com)

These are just highlights of what is to come. I'm sure there will be time spent wandering the streets of downtown with my sister, drinking in small town bars with my friends, and of course a Graduation BBQ and the Law School Graduation. I'm sure my time home will be as wonderful, and glamorous as I hope it to be. Plus I get to see this precious face everyday for a week! My beautifully naughty and lazy Curtis!

(Photo taken by my mom)

I now realize this post has become a bunch of rambling crap. Oh well, we're without Internet at the new apartment (oh did I tell you we moved?) so work is now just an excuse to play on facebook and blog. SWEET! I hope to find more time between customers to update, but since I'm working off a PC not my usual Mac it's a little confusing (plus I'm computer illiterate). Plus I don't have any of my pictures on this computer. Maybe I'll start bringing my computer to work. That wouldn't be dangerous at all!

Needless to say, I'm ready for a vacation. I'm ready to go home. I can't wait to see my family, my sister and brother-in-law, all my friends, my animals! I miss everyone! A LOT! I knew it would be hard, I just never imagined this hard. Maybe because it's the first time going home. Maybe because I'm a giant baby and I'm homesick! Who knows? The excitement of going home for the first time is not lost on me.