Rockwell 4th

Adam and I spent the 4th of July in Okoboji, Iowa this year with his family. Seems a little odd since Minnesota is supposed to be the "Land of 10,000 lakes". Why would we go to Iowa of all places? Okoboji is, hands down, the best place on the planet to spend this holiday. From boat rides, to spending time with the whole family, barbecuing, Arnold's Park and perfect fireworks over the lake it really feels like you just walked into a Norman Rockwell painting. I tried to take a few photos and videos this year to capture how awesome it is, but of course, nothing does it justice. So if you ever get a chance- go to Boji on the 4th and see it for yourself!

Fireflies and fireworks from Anne Merrill on Vimeo.

What happens in Vegas...

Christina Spicer is a very fun girl, so in order to celebrate her last month of single-ladihood her sister planned a very fun weekend in Las Vegas.

Highlights:

Adam vs. Buckthorn

We have an alien invader in our backyard and Adam has declared war. It's actually an alien species of plant called "European Buckthorn" and is taking over the woods behind our house. This nasty plant will grow completely out of control, choking out your trees and other plants. Adam's goal this summer is to completely eradicate it from our property and I have to hand it to him, he has made quite the dent. Here is some information on Buckthorn eradication in case anyone is interested:

Identify the enemy:

The female plants have these distinct berries. Unfortunately many birds find them tasty and poop out the seeds spreading more of these bastard plants.

Safety First!

Protect your eyes (and look cool):

Protect your ears:

Keep your toes safe:

Buy yourself a fancy new man-toy.

Try to rip the stumps out by the roots.

This will ensure they will never grow back and it also scares the other buckthorn plants.

If they won't come up by the roots, use that handy new chainsaw to cut them down.

Just make sure to paint poison on the stumps or 20 new plants will pop up at the base.

Before:

After (there really is a big difference!):

ps: check out my new wheel barrel below.

We found it on Craig's List for $60-- Best $60 I have ever spent!!!

Me, Mabel & My Meat

Minnesota is a great place to live. We have over 10,000 lakes, the boundary waters, Joe Mauer, the Minnesota State Fair (home of the deep fried cheese curd) and meat raffles. Last weekend I learned that the meat raffle may be Minnesota's secret weapon. It is a very simple process and very fun.

Step 1. Meet Mabel

Step 2. Buy your ticket

Step 3. When Mabel shouts "I'm spinnin' the wheel" you yell

"SPIN THE WHEEL MABEL!"

(This is the key to success)

Step 4. Win and enjoy 9 pounds of hamburger, 9 pounds of chicken or both.

Step 5. Have a celebratory beer.

Adam and Miley

Shhhhhhhh...

The Corner Table

My mom is the best gift-giver that has ever lived. For our birthdays this year she gave us a gift certificate to Corner Table. This wasn't just any gift certificate but one for the chef's table in the kitchen.

We were advised to get there when the restaurant opened around 5:30pm and the concept is that the chef continues to feed you course after course of the most delicious food you can imagine until the place closes or you can't take it anymore. My goal was to make it all night and get down as many courses as possible. Adam and I strategized for over a month on how we were going to pack it all in.

When we first arrived I was feeling pretty intimidated about some of the comments left on the blackboard behind our table. Not knowing exactly what we were in for, seeing things like "full frontal bacon", "19 courses? OMG!", "I need bigger fat pants" and "Please make him stop" made me question if we really had it in us. Especially since wine pairings were to be served with every course.

Words cannot begin to describe how delicious our entire meal was. My camera only lasted 7 courses and Adam was ready to crap out after the 10th. Somehow Adam regrouped (or purged) and we went another 8 courses, most of them dessert. I have been in a food coma until the posting of this blog so I apologize for the delay. I know half of you reading this (ie: Cassie) have been anxiously awaiting the details.

Here are of some of the highlights:

This was our favorite course: Chicken Rillet on pickled carrots and onions.

This gnocci was fantastic. The picture does 't do it justice.

You don't have to be Polish to enjoy this chocolate perogie

According to the other chefs working we did pretty well- 18 courses total.

And thankfully we planned on taking a cab back home...

Vegas baby Vegas

I have the best friends in the whole world. Here are some pics from our trip to Vegas in January. Highlights include In-n-Out, Cirque, dancing, gambling and lots of belly laughs.