Another Busy Bee Weekend

Wow! Sorry for the lack of posts the past couple of days. It was another crazy, fun weekend here in Busy Bee land! It went way too fast but boy was it fun! Here’s a weekend review!
Friday night, J and I, celebrated our friend Per’s 30th Birthday. Per is my best friend Libby’s boyfriend and she planned a lovely birthday surprise for him. Now, if you knew Libby you would know what a HUGE deal this surprise was! Libby is not-so-much a “planner,” in fact in the past it was hard just to get her to show up to events. It’s a true testament to how much she loves Per because she put in a lot of hard work to put this event together and did a wonderful job! We met at Per’s house for a glass of champagne and some snacks then got picked up by a limo and had dinner at Café Lucrat. The night was super fun, Per was super surprised and I am super proud of the great job Libby did!

Angie, Steve, Per, Libby, Me and J in front of our limo!

Saturday morning was my time to fit some work into this jam packed weekend, but it sure didn’t feel like work! I had so many visitors at Coffee Buzz on Saturday and it made the day so fun and go by so fast! My mom came in, which is always nice, and she was soon followed by my friend Megan who just bought a townhouse down the street from Coffee Buzz. Shortly after that my friend Abby came in and after her my best friend's parents! What a great day! Just when I thought I couldn't have any more visitors my dear friend, Courtney, came in with her husband, mother-in-law and her 9 month old son, Brogan! Courtney and Josh live about 45 minutes from me, so I don't get to see them nearly as much as I would like to. It was so sweet of them to stop by and so great to spend some time with Brogan!

Me and Brogan!

Brogan promoting his favorite coffee shop!

As Courtney and Josh were getting ready to leave I got my final surprise guest of the day! Sharisse and Brody! Sharisse is J’s best friend’s wife and has become a good friend of mine as well. Brody was born in December and is such a cutie! I could not even believe my two favorite babies were at Coffee Buzz at the same time! I think J was worried my head might explode.

Brogan and Brody!!! My favorite babies!

Little Brody Bear chillin' at the Buzz

Saturday night, I hosted (along with the other Bridesmaids) my friend Brianna’s Bachelorette Party! All the girls came over to my place and we ate some amazing food, had our fair share of adult beverages and played some games. Then we headed out and spent the rest of the night at 508 downtown MPLS. We had such a blast and the party was a huge success! Brianna looked absolutely adorable and the night was full of tons of laughs, tons of drinks and tons of dancing….that’s my kind of party!

Brianna, the gorgeous Bachelorette!

The Bachelorette and her entourage!

Me and B

Sunday, I spent the better half of the day in bed celebrating my Mother’s Day with my little baby…

My little girl when she was only 4 weeks old!

…we snuggled and watched Father of the Bride Part II, it was marvelous. Then I went out to a late lunch to celebrate my mama. It was so fun! Me and Nate met her and Steve at Redstone and both of Steve’s daughters and his two grandkids joined us too. I think it meant a lot to my mom to have the whole “new” family there and we had a great time. I hope my mom knows how much I love her and how grateful I am for everything she has done for me throughout the past 25 years.

σ 'αγαπώ (I love you)

 

Miss Nicole

J’s younger sister, Nicole, was my best friend growing up and the first best friend I ever had. Our families are so close and we have had so many great times together. We used to dress up and do each other’s hair and makeup and then dance to George Michael! When we got a little older we loved to get our walkmen and walk to the nearby Jerry’s grocery store and just hang out…we can’t figure out why we did this and J likes to give us a hard time about that one. Nicole has always been like a sister to me and now that I’m dating her brother, we definitely have that special bond. 

Cole & I, back in the day when we were super cool!

Cole & I, a couple of summers ago

On March 1^st, the day we opened our doors for business, Nicole left for her own life changing adventure. She packed up her life and moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Nicole has a friend who lives there and was able to move in with her, but other than that she left not knowing anyone and not knowing what this adventure would bring. Nicole moved with the intention of getting a job working on or with the yachts in the area…a job she didn’t know would pan out or not. Just a few weeks ago Nicole found out that this major move was going to pay off. She got hired to work on the yacht of one of the writer’s for the Wall Street Journal. She will be on the yacht (which is more like a mini cruise ship) from May 11^th until early September. She is going to get to sail all over; New York, Martha’s Vineyard, Boston, Nantucket, and Washington DC are just a handful of the places on her itinerary. Nicole will be working as an assistant to the captain and yacht owner, she won’t know the specifics of her day-to-day responsibility until she gets on board, but man is she excited!

Saying good-bye to Nicole was hard for all of us, especially her dad and big brother. Nicole is such a loving and giving part of the family and it’s hard for any of us to imagine not having her around all the time. I can’t say enough how proud I am of her for taking on this huge change and just going for it. I definitely would not have the courage to do it! I hope everything works out wonderfully for her and that she has the time of her life. I just hope she doesn’t love it too too much because I’d like to have her back here in good ‘ol Minnesota!

Start Spreading the News....

In three weeks, my mom and I will be traveling to New York City! We are going to shop for some smokin’ hot wedding shoes for her and a “bridesmaid” dress for me, but the main reason we’re going is to see…

BON JOVI

Bon Jovi is playing at the brand new GIANTS (and Jets) stadium, New Meadowlands Stadium!!! My mom is obsessed with JBJ (he’s her equivalent to my Backstreet Boys). She’s never seen him in concert so to say that she’ll be wound up is a major understatement. We also have tickets to see Mary Poppins on Broadway!

I love New York City so much! I am lucky enough to have traveled there quite a bit. I would love to live there someday, but that might be a hard sell for the mister, so for now I just have to visit as often as humanly possible. I’ve gotten to do all the touristy things; Empire State Building, Circle Line Tour to see the Statue of Liberty, Broadways shows, Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and much more. It will be fun this time to just go and shop. We have super fun stuff planned but we’ve both seen the “must-see” stuff, so I’m excited to go and just enjoy my favorite city in the world!

I went through some pictures last night and found some of my favorites from my various NYC trips, so I thought I’d take you on a trip down New York memory lane!

 This is me, my dad, my brother and my sister on the top of the Empire State Building. This was my sophomore year of high school and my very first trip to NYC!

This one is me, my dad and my brother in a suite at Madison Square Garden watching a Knicks vs. Spurs pre-season game!

My freshman year of college I went to visit my friend, Megan, at school in Baltimore then we took a bus to NYC for the weekend. It was without a doubt the most hilarious weekend of my life, in fact I may need to do a post just on that weekend. But here is one of the many pictures from that trip.

This is me, my mom and my brother in front of the Brooklyn Bridge! 

 My mom and I at Serendipity drinking Frrrozen Hot Chocolates (so yummy!)

Me and my friend Allison at Carnegie Deli with a massive turkey sandwich! We could hardly finish it, I have no idea how one person ever could!

I

 I ran into A Rod on 5th Avenue!

Allison and I at the old Yankee Stadium watching the Twins take on the Yankees!

Me enjoying my favorite city in a friend's amazing apartment overlooking Central Park! 

Open

I just finished reading Andre Agassi’s autobiography, “Open,” and absolutely loved it. My mom is a huge tennis fan so I grew up with the sport and Andre was always one of my favorites, after Pete Sampras that is. It was interesting to hear all the crazy stories from his life and career. He admits to actually hating tennis, but played because as a ninth grade dropout he had no other options. He is incredibly open about his failed marriage with Brooke Shields, his successful marriage with tennis legend Steffi Graf, his depression and desire to quit as well as his drug use.

My favorite parts of the book, however, were when he described some of the major tennis matches throughout his career. So many of these matches I can remember watching and it was fascinating to read about what was going through his mind and what was happening in his life during those major match moments. I especially loved when he recapped the infamous Sampras vs. Agassi matches. I remember just praying for a Sampras/Agassi Grand Slam Final and when it happened I would always cheer for Pete but be happy if Andre won. They had such a great rivalry and I loved reading about how Andre felt about it and how he felt about Pete.

The book was well written, intense yet lighthearted and completely honest. If you’re a tennis fan who watched Agassi play, this is a must read. Even if you’re not a tennis fan, I highly recommend this book. It is so interesting to me to hear about the physical, mental and emotional stress and pain a professional athlete has to put himself through in order to be the best.

Next up…"Picasso. The Real Family Story"

Milestones

This weekend was filled with milestones!

On Friday night, Carolyn and I went to Mary Kay’s Bridal Grand Opening party for their new location, but they were also celebrating their 20 year anniversary! We had an absolute blast! We met some great people, had some amazing wedding cake AND were forced by the owner to try on dresses! It was so fun to put on those beautiful wedding gowns, even though I had no business being in one, at least Carolyn is engaged and she even found one that she loved!

Me and Carolyn with Mary Kay! 

Me and Carolyn with Mary Kay's daughter, Ashley!

On Saturday, Coffee Buzz celebrated our 2 month anniversary! I can’t believe it’s already been 2 months! We’re still open and we’re still alive!

 J was super smart and went to the website MeetUp.com, which is a site where people can set up different interest groups and plan meet ups to partake in activities within that interest. There are several different coffee meet up groups and Jason is getting in touch with the organizers of these groups and setting up meet ups at Coffee Buzz. On Saturday, we had our first one! It’s was wonderful! We had a great turn out of 20 people! Every one was super nice and we got rave reviews! With the group there and a few other customers we had every seat in Coffee Buzz filled for the first time!

Saturday night, J and I went out to Gluek’s downtown to celebrate his best friend, Colin and his wife, Sharisse’s 30th Birthdays! We had such a blast. It was so great to see so many people we haven’t seen in a while and have a fun night out together!

 Me and J with Colin and Sharisse celebrating their 30th Birthdays!

Today was the first day that J and I had a day off together since we opened. For the first time, we entrusted Coffee Buzz in our two employees. They said everything went great! I got a phone call from my brother who stopped by and he said they were doing awesome. It’s such a relief knowing we can trust them and that they can handle upholding the high standards we’ve set for ourselves and the store. It was like leaving a child with a babysitter for the first time. It was so wonderful to actually have a day to ourselves, and we used it wisely….we slept the ENTIRE day and then met my dad for dinner.

What a great weekend!