Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Merry Thanksgiving And Good Will Towards Elves


The "tree" at the Target Store
Last time I posted, I had just come home from Chicago where I saw my sister Celeste and ran a half marathon. This past week was Thanksgiving and Celeste came here to visit. 

We did the usual tourist attractions, like the big giant Target Store downtown (pictured) and the Big Giant Mall. The Wednesday she arrived, we we to the Midtown Global Market and sang a rousing rendition of Horchata by Vampire Weekend, while drinking horchata. We left our balaclavas at home. 

We went to our friend Joe's for Thanksgiving Dinner, which was awesome and entirely devoid of the usual holiday stressors which people tend to assume accompany the holidays. Joe blogged about Thanksgiving here: http://prepwithtwist.blogspot.com/2012/11/and-so-it-begins-holidays-holidays-are.html 


Because the universe has a sense of humor, the 5 day weather forecast before Celeste's arrival indicated that it was going to stay in the 50's. It was in the 60's the day she arrived. Naturally, on Thursday it went down into the 20's and Thursday night it was in the lower teens. I think I need to procure some more blankets.

Friday night we went to the Holidazzle Parade, which can really only be compared to the Main Street Electrical Parade at Disneyland.
I think it's gingerbread.
If you are not a local Minneapolitan, the Holidazzle Parade starts the day after Thanksgiving and runs Thursday - Sunday until Christmas. All of the floats and everyone who marches in it is covered in holiday lights, and there is all kinds of cute. It is also difficult to photograph without an SLR camera. I do not have an SLR camera, so that picture to the left is about as good as it gets. I posted more on Facebook. You can read more about the Holidazzle Parade here: http://www.holidazzle.com/



After the Holidazzle parade, we went to Macy's for their 8th Floor Auditorium display. They used to change it every year, but for the last few years they have been doing A Day in the Life of an Elf (I've been referring to it as more of a horror flick, *Day Of The Elf*). To us locals, it's become a little stale, but attending with someone who has never see it before is a good reminder that it is actually pretty freaking cool. If you would like to know more about the Macy's Display, go here: http://www.uniquelyminnesota.com/activities/macys-8th-floor-display-minneapolis-mn.htm (This site has far better pictures than I was able to take.)

On Black Friday, we succeeded in not purchasing any products. We only purchased services and food: coffee, skating, coffee, coffee, food, coffee, and ice cream. In that order.

Giant Mall trips are incomplete without Joe.
Saturday, on the other hand, we went to the Big Giant Mall, where Celeste embraced the wonder and the splendor of Minnesota's NO SALES TAX ON CLOTHING!!! Seriously, if you need to go clothes shopping, Minnesota is the place to do it. Besides, all the Black Friday sales were still going on.

We finished out Saturday with dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory, and Sunday Morning (noon) Celeste was back on the bus headed home to Evanston, IL.


Next adventure: I signed up for a Christmas Day 5K. Oh boy.

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