All points north

I neglected to tell many people that I was heading north for some quality time with my mom on Wednesday and Thursday this week. Firstly, we made a stop in DSM (not WMD) for a meeting that my mom had. While she was talking about red blood cell replacements and such, I got to wander downtown. I stopped at the Salvation Army and picked up four books, a tie, and a Liza Minelli tape (which we listened to ALL the way to Bloomington, MN, I might add). I had lunch at a funky joint called Baby Boomers, and gave blood (which resulted in a massive ugly bruise in the crease of my right elbow).

So then we drove. We ended up at a fun mall, Southdale, and did some wandering there. My mom and I bought a hat for my dad that has a picture of a cartoon fish pooping and says "Bass Turd". After all that excitement, we went to a wonderful Italian restaurant called Maggiano's. We had some very good "Linguine, Chicken, Pesto, Pine Nuts" and were hence stuffed and unable to have dessert. Oh, and if you ever go to Maggiano's, order in 1/2 portions. Even those are huge.

I managed to restrain from purchasing too much yesterday on my four-hour trek through IKEA. I only spent $55. Most of that was a smashing curtain system called Index, whose curtain panels only require a bit of material. It's just gawgeous. The panels just kind of float around on the rods ... I'll have to have a photo of it in action when I get it all going. It's fab. Laurila is a fabulous table that I discovered at IKEA yesterday. I want it, oh baby, do I want it. Oh, and by the way:

Dear Elaine,
I'm sorry I didn't call you to tell you I was in the area Wed/Thur. My phone started freaking out and losing power at the drop of a hat, and I don't have your cell number memorized. I'd have called you from the hotel if that had been the case.
Much love.

On the itinerary today, after getting a lecture about what goes in the Madisonian next week, is a trip back to WDM (again, not WMD) for a little Willy Wonka Johnny Depp-style, followed by a Harry Potter release party later tonight (at which I will have to take pictures for the paper).