Showing Lori the City I Love!

I got to host Lori this past weekend and we had the best time!  She had never been to Minneapolis so it was fun to show her some of my favorite sights and introduce her to some of my favorite local restaurants.  Here is how we kept ourselves busy this weekend!

On Friday morning I picked her up from the airport and we headed to Minnehaha Falls which is a pretty waterfall in south Minneapolis that is about 10 minutes from the airport.  It was a beautiful day to see the falls as it was so sunny and warm out!

We had to take a waterfall selfie!

After walking around for a bit, we drove through an area called Uptown so she could see what that area is like, I ran an errand, and then we had lunch at a place I hadn't been to but had been wanting to try called Lagos Tacos.  The food was so good!

After stuffing ourselves with tacos, chips, and salsa, we went for a walk around part of Lake Harriet and then went to Wild Rumpus Bookstore which is this awesome children's book store in the Linden Hills area of Minneapolis.  It's a very unique story and just something I feel like everyone should see!  The store has lots of animals, like chickens, cats, chinchillas, birds, a lizard, etc.  There is so much to see so it's a great place to take kids (and animal lovers). 

One of the chickens walking around the store

There is usually one or two cats hanging out in the window.  The store was all decked out for Halloween!

After all of that exploring, we were pretty tired out so we went back to my place to relax for the rest of the evening.  I made dinner and we watched some HGTV.  We called it an early night as Lori got up super early for her flight that day!

On Saturday morning we woke up to a beautiful day.  The weather was in the low 50s which is pretty amazing for this time of year as it could certainly be MUCH cooler!  The sun was shining and the view from my balcony was so peaceful and beautiful.

We opted to go for a run in Phil's neighborhood instead of mine as the leaves in my neighborhood had dropped more than his and I knew of a good 4 mile flat route that we could do by his house.  Plus I had to check in on the cat that he's been pet sitting for as he was out of town for a bachelor party.  The area where we ran was so pretty as it is a wooded area with paved running and biking paths that follows a creek.

His neighborhood is so pretty right now.  When we were walking back to his house, this tree was seriously raining leaves - it felt like a magical fall day!

After our run, we stopped by his house so I could check in on Ted, the cat.  Phil LOVES this cat so much, I don't know what he will do when this long-term pet sitting arrangement ends (his owner is working on a contract out in LA and has been gone at least 80% of the time since January).  I also have fallen in love with Ted as he is the sweetest cat. 

Our next stop was Victor's 1959 Cafe for brunch!  It is a tiny little Cuban place close to Phil's house that has awesome food.  I started off with a sweetened cafe con leche which was so good!  Lori and I both had the hardest time picking our meals as there were so many good, interesting options!

After brunch we headed back to my condo, got ready for the day and then walked into downtown Minneapolis so I could show her what our city center is like.  We grabbed some coffee at Starbucks and then did a little browsing at some of the stores.  It was nice to be able to show her what our downtown was like.  Yes, it is smaller than other large cities but I think it has a lot to offer for its size (Banana Republic, Gap, Macy's, Target, Barnes and Noble, etc).  She could see why I missed living here as I can pretty much walk to most of the places I tend to shop at.

On Saturday night we went to church in my neighborhood and then went to Brasa for dinner, which is my favorite casual dining restaurant in Minneapolis!  Almost the entire menu is gluten free so it's a great place for me to eat as I can really order what I want instead of choosing from a limited number of options.  We ordered a selection of small plates to share and the food was SO good!

We had roasted pork, smoked beef with BBQ sauce, romaine and mozzarella salad, crispy yucca, and rice and pigeon peas with ham sofrito.  It was all delicious!

On Sunday we started off the day by going to a yoga sculpt class at the yoga studio by my house.  I love this class because it's a combo of cardio, strength training and stretching.  After the class, I made breakfast for us and we did a little exploring in my neighborhood.  It was fun to walk around and show her all the views in my neighborhood!

We capped off the weekend by going to my running club annual party.  I am on the board so needed to be there so was glad that Lori was up for coming along!

It was such a fun weekend and I think we struck a great balance of being out and about and having down time in the afternoons to read and chat.  I am also so glad that the weather was so nice as it made exploring on foot so much more enjoyable.  Lori came at the perfect time as the weather has shifted this week and it's much cooler!

How was your weekend?