Life & Times in 2013

TAKE CALCULATED RISKS.
THAT IS QUITE
DIFFERENT FROM BEING RASH.

On New Years Eve, I spent the evening with the dear and wonderful, Jenni. When I finished work in St. Paul at the shoe store (more on this later), I picked her up and we headed to my place to make the dish I have so wonderful procrastinated on, the green bean casserole I received ingredients for as part of my Secret Santa. When it had cooked and without eating it, we moved on to apparel. Our plans included the Beer and Pretzel Party: Dress to Impress. With my personal stylist on hand, Jenni concocted what I was to wear so ensure we went out in style. We headed out to pick up our dinner, chinese take-out and then headed back to Jenni's to enjoy it- not to mention celebrate our fortune resolutions!!  Afterwards, we headed to Hannah and Amanda's for the shindig.

As we walked into the party, only knowing Hannah and Amanda, I could have sworn we walked into the wrong apartment. The music was going, conversations were innumerable, and there were so. many. people. Finally Amanda emerged from the crowd directing us on where to go to put our coats. Talk about a blast. There was dancing, great music, conversation, not to mention the meet and greets with soo manyyyyyyy peopppple. At one point, Jenni had a Michael Jackson encounter. This required photographic evidence:

PHOTO SHOOT WITH MICHAEL. .

HAPPY NEW YEARS!

Be jealous. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and could not thank Amanda and Hannah enough..

WITH OUR LOVELY HOSTESS', HANNAH AND AMANDA!

They provided a bit of a champagne fountain when it got closer to midnight. We counted down off of people's cell phone clocks, and rang in the new year with some of the world's best company! 

On New Years day, when I finally rolled out of bed, I went to Jenni's house to order more chinese take-out and to go see Perks of Being a Wallflower. I cannot wait to purchase the book, soundtrack, and movie- once it is released. This movie was wonderful and fascinating.

HANNAH BELTING IT FOR
LUNA AND THE SUNBROTHERS.

TAYLOR & ME LOVING
EVERY SECOND OF
SERENADING BY HANNAH.

I went to see Luna and the Sunbrothers peform at the coffee shop again, and the were of course marvelous. I'm really enjoying seeing Hannah so often, not to mention hearing her sing! The group is great, my offer still stands, if you want to join me- let me know! The coffee shop they perform at has recently gone under a name change. It was previously, Second Moon Coffee House. It is now called Precision Grind Coffee. It's located off of Franklin and 22nd, and they typically play every other Thursday (as in, this week, but not next, but then again on the following). Yes, they have this discussion every week and it is hilarious. :D They have great coffee, great art, and great sounds. If you're a fan of specialty drinks, straight up coffee, free WiFi, or jazz & blues, you should be there. As soon as possible. Let me know if you're interested in finding out more about them, or just visit their Facebook page!

Since it is the holidays and people are in the area that aren't always, a miniature London Reunion was in store. Adrian, Shannon and I live here now, and Taylor is home being on break from university. Taylor came up with a wonderful idea for an out-of-the-box activity and drinks: Sky Zone and Margaritas. Not at the same time, mind you.. that would be outrageous! We paid $8.00 for a half hour of jump time. Shannon and I were joking to Taylor that we should jump for an hour, we've got the time! Taylor kept insisting that she had done this before and we would understand when it got to that point. Sure enough. We had 12 minutes left to jump, and we were exhausted. It was such a great workout. Even a few days later now, my shoulders are aching horribly. When I stretch my arms out forward, the muscles between my shoulder blades feel like a telescope being opened, section by section. I cannot wait to go back!! After jumping, we headed to Taylor's for fantastic margaritas and catch-up time with Adrian, who unfortunately could not make it to the trampoline house.. Next time FOR SURE!

BIRKENSTOCK SOCKS. 

As you may have picked up on in the first sentence here, I have another job. This is another part time deal, looking to raise funds in my life. Here is the point in time where you say, "Of course you did."... I have a job at a shoe store called Shoesters. There are two locations in Minnesota, and two locations in Virginia. We specialize in foreign comfort shoes, some fashion shoes, and loads of Smart Wool clothing. I had to share this picture today. I organized all of the Smart Wool socks, and then moved on to fix the mess of several, maybe seven (?), boxes of unorganized Birkenstock socks. Here is the outcome: seven MORE boxes of ORGANIZED Birkenstock socks. Loveeeeee itttt! :)


A short note about a fun adventure.. On Sunday, Jenni and I headed to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see the exhibit: China's Terracotta Warriors. It was fabulous. We arrived later than planned, around 10:45am only to find the MIA didn't open until 11:00am. Much to our surprise, there were somewhere around 100 people (or more, who knows!?) waiting in line ahead of us. Here is the moment Jenni reminds me, Sunday is the free, Target-sponsored day. Of course! We made our way into the atrium, happy to be warmer than the 1º F temperatures outside. This was the case, until MORE people came. It was tremendous, and everyone wanted to be out of the cold. Even the people standing outside.. who were holding the doors wide open. I'm leading off topic here... When they let us in, Jenni and I decided to start with the short documentary about the Terracotta Warriors. This video was immensely helpful, at least to me, as I have not studied or learned more about this since approximately Mr. Robert's 6th grade S.O.A.R. and history class. Yes, I know, shame on me. However, as soon as the first cycle of the video ended, the executive decision of getting in line for the exhibit was made. It maybe took a half hour for us to get in, but as we were heading through the exhibits, we heard employees saying the line had become so long that some people might not get through the exhibit today... WOW. I'm so glad we made it in.. not to mention snapped a couple photos to create the picture above. :)

Once again, I promise not to procrastinate on my blog posts again. It is entirely too difficult to remember details of events so far from the original fun!! Here is my resolution. At least two blogs a month. One for every trip I take, another for every crazy Minnesota-related adventure, and one to just let you know that life is swell and what crafts are in my head or cooking is being done in the kitchen. All of this needs work, and it's an adventure.. why not document it? It will be all the more fun to recount and revisit in days, weeks, months, and years to come.
Sarah Marsh

New Years!

Tonight held a little bit of reminiscing for me. I read through a few blogs from a year ago when I first started. I was recounting my enormous amount of anticipation for the fabulous trip I was taking to London in the summer and how excited I was to complete my final semester on campus at school. A year has come and gone, didn't it go by in a blink?

Each new year is like renewing your membership to something. You have a chance to evaluate how the last year went and what you want to change, work on, or challenge in the next year. You have every moment as opportunity to grow and develop further skills, make new friends and see new places. This year is the year of opportunity and ambition. Let's conquer these goals and make this year out-do the last. Game on.

To look back on this year's major events: I spent spring break in California with my best friend and family. I graduated from undergraduate university. For ten weeks, I lived in London. I visited Dublin (Ireland), Paris (France), Bangor (Wales), Kenilworth (UK), Brighton (UK), Cambridge (UK) and Brussels (Belgium). I spent about 36 hours in New York and half a week in Washington, DC. I bought a car. I got a job, in my field. I moved to Minneapolis. I spent a long weekend in Arizona. This year has been spectacular. Pictures and words do not even begin to describe how wonderful my experiences have been.

Here is an extra special thank you to all of my friends, family and other various forms of support networks. Thank you for encouraging me to be the best person I can be, to experience things that only happen once in a lifetime (if you're lucky), and supporting me through all my endeavors. It's because you are so awesome that I can attempt to live so fully. <3 I wish you the very best new years you've ever had.

Bring it on 2013. Let's get this party started.
Sarah Marsh

Holiday fun!!

Happy holidays!! I hope your festivities were as wonderful as mine! I was able to spend time with wonderful friends, fantastic family and loads of loved ones. I have had the opportunities to road trip, hang out with my kitty, catch up on the newest movies, and have many, many times to smile! :)

My oldest brother, Morgan, flew in on the Tuesday before Christmas and we all but painted the town red! I was lucky enough to get out of work early and pick him up from the airport myself!! He sent his winter jacket, jeans and fleece jacket up ahead of time.. typical southerner, not ready for the cold that awaits. Once I picked him up, we grabbed lunch for the two of us, and our brother, Andrew.

Trying to be the accommodating sister for my tourist brother, I planned out a few holiday-specific activities including seeing the Macy's elves, going ice skating, playing in the snow, and seeing the Holi-Dazzle Parade downtown. Guess how much of that we did? If you guessed none of it, you are correct. We spent more time catching up on odds and ends shopping and taking opportunities to catch up with family.

On Wednesday, I had been granted a day off because projects and tasks around the orchestra office were slow. I was so excited to spend the day with Morgan! We hit various places like Walmart, Target, IKEA, and a few local shops. It was such a blast getting to spend time one-on-one. I am not sure Morgan and I have had this opportunity to hang out since I was somewhere around the age of 13. Yikes. Talk about a need to catch up with your sibling! Just before dinner at Andrew & Mary Elizabeth's, Andrew and Morgan went on a run with The Running Room's runners club. I picked up the boys, we hit the liquor store and headed to the house. We spent the night with great beers and delicious chinese food. The boys took turns playing in a RBI Baseball tournament with one of Andrew & Mary Elizabeth's roommates. It was an absolute blast.

As for Thursday, I had a half day in the afternoon at work. In the morning, Morgan and I ran a few more errands, grabbed lunch, and while I went to work, he did some honey-do lists for my Aunt and Uncle. After work, I headed to happy hour with some work friends for the Secret Santa reveal! My Santa ended up being my supervisor, she had some of the best gifts! I received ingredients for green bean casserole  a musical scarf, Apples to Apples in a Can, Travel Pictionary, Travel Would You Rather, and a bag of Peanut M&Ms. Talk about spectacular!! After I headed home, I went to see my friend Hannah's band, Luna and the Sunbrothers, perform at their coffee shop. They played a number of Christmas/Holiday-themed music and it was (of course) wonderful. More people should come to see them perform! If you're interested in joining me, text me- email me- facebook me- tweet me- I'd be happy to have you along! :)

Friday began with work, all day at the orchestra. Unfortunately it was announced that morning that more concerts were to be cancelled due to the lock out- through February 10th. After work, I headed home to pick up Morgan and go out to dinner with some lovely people-- our cousins! Although not everyone could make it, due to my poor planning and bad, bad misunderstanding, it was a blast for the couple of us who did make it. It was Morgan, Tom & April, Caroline & Nic, and me. Four cousins and two spouses. We'll get our acts together one of these times and make it a full group! We ate dinner at Pizza Luce and had an evening full of laughter.

Saturday meant family!! My parents drove in from Wisconsin and Mary Elizabeth's mom flew in from South Carolina. We began setting up as though it was a proper Christmas! We had dinner at the Depot in St. Paul with our five, plus Mary Elizabeth and her mom, AND my Aunt and Uncle! I think the waitress thought we were nuts... On Sunday, we celebrated Christmas in many different ways. Four of us had a gift opening under the Christmas tree, and then joined with Andrew, Mary Elizabeth, and her mom, then with our cousin, Caroline with her husband and children, and our Aunt and Uncle for dinner at my Aunt and Uncle's house. A feast, presents, family, loads of love. It was Christmas.

The next morning, Christmas Eve, Morgan flew back to South Carolina while my parents and I drove to Wisconsin. I had a week and a half off from the orchestra, I figured I might as well spend some time at home with friends who only make it home for the holiday, my kittttttty, and hang time at my parent's house. Boy was it needed. I hope your holidays were full of love and cheer!
Sarah Marsh