Happy Monday! I have to say this Monday I feel particularly tired. I had an action packed weekend, which was super fun but also tiring. Derek was out of town on a fishing trip for five days so I try to keep myself  busy when he is gone. I already had plans on Friday but quickly made sure to fill up my weekend. Stayed tuned through my weekend pics to get a little OOTD at the end. I really loved my outfit on Friday, you're gonna love it. Trust me ;)

Friday night I went out to the Dakota Jazz Club in Minneapolis to see one of my favorite bands, The New Standards, play a show. For those of you not from Minneapolis the Dakota Jazz club is an awesome jazz night club, although they have been exploring other forms of music to play, on Nicollet. It is a classy, cool place I have been too a handful of times. They always have music and sometimes even two bands a night which includes a late night show for a lesser cost. The New Standards are a local trio formed by John Munson, Chan Poling and Steve Roehm. They were all at one point in recognizable rock bands including Semisonic (remember Closing Time?) As The New Standards they take rock and pop songs and reformat them into jazz songs. They do songs that vary widely from The Replacements to Britney Spears. They are fantastic and I have seen them perform several times. Dakota is a great location because it is small and intimate and their style of music is perfectly suited for this. I went with my parents as my dad is the one who introduced me to this band. As predicted they were fabulous and we had a great time. Before we saw them we stopped at a new restaurant nearby called Ling and Louie's. As you might guess it was kind of an Asian fusion restaurant and opened up not long ago. It was a nice night so we got to sit out on the patio. I had some of their stirfry and was very satisfied. Definitely check it out!



The New Standards

Dakota Jazz Club

On Saturday I accidentally slept in, ran to the gym to make sure I got back in time babysit my niece. I love her dearly, but she was not in a good mood. By the time they came to pick her up I was ready for a night on the town. I met up with two of my girlfriends and we went to the Surly Brewery. Neither of them had been before so I was excited to take them there. It's a huge place and gorgeous! Not to mention for a brewpub their food is unique and satisfying. It was another gorgeous night and so we sat outside, which was really cool as it sits next to some mills and they use that backdrop to their advantage. We split three appetizers a Chaat, Pea toast and a pretzel. Of the three the pea toast was my favorite. I can't even describe it to you but it's awesome and you need to try it. Afterwards we went to check out the Northern Spark festival. It is an overnight festival that consists of art installations, food and seeing parts of the city in a different way. We stuck near the Mill City district. It was packed!! The lines for the different experiences were pretty long and we were tired so we did not feel like waiting in line. Plus my friend mentioned this awesome ice cream place that was supposed to be there so we hunted for that. The Mill City Museum was partially open as a part of this and we wandered through there a bit. It was really cool looking and I'll definitely go back during business hours. 


Part of the Art, this bed was suspended


The backdrop of Surly

Surly Tap Room

35W Bridge Collapse memorial


People laid on the block (bottom left) and their images were projected onto the Mill

Mill Courtyard


On Sunday we decided to celebrate Father's Day early. Next week we are going to be with my family for other reasons so my dad suggested we do it a different day. He wanted to go to lunch somewhere outside and my sister suggested the new restaurant Como Dockside. It recently opened up a few weeks ago in the Como Pavilion in St. Paul. I was really excited to go and see how they renovated it, plus I have not been to Como Park in a long time. At first I was happy you order at the bar and they bring your food Culver's style. The food looked really interesting and unique and the surrounding was calm and beautiful. Unfortunately, it took an hour to get our food. We complained several times and was told our food was "five minutes" from completion. I think realistically our order got lost. Finally my sister talked to a manager and we got our food toute suite! He also gave each of us $20 gift certificates to come back. The food was really good, once we got it, and the place was really neat. I'll give it a try again and hopefully the service matches the food. Afterwards we decided to hit up the Como Zoo. They have done significant renovations in the last 10 years and myself and my dad had not been there in some time. The Polar Bears and a Gorillas got new exhibits which are far superior to what they once were. It was kind of fun walking around the zoo with our dad. We used to go there all the time as kids and it almost felt like a throwback kind of day, which was cool.




Now onto the fashion! I told you I loved my outfit on Friday and here it is. I bought this skirt from Primrose Park, a local boutique, a few months ago and forgot I had it. I really love it but there are few places to wear it, but I figured I could get away with it at the jazz club. I paired it with this super comfy mixed media tank from Banana Republic. I topped it off with the layering necklace from Target (psst.. they a new small line of layering jewelry you need to check out) and these amazeballs Chinese Laundry shoes. So the shoes....oh these beautiful shoes. I have stalked them for months and waited for a sale which I swiped over Memorial Day and could not wait to wear them any longer. Aren't they fantastic? I love them so  much. I have great plans for these shoes.










Necklaces| Primp & Target