I feel like I start all my blog entries like this but seriously… HOW IS IT ALMOST THANKSGIVING?! I don’t even know where the time goes (oh wait I do… it’s spent working… BLAH).

Last week I took a few extra days off so I could tag-along with Rob on his business trip to Minneapolis. I only had 2 full days there but I made the most of my time away…

We landed late on Saturday night (only had time to brave the cold and eat dinner) so we woke up early on Sunday to explore downtown. It was a beautiful day (and unusually warm for this time of year) so we walked down to the river to see…

… the Stone Arch Bridge. It’s gorgeous.

The bridge has pedestrian and cycling lanes so we walked a bit to check out the view of the Mill District…

… the Mississippi River…

… and the view of the downtown skyline.

For brunch we went to Hell’s Kitchen (so good!) where they have the most amazing homemade peanut butter (and marmalade). I bought a small jar of peanut butter to take home with me and LIKE AN IDIOT, I put it in my carry-on luggage. I did not know TSA considers it a liquid so they took it away from me at security. Waahhhh. Luckily, Rob was staying an extra day and bought me another one. Phew. So remember kids, peanut butter is a liquid (even though it’s totally not).

After stuffing ourselves, we walked down to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

It was nice to be outside in the cool, crisp air. Especially since Orange County was experiencing heat in the upper 80s.

Of course we had to see the famous Spoonbridge and Cherry sculpture. Iconic.

For dinner we went to 112 Eatery where I had tres leches cake for the first time. OMG. It was incredibly rich and decadent. So good.

The following day was Monday and Rob had to work (hahahaha) so I was on my own. In Minneapolis there’s no tax on clothing or shoes so I decided to do a little retail therapy.

I started downtown and since the weather was cooler than the previous day, I took advantage of the Skyway system. This California girl loved the Skyways. They’re basically an above-ground, enclosed pedestrian walking path that connects various office towers, hotels, and shops. I didn’t have to go outside once! Ok, except to take this picture.

I even found this awesome bakery Cocoa & Fig. Their chocolate chip cookies were TODIEFOR. They even had macarons!

After lunch I took a trip out to the Mall of America. It was such an inexpensive (only $2!) and easy trip on the light rail from downtown.

I wasn’t originally planning to go to MoA but I figured that at least now I could say I’ve been there. It’s your normal suburban mall but amplified by about… a million. Not to mention that there’s a freaking amusement park in the middle of it all.

Craziness, right?

My 2 days went by in a flash. If I had more time, I would have loved to walk around the Uptown area, see the Lakes or even visit St. Paul. I guess there’s always next time.