Happy happy joy joy! We'll have to find a way to celebrate. :champagne::champagne::bouncy::bouncy::bouncy:
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHANA! In honor of your birthday, I will now have my nephew perform his neighborhood-famous "Happy Dance!" (I know you can't see it, but just humor the little fellow, will you? He's worked so hard!) Let's give the little guy AND the Birthday Girl a big round of applause! raise: Hope your Special Day is the BEST EVER! (At least until NEXT year!)
Awww...thanks everyone! You remembered this year! And Sach, tell your nephew he's adorable! Even though I can't see it! I'm going out with my two best friends tonight to the Mongolian Grill; should be exciting. And tomorrow Brandon is taking me out to dinner downtown somewhere (he doesn't know where yet) and then we're going to go see Triple Espresso; which is supposed to be hilarious. Hopefully I'll get the chance to get together with my parents on Sunday as well. Should be a nice weekend!
Triple Espresso IS really funny ... one of my sister's best friends is one of the cast members, but I guess it's kind of a worldwide thing so I don't know that you'll see him tomorrow night. Last I heard, he was in Ireland doing shows there. Cool job, huh? Have a ton of fun and if you need a recommendation for a restaurant near the theater let me know.
We do need a recommendation! Nothing too crazy, I'm not very adventurous in my tastes. And that is so cool that you know someone who performs in the show. That would be an awesome job!
Shana, I was trying to find you a restaurant that wouldn't require driving to two places, but everything immediately around the theater is on the adventurous side. There used to be a fabulous Italian restaurant across the street, but they closed. There is a French restaurant, but I've never tried it. Oh, there was also a Mexican place right there that was pretty good. I don't know if they're still open, though. If you like Asian food, however, Ping's is good, and they're right next door. What I would recommend, if you don't like Asian food, is Bucca di Beppo, on Harmon Place. You can usually find street parking somewhat nearby, and there's a small lot across the street on 12th (11th? Sorry. I usually zen it). I'd get there before the usual dinner hour to make sure you get a table, though: they're very popular and don't take reservations. Another option would be Taco Morelos, right around the corner from Nicollet on 26th (also not that far from the theater, in the other direction). If you like Mexican they're the best. I'm not a huge fan of the Black Forest, but if you like slightly overpriced German food, they're right there too. One of my favorite restaurants is Christos, also in that immediate area, but that's Greek and may be on the adventurous side for your tastes. Depends on if you like Greek. If you do go tell Gus I sent you. We had our wedding reception there. Parking near Triple Espresso is yucky. It's best to have a plan. If it's nice I'd suggest trying to find the nearest ramp and walking a few blocks to the theater. Street parking is not for the faint of heart. In other words, Brandon should drive. I know you hate that area of town. My advice? Get on Mapquest or google and plan your parking/eating/theater strategy. I always find things go smoother if I do that. Sorry to use up this thread space with "personal" stuff, but hey, if anyone else is in the area, these are all fun restaurants to try.
Ooh! Hubby just reminded me. Market Bar-b-Que is right across the street from the theater. They're kind of like Famous Dave's. Lots of barbequed meats. You might like them ... they've been there forever so I assume that means other people do too. You could call and see if they take reservations.
Thanks for all the recommendations SBW! We talked about it and decided we're actually going to go to Porterhouse here in Roseville...really nice, but pretty expensive, steak house. I think we're going to try to park at the elementary school by the theatre; that was their recommendation on the printout we got from them; and it's free parking there. I'm looking forward to it. On another note; dinner last night was fabulous! I went out with my two best friends to Khans Mongolian Barbecue in Roseville...wonderful! Have either of you two in the twin cities (Sach & SBW) been there? Not too bad; $12.95 (I think) for their dinner. Kids pay by height. You get an appetizer with it; after you eat that you go up to a buffet style line and first choose the meat you want for your stir fry, then the veggies, noodles if you want them, then the sauce (mild, medium, hot) and if you want things like curry or garlic in it (and other things). You then bring your bowl up to this big grill thing and one of the guys grills it all up for you; gives it back to you on a plate and you go and sit back down and eat where rice has been put on your table. You can go back up as many times as you want. Then they bring you out these little doughy dessert rolls with something yummy in the middle...not sure what it was, then you get your fortune cookies. I loved it! If you haven't been then you need to go some day.
Gosh - it's been years since I've been there, but I always enjoyed it! I realize it's too late for tonight, but another option would have been The King and I, just a block or so from the Music Box Theatre. Great Thai food! Man - all of this talk about food is making me hungry! We're going to have to get together for dinner real soon!
Well after trying to get in at Porterhouse and then failing because they ONLY take reservations and you have to make those several weeks in advance; we drove around for a while and ended up at Pings right next to the music box theatre. Not bad; but I had just had asian food the night before! The show was funny; but I don't think it was quite worth the $36.00 per ticket price. I think I've just always heard everyone pump it up so much that I expected more. It was still a fun night though!
