mama mondays: visual tour of shopping in the cities

This weekend brought a whirlwind trip to the Twin Cities, where we met up with my sweet Aunt Betsy. One of the last times we were together, she introduced a friend and me to the Good Day Cafe (I have yet to experience the evening version, the Bad Day Bar). I had Daughter 1 along, since the trip was specifically to find a dress for 8th grade graduation.

The Good Day Cafe is a fun and busy place, filled with the clattering of utensils and the chattering of voices. It's uniquely decorated, bright, and the food is amazing, from what I've known in my two visits - both breakfasts.

Betsy and I decided to share. We split this almond-encrusted brioche French toast with raspberry topping, and the ham, brie and mushroom omelette. The signature breakfast potatoes (so yummy) were included. I topped things off with an almond mocha coffee.

 

"Break Bread" it says. Indeed.

Destination Mall of America, which I dreaded, turned out better than expected. Maybe the cheery welcome by Sponge Bob made the difference!

There was some kind of China-products-in-America exhibit being featured.

Bird's eye view of some elders having lunch.

A stop at the Legos store seemed necessary, and proved fruitful. Everything there, pretty much, made o Lego.

Somehow, we ended up finding THE dress the very first store in which we stopped. And it wasn't even a store on our list. We also visited a kiosk on the way to find shoes and a sweet lady showed us some options for hair. (Wish I could bring her home and have her fix my hair every morning...)

Olivia's fond of purple Peeps. So I stopped her at the Peeps store for a photo. Note, dress and shoes in hand.

Our final stop was at a different mall, where the Cheesecake Factory lured us. This was Olivia's idea. I didn't know such a place existed, nor that it serves a full menu of food. I had crispy arthichoke hearts and then we split two kinds of cheesecake -- strawberry and lemon-raspberry (yes, I'm fond of raspberries).

It was a day of indulgence, this is true, and certainly not something we do every day. But I treasure the time we had together. The shopping, in my mind, was just an excuse to spend time with my daughter.

Life is good. It's not perfect. It's not free of worry or stress. But it is filled with real relationships, love that manifests in many forms, and plenty of hope for all that is to come.

Q4U: What good things came your way this weekend?