shower time

Because Minneapolis was once the home of a good friend, I've surely been to this city before. An Ocean reader can see the tag at the side: I've had many wonderful visits here.

And still, when your daughter moves to a place, that place takes on a new aura. The streets that were once interesting to me, the tourist, are now streets that she walks -- on her way to her office or to the store. And so it is with great excitement that I come to this city on a cloudy but still warm April day.





I'm in Minneapolis to see the apartment where she and her fiance now live. Yes, that. But there's more. My girl is lucky to have her fiance's family here (he's a Minneapolis boy!) and they, along with family friends are hosting a stock-the-bar shower for the soon-to-be-marrieds. And so we have my girl's family (her sister, dad and this Ocean blogger) and her fiance's family (brother, parents, grandpa, uncle) coming together for the first time and it is such a gala day that it may as well be the wedding itself -- we are all feeling quite celebratory!

I wont inundate you with family photos. But you must tolerate just a few! It is such a wonderful day and the Minnesotans welcome us so warmly that Ocean has to serve its other function: a place to commemorate family milestones. Beautiful ones at that.

So, walk through it with me! (I'll limit myself to photos of people you know by now.)

There was a quick breakfast, picked up at a local bakery (46 Patisserie), but eaten at the young couple's home:











There was a family brunch (at Salut Brasserie):






Then the shower itself:





















And a late get together at the young couple's place to make a final selection of wedding wines.





















I haven't partied so royally in a long, long time.

My days of travel end on this Sunday. I'm with my girls again...






...and I go to a morning brunch (at the Bachelor Farmer -- a "new Nordic" place; yum!) with the two of them and my daughter's soon to be husband...











...and then we take the long route along the Mississippi to the airport. As I look at the mighty river and study the homes that line this important waterway, I think how good it is to have my girls live in such warm places. Because, of course, warmth isn't just about the degrees outside. Ignore the chunks of ice on the river. Think, instead, how many, good hours I have with my girls, their partners, families, friends. Hot, I tell you. Positively hot.


I fly home over stormy skies and again come in right on schedule. At the farmette, the chickens are hiding under the truck from the heavy rains. Ed teaches me his modified routines with them. See? No chasing! I smile at his innovations. The garden? Not destroyed yet! I'll show you how it is looking these days tomorrow.