First up: the Holidazzle Parade along Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. When I was a kid, it was a major exciting treat to make a trip into the city to watch the parade, which starts at 6:30 and runs Thursday through Sunday from Thanksgiving weekend through the week before Christmas. I have been curious about seeing the parade again for the better part of the last decade, but for a variety of reasons, we just haven't gotten there.
Basically, we were long overdue, so last night, I took the bus to the light rail to meet Josh at his office, and then we walked the Minneapolis skyways over to the parade. You may remember from my incessant ramblings that it is Pretty Cold this week in Minnesota, and alas, there was no heat wave that rushed in over Minneapolis in time for the parade. It was probably two handfuls of degrees at 6:30 p.m., and we were bundled. I mean, really bundled. I wore a sweater, my warmest running jacket and my down vest under my winter parka, which I could barely zip over all of my layers. It's really a miracle that Josh even recognized the marshmallow person that showed up to his office.
He got bundled, too, though!
Besides the cute parade - it ended with Santa on his sleigh! - there was a weird extra element of fun in being outside in very freezing temperatures with a whole bunch of other people. We had layered enough (and procured handwarmer packets), so it really wasn't unbearably uncomfortable. Just a little bit chilly on the face! Josh did a better job than I did of remedying that minor problem by the time the parade ended.
After we got back to St. Paul, we found out my parents were at my brother's house, so we dropped by to say hello. This brings us to the second blast from the past. When we were little, my dad owned a grocery store and always got a Santa poster from his 7UP supplier. The poster had 25 circles printed on it, and each day, you were supposed to glue a cotton ball onto the correct date, so by the time Christmas rolled around, Santa had a full beard. My brother and sister and I loved this poster, and we battled every day for who would get to glue the cotton ball onto Santa.
Much to my surprise last night, I noticed a Santa poster on my brother's fridge - and even better, my dad had brought one for my sister and me, too! I jokingly asked if he had a big stack left over from way back when and was completely stunned when he said he did have a big pad of Santa posters - enough to keep us in business until, like, 2030.
I am so excited. This morning, I broke out the hot glue gun and brought Santa up to speed on December 2011.
Besides the sentimental reasons for why I adore this goofy poster, I also love a fine detail on the coupon at the bottom of the page.
You can just barely see it, but at the top of the page, you'll note that you could've saved 25 cents on a variety of fine 7UP products...if only you would've used it before January 31, 1989!!!
Up next: I'm happy to report that I survived this morning's Donut Run! More details tomorrow.
OMG! We had that same poster on our fridge when I was little! Love it!
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