A Girls’ Weekend

The Rosie Girl and I spent Saturday and Sunday together on a Girls’ Weekend – being girls together and having fun. I’d share photos, but I only took a couple. I’ll just share  memories instead.

• We shared the driving from Weyauwega to Minneapolis and listened to Shadow of the Hegemon by Orson Scott Card most of the time. Interspersed we had some serious conversations about religion and life.
• I’m really glad Rosie Girl is old enough to drive.
• We were hobbits and had breakfast when we left home and then second breakfast a few hours later.
• When we reached our hotel, I took a nap (because I’d slept so poorly the night before) while Rosie Girl researched whether we could take public transportation to the Mall of America and/or the concert that night. Short answer – no.
• After my nap, we drove to the Mall of American for dinner and shopping. And, can I just say, thank you, Minneapolis for all your clear driving instructions through the construction – NOT! Thankfully, Rosie Girl reads quickly.
• For dinner, we went to Bubba Gump’s and shared snow crab legs. Wow. Yummy.
• Then, a quick stop at Hot Topic for Rosie Girl to find some more T-shirts (like she needs any more!) before we were off to the concert.
• We needed to drive west for one exit and then go north into downtown Minneapolis to the Orpheum theater. Unfortunately, it was about 7pm and the sun was directly in our eyes. Despite sunglasses, Rosie Girl and I were completely blinded. I couldn’t see the cars in front of me or the barricades beside me (again, thank you, Minneapolis construction!) and Rosie Girl couldn’t read the signs because of the sun!! Talk about stressed! Rosie Girl had me just keep going for another couple exits till we got to the exit for our hotel where we knew we could turn around and then go east to find the correct exit to go north.
• We got to the Orpheum theater and parked in time for the concert – Zelda Orchestra: Symphony of the Goddesses!
• Talk about geek heaven!! Rosie Girl didn’t change into her costume until we got to the theater, but there were tons of folks of all ages already in costume when we got there! Some were costumes purchased online or in costume shops, others were homemade, while others (like Rosie Girl’s) were a combination of thrift shop and homemade.
• The Orpheum Theater is beautiful! I have no idea how old it is, but it has been restored and looks amazing. We were in balcony (aka cheap) seats, and could see so much. It was gorgeous!
• The symphony conductor is a woman! I realize I should not be shocked, especially since I went to medical school at a time when women were still a minority. But I was still surprised since I’ve never seen a woman conduct in person.
• The conductor was just wonderful, but her jacket was atrocious. She wore what looked like a black suit with pants, but the jacket had ruffles on the back right on the butt that were just awful. Thankfully, the music more than made up for it.
• And the music was, indeed, amazing!! They had two harps!!
• On a large video screen, there was footage from the game that went along with what the orchestra was playing. I understood some of it really well, but some of it I was completely unfamiliar with. But the music was wonderful!
• At intermission, Rosie Girl got a T-shirt and a poster.
• I can’t say enough good things about the music. What was really cool was that I was used to hearing it while the other three family members played the video game, but hearing it played by a symphony was like going from 2 dimensions to 3 dimensions. Wow.
• Saturday night, Rosie Girl and I stayed up and I listened to her chatter for about an hour about music, Zelda, and books.
• We were a bit disappointed that there was no free continental breakfast in the morning, but that motivated us to get moving and get to the Mall of America.
• When we got to the Mall, we had manicures at an Aveda salon – something we’ve never had done before.
• The next few hours were spent shopping (I got some cute tops at Lane Bryant) and generally sight seeing.
• The hardest part of the trip was coming home! We were both tired and had a hard time staying awake, so we traded off frequently. At every stop, the next driver would get some soda and run around outside in the chilly air.
• But, the best part of the trip was coming home because we were very glad to get home to PWM and Wild Man – and to tell them about the amazing concert and all the fun we had!