Visiting Minneapolis, MN

I never imagined the nonprofit I work for would take me across the country... but it did for The National Service Learning Conference.
What an exciting, powerful, and educational conference.  I learned so much about the capabilities and power of our youth.  We sat through conferences for much of the day, but at night - my boss, Jen, and I hit the town for a little while to eat dinner and do a little exploring.
We never made it to the Mall of America (cue sad music) but we did make it to the Target in their downtown area... Target is actually headquartered right there in Minneapolis.
We also were able to try three different restaurants for dinner... Zelo was delicious - Jen treated me to Italian for my Birthday dinner :) We also went to Key's Cafe, which was cute - a restaurant and bakery. And the last night, we went to The Local, which is an Irish themed restaurant... fun decor and atmosphere. 
We stayed at the Hilton, and the conferences were taking place in the bottom of our Hotel - all the way through to the MN Convention Center.
By the way... my favorite part of Minneapolis?  The Skyways.  They are all over that city and I think it's brilliant.  You can walk across the city in these skyways.  I am sure if I were there during the winter months... these things would be even better!
I loved Minneapolis - it's truly a beautiful city.  As we flew in, you could see all of the lakes and trees.  I think I could live there... but maybe not during their winters ;)
Outside of the Hilton.  We had to enjoy a cold one everyday after a long day of learning ;)  The skyways... they connect all of downtown.  So cool! Oh Target, I love you.  I also talked Jen in to buying a pair of Skinny Jeans... she loves 'em!  Jen wanted this vase for her house...  The outside area of "The Local" - loved their downtown area. Music notes painted on the building, loved this.  "Our World, Our Future" Inside the convention center where we ate breakfast and lunch and sat in on Planery Sessions - thousands of people attended the conference and it was so cool to be a part of it.  I am lucky to work with such a wonderful woman that I got to share this with! On the flight home, I realized we never got a picture together... maybe next year! :)
Hope you're having a wonderful start to your week!