The Design Slice: Twin Cities Exploration

The other weekend Justin and I traveled up to Eden Prairie, Minnesota to visit my great friends, Heidi and Don. I must report that we had a great time with Heidi, but unfortunately Don was under the weather and I think we saw maybe two fleeting glances of him the entire weekend. Not to say that I didn't want to visit with him, but after our Saturday spent out and around town, we arrived back at their abode to find out that he had stopped over at Urgent Care while we were gone and was told that he could possibly have the Swine Flu. So, we helped Heidi disinfect the joint before taking it easy the rest of the night. On the brighter side, we had just returned from a fun filled day out and around the cities, which I am here to share with you!

Our Saturday started on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. We grabbed our caffeinated beverages from their respective shops and strolled up and down the street catching up and checking out the varied offerings. Before leaving the area, we swung into Punch Pizza to get some chow to go.

Photo from here

Heidi had talked up this joint, gushing about its identity design, but also raving about the food. Being that her friend (not me), who studied abroad in Rome, claimed it had nearly authentic tasting italian pizza, we had to try it, and she wasn't wrong. Yum!

Photo from here

Being a huge fan of cheese, I ordered the Quattro Formaggi (mozzarella, fontina, goat cheese, and parmesan), Justin got the Toto (arugula, prosciutto, goat cheese, cracked red pepper, and garlic), and Heidi ordered her usual, the Borgata (sun-dried tomato, goat cheese, eggplant, saracene olive, and basil).

Photos courtesy of The Punch Pizza's flickr photostream.

Let me just say that those who live in the twin cities are dangerously spoiled by having a pizza chain like this. Justin and I have yet to find anything as delicious around us, and we live in the (second) city of pizza!

After getting our fill of the deliciousness, we went on an adventure to find the mecca of Goodwill. Heidi told me that she knew of one of their stores that was the biggest she had ever been in. Not surprisingly, she had me at "giant Go-". So after a few wrong turns (we blame it on the GPS) we finally found it. Unfortunately, the selection was underwhelming and we didn't stay long, but never fear, we didn't throw in the towel! As we were on our way to the next destination, we drove by this...

...and I yelled "stop!" Any store that puts Herman Miller and Lane furniture outside on the sidewalk deserves at least a look-see and this particular place is Classic Retro at Pete's on University Avenue in St. Paul.

I knew this shop owner had to have a sense of humor because when we walked up to the entrance I noticed that his sign called out the first letter of each word spelling C-R-@-P. Let's just say that Justin couldn't agree more and Heidi and I couldn't disagree more.

When we entered the store we were pleasantly welcomed by (I'm assuming) the owner who was playing his guitar and plopped in front of a T.V. with the football game on. Justin didn't have much to say after that! Additionally, the store was jammed front to back, top to bottom with amazing pieces. Sadly, the three of us could only afford to look, but he had some good eye candy.

(See the guy way in the back with the guitar? I wasn't lying!)

After wiping the drool, we piled back in the car and continued to our destination, Hunt and Gather Antiques on Xerxes Avenue in Minneapolis.

If we thought we had been overwhelmed at Classic Retro at Pete's, we had another thing coming. When we entered Hunt and Gather, it was a gold mine. The items were amazing and the prices were affordable, the perfect combination! Here are some cool finds that I had to pass up.