An 'Azian' Affair

In an attempt to soak up my last few homework-free days before heading out to Denver, Ash, Mason, and I spent the afternoon in Minneapolis wining, dining, and shopping.

We lunched at Thom Pham's Wondrous Azian Kitchen. Suckers for adjectives like 'wondrous' and 'azian', the sign drew us in...

The food was great, and as we chowed down on LoMein and Sesame Chicken, Frank Sinatra music played in background, leading us to ponder what the word 'Azian' (with a Z) actually means. Ash and I can't wait to pull out the rice cooker and 'best of Frank' CD and create our own 'Azian' experience in Denver.

Afterward we headed to the Westin Hotel's Bank Bar to splurge on overpriced, but delicious (seriously, the best), cocktails. It turns out there aren't a whole lot of people drinking at 2pm on a Monday, so the hotel manager stood in for the absent bartender to make us drinks. We were really only after one thing... Asian Pear Cosmos.

Our history with this drink goes wayyy back...well, back to December when we discovered the Bank Bar. Too delicious to describe, this cocktail has inspired numerous spontaneous trips to Minneapolis (and once even required an overnight stay at the Westin in order to indulge to our hearts' content). With only a few days left in MN, one last Asian Pear Cosmo at the Bank Bar was an absolute must. Check.

With our overpriced cocktails, came an overpriced valet parking bill. Luckily, we were given insider advice that if you make a purchase at the attached shopping center your parking bill is comped. So, instead of spending $20 on parking, we spent $20 + dollars on new shirts :)

It was an all-around lovely afternoon... now if we can only manage to lure Mason to Denver. Maybe we'll make a trail of Asian Pear Cosmos for him to follow...

credits: Thank you Noelle for the delicious, overpriced cocktails:)