Last day of PLA and vacation

The third and final day of PLA was a short one. I attended two fascinating sessions, one on interior Library design, and the other on the Librarian's image in the media. That one was hysterical! Librarians have a strange cultural iconography, where we are sometimes viewed as prissy, thin lipped, with our hair in a tight bun and glowering behind small glasses; other times, we are viewed as the hidden seductress, prim and proper until we pull our hair out of the bun and whip off the glasses in one smooth move. The lecture I attended had tons of examples of the Librarian in the media- be it from books, movies, television, and advertisements. It was fascinating and funny to see all the different ways we've been portrayed!

After that enjoyable lecture, I bid farewell to PLA, but not to a library vacation entirely! I once more met up with my good friend Andie, and we took a tour of Minneapolis's new downtown library! It was a huge building that was visually interesting. I was impressed with all the fun details in the children's department, like huge, beautiful dragonflies hanging from the ceiling, and artful end caps on all the bookcases. A librarian's vacation is never complete without a visit to a library!

After our library visit, we all (me, Andrew, my Mom, and Andie) went out to a fantastic dinner at an Italian restaurant. The food was Divine, the company great, and the atmosphere wonderful! The restaurant was full of old architectural elements, and I couldn't get enough of them! What a way to end a day in Minneapolis, and what a way to end PLA!

Despite PLA being over with, our vacation was not. On our way home, we went straight passed my Mom's very best friend Diva's house, thus making a perfect opportunity to visit! It was great to see Diva again- growing up, she was like a second mother to me. She's always fun to see and spend time with. I just wish I had more time on the trip to visit with her, but Andrew and I were only able to stay for a few hours before we left for a small, mini vacation at a nearby resort to celebrate our wedding anniversary. Mom stayed with Diva so they had time to catch up without the kids around.

The resort Andrew and I stayed at was lovely. We had a fun suite that was bear themed, complete with a fireplace and a balcony. We had a great time together, relaxing and reminiscing over the years we've been married. We're still insanely happy together :)

This was the view outside our balcony,

but this was my favorite view of all:

Along the way at our resort, we also stumbled upon this vending machine, which had us both laughing hysterically:

"Your choice for healthy eating!" but the machine was filled to the brim with junk food!

It was a lovely way to end our trip, and the next morning we picked up my Mom, and hit the road home, happy and content with a fun trip.

Oh, and remember our lovely SUV we rented? Well, here's the trunk before we left for PLA:

and here's the trunk after:

What a great trip!