all that's past is prologue...

Beatrix has a bad achilles tendon issue and has not been able to perform for the past several performances of Lumiére . It's honestly been heartbreaking, but Tria is taking it super-seriously because the last thing she wants her senior year is surgery on it. She's been going in to the show every day just in case, and to help out with the many quick changes she assists with. This is an 8-show weekend and so I hope she's back in soon. July was a crazy work month for me but I've had a little extra "me time" while Patrick and Beatrix have been at shows. Inspired by my friend Jennifer, last night I took some on-the-edge citrus and made some oven-dehydrated slices for drinks. I think it might have been the first time I actually used a mandolin. I'm pretty happy with how they turned out! I was also inspired by Jennifer's gin collection, it might be G&T time!

So last winter was a beast. The early cold, plus the lack of insulating snowfall, killed off any number of plants. The worst casualty in our yard was the large bed between the patio and the garage, which had perennials I had babied for years. My ligularia, bleeding hearts, the azalea Patrick and Beatrix got me for Mother's Day, so many Solomon's Seals... I mean, it was BAD. The scaffolding is not just for effect, we were also painting the peak. Basically, just that bush on the right remained. I tried to scatter some seeds but it was ineffective because it turns out stomping around on them while painting hinders growth. So basically, it was rebuilding from (literally) the ground up. And I have worked my a** off on it. I ran over to pick up some droopy native columbine someone posted on the free board and nursed it back to health. I dug up goatsbeard from a dry rocky hillside where I was at risk of tumbling down into a ravine. I picked up some other lovely plants that another per...

Lumiére opened last night (more on that later), and today was a two-show day for my tired performer and even more tired rigger, so I had a day to myself. It stared by being given some phlox and some astilbe, which I planted over at Ashland. The back bed is almost done! The jasmine is in bloom over there and I love it so much. I then went over to an open house at the home that had been owned by Sally French, where she had held so many wonderful events. It had been years since I had been there and I had never seen the whole thing, so it was really fun to go explore it. Her spirit is in every inch of the house and it is gorgeous! If you are in the Twin Cities and looking for an incredibly distinctive home that knows how to throw an arts event (albeit one that needs some work), you should seriously consider this one. I'm connected to the realtors, so let me know! (photo credits mainly Dolly Langer, with the first one being mine). I then headed over to my client 825 Arts , where one of...

Last night, I attended a concert by Songs of Hope at a senior center in Bloomington. My friends Jeanne and Tom founded SOH 34 years ago, and kids from all over the world come here for six weeks in the summer to live together, sing together, and perform all over the state.  Not only is it life-changing for them to live together and learn about each others' countries and cultures, but it's equally important that they travel the state and meet people who may never have met ANYONE from, say, Turkey, much less seen a group of them perform a traditional dance. As I left, the Hopers had spread out all over the community room and were talking to the residents, who had loved (and sung along with) the performance. But here's the other thing. I've been on the board for several years, and supported SOH since just about the time it started. This year was an incredibly small group. Often there are 80 kids or more, from all over — a typical year includes China, Vietnam, Jamaica, Ital...

After a successful FilmNorth opening and a weekend of other activities, I was pretty much toast. So yesterday I caught up on my most pressing client tasks, and then completed a lot of household things: some laundry, some clean-up, some returns, and spent a lot of time helping Coya get around  — her age is showing and she keeps on falling over with her legs splayed like Bambi and can't get up. But last night I was also able to make some kale chips, and some pita chips, and get some plants in the ground (more on that later, I'm not quite done yet), and it felt a little like getting back to normal, just as Patrick and Beatrix were ramping up on the first tech/dress and things were getting crazy for them. So then I met my old friend Dan for a drink at Bar + Cart, which was the absolutely perfect way to end the day. A little late night conversation and Necromancer was exactly what I needed.

Cocktail #8 comes courtesy of the FilmNorth opening yesterday. We had about 1,000 people stop by over the course of the four-hour open house. It was a success beyond my wildest dreams. This project has been a fascinating labor of love since Colin from D/O Architects reached out to say the building was available off-market and did we want to collaborate on it, almost exactly four years ago.  From due diligence to initial designs to arranging for the historic tax credits (the first time I have taken them past the application phase and into development), to the funding (including also the NMTCs, the bonding, TOD, and private gifts), to the logistics, it's been a wild ride. I've been integrally involved with every moment of it, from raising funds to planting the patio. And my team, from the FilmNorth staff to consultants we've worked with (special props at Jennifer Halcrow) to our bankers to the board to everyone in between have been amazing. Incredibly big props to Andrew Pete...