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Dunkin!

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Double posting because there's now a Dunkin' (Donuts) in my hood!

To be far there's been one up on Rice Street for a couple of years, but it's been too long a haul to get there.

I think this one is ... overwhelmed (it just open last Wednesday or Thursday). The cases looked like the Zombie Donut Apocalypse had hit, and there were a good 20+ twitchy people waiting for their coffee orders.

But we got the donuts we wanted, and Beatrix got her pumpkin coffee something, and we are all thrilled.

Welcome, Dunkin!

PS: I still prefer a local coffeeshop any day for coffee and the donuts at Bogart's are better. But it's nice to have a DD, and makes me feel like my college days are not so far away (even though they are).


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Good Day, Even Better Night

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Yesterday I was lucky enough to host large clothing exchanges for two very different online groups I am part of. While I LOVE clothing exchanges (they are basically how I buy all my clothes now) for their thrift and ingenuity, what I really love is having face time IRL with the people I know online. They are wonderful and supportive people. It made the snow showers much more tolerable!

In between swaps, Patrick and I ran out and grabbed a drink at Waldmann Brewing with our friends Peg and Troy (and their daughter Natalie, who is Beatrix's friend). We all have Crafttapped, so it was a great way to get together and have a free beer!

Patrick and I tried out Monkey Palace, a new restaurant on Snelling that bills itself as a "Tandoori Restaurant and Alehouse" that is in soft open this week. Their beer list was a little slim for an "alehouse," but they also had a great looking cocktail list. We tried several of their bar snacks: veggie samosa, chicken wings, curried …
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Cabal

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I can't say much about Cabal by Walking Shadow Theatre Company, because it would ruin the experience for you. Besides, I learned from talking to a friend this weekend that *perhaps* I am more into immersive theatre than the average bear.

But I can say that if you are interested in a very different dramatic experience — one that's part puzzle room and part live theatre, where the audience is limited to 10 people and it's important that you work all together — then you should check out Cabal. It's currently on an open-ended run, but like all magic, it could disappear quickly.
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Tradition, Tradition, New

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We started today with our favorite "fall is here" tradition — a brunch event watching the Twin Cities Marathon. My friend Judy owned a house on Summit one mile form the finish line, and always held a Marathon party. One of my earliest memories from living in my neighborhood was attending and watching Paul Wellstone hand out cups of water to the runners. They would stop, amazed that their senator was handing out water, and he would wave them on saying "Go! Go! You're so close to the end!"

When Judy passed on her son David and his wife Amber took over the house and the party. Those two do that home's traction so proud. The Marathon party is a great chance to get together with friends, to be outside on a beautiful day, and to get teary watching amazing runners do their best. I'm pretty sure Patrick married me because of the Marathon parties.

After  quick stop at my friend Bethany's clothing exchange, we headed out to the open house at Warner Nature Cen…
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My Posts - and Other People

Patrick's friend Colin (who I did not even know had seen my blog!) wrote an interesting piece inspired by it about identity, self-esteem and self-compassion.

Which is exactly why I started this blog, to be able to have discussions online about topics in a larger way that social media can often allow (well, and to provide my dad with updates and kid pictures, but that purpose is defunct).

I'm pleased and honored. I found Colin's post very reflective and thought-provoking.

Still, I would challenge him (and you, dear reader) to take it even one step farther.

Colin writes about how identity leads to self-esteem and then hopefully to self-compassion, in a kind of individual hero's/heroine's (what's the they version?) journey. And in many ways he's very right:

This final aspect is interesting as it relates to one's authenticity and being "your true self" - this is what really interests me and is what links back to personal identity. Our identities are…
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Holding Hope

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Lest you think I am a curmudgeon who holds new-ish restaurants to impossibly high standards, let me discuss our list to Hope Breakfast Bar, which just opened last week, for Patrick's birthday tonight (they serve breakfast all day). Hope just opened last week, and their cocktail menu debuted tonight.

Hope is located in former Saint Paul Fire Station #5, the city's oldest fire station that the neighborhood worked HARD to keep, despite every developer in town saying it could not be done. it's charming and bright and lively; all the staff seems happy to be there, and they have already developed some regulars.



It's a slightly Southern-inspired breakfast menu, a little meat-heavy, but still plenty that I could eat. Patrick had the shrimp and grits, which he loved and felt they lived up to NOLA standards. Beatrix had the waffle, with a whole berry in custard cream topping (served on the side, so you can mix it up how you like. I went with the theory of measuring a place by th…
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Puttin' on the Fitz

The place at the corner of Western and Selby has been a lot of things in its life. A drugstore, part of the College of Visual Arts, and in the past few years 3 restaurants in quick succession — The Salt Cellar (steakhouse), Fitzgerald's (basic pub food), and now The Fitz (pizza). The space itself has changed a little in each incarnation, but has generally remained an open, friendly place (though a few too many tv screens for my taste — and partway through our meal the lights dimmed and the music for louder, while the tvs did not get softer).

Tonight, our friends CJ and Lauren were in town, so we suggested the Fitz as a dinner spot so we could show off our neighborhood a little. If we were to do it again...maybe not....

We had a reservation and were seated quickly, though I thought it was strange that they put as a high-top when they had several regular tables open. The waitress got us our drinks; though they have quite a good beer list and a lovely cocktail list, I was embarrassed…
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