all that's past is prologue...

Ok, I guess there's no time to squeeze in more work on these, so here we are in the recap. My resolutions were as flows: Resolution #1 – Use We have SO much. Our pantry is full of half-eaten food, the desk full of gift cards, the bathroom closet full of lotion and product. This year, I resolve to use all of that stuff, before buying new (as much as possible). This went well at the beginning of the year, and I think we have used up a lot of things. We lost momentum mid-year, when we had a lot going on and it was just easier time-wise to not have to think as hard about things. So a mixed success I suppose. Resolution #2 – Re-Use I have been active on several neighborhood Buy/Sell/Trade boards, even co-founding one for my community. In 2015, I will sell 100 items on those boards (and hopefully not buy 100!) This went great. I've sold well over 100 things, and found a good way to make the BST boards a good part of my life without succumbing to their easy lure. ...

I just started with a new adventure in Blogging for Books, where you get review copies in exchange for a review copy. Not exactly the most remunerative work, but fun. Here's my first review: I chose this as my first Blogging for Books adventure because I could share the experience with my husband, who was born just outside of New Orleans and for whom soul food runs deep in his family. He's a writer, currently working on a history of his family and the land they acquired during Reconstruction, and I knew the family history at the beginning of the novel would be especially interesting for both of us. It's clear from the beginning that the Randalls are writers. The writing from the beginning is lyrical and engaging. But they really draw you in to the story, to the quest for a better, healthier (and cheaper) way of eating that pays homage to their family history and to the kitchens of comfort food, and to later generations who replace the kitchen with fast food. That s...

Tonight, the day after the Sandy Hook anniversary and when LA schools were closed due to a "credible threat," I'm especially glad for my daughter. I'm glad for her everyday. Today I'm super proud of her because she did well on her piano recital, and aced her math test, and did well in violin this morning, and finally seems to be getting her math facts, and was a trooper about adjusting her expander. Because she is SO excited for Christmas, and to write in her diary every night, and to be close to moving up a reading level. But I love her on the days she is cranky, and unhappy, and difficult. Those are the days when she needs love even more, and it's all the more rewarding to be able to show her I love her. I love this world more because I love her. And I ache to make it better. I never expected to have this kind of love, and I am grateful for that. And there's a lot of responsibility there, to try to make the world a better place, so that by the ti...

I really, really love all of my clients — I would not work with them if I did not. And I generally don't play favorites. But today, right now, after a great afternoon, I am super excited for, and grateful for, IFP Minnesota, for 4 reasons in particular: 1)  The Spirit Awards. I LOVE the spirit awards. In January and February, you can see the top indie films of the year, 2 shows a night, 2 days a week. The kind of films that don't always play here, or if they do it's because they are also in contention for an Oscar, so they can be hard to get in to see. They screen at the Walker, which is also fun. And they are FREE, and available only to IFP member s. 2)   The Member Show . Every year (well, we skipped last year because we were moving), IFP holds a Members Show, featuring members' photography. It's free to enter, and the pieces submitted are fantastic. A couple of years ago, my friends Rachel and Michael submitted beautiful pieces that still stand in my memory...

Tonight I am glad for reading in bed, and for books in general. I just got some great books for people for Christmas, and there's a lot I want to read myself. If Beatrix would put up with it, I would spend all of Christmas vacation holed up inside reading. I can't think of anything better.

I've taken to calling them "the Decembers." It's that gray, overwhelmed-with-it-all feeling I sink into at least once a day this time of year, when I want to be wrapped in Christmastide and making a great holiday season for my little girl, and instead it's I'm surrounded by an almost tactile sense of those weeks spent in the hospital the Christmas my mom was dying. I can almost see the cold fluorescent lights, can almost smell the hand sanitizer, and every part of my body aches in that tired way. At the same time, my eyes fill with hot tears about the things I can't share with my mom, all the things she has missed. It's an awful feeling. I hate December. So I was sinking into that and heating up leftovers when the dog went crazy barking at the door. When I looked out, and it was my friend N, who moved away last year and who I email and text occasionally, but who has even more on her plate than I could ever imagine, and who I have not seen or felt ver...

Today I am grateful for good food. The Coconut Curry Pumpkin Pot Pie my colleague made for lunch (happy 8th work anniversary, Kim!) And my favorite meal ever, goat cheese mac and cheese, that Patrick made for dinner because he knows it's been tough for me lately. And planning Christmas Eve! Food is love.

I meant to post every day about things I am grateful for, even if it was only short. But I am afraid that, though I try to be Christmas-y for the kid, this still gets to be way too hard a time of year for me. If I had my druthers, I would hibernate with books and cocktails until January 2. But I can't, so... Tonight I am grateful for the things Beatrix does with groups of people. She and I just got back from volunteering at Feed My Starving Children with her Brownie troop. I'm mixed about the religious nature of the organization, but very, very thankful that it does something to help, and does it well. And I think it was a great lesson learned for the girls. So cynical as I always am going in, I'm thankful now. I'm also incredibly thankful for her Norwegian dance group! Thanks to my friend Sasha, Beatrix joined just last month, so she has had only one real rehearsal before she performed with the group at the Union Depot Holiday market yesterday. But she jumped right...

Tonight, as I sewed a scarf using skills I learned in a costume shop long long ago, while listening to Hamilton, and even as I thought of the news of the day — tonight I am glad for my life in the theatre. I'm glad for the skills I have learned. I'm glad for the knowledge I have gained. And most of all I am glad for the people I know, for strong and amazing friendships from people who get it. I hundred million years ago, when I started working with Gary Parker at TCity, I could never have known that this would be my life. Thank you to all of you who inspire me daily with the things you create.

Perhaps the most obvious, and certainly the most important, thing that I am grateful for in my life is friends. Whether it's Thanksgiving dinner with good friends I have known for almost half my life (yikes!), dessert and puzzle gatherings and a mom's night out with Beatrix's school friends' families, impromptu dinner and pie, or calls and emails and Facebook messages over then holiday weekend, or even shopping at places where I know and like the owners, I feel like I have totally won in the friendship department. And I think Beatrix, whose holiday weekend has been equally full of playdates and gatherings, feels the same way.

More to post later on what I've been grateful for the past few days. Tonight I am focused on the fact that though my Myers-Brggs typo has always firmly been ENTJ (years ago, when I was first tested, Vijit said I was the most strong example he had ever seen), lately I seem to slide I when I am super-stressed. Tonight, the thing I most loved was that I sat down to finally watch the movie Wild with my husband, and that I have shelves and shelves of books I could read. I feel like hiding for a week and only reading.

It's a good thing I started this day of thankful thing because today would have been a good day to ignore it. Kind of blah and weighted down. So I'm grasping a little and landed on a project that Beatrix and I actually did yesterday, making candleholders by putting maps and book pages around jars. But I think it turned out super-cute: I also spent some time tonight fixing a project that has been weighing me down for a long time. The back hallway is covered with brown paper, and over time (and kids) some of it has been ripped or peeled up. So tonight I took some time to paste it all down again and repair some areas — let's hope it matches.

Again, a lot of great parts to today. But the high point was a house concert tonight. It was Beatrix's first violin public performance; a few weeks back, her incredible teacher Kelsey asked if she could do it, and she wanted to, so she has been practicing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" (or Baa Baa Black Sheep, or the ABC song, depending on how you think of it) since then. It's been a hard few weeks of practice, and she literally only got a strong hold on it minutes before we left for the concert, when Patrick came up with the idea of videoing it and showing her what she was doing wrong. It was like a light bulb came on, and just in time too. So an hour later, we're sitting on the living room of a quintessential Saint Anthony Park home, the kind I grew up knowing, with a strong architectural sense, full of mismatched mugs and flyers about peace rallies and arts events, picture everywhere, candles burning — a place I feel very at home in, and with an audience o...

This time of year is always really hard for me. AND I am having a super-stressy deadline month. So I am starting Happy Advent — hopefully I can stick with it. One thing I am happy for every day. Today I am happy for donuts. Specifically, my friend Pablo hosting a donut party at Heartland, and getting to bring my daughter to it. For amazing sugar donuts (how could I have forgotten I like sugar donuts?) For a table full of Dans and one in particular. For spending time with and having an excellent conversation with my old friend Mischa and his adorable son Sasha. For remembering that I love Saint Paul and its hangouts, and that there are fantastic people in the Twin Cities. Thank you, Pablo!

I stayed up last night, unwilling to be torn from my Twitter feed, watching the situation unfold with the Black Lives Matter protests outside Minneapolis' 4th Precinct. I was amazed at the bravery and persistence of the protesters, and it takes some special kind of guts for CM Lisa Bender to say to an officer "If you want to shoot someone, shoot me." I am all for supporting those who enforce our laws, but I think the police are wrong here, for any number of reasons. But the main reason I think that this is a major error on the part of the MPD is because, for as long as I can remember, the police force has said that the Northside and that precinct is especially difficult to address, that they are doing the best that they can, but that its simply impossible to keep order there. And now they are actively fighting against — assaulting with mace and rubber bullets — the very people who are proving that they give a damn about that community and their city and are willing ...

Those of you who know me well know how obsessed I have been with "Hamilton" lately. Which, even before yesterday, has had me thinking about how America may have descended from England, but owes its freedom to France. A nation of immigrants, stemming from the best of these two great countries, and the hearts and souls of all over the world. You'll also know then, that I disapprove of co-opting tragedy. I have a number of friends and acquaintances in Paris (mainly from my Jeune Lune days), and they are all safe. We're not in Paris until June. I can't even begin to comprehend the pain of those who were directly affected — I just can't. But this tragedy in Paris affects us all in a very global way. And I don't know what to do or what to think, except to hold my daughter close.

I'm not the only one conflicted about Give to the Max Day, as I can tell from emails and posts from my colleagues. It's a confusing day, where you want to participate in the festival-like atmosphere, while making sure your donors understand, really understand, how much they mean to you and how that relationship is important. This year it's earlier than usual — before the 15th of the month for the first time — and people aren't ready, or thinking about end of the year giving. And there's a lot of confusion about the site and how to give and fees and the like. And I'm distracted by our own needs around here: a girl with tricky new orthodontia, a house that has to be finished, a dog (not ours) that needs a home, and other deadlines. Still, I think it's important to think about giving and why you support the things that are important to you. Today's a good day to do that, because it's fun and easy and you'll feel good participating in the carni...

This post is one of the most cut-to-the-chase, insightful posts I have ever read (by my friend Nora, who is awesome, but the piece would be just as striking to me if I did not know her). Take a minute to read it. I'll wait. … Ok, you're back. Hopefully you're bowled over — I was, and I can identify with the experience because it happens to me All The Time. Maybe you've never thought of it that way before, and now you are, and that's cool too. But hey, if you're one of the many (and I am sure there are some of these in the comments to her original post by now, I haven't looked because I have learned that my cardinal rule of life is "Don't read the comments"), who is still thinking "What's the big deal? He didn't even know he said anything. He was just trying to be nice" — I challenge you to reconsider. Hard. Our words have meaning. Everything we say. When I present something for a client, what I say and how I say i...

A little over a year ago, Patrick and I sponsored a project called #TweetSmallChange. Funded by our pocketbooks, it had a 48 hour submission process where people tweet-pitched their prospective projects (organizations, individual artists, it didn't matter). We got, I don't know, a little over 100 submissions and gave out ten $140 grants. (If you can't guess why the amount was $140, you should give up on Twitter, now.) It was an incredible experiment. For one person, it was her first arts grant — and let's just go on to say she has gotten many more! We connected an artist with an arts gallery/shop. The other day I framed a set of prints another visual artist created. A local company learned the effectiveness of multiple tweets. I was reminded of that tonight when I belatedly realized it was the final day for #deluxecares, a Tweet-an-Application program from the local Deluxe Company. I did shoot off a few tweets for clients, and took a quick look at the other submissi...

Last year, Beatrix began having very firm opinions on Halloween — on decorations, her costume, preferred candy, etc. Last year was also the first year she wanted to trick-or-treat with school friends, which was fine with us, because we had a blast going around to the neighborhoods around her school including the famous "Halloween Street." This year, it multiplied. The kids formed a mini-pack, running from house to house as Dave coached them ( "That one, there, with the orange lights on! Go!!" ) and the parents trailed behind, talking and laughing. Halloween Street was just as delightful as we remembered. Some houses gave out the coveted full-sized candy bars. And as we walked along in the late afternoon sun, kicking leaves, I was astounded how idyllic it was. Later than night we hit a front-yard bonfire and told ghost stories, and then gathered at a house for delicious snacks and hot chocolate with horchata and more conversation. It was perfect! (I have to ...

When I was young, Grand Avenue was a shopping street, but not the boutique destination it is today. On the corner near us there was an Isreali deli, a drugstore, a dry cleaner, a couple of places I can't remember, and a little plant and gift store called Evergreen, run by a hippie guy who looked a lot like the dad in my Sunshine Family set. I loved stopping in to that store on my way home from school, and especially admired the large staghorn fern that hung on the wall. Years later, we were at Biltmore, and the thing I had to have from the gift store was a potted staghorn fern. But for the past couple of years it has stagnated in a pot, because I had no idea how to mount it and hang it. It kind of rots in a pot, getting a weird fungus on it and generally looking dismal and unhappy. Today, though, I decided something had to be done about it. I look up instructions online, found a piece of wood in the garage, ran to Frattalone's to get a hook to hang it, and with some trial a...

When I was in elementary school at SPA, our high school squash team played at the Commodore in their original squash courts. I still remember distinctly the 1978 natural gas explosion that closed it down for years and caused injuries to my much older classmates, eliminating our squash program. When I first moved back to Saint Paul in the early 1990s, the building had been converted into condos, which were selling for ridiculously low prices (but then, so was my house). The Commodore bar itself was a private event space, where the interior bar held its old panache (even if the light bulbs were perpetually burned out and the cocktails basically limited to well drinks). The large dining rooms had lovely old photos but a mossy green carpet and furniture that looked to have been retired after hard use from over at the University Club. Still, over the years, I enjoyed my fair share of events there. This week, the Commodore opens anew in its old Jazz Age glory. We went tonight, during the...

This fall, I signed up for the adult circus class at Circus Juventas. When I was talking to Dan, the founder, about possibly taking it it, I said I thought it would be helpful for me to know how some of the acts are physically done, rather than just watching them. To which he said "Yes, but you shouldn't do it for that. You should do it because it's fun." And he was 110%, totally, right. Every Monday night it's hard to get myself out of the house and over to the tent, but I leave an hour later with a sense of sheer exhilaration. That circus class is one of the hardest things I have done in my life. I come home every week in total pain and amazed at my lack of strength and stamina. I have an incredible new appreciation for the things those circus kids can pull off. And most of all, for an hour of the week, I have had a total blast. I honestly can't remember the last time I did something simply because it was fun. I'm very driven, and so things usually h...

Today is the most beautiful October day I can ever remember. Warm (in the 80s!), sunny, bright, it was this golden moment of why we live here. Well played! This that know me know that pretty much nothing makes me happier than clothing exchanges, and today I experienced two! I hosted one with a group of online friends, and then accepted a last-minute invitation to attend another one. I had a great time at both, hung out with some lovely women, and scored some lovely new finds. Then I came home and, against my better judgement, kon-mari'd my tee shirt drawer. I'm still a skeptic, but damn, it does look better. Plus I found more clothes for more clothing exchanges, so if you know of any soon… --- Other activities included the dog park, being able to research for a big project while sitting outside in the sun, and making tuna salad with celery from the garden for dinner (likely the last tuna salad of the summer). There were two retreats I had wanted to go to this weeke...

Beatrix came home from school today and said "We drew plants in science today and I am really good at it. Can I do some from our garden?" And then she came up with these. I'm in awe.

In general, I often feel so very lucky about our lives. But lately, we've been in a bit of a rut, overwhelmed and exhausted and generally just worn out. So this weekend, it was nice to regain some of the magic. Friday night, we attended the Festival of Lights Gala for the Cathedral of Saint Paul. Though religion is not exactly my strong suit, I strongly support the building and its beautiful architecture, and the gala was lovely; plus afterwards, we got to meet friends for drinks at Saint Dinette to cap off the night perfectly! Yesterday, we got quite a few things done around the house before heading over to the Southern to see one of the last performances of Four Humors "Lolita." (Beatrix did not join us for this one…) I swear, my face *still* hurts from laughing. An amazingly timed comic-tragic-commentary. We spent the night at "Lakansyel: The Music and Dance of Haiti" — which my client the Minnesota Global Arts Institute produced at Sundin Hall — anoth...

As usual, our activities last weekend were remarkably varied. That's kind of the story of my life, which I realized last week when I spent a couple of hours strategizing marketing for Skewed Visions  (buy a membership, won't you?), and then reserved my tickets for the Cathedral's Festival of Lights Gala . But I digress…. Much of Saturday was spent at the Renaissance Festival (pics here ). Beatrix loves the Renn Fest, and after we hit all of her favorite spots in quick succession (Mermaid Garden, Fairy Forest, Cinderella, and Princess Pavilion) we could wander around and just enjoy ourselves. We ran into our friend Alexis, bought feathers, jumped on the trampoline, pet reptiles and farm animals, saw performances, ate soup in a bread bowl and turkey legs and cream puffs, marveled at sharks in a puddle, saw Twig, shopped, and watched wonderful shows — the best of which, was, of course, the Wacky Chickens. I've gone to Festival scores of times over the years — as a yo...

This week, it was revealed that, beginning sometime in 2016, Minnesota drivers' licenses will not be compliant for identification on US flights (along with those from New York, New Hampshire, Louisiana, and, oddly enough, American Samoa.) http://www.travelandleisure.com/articles/drivers-licenses-new-york-domestic-flight-real-id Apparently, we are one of the states who does not have strong enough residency checks when we renew driver's licenses, thanks to the 2009 legislature/Pawlenty administration voting to prohibit the Real ID Act. There is now apparently a way to purchase an "enhanced license" that does meet these requirements. but when I renewed my driver's license last month I was not given that option. What really raises my blood pressure about this is that, as you see above, last month I renewed my DRIVER'S LICENSE. That regulates, cleverly enough, my ability to drive . In order to receive said license, I had to be of age, receive a permit, pass...

Because I can take a silks class, and even though I suck at it and hurt all the next day, it's super-fun. Because I can go to a great show (The Little Pilot, by Sandbox, at the Southern), and tell our friend who came with us that there are over 100 theatre companies in the Twin Cities, which makes me feel less bad that I don't see as much as I should. Because today I could see Mixed Precipitation's wonderful picnic operetta Escape from Alcina's Island in a part that I did not even know existed.And because my daughter loves to dress up in costume when we go out to things.

As you may or may not know, for the past several years, we hold Friday Night Pool Parties. Pretty much every Friday, we open up the pool and the hot tub and put some condiments and other food on the table. People bring things to share, things to drink, things to grill. Patrick mans the grill and cooks up pounds and pounds of meat products. The fridge gets filled with beer. Kids jump in the pool and everyone keeps an eye on them. Adults sometime jump in too, or just hang out and talk. People reconnect, or meet for the first time, or meet people in real life that they have only meet online. It's all ages, all stratas of life, all kinds of people. Sometimes people come once in a summer. Sometimes they come every week. Sometimes they don't make it at all but beg us not to take them off the invite list (as if we would). Everyone seems to need these pool parties (ourselves included). Last night someone told me that they had been talking to someone who said "I've h...

It was a busy weekend, but I still found time to get a couple of projects done at Summit that had been bothering me for a long time! For as long as I can remember, the garage trim at Summit has been in really bad shape. I mean a *long* time, like it looked this bad while my mother has still alive: So, using some special pains called "Endure" that promises to make a super-strong protective film and last basically forever, I finally painted the trim: I also added a little raspberry/blackberry patch along the side (thanks to Jennifer for the raspberries and an online listing for the blackberry bush, which has been on my wish-list forever.) Alley garden awards, here I come!  Meanwhile, our neighbors trimmed their spreading birch, which suddenly made our yard feel much bigger for some reason: Maybe the biggest win of the weekend, however, was inside, where Patrick fixed the broken shower door. Bathtastic!

I come from Fair-blood. Several of my past relatives were board members or other officials, and my mom first left me, at 10 days old, in the care of others to go out on her annual pilgrimage to pronto pups and mini donuts. Heck, I remember when you could only drink beer in the approved beer gardens! Patrick and I have many great Fair memories as well, from our first time together (when it rained before we could get any Sweet Martha's cookies), to taking Beatrix as a baby and having her be enthralled with the horses even then, to going with his Fair-loving dad (which made such an impression that to this day Beatrix claims "But we ALWAYS go with Grandpa Kenny!" when in truth we only went the one time.) Usually we go in the morning, then go get some work done, then go back at night. But this year we only had this afternoon available, so it's what we did, going from 1-9:30. Our usual park-and-rides were full, but my awesome cousin, who lives nearby, is generous with h...

The Internet Cat Video Festival was tonight, and awhile back I convinced Patrick that we should go to celebrate my birthday. Then I convinced Beatrix that the whole event was being held just for me…. So there we were at the new Saints stadium with 13,000 of our closest friends. We got there as the doors opened and it was a blast — cold beer (served by B's kindergarten teacher), people in costumes, giveaways, Barb Abney dj-ing, people-watching, really everything you could ask for. The night got away from us somewhat when Beatrix and Patrick went to stand in the World's Slowest Face Painting Line. They got back just as the lights were going down for the main event — the videos! I heard the curator on MPR today and he had some really good advice. Keep it short and to the point, keep people involved, end it at the high point…he should have listened to his own advice. As befits cat videos, some were hilarious. Some were very touching. And the whole reel was only ...

August is always a crazy month. Along with the waning down of summer, AND my birthday, it's always a month with a ridiculous amount of shows to see thanks to the Fringe and other events. Last night we went to see 1001 Nights at Circus Juventas . Yes, I work for the circus and I am their biggest fangirl. Yes, Beatrix has been taking classes since she was two and was totally enthralled by the whole thing. Yes, Patrick is volunteer rigging for the show. But don't take our word and involvement for it. See it for yourself — there are just a few tickets left! This is the deal. The CJ shows are always amazing. They are visually stunning, with gorgeous music — but the main draw is always the incredible acts that the dedicated youth performers perform. But I especially loved this show for how it combined all those elements. I'm lucky to be able to work with these people, but you don't need that kind of luck to get involved. You should just see the show, trust me! When we c...

My friend Julio's blog post on his backyard movie nights. We have been the beneficiary of many of these, and they are wonderful events! http://www.twincities.com/entertainment/ci_28561975/backyard-movie-nights-more-entertaining-with-the-right-gadgets

Before we went up to Maine for Elaine and Richard's wedding, we crossed an item off my bucket list, by visiting the "summer cottages" in Newport, Rhode Island (you'll remember we road-tripped out to Asheville, NC to see Biltmore a couple of years back, so we figured we might as well see the Vanderbilt's summer place). It was the perfect way to start a vacation. We pulled up to our charming B&B in the heart of town, and then walked down to the harbor to have our first — of many — lobster rolls of the trip. As we ate outside on a dockside patio, with late evening sun, it felt like another world. It felt even more so the next day as we zipped through five of the mansions cottages. Of course we started with The Breakers, which was really all we had hoped and more. However, Marble House and The Elms were not too far behind! Perhaps everyone's favorite, however, was the gothic cottage styled Kingscote, one of the earliest of the summer homes. (or last stop,...