all that's past is prologue...

Brutus and I are spending part of this afternoon at a taproom, while I asses how I did for this year's resolutions (spoiler alert, not well). So these are the resolutions I made : 1. Become a QuickBooks Pro Advisor. 2. Clean out storage areas. 3. Write a letter a month. 4. Plant a ton of bulbs at all the houses (remind me of this in the fall). 5. Never pass up a chance to be kind.. And how I did:   1. Become a QuickBooks Pro Advisor. Didn't even try. Hmm, maybe this does not matter to me as much as I thought it did? 2. Clean out storage areas. Sort of. I'm calling it a success. 3. Write a letter a month. Ummm, again, no. 4. Plant a ton of bulbs at all the houses (remind me of this in the fall). TOTAL FREAKING SUCCESS! (though none of you did indeed remind me). I remembered this in November, ordered a ton from Holland Bulbs, and planted soooooo many bulbs! I'm excited for spring. I might get some paper whites for inside the house this winter too. 5. Never pass up a chanc...

  To say I have been eagerly awaiting Yum! to open at Selby and Snelling is an understatement. I'm not going to get into my feelings about the new development there; but I will say that I used to dream of the "Patti cake" (though not enough to drive to St. Louis Park for it), so I was very happy to hear that a location was opening here. It opened on Tuesday, and I headed over right away that night to pick up some desserts to bring home. Due to a system glitch, I had to wait longer than usual, so they cheerfully comped my order. And yes, the cake was every bit as good as I remembered, and Beatrix loved her cupcake. We have not had a lot of family time together due to the circus holiday show, so tonight we decided to go out for dinner together (Patrick was especially excited to try it). He had the mahi-mahi tacos (a huge piece of well seasoned fish over greens, then you build your own taco), and Beatrix and I had the grilled cheese (on challah! with homemade delicious chip...

It's been a long weekend — week actually. Today I told both Patrick and Beatrix that I was just not up for much more Christmas decorating than we had done. We have a tree and a wreath up, but the bins of ornaments have sat there since early December, but much more seemed impossible right now.  A little while, our friend Rachel called to see if Beatrix and I could take advantage of last minute tickets to Anastasia (which I really wanted to see), but we could not get going fast enough. And it felt like a stupid thing to be upset about missing out on (on top of skipping yoga today), but was one nonetheless. So, a little worn down, I ran some errands. When I came back, Beatrix had decided to do some decorating after all. It's not *everything* that we usually do, and it's not in the usual places. Which makes it all the fresher and were and more valuable. It's a whole new way to look at Christmas. I went to a wonderful book club meeting — I love the people in my book club. M...

There's something invigorating about going to clear the snow after the first big snowfall of the year. Though as I was doing it, I noticed that there are 3 kind of ways to clear your sidewalk: 1) You go out with the snowblower and, while you have it out, you clear as much as you can. That was much of our neighborhood this morning. First Deb and Dave cleared our main walk. Then Patrick went out with the snowblower and did a little more, but a narrow path down the walk of the new-built home on the other side of Deb, then cleared out the block's OG's walk fully. He then went on to do similar things at the Hague and Winter Street houses. That's kind of our theory; help out people as much as you can. It was kind of fun to see all the neighbors in the snow, on a beautiful sunny morning. 2) You get a service. Also a reasonable move (and it turns out we did not to clear John and Linda's because they had hired a service this year, the same one a couple of other neighbors use...

Back in July, I colored my hair with E-Salon , and today I have Madison Reed a try. Here's my hair before: Madison Reed seems to use less packaging that E-Salon, so that's a plus. It did not, however, come with a brush like E-Salon, so I had to use the application bottle. It also did not have as many steps as E-Salon, so was easier to put on. I appreciated the little cap while the color was setting.  It also did not smell as good, though, and I am mixed on the color (it seems to be a lot darker than the color I selected): So I am not 100% sure...

NOLA Thanksgiving in the books. Started the day with pumpkin pie. Auspicious. A morning spent walking around the Bywater, checking out the houses, meeting a woman opening a new coffee place on Poland Street, talking to a guy rehabbing a house. Thinking and dreaming. (her Grand Opening is tomorrow morning, meet us there?) Wandering around City Park (sculpture garden was closed) Off to the racetrack. The horses were great, the hats were better. Wandered around the Garden District. Fantastic Thanksgiving dinner at Lulu Distillery. French 75s at the mothership (honestly, Patrick's are better but these were lovely). Remembered eating there with my mom when I was 5. Hotel Monteleone but no room at the Carousel Bar. That's ok. Time with family. Much to be thankful for. Everyone was friendly as we walked around, wishing us a happy Thanksgiving. And it's warm and everyone is vaccinated and it feels great to be here.

I have a lot to say about our trip so far. And it's been an incredible few days. But here, the most important thing, is that absolutely everywhere I go I feel safe because of this: NOLA is a city based on tourism. It's crucial for its survival, and it is incredibly evident, everywhere in the city, how much the past few years have ravaged this place. But I really wish everywhere else in the country, including my hometown, had this kind of guts.

Tonight we went to the Upper School fall play — Peter and the Starcatcher . It was the first Upper School time back on the stage since November of 2019; the middle school had the last musical with Dear Edwina just days before the shutdown, and they were the first back to the stage this fall. So when I saw Seves afterwards and told him "I would call that a triumphant return to the stage!" I meant it. Yes, the performers were all masked, and the audience is masked and distanced, and there's still kind of a sense of restraint, but it was glorious to see them perform. Every theater I know is struggling with that as they go back. It seems perilous to perform, and houses are not full in general. But the sense of fighting for it remains, and as I said to Erin Murphy in a call yesterday, this is the joy that might save us. I was so glad to be there for a piece of that tonight. Tomorrow we leave to go to New Orleans (if you are a creeper stalking this blog, we have a house-sitter...

You'll have to forgive me for double posting, because to some extent I have posted about this before. But today was the day we finally got all the stacks of pictures off of the landing and hung on the walls. We had hung many earlier this year, but kept running out of steam, and lost impetus as to where to put them. So they waited. But now the front stairway is finding its shape. As is the back staircase. And the family photo wall. We still have to print some photos and put them in the rack there and in this frame (sort of a changing gallery.) We even got some pieces up in our bedroom! It felt really good to get this done, along with some picking up and general futzing with things that have been bothering me for awhile. I guess when Viv disused "overcoming obstacles" in yoga today she was right!

I was musing on this as I was #coronacleaning up the back yard this morning — covering the furniture, digging out the dead annuals, planting bulbs last minute like a squirrel (2 weeks ago I was lovingly layering them and putting in bone meal and measuring and such, today I was digging holes and tossing them in and what do you want to bet these will look better?) I was offered 2 sets of theater tickets to shows I wanted to see this weekend — A Christmas Carol at the Guthrie and the tour of Oklahoma at the Orpheum. In both cases I had to turn them down because there was too much packed into the weekend already. But I am not sure I made the right choice. I wonder if seeing one of those shows would have been better for (Beatrix's and my) mental health than poop-scooping the yard. But the poop-scooping needed to get done, and needed to get done now. I don't think any of us like the pandemic changes. I suppose a few — like a new appreciation for Taylor Swift, or more time with fami...

It was a fantastic weekend full of get-togethers with friends, the Circus Juventas Gala, yoga, yard cleaning, beer outside, a clothing exchange, and more (perhaps more on all of those later!) But the most unusual event of the weekend was doing indoor sky diving with Beatrix's Girl Scout troop! The whole thing was pretty great. The girls had a 90-minute zoom class talking about the science of skydiving, which was very well-done. (yes, zoom fatigue is real, but the instructor seemed to keep them in check) Then we all met out at the Ifly center in Richfield to actually do the skydiving. Each person got two sessions — once in the tube to generally get acclimated, where you are suspended about 5' and the instructor helps you get acclimated. On the second run there's a "high fly" where you go up about 20' with the instructor! Turns out circus girls are generally good at it... I still don't think I'm jumping out of a plane anytime soon, but I'm glad I ga...

Sometimes, you just get a bug in your bonnet and have to stop working early so you can clean the bathroom.  Especially when you are incited by getting a big basket off the free board. Before: After: Before: After: More room for the new stuff I got when I went to my friend Lana's tonight to talk about Trixie Belden books!

It's Election Day tomorrow. I hope you're voting (or have already voted), most of all. I'm happy to talk to you about why I am making the choices for mayor and school board that I am. But this post is why I'm voting no on the "rent stabilization" ordinance, despite the fact that affordable housing is extremely important to me, and is the reason I got into historic preservation as a community planning tool in the first place years ago. Yes, I'm a landlord, so you would assume that we might have an incentive to vote "no." One reason we have the properties that we have is so that we are able to help people out by renting at below-market rents. I understand that this is not the usual business model, and that maybe we are the *only* ones in the city of Saint Paul who do that. But it means that, as it stands, should something happen to our current tenants or with the properties, we could raise our rents somewhere between $12-30 a month. This is not sus...

For the most part, our Halloween weekend was based around performances of the Middle School play ( A Midsummer Night's Dream , in which Beatrix played Hermia). Thanks to so many family and friends for coming! But we did make it to yoga twice. And a dinner party. And a clothing exchange. And an outdoor goods exchange, where Patrick got a pair of cross-country skis so we can try skiing this winter! And to Saint Paul Brewing so Brutus could enter the dog costume contest, Tonight Beatrix has a friend over and we hope to make it to a couple of places as well. We did NOT make it to Monster Bash at Lake Monster, but it looks like it was a lot of fun! Maybe next year we'll be more prepared. Happy Halloween, everyone!

 A few more (non-dog) highlights from a great weekend: - Watching the colors change and stopping at Tobie's (yes, I know the owner is a jerk but their caramel rolls are soooo good!). - Trixie Belden books at the antique store. - Amazing beer and pizza at Ursa Minor . I first discovered them through Craftapped and they are no longer on it, but I still love the beer! - Love Creamery . Enough said. - More antique shopping. - Hanging out at the harbor at Two Harbors. Climbing the rocks, walking on the beach, watching boats come in. - Not one but TWO stops at Mocha Moose (on the way there and back) for fancy coffee. Yum. Even when they are slammed and slow they are great. - Wild State Cider . Enough said. I brought home some crowlers if you want to come hang out. I think I could go up to the North Shore once a month and still not have enough time there....

It was a great weekend spent building trails, but apparently I was not done helping out! Yesterday we got an urgent email from the middle school theater director, who I adore. A Midsummer Night's Dream runs this weekend, with a fantastic cast (Beatrix is playing Hermia), and it's the first production back on stage at the school since March, 2020! Tech and dress started yesterday — but suddenly the costume designer can't be due to a family issue — YIKES! So a couple of other parents and I showed up yesterday to help. It was clear right away that it was going to be chaos; turns out that only a couple of pieces had actually been designed for the show (either shopped or built), with the rest kind of half-pulled from existing stock (like a little trip down memory lane). Still other elements were not there (for example the fairies were all in glittery skirts or leggings, but there were no shirts). Only a few of the kids had previously seen their costumes, and we did not have any...

If you are a faithful reader of my blog, you know that every time I go up to Wintermoon Summersun I come back raving about how life-changing the time there was. So if you are sick of that, I suggest you skip the post (but you might want to think about signing up for time there, because if I so confidently rave about it, I must be on to something, right?) This weekend, we had signed up for a trails weekend to help with prepare for the winter. We worked, Kathleen provided the lodging and the meals. And I have to say it was amazing the entire time. We arrived Friday evening, got settled in, fed the dogs, and had a lovely meal ourselves. When Beatrix and I were last there, in the summer, it was so hot that you could only interact with the dogs during times when it was cooler, or they would get overheated. Now that it's cooler, I was delighted that I could snuggle with and talk to the dogs as much as I wanted, and started out the weekend by spending time with my favorite, Osa. It was u...