all that's past is prologue...

In thinking more about my post on Grand from yesterday, I've also been thinking about the establishments I support, the small places I want to see stay open. Because, in discussing this with Patrick, in these places you are not only supporting the business owner, but also their employees. They could all probably use a little $ sent their way, and so I entreat you to think of buying things at the following Saint Paul independent establishments (there are SO MANY great places in the city but these are my absolute faves): The Red Balloon Poppy Bar + Cart King Coil Distilling (and their sister establishment Lake Monster Brewing) Saint Paul Brewing and their across the courtyard pals at 11 Wells Subtext Books Next Chapter Solo Vino Cafe Latte (and Bread and Chocolate) Em Que Viet Frattalone's Hardware the Lex Wandering Leaf Brewing Gambit Brewing Claddagh Coffee Dunn Brothers (the original at Grand and Dale) Mississippi Market Brunson's Marc Heu Nina's Workhorse Coffee Herbs

I've had lots of thoughts on Grand before. But it wasn't until a friend posted today about places that had closed on Grand that I really thought about it: So yes, some early closures (years ago) that hit me hard included Odegard, Hungry Mind, Macafferty's, Paperback Trader, Acropol Inn, and Ciatti's. Some fairly recent ones have included Avalon, Sixth Chamber Used Books, and D'Amico. Places that have closed and re-opened under similar ownership/genres have included the hardware store by Mac that re-opened as a Frattalone's, Bibelot that become Good Things, and Bap and Chicken that became some other kind of chicken place. Sidney's became Salut and then closed. Before Bread and Chocolate became an institution it was Haagen Daz. Kowalski's was Red Owl. I've been told that The Wedding Shoppe has moved its business offices to Eagan, but still maintains its storefronts. Khyber Pass was bequeathed to the kids who opened it as a cocktail bar and it's a

It can't actually be time for my daughter to start college visiting. It was just a few weeks ago I was in college myself. Moments from that time are as vivid as if they just happened. Clearly, there is a hole in the time-space continuum. When I picture Beatrix at a college, this is what I picture: And yet here we are. We visited Carleton yesterday and Macalester the week before (to my great surprise, Mac, which has been Beatrix's dream school since she knew what college was has almost fallen off the list, while she liked Carleton). Her college counselor at school got assigned to her on Friday. We're off and running! Beatrix is kind of a mini-me, and is looking at a double Theater/English major (with maybe  concentration on race relations thrown in). She wants a small, liberal arts school, and she would prefer that it's not in the center of a huge city (so places like NYU and PACE or even BU are likely out, but Tufts or American University or Temple or Emerson might be p

I'm still up all night coughing, and had a long workday, so while Beatrix was at circus tonight we decided to grab dinner at the newly opened Mandalay Kitchen — and it was delicious! It's located where Marc Heu bakery used to be, and felt friendly (and filled with art) as soon as we walked in. I ordered the pad thai, because it's my base dish for evaluating a restaurant, and it was very good. Patrick had the zap crispy (pictured above), which he really liked; he's trying to cut down on carbs and be better about eating diabetic-friendly. We also had vegetarian egg rolls — the story behind this was they accidentally served us meat-filled ones at first and were incredibly apologetic when we called their attention to it. The veggie ones they replaced them with were wonderful and worth the wait! It was also fairly busy for a random Tuesday evening, which I hope bodes well for them. We'll certainly be back soon!