all that's past is prologue...

1. Attend a networking event at a new restaurant. 2. Come home, take your annoying split off your broken finger, pour yourself a cocktail in a can, and pull out the adorable nail wraps you got right before you broke your wrist. 3. Turn on some Taylor Swift, open up a blog post by a musher you admire, have the dog snuggle on the heated blanket next to you, drink your cocktail, and do your nails. 4. Get cute texts from friends, including pictures/videos of your kid doing tech/dress. 5. Read a whole bunch of grant applications so you can give money away.

So if you know me, you know one of my biggest joys in life is a well-crafted cocktail. And this was a very good week for them! I started by meeting my friend John last week at Volstead's in Eagan. Volstead's is tucked behind a red door at a place called "Burgers and Bottles" in a little strip mall, and it's a lovely little speakeasy. The tables were all reserved (at 3pm on a Friday?), but John and I bellied up to the bar, had some lovely cocktails, and enjoyed catching up. John was my first "real" boss, when the Ordway Center opened in 1985, and taught me a lot about customer service. He also has a wicked sense of humor (especially after a drink), so it was a lovely afternoon! I started with "In the Pink" (ok, but their pink gin was a little too sweet), and then "The Empress" — I do love me some Empress 1908 gin! The next night, I met my friend Emily at Momento in downtown Saint Paul. It's where Pazzaluna used to be, which is a p...

In the past week, I've had a number of "I'm back" moments. First time back at Minneapolis Institute of Arts for an amazing show on paranormal art. First time at Momento with my friend Emily last night. It's where Pazzaluna used to be. We closed the place down. I preferred Pazzaluna, but am hoping this might be the right vibe for downtown Saint Paul. It's  brand new and we should support it! First time back to Meritage with Elyse last week. Their champagne cocktails are still the bomb! Took my friend Erica to Emerald Lounge last week for her first time. That place is really a gem, with amazing cocktails and small plates. I'll meet you there anytime! (this is Patrick and me there recently) First time in 2 years dying eggs at my aunt's yesterday. A much-missed tradition. Here's Beatrix doing her first egg-dying many years ago: We spent Easter dinner at the Chelimsky's tonight and it was wonderful. So lucky for the friends we have! (yay alternate E...

Today, I served as a delegate to my SD 64 conference for the first time ever! It was an uncontested endorsement for my amazing House Representative, Kaohly Her! (and for her counterpart in the other part of the district, Dave Pinto). Also uncontested was our fantastic state Senator Erin Murphy. She's amazing and I am so happy to support her (her acceptance speech gave me goosebumps). There was also a long-delayed farewell presentation/speech from my former Senator, Dick Cohen, who retired in 2020. Dick was a long-time supporter of the arts and an all-around good guy, and I was glad to hear from him (sadly, the guy sitting next to me had never heard of him before, but he seemed to appreciate it as well). We got to hear a passionate GOTV message from my Tufts classmate, and Minnesota's Secretary of State, Steve Simon. And there was a lot of other general conference business. It was not a small agenda! Then we got to the "Walking Caucus" part of the afternoon, electing d...

On this last trip, we stayed at nine different places. We normally camp out at one place for a week or so, so this gave us a nice way to compare and contrast. What we learned: - Places that consider themselves "fancier" put only 3 pillows on each bed. This is strange. - Due to bedbug incidents twice with out daughter on previous trips, we always carefully inspect a room before settling in. Every place in this trip passed, though in one in Monterey (our most sketch hotel by far) we needed to move due to a strong smoke smell. - A warm pool is lovely, and a hot tub is even nicer. The zero-entry, warm pool at the Madonna Inn was amazing. - I really loathe keurigs, which taste like plastic. Big pots of coffee in the lobby, along with a minimal effort towards a pastry and maybe some fruit, make me really happy. I was more impressed by the minimal but heartfelt set up at the Adelaide Inn than I was the fancy but chaotic full buffet at the Riu San Francisco. (the fresh baked cookies ...

We finished our California trip with some time in the Bay area (where again we did not get enough time to see all of the people we wanted to!) We spent one night at a hotel on Fisherman's Wharf, where we got to do some fun tourist things including Musee Mechanique  (though, to be honest, the Pier 39 sea lions were not as much fun as the ones in Santa Cruz!). We had dinner in Chinatown which was...very authentic...right now to the private club upstairs so cigarette smoke rolled down like an incense burner! The next day was Napa. Though we have still never actually eaten at The French Laundry , Patrick's friend Todd is the coffee and tea specialist there, so we got our own private tour, which was amazing! Then, we tried to go to a few vineyards, but it is sooooo different than it was years ago when we used to go annually. Reservations needed, high prices (even just to walk around), and many did not allow kids. We still enjoyed a nice tasting at Clos Pegase . Then dinner at Boucho...

We loved Paso Robles and could have stayed there for days! On Saturday, we checked out the downtown shops and farmers market, including meeting a family who was creating merchandise to raise awareness about mental health issues, especially in teens. We then went to "Tin City," which is an area where lots of wineries, taprooms, and distilleries have tasting rooms. We didn't have a lot of time, so only checked out Barrelhouse Brewing, but they did not do us wrong! From there we headed to Mystic Hills Vineyard , a private vineyard in the area owned by film editor Joel Cox and his lovely wife Judy. There we had an amazing wine tasting, with chocolate as a complement. I'm not sure if the Gran Trio or the Unforgiven was our favorite (see the theme there? Joel is Clint Eastwood's editor), but the wine was amazing and the Coxes made us feel like family. I really wish we lived closer so we could join the wine club. They even let Beatrix hold Joel's Oscar.... From there...